Robin Hood and the Merry Villagers
We can't tell for certain if Robin Hood, the famous outlaw, really existed or not as all references to him are found in poetry and folk tales. His life, if indeed he lived at all, is shrouded in mystery. we are not sure if he lived in Nottinghamshire or Yorkshire either.
The fact is that in Medieval times pretty much everyone was an outlaw at some point in their lives. Contrary to popular belief, forests were not the havens of rebels and free-spirited people. The word 'forest' is a norman word which originaly meant a place which was designated to be the hunting ground for the king. People would have dreaded living near forests, let alone inside one, as there were terrible taxes levied on villages that were close to them. In fact, there is a true story of a village which was near a proposed new forest for the king. The villagers, having found out about this came up with a great plan to discourage the king from wanting to have his forest there. In those days, madness was thought to be contagious. The villlagers, knowing that the king would not want to go near mad people, pretended they had all gone round the twist. The rumours spread of the village whose inhabitants were all mad. Pretty soon the king knew about them too and he told his advisors he did not want his forest to be near that village under any circumstances. The people had won!
The Real Robin Hood http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/monarchs_leaders/robin_03.shtml
The New Forest story http://www.hants.gov.uk/newforest/history/history1.html
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about a man whom was arrested by the Sherif of Nottingham and was to be executed for poaching.
While Richard the Lion Heart (Richard the II),was returning from a crusade, he was captured, imprisoned and held ransom in France, his brother John had been acting as temporary monarch during his absence and taking advantage of the situation, remained on as king. In order to appease the Danes and Normans who had infiltrated England considerably, King John gave them large tracts of land. Sherwood Forrest, north of Nottingham, one of the largest in England was home to much game. It was set aside for only the nobility (including those from Denmark and Normandy, as another exploit for King John to protect himself from them overthrowing the English Crown. Thus a state of considerable unrest and poaching ensued.
The poem tells the story of 'Robin' a Freeman saving his poaching friend's life by getting a gang of 30 men to blend in with the crowd and thirty surrounding the town or courtyard where and when the execution was to take place, allowing his friend to escape. Members of his gang that stood up to the Sherif's (apparently a cousin to King John and Richard) mandate and soldiers, historically recorded include John Little (Little John), Will Scarlett and son's (one with the same name) Friar Tuck and several others who became well-known likely because their names and descriptions were well-posted throughout probably a third of
England as wanted criminals; after all it is not a very large country.
This 'Robin' himself seems to have been somewhat more obscure than his hired help, whom all managed to hide out and escape the law until Richard the Lionheart returned to England incognito, (it is suspected that he was a fellow known as the Black Knight during this period), until he managed to gather up enough of his buddies and support to take back the crown and then the foolish bugger headed off to another Crusade?!
BUT, before running off, he made declaration to forgive many of his
'subjects' whom had been persecuted under his brothers rule. Not of course out of kindness, but just to deminish his brothers power and perhaps re-stabilise the populace and economy before he headed off to the fight for the 'HOLY GROUND' !?!
There, now you know where the legend of Robin Hood, comes from, I am quite sure that the, actually quite short, poem about stealing the man away from the execution is available online, and of course all the rest of the historical facts certainly are. My apologies, I do not remember the author of the poem, gee I wonder if his descendants got any royalties from all those books, plays , songs and films ?!?