Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
We all know the story of Robin Hood.
The ballads tell of a bold Robin Hood born and bred in merry Nottinghamshire, in Locksly
town, whose father was a forrester who was excellent with the bow.
Robin grew up, donned his Lincoln green outfit, and took to being an outlaw with deadly accuracy
with the bow and arrow, before winning the heart of the fair maid Marion.
But was this story pure fiction, or does it have a basis in fact?
Let’s comb through the evidence and try to come to our own conclusions.
If you want Answers, check out our “Biggest Debated Topics” playlist on the channel.
Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: Was Robin Hood a Real Person?
Robin Hood has his roots in ballads.
For that reason, I will be presenting the rest of this video in ballad form…
In Nottingham there lives a jolly tanner, with a hey, down, down, a down down.
(G, G, F, EF D) Just kidding.
However, it should be noted that the ballads did paint a rather different picture from
the fun-loving, steal from the rich and give to the poor vagabond we know now.
Earlier stories told of a much more generic outlaw, with the giving to the poor aspect
of his character showing up centuries later.
But was there a Robin Hood who inspired the ballads?
Many claim to know the truth behind Robin Hood.
The Sloane manuscripts in the British Museum claim that he lived in 1160 in Lockersley,
while others claim that he was a man from Wakefield who fought in Thomas of Lancaster’s
1322 rebellion.
Some believe he was active during the reign of Edward the second, while others hold that
it was while Richard the Lionheart was king.
Still others claim that Robin Hood has no historical basis, and is simply a character
of myth.
Some believe that his green clothes were meant to represent the spring, which was a common
aspect of the ballads, or that they were even meant to refer to the fairies.
And others think he could be a medieval version of the classic trickster of lore.
These folks associate him with characters such as Robin Goodfellow, otherwise known
as Puck.
With so many conflicting theories, it’s clear that many, if not all of them, are wrong.
So how can we get to the truth of the matter?
Well, there are a number of records that have been studied and used to speculate as to the
identity of the real Robin Hood, if he did exist.
One way of searching for this man is to look at records of various outlaws from past centuries.
However, one problem with this is that the name “Robert”, which would be shortened
to Robin, was a very common name at the time, and Hood was rather common as well, since
it could refer to those who make or wear hoods.
That said, we can look at the stories of men in question, and the circumstances around
them, to determine if they’re likely to have inspired the tale, or indeed, been inspired
by it.
The earliest narrative ballads about Robin Hood that have been recovered date to the
late 15th and early 16th centuries.
This would lead one to believe that his exploits took place in and around those times.
However, there are some earlier references to the man, with a poem by Piers Plowman believed
to have been written in the 1370s referencing the Rhymes of Robin Hood.
So it seems it was around long before the ballads that we know about.
As it happens, a number of outlaws in the 13th and 14th century took the names of Robin
Hood and Little John, drawing inspiration from the legendary outlaws.
There are even reports of a real life inspiration for Friar Tuck, who was believed to be Robert
Stafford of Sussex, who was said to have been active in the early 1400s.
However, no clear evidence points to where or even when a real Robin Hood existed.
However, there are reports of men going by a name similar to Robin Hood dating all the
way back to the mid-1200s.
One particularly famous record was of an outlaw named William son of Robert le Fevere, who
was wanted for larceny and the harbouring of thieves.
Sounds an awful lot like a certain someone.
And, the plot thickens, as a later report referred to him as William Robehod.
Put the name and his crimes together, and throw in some archery skills, and we have
what could be the basis for the Robin Hood of Legend.
This William Robehod is one of the closest things historians have to a real life Robin
Hood, but it is believed by many that this Robehod was still based on the legend, rather
than the legend coming from him.
This is because the changing of his name to Robehod could indicate that the clerk who
changed it was himself making a reference to Robin Hood; this would imply that William
Robehod was not the original Robin Hood, but merely one of many outlaws associated with
the legendary name.
It should be noted, however, that some historians believe that the change could simply be an
error in writing the patronymic, and that the clerk simply miswrote William Robert.
If this was the case, it could mean that this William son of Robert did indeed inspire the
many tales of the merry outlaw, with the mistranslated Robehod eventually being turned into the name
Robin Hood.
However, there are several other cases of similar names from that time period, with
some possibly occurring before this; it seems Robin Hood was commonly used by record-keepers
as a name for outlaws.
For this reason, it does seem likely that the legend was relatively well known before
1268.
Unfortunately, it simply isn’t possible to determine for certain whether or not Robin
Hood did truly exist.
Due in part to how long ago the events transpired, as well as the inconsistent reporting of the
various ballads and tales, it’s difficult to determine when, where, or even if a real
life Robin Hood existed.
That said, I don’t know about you, but this is something I’ll be keeping an eye on moving
forward.
Maybe in years to come, we’ll learn more about this legendary character’s origins.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
If you liked this video, please thumbs up and subscribe to the channel down below.
While you’re down there, let me know what other people of legend you’d like us to
talk about, like William Wallace or the Pied Piper.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.
Perhaps if there’s a new discovery, we’ll be able to cast more absolute judgments on
the case.
As it stands, however, it’s unclear whether the story of Robin Hood is a pure fiction,
or if it was based on a real man, whose records we have yet to discover.