The Historical Setting
Sir Richard at the Lee
The Geste of Robin Hood tells us the impoverished knight, Sir Richard at the Lee came from a long line of noble knights. The castle he inherited, surrounded by woods at the Lee in Verysdale, had a drawbridge and fortified, castellated walls dating back to Richard I. This describes Haddon Hall at the Lee in Wyedale. Sir Richard Vernon died 1376.
When Sir Richard met Robin Hood at the Saylis, he intended going on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. History confirms he had a license from King Edward III to go abroad in 1364 the same year he was hunting with the king's party at Bestwood. Later we read in the Geste that Sir Richard gave Robin sanctuary when the Sheriff of Nottingham came looking for him after Robin won an archery contest. Sir Richard’s home and the jousting field at Castleton are both in Derbyshire. The Geste confirms Robin, Sir Richard, and King Edward III were contemporaries when we read, “Robin beheld our comely King wistly in the face as did Sir Richard at the Lea and knelt in that place.”
Earl of Huntingdon
Before the Norman Conquest, the district around Loxley and Wadsley belonged to Waltheof the Earl of Huntingdon. The earldom passed to David, King of Scots and later Agnes/Matilda De Stapleton became an heiress to the earldom through her grandfather, John II de Balliol, King of Scots. Sir Thomas de Sheffield born in Wadsley, the third husband of Agness, died there in 1348. Tilling the soil started early in the year in readiness for sowing seed in the spring. After Robin killed his step-father while they were plowing, Dodsworth tells us Robin fled into the woods where his mother sustained him. Bower Wood backed onto the cottage where he was born. Left on her own Agnes went to Bedale, her hometown, where she died the same year as her husband on the 3rd of November age 50. If Agnes was Robin’s mother and Sir Thomas de Sheffield his step-father, then Robin's claim to the earldom may have been valid. The only problem was, William de Clinton, a boyhood companion of Edward III already held the honour of Huntingdon. (John II de Balliol, King of Scots and the grandfather of Agnes featured in Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning 1995 film Braveheart.)
Powerful Local Families Living the same time as Robin Hood.
The Sheffield Mounteney family married into the powerful Furnival family when Arnold de Mounteney married Matilda Furnival. In 1379, Joan Mounteney married Thomas Lord Furnival who became 1st Lord Neville of Halumshire. He voted in parliament for Richard II’s clandestine incarceration in the Tower of London. Alice de Mounteney was the Prioress of Kirklees where Robin died two or three years after Richard II's death. It looks like a plot.
And their powerful neighbours
After the eldest son of John O’Gaunt, Henry IV ascended the throne, another son of John O’Gaunt, Thomas Beaufort, became a Knight of the Garter. Later he became the Chancellor of England and later still Earl of Dorset. His mother was Katherine Swynford, the third wife of John of Gaunt. Thomas Swynford was the constable of Pontefract castle where Richard II died. Joan Beaufort, the daughter of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford married Ralph Neville in 1396 and Richard II made Joan a Member of the Order of the Garter.
The Hastings family trace their roots back to Sheffield’s Hallam through the Talbot and Furnival families. Anne Hastings, Countess of Shrewsbury lies in Sheffield Cathedral, her mother was Katherine Neville. Sir Ralph Hastings was the Sheriff of Yorkshire during the Peasants Revolt involving Robin Hood. The two men, Robin and the sheriff must surely have known each other.
George Hastings, who was a member of the Drapers Company received the honour of Huntingdon from Henry VIII in 1529. On receiving the honour, he started the family tradition of naming their children Robin Hood as in the Honourable Aubrey Craven Theophilus Robin Hood Hastings. The current Earl of Huntingdon is William Edward Robin Hood Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1948). Adopting the name “Robin Hood” for their own children suggests they and Robin were social peers and both Richard Grafton, King Henry’s chief antiquarian and John Leland confirm Robin’s noble birth.
Piers Plowman
Langland's Piers Plowman B text published in 1377 is a contemporary reflection on the morality of the nation during the reign of King Edward III. In his prestigious poem, Langland included Robin Hood, Sloth the drunken priest, Lady Meed, and Ranulf, Earl of Chester. Friar Tuck might have been Sloth the drunken priest. He had no interest in church affairs. Lady Meed was Alice Perrers the king's mistress, and the Earl of Chester was the Black Prince, the eldest son of the king,
The Black Prince born 1330 was the patron of Dieulacres Abbey, founded in 1214 by Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester. The Cheshire archers belonging to the Black Prince acted like the marauding monks they were. They operated out of the abbey on the order's of William Lichfield the abbot who had authority over these notorious bands of armed men. The abbot's power over the town of Leek was absolute. He erected gallows on Market Street and could legally hang anyone he pleased provided he gave two days notice to the person concerned! A royal commission inquiring into events at Leek in 1379 noted that William Lichfield the Abbot of Dieulacres used his armed men to do all the mischief they could do to the people in the county of Stafford. They had lain in wait for them, assaulted, maimed and killed some. They drove others from place to place. The abbot was arrested and imprisoned after the beheading of John De Wharton, but suspiciously, the authorities soon pardoned and released him. In subsequent years, the authorities accused the abbey community of theft and criticized the abbot for protecting them. There were numerous other lawsuits.
Broadsheets, the newspapers of the day cost a penny each while chapbooks included popular ballads. People knew only too well the ruthless reputation of the Earls of Chester, the Black Prince and the Cheshire archers. The violence, theft and disrespect for others would provide balladeers with material for years. Langland only needed to say “Chester” to make his point about lawless England.
Robin Hood's Era
Barbara A. Buxton writes, “The legal and royal records for the reigns of Richard I and King John are quite adequate to detail Robin’s offences, but they do not. Neither is the name of the sheriff ever mentioned even though the names of sheriffs were recorded as far back as 1135. There were no friars in the England of King John, the first came to England in 1221.
Professor Holt confirms the above, saying Robin was active in the later medieval period. He writes, “the “Geste of Robin Hood” was written circa 1450 and all the literature, the setting and the dates are in this later medieval period. “Major’s conception about a 13th century Robin Hood was not reinforced by argument, evidence, or proof it was simply recycled through later versions of the tale and so became part of the legend. Neither is this view supported by the earliest ballads, they name the reigning monarch as “Edward.”
This accords with Professor Thomas Ohlgren who wrote, "the Geste was commissioned by one of the fifteenth-century guilds-possibly the Dyers Guild in the light of the many references to cloth and liveries-to commemorate Edward III not only as the protector of the English Channel but as the founder of seven of the twelve Great Livery Companies. He adds: "“the giving of liveries indicates a time of social change when the lower classes and criminal gangs were imitating the aristocracy in the 14th and 15th century." Ronald Hutton tells us the 14th and 15th centuries were known as “Merrie England” and Keen writes: The giving of liveries indicates a time “when liveries and personal badges were in everyday use”
(John Major wrote his piece while living in France and possibly meant King John of France, Richard II and Henry IV of England which is correct. The Sloane MS written in a 'crabbed' hand is difficult to decipher leaving the Roman numerals of the date open to misinterpretation.)
Copyright © 2014, Graham Kirkby All rights reserved NEXT PAGE
The Geste of Robin Hood tells us the impoverished knight, Sir Richard at the Lee came from a long line of noble knights. The castle he inherited, surrounded by woods at the Lee in Verysdale, had a drawbridge and fortified, castellated walls dating back to Richard I. This describes Haddon Hall at the Lee in Wyedale. Sir Richard Vernon died 1376.
When Sir Richard met Robin Hood at the Saylis, he intended going on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. History confirms he had a license from King Edward III to go abroad in 1364 the same year he was hunting with the king's party at Bestwood. Later we read in the Geste that Sir Richard gave Robin sanctuary when the Sheriff of Nottingham came looking for him after Robin won an archery contest. Sir Richard’s home and the jousting field at Castleton are both in Derbyshire. The Geste confirms Robin, Sir Richard, and King Edward III were contemporaries when we read, “Robin beheld our comely King wistly in the face as did Sir Richard at the Lea and knelt in that place.”
Earl of Huntingdon
Before the Norman Conquest, the district around Loxley and Wadsley belonged to Waltheof the Earl of Huntingdon. The earldom passed to David, King of Scots and later Agnes/Matilda De Stapleton became an heiress to the earldom through her grandfather, John II de Balliol, King of Scots. Sir Thomas de Sheffield born in Wadsley, the third husband of Agness, died there in 1348. Tilling the soil started early in the year in readiness for sowing seed in the spring. After Robin killed his step-father while they were plowing, Dodsworth tells us Robin fled into the woods where his mother sustained him. Bower Wood backed onto the cottage where he was born. Left on her own Agnes went to Bedale, her hometown, where she died the same year as her husband on the 3rd of November age 50. If Agnes was Robin’s mother and Sir Thomas de Sheffield his step-father, then Robin's claim to the earldom may have been valid. The only problem was, William de Clinton, a boyhood companion of Edward III already held the honour of Huntingdon. (John II de Balliol, King of Scots and the grandfather of Agnes featured in Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning 1995 film Braveheart.)
Powerful Local Families Living the same time as Robin Hood.
The Sheffield Mounteney family married into the powerful Furnival family when Arnold de Mounteney married Matilda Furnival. In 1379, Joan Mounteney married Thomas Lord Furnival who became 1st Lord Neville of Halumshire. He voted in parliament for Richard II’s clandestine incarceration in the Tower of London. Alice de Mounteney was the Prioress of Kirklees where Robin died two or three years after Richard II's death. It looks like a plot.
And their powerful neighbours
After the eldest son of John O’Gaunt, Henry IV ascended the throne, another son of John O’Gaunt, Thomas Beaufort, became a Knight of the Garter. Later he became the Chancellor of England and later still Earl of Dorset. His mother was Katherine Swynford, the third wife of John of Gaunt. Thomas Swynford was the constable of Pontefract castle where Richard II died. Joan Beaufort, the daughter of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford married Ralph Neville in 1396 and Richard II made Joan a Member of the Order of the Garter.
The Hastings family trace their roots back to Sheffield’s Hallam through the Talbot and Furnival families. Anne Hastings, Countess of Shrewsbury lies in Sheffield Cathedral, her mother was Katherine Neville. Sir Ralph Hastings was the Sheriff of Yorkshire during the Peasants Revolt involving Robin Hood. The two men, Robin and the sheriff must surely have known each other.
George Hastings, who was a member of the Drapers Company received the honour of Huntingdon from Henry VIII in 1529. On receiving the honour, he started the family tradition of naming their children Robin Hood as in the Honourable Aubrey Craven Theophilus Robin Hood Hastings. The current Earl of Huntingdon is William Edward Robin Hood Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1948). Adopting the name “Robin Hood” for their own children suggests they and Robin were social peers and both Richard Grafton, King Henry’s chief antiquarian and John Leland confirm Robin’s noble birth.
Piers Plowman
Langland's Piers Plowman B text published in 1377 is a contemporary reflection on the morality of the nation during the reign of King Edward III. In his prestigious poem, Langland included Robin Hood, Sloth the drunken priest, Lady Meed, and Ranulf, Earl of Chester. Friar Tuck might have been Sloth the drunken priest. He had no interest in church affairs. Lady Meed was Alice Perrers the king's mistress, and the Earl of Chester was the Black Prince, the eldest son of the king,
The Black Prince born 1330 was the patron of Dieulacres Abbey, founded in 1214 by Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester. The Cheshire archers belonging to the Black Prince acted like the marauding monks they were. They operated out of the abbey on the order's of William Lichfield the abbot who had authority over these notorious bands of armed men. The abbot's power over the town of Leek was absolute. He erected gallows on Market Street and could legally hang anyone he pleased provided he gave two days notice to the person concerned! A royal commission inquiring into events at Leek in 1379 noted that William Lichfield the Abbot of Dieulacres used his armed men to do all the mischief they could do to the people in the county of Stafford. They had lain in wait for them, assaulted, maimed and killed some. They drove others from place to place. The abbot was arrested and imprisoned after the beheading of John De Wharton, but suspiciously, the authorities soon pardoned and released him. In subsequent years, the authorities accused the abbey community of theft and criticized the abbot for protecting them. There were numerous other lawsuits.
Broadsheets, the newspapers of the day cost a penny each while chapbooks included popular ballads. People knew only too well the ruthless reputation of the Earls of Chester, the Black Prince and the Cheshire archers. The violence, theft and disrespect for others would provide balladeers with material for years. Langland only needed to say “Chester” to make his point about lawless England.
Robin Hood's Era
Barbara A. Buxton writes, “The legal and royal records for the reigns of Richard I and King John are quite adequate to detail Robin’s offences, but they do not. Neither is the name of the sheriff ever mentioned even though the names of sheriffs were recorded as far back as 1135. There were no friars in the England of King John, the first came to England in 1221.
Professor Holt confirms the above, saying Robin was active in the later medieval period. He writes, “the “Geste of Robin Hood” was written circa 1450 and all the literature, the setting and the dates are in this later medieval period. “Major’s conception about a 13th century Robin Hood was not reinforced by argument, evidence, or proof it was simply recycled through later versions of the tale and so became part of the legend. Neither is this view supported by the earliest ballads, they name the reigning monarch as “Edward.”
This accords with Professor Thomas Ohlgren who wrote, "the Geste was commissioned by one of the fifteenth-century guilds-possibly the Dyers Guild in the light of the many references to cloth and liveries-to commemorate Edward III not only as the protector of the English Channel but as the founder of seven of the twelve Great Livery Companies. He adds: "“the giving of liveries indicates a time of social change when the lower classes and criminal gangs were imitating the aristocracy in the 14th and 15th century." Ronald Hutton tells us the 14th and 15th centuries were known as “Merrie England” and Keen writes: The giving of liveries indicates a time “when liveries and personal badges were in everyday use”
(John Major wrote his piece while living in France and possibly meant King John of France, Richard II and Henry IV of England which is correct. The Sloane MS written in a 'crabbed' hand is difficult to decipher leaving the Roman numerals of the date open to misinterpretation.)
Copyright © 2014, Graham Kirkby All rights reserved NEXT PAGE
