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. ('W' was a late addition to the alphabet.)
When Sir Richard met Robin at the Saylis, his plan was to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land after first going to Saint Mary's Abbey in York. History confirms he had a licence from King Edward III to go abroad in 1364, the same year he was hunting with the king’s party in the north of England. 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 not far from each other. 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
Agnes also known as Matilda De Stapleton an heiress to the Earldom of Huntingdon through her grandfather, John II de Balliol King of Scots settled in Wadsley/Loxley with her third husband Sir Thomas de Sheffield. After his death in 1348, Agnes returned to her hometown of Bedale where she died the same year on the 3rd of November aged 50. Her first husband, Sir Gilbert Stapleton, knight of Bedale and a childhood companion of the future King Edward accompanied him to Nottingham Castle where they captured Piers Gaveston. Gilbert’s eldest son, Sir Miles Stapleton of Bedale was a knight founder of the Order of the Garter. He lived the same time as Robin but died, according to family history in 1364 age 46 of wounds received in the battle of Auray. If he and Robin were half brothers then Robin along with others, would have a claim on the Huntingdon earldom. (Agnes’s grandfather featured in Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning 1995 film Braveheart.)
Years later, the Hastings family identified with Robin Hood by naming their children after him. The custom continues to the present day with “William Edward Robin Hood Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1948).” Their family tree goes back by marriage to Robin through his cousin the prioress and the Furnival family. Bridging the generation gap is Anne Hastings (c. 1471–1520). Anne was Countess of Shrewsbury and Baroness Furnivall. Her husband George Talbot was 9th Baron Furnivall. The tomb of Anne Hastings is in Sheffield Cathedral.
Piers Plowman
Langland published his prestigious poem Piers Plowman B text in 1377. It is a contemporary reflection on the morality of the nation during the reign of King Edward III. His poem includes Robin Hood, Sloth the drunken priest, Lady Meed, and the Earl of Chester. Friar Tuck the lazy priest might have been Sloth, he did not know the Psalter, Lady Meed was Alice Perrers the king’s mistress, and the Earl of Chester at that time was the Black Prince.
The 4th Earl of Chester Ranulph de Blundeville endowed Dieulacres Abbey in 1214. Later King Edward’s son the Black Prince and Earl of Chester became its patron. His Cheshire Archers operated out of the abbey, they hounded people, ambushed them, looted, assaulted, maimed, and killed many. Broadsheets the newspapers of the day cost a penny each. Chapbooks included popular ballads. The Black Prince was the current Earl of Chester and the activities of his archers would keep the balladeers busy for years. Langland was right to be concerned about the moral state of the nation, but afraid for his life if he named those responsible, it was safer to identify the abbey by naming its founder.
Robin Hood's Era
Barbara A. Buxton writes, “The legal and royal records for the reign of Richard I and King John are quite adequate to detail Robin’s offences, but they do not. The sheriff is never named even though records go back to 1135. Friars first came to England in 1221 after King Richard died in 1189 and King John in 1216.”
Professor Holt confirms the above, saying Robin was active in the late 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 same 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.”
Robin's lifetime touched on the reigns of King Edward III, Richard II, King Henry IV and King John of France, but mainly Edward III. Not knowing the era in which Robin Hood was active made research difficult. John Major writing in France may have meant King John of France and Henry IV of England with his French connections. Manuscripts written in a “crabbed hand” are difficult to decipher and badly written Roman numerals are easily misinterpreted. The early courts added to the problem by identifying robbers regardless of their real name as "robinhoods.” Finding Robin's pardon was a godsend and with that everything fell into place. My sincere thanks to the two resolute researchers David Pilling and Rob Lyndley.
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. ('W' was a late addition to the alphabet.)
When Sir Richard met Robin at the Saylis, his plan was to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land after first going to Saint Mary's Abbey in York. History confirms he had a licence from King Edward III to go abroad in 1364, the same year he was hunting with the king’s party in the north of England. 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 not far from each other. 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
Agnes also known as Matilda De Stapleton an heiress to the Earldom of Huntingdon through her grandfather, John II de Balliol King of Scots settled in Wadsley/Loxley with her third husband Sir Thomas de Sheffield. After his death in 1348, Agnes returned to her hometown of Bedale where she died the same year on the 3rd of November aged 50. Her first husband, Sir Gilbert Stapleton, knight of Bedale and a childhood companion of the future King Edward accompanied him to Nottingham Castle where they captured Piers Gaveston. Gilbert’s eldest son, Sir Miles Stapleton of Bedale was a knight founder of the Order of the Garter. He lived the same time as Robin but died, according to family history in 1364 age 46 of wounds received in the battle of Auray. If he and Robin were half brothers then Robin along with others, would have a claim on the Huntingdon earldom. (Agnes’s grandfather featured in Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning 1995 film Braveheart.)
Years later, the Hastings family identified with Robin Hood by naming their children after him. The custom continues to the present day with “William Edward Robin Hood Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1948).” Their family tree goes back by marriage to Robin through his cousin the prioress and the Furnival family. Bridging the generation gap is Anne Hastings (c. 1471–1520). Anne was Countess of Shrewsbury and Baroness Furnivall. Her husband George Talbot was 9th Baron Furnivall. The tomb of Anne Hastings is in Sheffield Cathedral.
Piers Plowman
Langland published his prestigious poem Piers Plowman B text in 1377. It is a contemporary reflection on the morality of the nation during the reign of King Edward III. His poem includes Robin Hood, Sloth the drunken priest, Lady Meed, and the Earl of Chester. Friar Tuck the lazy priest might have been Sloth, he did not know the Psalter, Lady Meed was Alice Perrers the king’s mistress, and the Earl of Chester at that time was the Black Prince.
The 4th Earl of Chester Ranulph de Blundeville endowed Dieulacres Abbey in 1214. Later King Edward’s son the Black Prince and Earl of Chester became its patron. His Cheshire Archers operated out of the abbey, they hounded people, ambushed them, looted, assaulted, maimed, and killed many. Broadsheets the newspapers of the day cost a penny each. Chapbooks included popular ballads. The Black Prince was the current Earl of Chester and the activities of his archers would keep the balladeers busy for years. Langland was right to be concerned about the moral state of the nation, but afraid for his life if he named those responsible, it was safer to identify the abbey by naming its founder.
Robin Hood's Era
Barbara A. Buxton writes, “The legal and royal records for the reign of Richard I and King John are quite adequate to detail Robin’s offences, but they do not. The sheriff is never named even though records go back to 1135. Friars first came to England in 1221 after King Richard died in 1189 and King John in 1216.”
Professor Holt confirms the above, saying Robin was active in the late 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 same 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.”
Robin's lifetime touched on the reigns of King Edward III, Richard II, King Henry IV and King John of France, but mainly Edward III. Not knowing the era in which Robin Hood was active made research difficult. John Major writing in France may have meant King John of France and Henry IV of England with his French connections. Manuscripts written in a “crabbed hand” are difficult to decipher and badly written Roman numerals are easily misinterpreted. The early courts added to the problem by identifying robbers regardless of their real name as "robinhoods.” Finding Robin's pardon was a godsend and with that everything fell into place. My sincere thanks to the two resolute researchers David Pilling and Rob Lyndley.
Copyright © 2014, Graham Kirkby All rights reserved NEXT PAGE
