Robin Hood Forester and Knight
In times of war, it scarcely mattered to the king who fought for him, be they rich, poor, or outlaws. Robin was one of the best and was ready for anything. He carried a bow, a sword, a knife, and a small round shield called a buckler. The design of the forester’s dark Lincoln Green camouflage uniform dates to 1370, when tights replaced the hose and their outer tunics became shorter. Local landholders engaged foresters to patrol the woods, capture or disperse offenders, and collect pavage tax. We read of Robin and Little John doing the work of a forester in Robin and the Potter. They lived in a forester’s lodge, sometimes fortified, and acted as barristers or mediators when enforcing the law. Their hunting skills equipped them to spy on the enemy as they manoeuvred into battle positions.
In 1356, the English army won a remarkable victory at Poitiers, thanks mainly to England’s longbowmen. Froissart wrote, “Truly, the archers gave their company that day an important advantage. The Frenchmen did not know where to run after the English archers had obscured the sun with hails of arrows.” Next, they engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. English archers took four, five, or six prisoners at the town gates of Poitiers.” The French captives included King John and his ten-year-old son Philip, plus seventeen lords, thirteen counts, five viscounts, and one hundred knights. When the noise of battle faded, the Black Prince knighted a young man on the battlefield.”
The triumphant soldiers returned to England, while the Black Prince stayed behind to negotiate the peace treaty with King John’s eldest son, Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor. His adolescent daughter was to marry the future King Richard II, and they crowned the ten-year-old Bolingbroke King of France. The French say a faction did it; perhaps it was the English victors. Charles did not ratify the Treaty of Bretigny to the later advantage of France. After finalising the terms of the French surrender, the Black Prince, accompanied by the Cheshire Archers clad in their green and white livery, returned to England. While escorting the King of France and other French prisoners to London pending payment of ransom money, a band of yeomen looking like robbers armed with bows, arrows, swords, and bucklers dressed in green jumped out from among the trees. When King John asked what manner of men they were, the Black Prince told him that these Englishmen lived in the forest by choice, and they arrayed themselves like that every day. (Holt-Anonimalle Chronicle, ed. by V. H. Galbraith, p. 41)
Tired but happy with the victory at Poitiers, these gallant men of England returned home, caring for their ill and dying comrades on the way. Robin’s men continued north to Yorkshire, where minstrels, players, and balladeers gave Robin a hero’s welcome and Robin became a legend. His fame continues today in books and films. On a more sombre note, our armed forces deserve a debt of gratitude for everything they have done down the ages, giving their lives for the king, country, and all of us. Thank you.
NOTES:
Good” has various meanings, but in the 15th century, it meant skilled or excellent.
Outlaw has several definitions, but this one appears to be the most appropriate: “a person who rebels against established rules or practices; “a nonconformist.”
Courteous means gracious and benevolent.
Interestingly, Geoffrey Chaucer was a forester, contemporary with Robin. Apart from Chaucer’s talents as a writer of both prose and poetry, he also worked as a page, esquire, diplomat, customs controller, justice of the peace, member of parliament, clerk of works for Westminster, and commissioner of walls and ditches. John O’Gaunt and Chaucer were close friends. John O’Gaunt married Katherine Swynford, his third wife, and Katherine’s sister married Chaucer. It would be strange if the two men did not pursue the sport of kings and hunt together in Barnsdale. Chaucer once said the journey to the king’s northern kingdom was more difficult than going to France and back.
Copyright © 2020, Graham Kirkby. All rights reserved. NEXT PAGE
Battle of Poitiers by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
In 1356, the English army won a remarkable victory at Poitiers, thanks mainly to England’s longbowmen. Froissart wrote, “Truly, the archers gave their company that day an important advantage. The Frenchmen did not know where to run after the English archers had obscured the sun with hails of arrows.” Next, they engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. English archers took four, five, or six prisoners at the town gates of Poitiers.” The French captives included King John and his ten-year-old son Philip, plus seventeen lords, thirteen counts, five viscounts, and one hundred knights. When the noise of battle faded, the Black Prince knighted a young man on the battlefield.”
The triumphant soldiers returned to England, while the Black Prince stayed behind to negotiate the peace treaty with King John’s eldest son, Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor. His adolescent daughter was to marry the future King Richard II, and they crowned the ten-year-old Bolingbroke King of France. The French say a faction did it; perhaps it was the English victors. Charles did not ratify the Treaty of Bretigny to the later advantage of France. After finalising the terms of the French surrender, the Black Prince, accompanied by the Cheshire Archers clad in their green and white livery, returned to England. While escorting the King of France and other French prisoners to London pending payment of ransom money, a band of yeomen looking like robbers armed with bows, arrows, swords, and bucklers dressed in green jumped out from among the trees. When King John asked what manner of men they were, the Black Prince told him that these Englishmen lived in the forest by choice, and they arrayed themselves like that every day. (Holt-Anonimalle Chronicle, ed. by V. H. Galbraith, p. 41)
Tired but happy with the victory at Poitiers, these gallant men of England returned home, caring for their ill and dying comrades on the way. Robin’s men continued north to Yorkshire, where minstrels, players, and balladeers gave Robin a hero’s welcome and Robin became a legend. His fame continues today in books and films. On a more sombre note, our armed forces deserve a debt of gratitude for everything they have done down the ages, giving their lives for the king, country, and all of us. Thank you.
NOTES:
Good” has various meanings, but in the 15th century, it meant skilled or excellent.
Outlaw has several definitions, but this one appears to be the most appropriate: “a person who rebels against established rules or practices; “a nonconformist.”
Courteous means gracious and benevolent.
Interestingly, Geoffrey Chaucer was a forester, contemporary with Robin. Apart from Chaucer’s talents as a writer of both prose and poetry, he also worked as a page, esquire, diplomat, customs controller, justice of the peace, member of parliament, clerk of works for Westminster, and commissioner of walls and ditches. John O’Gaunt and Chaucer were close friends. John O’Gaunt married Katherine Swynford, his third wife, and Katherine’s sister married Chaucer. It would be strange if the two men did not pursue the sport of kings and hunt together in Barnsdale. Chaucer once said the journey to the king’s northern kingdom was more difficult than going to France and back.
Copyright © 2020, Graham Kirkby. All rights reserved. NEXT PAGE
Battle of Poitiers by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.