Everyone has heard of Robin Hood, the brilliant archer who 'robbed
the rich to give to the poor' and who always triumphed over the
forces of evil, but the man behind the legend is as mysterious as
King Arthur. There were outlaws who lived in the royal forests
preying on unwary travelers, and Robin Hoods whose names are
recorded in historical documents: but no one has been able to prove
that one of these real Robins was the individual whose exploits
were commemorated in ballad and song.
David Baldwin sets out to find the real Robin Hood, looking for
clues in the earliest ballads and in official and legal documents
of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. His search takes him to
the troubled reign of King Henry III, and to Henry's difficult and
deteriorating relationship with his brother-in-law Simon de
Montfort, Earl of Leicester. Earl Simon became a popular hero, a
man who, it was thought, might have changed everything for the
better, and who was credited with miracles in the aftermath of his
death at the battle of Evesham. Supporters who continued to oppose
the government inherited his mantle, and one of them, a man named
Roger Godberd who retreated to the forest and defied the sheriff,
won notoriety and respect in equal measure. Later generations added
much to the story, but Godberd, Baldwin argues, is the original
outlaw hero.
The reason why the real Robin Hood is inexplicably missing from
contemporary records is that he was not called Robin Hood in his
own day.
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