Robin Hood: Secrets of the People’s Medieval Outlaw

An Iconic in English Folklore

Robin Hood is surely one of the most iconic figures from English folklore. Famous for robbing from the rich to give to the poor and for his many daring escapades. He is the very epitome of a loveable rogue.

We have all heard many Robin Hood stories and, no doubt, seen numerous adaptations of this tale on both big and small screens. But what about the historic Robin Hood? Who was he? It is a fascinating question that has been the subject of many books over the years. There are many different theories as to who he was, when he lived, and even where exactly he lived. Yet, for all that, pinning down a historic Robin to a particular time and place remains frustratingly elusive.

So, what about people who lived in the Middle Ages? Who did they think Robin was? What stories did they share about him? And what exactly did Robin Hood mean to them?

Perhaps the most fascinating question about Robin’s story is why it even became so popular in the first place. It is a story of a man who was, let’s face it, a common bandit (and a violent one at that). So how did such a man even become so popular with a medieval audience in the first place?

Tales for the Foolish Populace

The earliest firm evidence we have for Robin Hood’s medieval popularity comes from a play written in 1377 by William Langland. In this play, we are informed by Sloth (one of the seven deadly sins) that the rhymes of Robin Hood are precisely the sort of tales he loves to hear. Indeed, he boasts that he knows these rhymes better than he knows the Lord’s Prayer! Robin’s tales, then, were hardly seen as morally edifying!

In 1440, the disapproving Abbot Walter Bower complained of Robin Hood and Little John “…whom the foolish populace are so inordinately fond of celebrating both in tragedies and comedies, and about whom they are delighted to hear the jesters and minstrels sing above all other ballads.”

There seems little doubt from these and other medieval accounts that Robin’s stories were both widely circulated and popular. But, at the same time, medieval writers (most of whom were clerics) were most disapproving.

However, the popularity of these tales appears to have extended even into the ranks of the gentry. Sir John Paston, also writing in the 15th century, informs us that he employed a servant to perform plays of Robin Hood. Abbot Bower would not have approved! No doubt he would have felt that an educated man like Sir John should have known better.

The Passing of Robin Hood – Painting by N C Wyeth, a student of Pyle. Published in Robin Hood by Paul Creswick (1917)

Medieval Ballads and Plays

If we look at how Robin Hood stories were transmitted in medieval times, we immediately see a very different picture from that found in Arthurian lore. Medieval tales of King Arthur were recorded in a flourishing literary tradition that lasted from the 12th century all the way through to the close of the Middle Ages. Chronicles, romances, court poems, and, latterly, significant works of literary prose all contributed to Arthur’s legend.

Not so Robin Hood. There were no great works of literary acclaim concerning Robin’s deeds in medieval England. Instead, Robin’s story was told in popular ballads and plays.

These were not stories designed to be read or formally recited at court. These were popular songs and sketches delivered on the village green during summer games. And, since the elite generally considered such things to be of very limited cultural merit, they were rarely ever recorded in writing.

As a result, what survives are fragments. A handful of medieval ballads (primarily from the 15th century) and a short play. But even this much can be very revealing. The one surviving ‘play’ is short and action-driven. The dialogue is there primarily to link together action sequences: wrestling competitions, archery competitions, and fight scenes. The kind of performance that would have made ideal outdoor entertainment on a fine summer’s day.

This was, indeed, popular entertainment. It was not designed for court circles but to be enjoyed by the masses.

A Yeoman of the Greenwood

What survives of these early tales is consistent regarding Robin’s identity. They identify him as a yeoman of the greenwood. For the medieval audience, it was plainly a critical part of Robin’s identity. Not, then, a nobleman and not even a knight or member of the gentry. For his medieval audience, it was important to identify him, as one ballad put it, as “a good yeoman.”

This would have made Robin something akin to a nobleman’s gamekeeper. A freeman of reasonably good standing but clearly of lower rank than the educated elite classes that ruled England. He was certainly an outlaw, a man who’d taken to poaching and banditry. Nevertheless, he was an honest criminal. He did not pretend to be something he was not or dispossess honest men by means of corruption or exploitation.

Many of these tales celebrate Robin’s skills in fields that would have been associated most strongly with the commons. He is depicted as engaging in archery competitions and wrestling contests—sports popular with common folk.

The Bandit and Outlaw

Despite his popular appeal, these tales unambiguously present Robin as a bandit and an outlaw. Indeed, he and his companions are violent criminals and even go so far as to murder innocent witnesses to cover their tracks.

However, Robin is always pitted against a corrupt elite class rather than common folk in these early tales. He typically robs from corrupt abbots or evil sheriffs, elite men who abuse the system for personal gain at the expense of the common man. He does not necessarily give to the poor, but he is certainly sympathetic to them and often actively avoids targeting them.

A Hero for the Age of Crecy and Agincourt

There are many clues in these early tales that identify Robin as a man of the age of Crecy and Agincourt. He is a yeoman and a skilled archer—exactly the kind of man who filled the ranks of English longbowmen in these two iconic medieval battles. The use of such archers was far less a feature of English medieval armies before the late 13th/early 14th century. Also, one of the ballads mentions a corrupt Justice of the Peace—an office that only existed after 1361.

Robin is therefore presented as a hero for the common man from the late 14th and early 15th centuries. This does not mean to say that a historic Robin must have been from this period. Indeed, the real Robin could have lived in an earlier time. What is important here is to acknowledge that these 15th-century versions of his story had been adapted to present Robin as a man relevant to the times.

But Robin’s tales were more than just fine examples of popular culture from the late Middle Ages. They were, within the context of those times, highly political.

Tales of Disillusionment and Frustration

These stories are tales of a relatable outlaw, cocking a snook at corrupt local authorities. Abbots, sheriffs, and justices form the prime targets of Robin’s criminal escapades. These are presented as powerful elite men, manipulating the system for their own personal enrichment. They happily abuse their power to dispossess and cheat honest men of lesser rank. They subvert justice to the extent that local justice simply ceases to function. Robin and his companions can only resort to trickery and outlawry in response.

They are tales of disillusionment and frustration. This is a world in which the local powers that be are corrupt and act only in their own self-interest. There is no real justice. The only chance of justice is a direct appeal to the king.

Robin Hood: the Voice of Rebellion and Protest

These attitudes reflect very real social concerns of the late medieval period. Concerns and frustrations would eventually boil over into rebellion and lawlessness. England suffered two significant late medieval uprisings: the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 and the Jack Cade Rebellion of 1450.

A contemporary chronicler recorded Wat Tyler’s demands in 1381 as follows:

“…from henceforth there should be no outlawry in any process of law … and that the goods of Holy Church should not remain in the hands of the religious … but that clergy … should have a sufficient sustenance … and the rest of the goods should be divided among the people.”

The targets of the rebels’ ire were clear—the corrupt officials charged with upholding the law (the sheriffs and justices) and the avaricious senior ranks of the clergy (the abbots and bishops)—the very people who were being attacked in the Robin Hood ballads of the time. And just like in the ballads, the rebels sought redress by appealing directly to the king.

The true significance of Robin Hood was not the man so much as the stories he inspired. Stories that gave voice to the genuine concerns and grievances of the common man in late medieval England.

The Real Robin Hood

Who, then, was the real Robin? Perhaps there was a historic Robin who inspired these tales. Most likely, he would have lived sometime during the 13th century or, perhaps, in the early 14th century.

But the true significance of Robin Hood was not the man so much as the stories he inspired. Stories that gave voice to the genuine concerns and grievances of the common man in late medieval England.