There is a lot of debate about Robin Hood actually existing let alone the fact that he robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. He was said to be an English Noble man fell on hard times after a dodgy time in the crusades and his Da having his fortune cheated away from him. It still makes for a jolly tale though and one thing is historically accurate, Prince John did try and usurper the throne whilst his brother Richard was away fighting in the crusades. To be fair to John as Richard rarely bothered spending anytime in England, preferring the Middle East and France it seems, he might have been forgiven for thinking that maybe he could run things for a bit. Turns out Richard forgave him when he did return from the Crusades anyway. Obviously, John had kept the Chandeliers UK nice and clean if nothing else.
As for Robin, well you could call him a bit of a terrorist in some ways. Subverting the crown income for his own sue, killing the king’s deer, which is what got him into this trouble in the first place after he sees his friend Much the Millers son brutally punished for simply taking a spare deer. He was starving after all.Not that the upper classes and Barons were overly sympathetic to the plight of England’s rural poor at that time, or any other time for that matter.
And that is where Robin comes in. Whilst he may not have existed the thought of someonestanding up the nobles or even the sheriffs and officials of the day might have been enough to inspire some or even raise awareness of the issues that the rural poor faced. The idea of Robin the rebel against John was also useful for the opponents of John at a higher level. The inclusion of Friar Tuck into the ranks is a supposed tacitnod to the fact that the Church were against John too especially as he was not the rightful heir and the divine right of Kings was very popular back then.
The most compellingevidence that Robin Hood did not exist is the fact that there is no way he could steal enough and give it back to the poor enough toremunerate them with what the Sheriff was offering them. 200 Groats or whatever was more money than they’d earn in a life time, probably several times over, so its hard to see a case where a poor serf wouldn’t be at least a bit tempted to dob Robin in. So that suggests then that because the poor rural workers did not do it they lived in fear of him and his “merry” band?Not the best place to be with him and the official arm of the law putting pressure on them to obey. The debate continues.
