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Robin Hood is one of the heroes of medieval English times. He had a big heart and lived outside the law, hiding in Sherwood Forest near the city of Nottingham. The best archer, defender of the poor and oppressed, fought against the sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John Landless, who used public force to illegitimately monopolize the wealth of the nobles who opposed them. In medieval England, any individual who opposed royal edicts was an outlaw.
According to legend, a man named Hood lived in Locksley and Wakefield, in York County. He was the nephew of a blacksmith in the service of a nobleman and was born in 1290. In 1322, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, took up arms against King Edward II of England, including Robin Hood. Historical data suggests that some self-proscribed nobles might have been inspired by the legend. Also to simple men of the town. Between the reign of John, king of England between 1199 and 1216, and the appearance of the first ballads in the 15th century, there appear to be records of a dozen bandits who used the nickname Robin Hood, to the point that historians believe that it was the way in which forest brigands were generically called.
This historical framework allows us to assume that the legend is inspired by the existence of armed bands made up of peasants and woodcutters who dedicated themselves to both looting and harassing the nobility, after the triumph of the Norman invasion, in the 11th century. Several regions of England claim to have been the place of Robin Hood's birth and adventures, the best known being Nottingham and its Sherwood Forest. However, at the beginning of several stories he is cited as Robin of Barnsdale, placing his followers in the woods around Pontefract, in Yorkshire, near "Robin Hood's Bay".
But there are also a large number of stories that argue for the real existence of Robin Hood. One of them says that he was a defender of Simon de Montfort, and at his side with his rebels he fought against Henry III in the Battle of the Barons in 1260. Another tradition states that he was born in Wakefield and took part in Thomas Lancaster's rebellion against Edward II in 1322. However, the most real story may be the one offered by the name of Robert Hood, who appears in a legal document from 1226 and who is described as a fugitive. It is not known for sure if this Robert Hood was the one who later gave rise to the legend of this character.
There is a tradition in which it is said that Robin Hood was pardoned by the king of England. The king in question is not known, although there is talk of Richard the Lionheart, although a medieval writing mentions him under the name of Edward. Historically speaking, Edward II could be the monarch behind this story, since it is known that it was in 1323. The search for the real Robin Hood is complicated, since Hood, Hod and Hoder were very common surnames in medieval England, the same happened with the names Robert and Robin. The truth is that the word “Robinhood” soon became a nickname that many officers used to describe those exiled from the law. There is evidence of at least 8 people before 1300 who were assigned the pseudonym.
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