Could its leaves have sheltered the “Prince of Thieves”? Planted almost 1,200 years ago in Sherwood Forest (Nottinghamshire, England), the tree called “Major Oak” may have died this year, experts have noted. As the causes of death, the BBC cites “climate change and very intense human activity”. Indeed, this oak, one of the most imposing in the United Kingdom, attracted many tourists, legend has it that the outlaw Robin Hood used its hollow trunk as a hiding place.
“Robin Hood Cave”, “Robin Hood Field”, “Robin Hood Cross”… If the character of the famous archer, very popular across the Channel, has left his mark in the region, his existence remains debated. Several hypotheses are considered. Could he be, as the archivist Joseph Hunter suggests, a valet of Edward II? Or rather a small landowner who revolted against royalty in the 14th century, as mentioned in period documents from a manor in the region?
For historians Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman, this figure of the big-hearted outcast was rather born from the fusion of several characters: a certain Robert Hood of Wakefield – perhaps the same as the one mentioned by Joseph Hunter –, Fulk FitzWarin, an opponent of King John at the beginning of the 13th century, and an outlaw peasant from Barnsdale Forest.
It could also simply take its name from the expression “Robin (short for Robert) Hood (“hood”)”, used in the 13th century in England to designate outlaws. Between 1200 and 1350, English judicial archives record several bandits of the same name.
Apparitions in the Middle Ages
In any case, the name Robin Hood has been circulating in England since the 13th century, and its first written appearance dates from around 1377. In a poem entitled Piers Plowman, the author William Langland has one of his protagonists say: “I know many ballads about Robin Hood, but I don’t know a single verse about Our Lord or Our Lady. »
Several ballads from the Middle Ages – written traces before the 14th century of an older oral tradition – in fact recount the adventures of the Anglo-Saxon rebel, such as “Robin Hood’s Gesture” or “Robin Hood and the Monk”. Accompanied by Petit Jean and armed with his famous long bow, he flies shamelessly and does not hesitate to cut off the heads of his enemies.
A cruelty symptomatic of a society where violence is commonplace, and where the sheriff – omnipresent representative of central power – becomes the main enemy. “We must look for the origins of the Robin Hood ballads in the economic and social demands specific to the peasants of this era”, caught between the decline of feudalism and emerging capitalism, explains the historian Jean-Philippe Genet in the magazine L’Histoire.
Reappropriation of the myth
This figure of Robin Hood will then be taken up by chroniclers of the 15th and 16th centuries, who will make the archer a historical character. The latter anchor the exploits of their hero between the 12th and 13th centuries in the forests of Inglewood and Barnsdale – which later became Sherwood Forest.
Over the decades, and the evolution of society, the hero loses his cruelty and becomes a “yeoman”, a free peasant living outside of norms with his band of merry companions. A popular figure in British popular theatre, his stories are performed during the “May Games” celebrations.
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With the spread of printing at the end of the Middle Ages, Robin Hood gained popularity among the ruling classes, who reappropriated the myth. A figure prized by the monarchy, the character lost his status as yeoman and was ennobled to become Robert de Loxley, fighting Prince John Lackland, usurper of King Richard II. It nevertheless continues to be a symbol of rebellion against authority, that of the lower nobility against the big landowners.
It was also during this time that stories presented Robin Hood as a thief stealing from the rich to give to the poor. A perspective that would be taken up several centuries later, first by feature films with Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn, then by Walt Disney who made him a hero for children.
