According to legend, when Robin Hood did his stealing from the rich to give to the poor, he did so in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, and his enemy was the Sheriff of Nottingham. But, according to an historian, Robin Hood actually came from Kent.
The legendary figure, who is said to have resided in the Nottingham area, may have actually been William of Kensham, according to historian Sean McGlynn.
William conducted a guerrilla war against the French forces of Prince Louis who invaded England in 1216 in support of a group of barons who rebelled against King John during the civil war known as the First Barons' War.
The statue of Robin Hood at Nottingham Castle was created in 1952
Mr McGlynn has suggested that William led a band of archers who attacked the French forces in the forests of the Kent Weald before the little-known 18-month occupation by the French of a large part of England was finally thwarted.
Writing in the magazine History Today, Mr McGlynn said: 'It’s hard to find another contender for the Robin Hood story from this age or afterwards who is both a hero and an outlaw.
'In William we have both: a feted resistance fighter, loyally protecting the crown, but also, from Louis’ perspective, an egregious outlaw defying the righteous rule of the imposed new regime.'
The academic said that other contenders for the legend such as Roger Godberd were at the wrong time and were thieves and outlaws that lacked the hero status.
He also said that William would have travelled to the Nottingham area because it was the main headquarters of the English army at the time.
But Mr McGlynn accepts that William could only be one of many inspirations for the famous story.
'The most probable truth behind the Robin Hood legend is that over time storytellers incorporated and conflated various characters from a range of stories and settled on the instantly recognisable name of Robin Hood as the woodsman.'
Robin Hood is first mentioned by name in the official documents for Yorkshire of 1230, where he is described as Robertus Hood fugitivis who has failed to appear in court.
Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, where Robin Hood supposedly stole from the rich to give to the poor
Read more: Robin Hood 'was a freedom fighter stopping the French in Kent, not a hero feeding the poor in Sherwood Forest' | Mail Online
The legendary figure, who is said to have resided in the Nottingham area, may have actually been William of Kensham, according to historian Sean McGlynn.
William conducted a guerrilla war against the French forces of Prince Louis who invaded England in 1216 in support of a group of barons who rebelled against King John during the civil war known as the First Barons' War.
The statue of Robin Hood at Nottingham Castle was created in 1952
Mr McGlynn has suggested that William led a band of archers who attacked the French forces in the forests of the Kent Weald before the little-known 18-month occupation by the French of a large part of England was finally thwarted.
Writing in the magazine History Today, Mr McGlynn said: 'It’s hard to find another contender for the Robin Hood story from this age or afterwards who is both a hero and an outlaw.
'In William we have both: a feted resistance fighter, loyally protecting the crown, but also, from Louis’ perspective, an egregious outlaw defying the righteous rule of the imposed new regime.'
The academic said that other contenders for the legend such as Roger Godberd were at the wrong time and were thieves and outlaws that lacked the hero status.
He also said that William would have travelled to the Nottingham area because it was the main headquarters of the English army at the time.
But Mr McGlynn accepts that William could only be one of many inspirations for the famous story.
'The most probable truth behind the Robin Hood legend is that over time storytellers incorporated and conflated various characters from a range of stories and settled on the instantly recognisable name of Robin Hood as the woodsman.'
Robin Hood is first mentioned by name in the official documents for Yorkshire of 1230, where he is described as Robertus Hood fugitivis who has failed to appear in court.
Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, where Robin Hood supposedly stole from the rich to give to the poor
Read more: Robin Hood 'was a freedom fighter stopping the French in Kent, not a hero feeding the poor in Sherwood Forest' | Mail Online
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