Robin Hood: The English Outlaw Unmasked

by David Baldwin

The identity of Robin Hood is one of the great historical mysteries of English history - until now. Everyone has heard of Robin Hood, the brilliant archer who 'robbed the rich to give to the poor' and who always triumphed over the forces of evil, but the man behind the legend is as mysterious as King Arthur. There were outlaws who lived in the royal forests preying on unwary travelers, and Robin Hoods whose names are recorded in historical documents: but no one has been able to prove that one of these real Robins was the individual whose exploits were commemorated in ballad and song. David Baldwin sets out to find the real Robin Hood, looking for clues in the earliest ballads and in official and legal documents of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. His search takes him to the troubled reign of King Henry III, his conclusions turn history on its head and David Baldwin reveals the name of the man who inspired the tales of Robin Hood.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Medieval

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2010

About the author

David Baldwin was a historian that specialised in late medieval history, particularly the Wars of the Roses, and was a lecturer at both the University of Leicester and the University of Nottingham. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2012.

Reviews

[Deborah Pickstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third time of writing this review.....pesky computer was playing up big time at home.....

Bingo! Finally an actual historian agrees with me.....I have long held that the 'real' Robin Hood was a follower of Simon de Montfort and his outlawry began after the Battle of Evesham - after all, Edward I was hardly the forgiving kind (though he was only the heir at the time! (Though I was surprised to lean that David Baldwin's favoured candidate was forgiven his deeds as an outlaw and went home to live out his life - though his partner in crime was executed - you win some and you lose some....). Personally, I had discounted Richard the Lionheart for the King's role for other reasons but I also discovered that the legends of Robin Hood only began from 1261, so that was Richard out (never mind that he would never have joined them in the Greenwood or that his possibilities for that were few, since he only spent 5 months out of 10 years as king actually in England.....but I digress!)

It was fascinating to find that someone else was thinking along the same lines as me, though it could be that the reasons were different; I don't find it so difficult to believe that Earl Simon was both self-serving and altruistic - it would be a rare person who would act purely out of altruism.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a careful exploration of the historical Robin Hood, though it does draw on the popular ballads that circulated about him in comparing the lives of real people that may have inspired the legends to the events of the ballads. It's less conclusive than the blurb would suggest, which makes it better: as someone who's studied Robin Hood, although from the point of view of the literature, I don't think it's possible to pin him down so precisely. But it's certainly possible to examine historical figures who possibly contributed to the legends, and that's what this book does.

I'm baffled by the other review which says that Baldwin spends too much time talking about the possible reigns in which the Robin Hood legends could have come into being and proliferated. If you're looking for the historical origin of the mythic figure, that's what you have to do, and if you want the reader to understand your conclusions based on that research, you have to include it in the book.

It's a very readable book, with a section of full-colour illustrations and photographs, and a section of black and white drawings as well. While it doesn't solve the mystery, it illuminates some very real possibilities.

[Iain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up from a visit to the actual Sherwood Forest. More an academic paper than a book, speculating on who the real Robin Hood may have been. An interesting read, particularly the first half. Once the author starts to concentrate on his preferred candidate for being the real Hood, it starts to meander a little. In the end, the argument for Roger Godbeard being Robin Hood seems no more compelling than any of the other candidates dismissed. The main conclusion should surely be that it doesn't actually matter any more who was the real inspiration for the songs and the stories of Robin Hood - what matters is what he has come to stand for - and against. A myth that has outgrown any one man. Intriguing though, and I feel I learned a great deal about the time and place of the original story.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for research and a lot of the information contained was both interesting and useful - I feel like it really whetted my appetite and gave me a base to build my knowledge on top of. Unfortunately, I also think that the author did veer away from his point a little too much in the middle (I get the inclusion of the Simon de Montfort stuff, but too much time was spent giving every detail of the events rather than talking about why it was relevant) and so the book lost its way a little. However, this was a fun and easy read so I'd still recommend if you're thinking of picking it up!

[Steven Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, but don't read it looking for info on any kind of real Robin Hood. The author doesn't even mention the outlaw in several chapters, so consider it more an examination of royal wars and outlaws.
If there is a "real" Robin Hood - and there is - then it's the one we invent ourselves, the one each successive generation should re-imagine. A lot of work has gone in to this, for a question that cannot be answered; the author's bold assertion is quite a stretch in itself. But for background info on potentially useful characters, it's quite useful.

[Joseph R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robin Hood has had a massive amount of mythology grow up around him. Is it possible to peel away the layers and find the historical inspiration for the many legends? That task is the central purpose for David Baldwin in writing this book.

He begins with a survey of the earliest ballads and stories about Robin Hood. The earliest is Little Geste of Robyn Hode and his Meiny. It is a compilation of five different stories (in verse) about Robin and his men. Using this and other early legends about the hero, Baldwin then examines various possible candidates for Robin. Turns out there have been plenty of people who took to the forest to fight what they thought was injustice imposed by a an unfair and corrupt government, some even named Robert Hode or Robyn Hud or other variants.

Baldwin also searches for analogues of other characters like Little John, the Sheriff of Nottingham, the King of England, etc. The search helps the author triangulate the most likely time and actual people. The result is a fascinating survey of English history in the 1200s and 1300s. Plenty of other corrupt rulers besides Prince John populate those times, as well as dramatic civil strife over the implementation of Magna Carta and the first attempts at parliamentary rule. The Robin Hood story almost gets sidetracked for a while. The book comes around at the end and makes a compelling argument for a pair of friends (Roger Godberd and Walter Devyas) who have many parallels to the exploits of Robin Hood and Little John.

The research in the book is thorough and scholarly without being boring and academic. The characters are naturally dynamic, with exciting lives of crime and redemption (to greater or lesser extents). The argument is enjoyable and persuasive while not being definitive. With such a great distance in time certitude is hard to come by; surely the bards of the fourteenth century embellished and gathered together the best elements of several stories to make the most entertain tales they could. Picking the scant evidence apart and putting together a convincing whole is a great challenge. Baldwin rises to the occasion and delivers a fascinating survey of the various and best historical people who inspired the legends of Robin Hood.

[MichaelK · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half is a decent overview of the early Robin Hood legends. The second half focuses on Baldwin's preferred candidate for the 'real' Robin Hood - the historical figure who he thinks had the biggest influence on the early stories. There is certainly a case to be made that Roger Godberd was one of many influences, but Baldwin is too confident when stating that he was the main influence, or the original. The book is easy to read and nicely illustrated.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable

The argument is very simple and easy to follow. What remains is a list of facts. There is a typo.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen,
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men.
Feared by the bad,loved by the good,Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood'.

Never to be missed, Richard Greene deep in Sherwood, with Maid Marion, Little John, Will Scarlett, Much, Friar Tuck and the gang. The smiling, happy outlaws haunting the Great North Road, much to the annoyance of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the nasty, evil Prince John, and forever faithful to good King Richard the Lionheart.
For those whose childhood t.v. memories are set in stone and draped in Lincoln green, then do not read David Baldwin's 'Robin Hood'. The English Outlaw Unmasked shatters all those images all the way back to Errol Flynn. Even Robin's grave at Kirklees Priory, a place I regularly drive past and tip my cap towards is debunked.
No matter how deep the Pipe Rolls and Court Rolls, Charters and various dusty medieval documents are trawled, there are no appearances of any Robin of Loxley or any Earl of Huntingdon who has been unjustly dealt and turned outlaw.
David Baldwin writes a good history lesson through some one hundred and fifty years from the death of Henry II to William Langland's 'Piers Plowman' in 1377, before finally revealing the true identity of the personality behind the legend.

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was alright, but because of the scant information there is for Robin Hood it felt that there was a lot of filler to pad it out. A number of chapters didn't mention Robin at all so that it seemed Baldwin was going off on a tangent and had forgotten the aim of the book. You could see or rather hope that he would bring it all together in the concluding chapter but some of it did not seem relevant. Determining which king was reigning during Robin Hood's exploits did not require a potted history on each possible and not so possible candidate for example. His conclusion was interesting and not an approach I had read/heard about before so for that reason it was worth the read. Sadly because of the elusive nature of his subject he didn't need quite so many pages to tell us his theory as to the true identity of that well known man in green.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest, I feel this would have made a better academic journal article than an actual book. Excellent scholarly research and a sound argument, but lacking a bit in explanation and "narrative," for lack of a better word. I found that the author spent more time detailing the very interesting people who turned out not to be Robin Hood than he did discussing the actual historical basis for the legend.

[Booklovers Melbourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't help feeling I should have enjoyed this book much more than I did. Whilst I found the information contained within interesting, I was not entirely convinced by the author's conclusions. I have to echo an earlier reviewer's comment that the book does tangent quite dramatically and at some length from the core topic. At only 240 pages, still worth a read, for all that.

[Steve Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't help feeling I should have enjoyed this book much more than I did. Whilst I found the information contained within interesting, I was not entirely convinced by the author's conclusions. I have to echo an earlier reviewer's comment that the book does tangent quite dramatically and at some length from the core topic. At only 240 pages, still worth a read, for all that.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful. A look at all the possibilities of just who Robin Hood was and what we may have gotten wrong about him over the centuries