Robin Hood and His Band of Merry Men

The King used England to finance his many wars

From the film

The year is 1195 and the king of England is Richard Cœur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart.

His reputation as a great military crusaders leader and warrior is spread far and wide, scoring considerable victories against the Muslim and Arab leader Saladin

While the king is fighting in the crusader wars, his brother Prince John has taken his place in England.

Richard I, was a busy king, also ruling as The Duke of Normandy, The Duke of Aquitaine, The Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany.

He didn’t spend much time in England and use it mainly as a tax purse to finance his many crusades in other far-off lands.

Prince John, who has had his eye on the throne for many years, was pleased to use his brother’s absence to take the throne and rule England as his own.

Prince John had many who supported him, including the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and the notable Sir Guy of Gisbourne, but he also had many that opposed him and were firm supporters of King Richard, among those supporters was one Robin of Loxley the Earl of Huntington.

Sherwood Forest became his home

Little John & Robin Hood

Robin was a brilliant archer and a very popular man so when Prince John Sent Sir guy to turf Robin out of his home and to strip him of all his wealth and titles, he fled to live as an outlaw in the Forest of Nottingham Sherwood, there he formed over time, a small band of followers.

Some of the characters who were members of Robin's band later became as well know as Robin himself these included Little John, Friar Tuck, Allan a Dale, Will Scarlet and Much the Miller.

It was very common to wear hoods in those days and Robin soon became known as Robin the Hood.

The champion of the people

The injustice and tyranny of Prince John soon drove Robin Hood to quickly become the champion of the people and was portrayed as the fearless outlaw leading his band of "merry men" against the tyranny of Prince John, Robins main goal was to regain his land and title and in this end robbed many of the supporters of Prince John and with the money fed the poor who were taxed to the hilt by Prince.

Poaching the King’s deer and robbing the rich to give to the poor soon gave Robin Hood a wide circle of supporters and gave to build the legend that was Robin Hood and his band of ‘merry men’ all dressed in green to help them meld into the green Sherwood Forest.

Told and re-told over six hundred years

Robin was a fine archer

The Story about the adventures of Robin Hood has been told and re-told for over six hundred years and has invariably changed many times, in this period of England’s history.

Not too many people could read or write and consequently very little was written down about the exploits of this well-known outlaw, instead, people learnt about Robin and his band through the ballads and songs of the many wandering minstrels.

And songwriters being songwriters mixed truth and fiction.
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

He called the greatest archers to a tavern on the green
They vowed to help the people of the King
They handled all the trouble on the English country scene
And still found plenty of time to sing

Chorus

He came to Sherwood Forest with a feather in his cap
A fighter never looking for a fight
His bow was always ready and he kept his arrows sharp
He used them to fight for what was right

And back to the Chorus again. All together now, robin hood robin hood

The romantic story of Robin avoiding capture until the return of King Richard from the Crusades gaining a full pardon and the restoration of Robin’s lands is one of the many.