The Real Robin Hood May Have Been an Anglo-Saxon Hitman Who Killed an English King

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Contrary to popular belief, Robin Hood may not have been the merry medieval outlaw of Sherwood Forest. Rather, a look at real historical figures who inspired the legend are narrowed down to the most unlikely suspect: an Anglo-Saxon hitman who may have assassinated the King of England.

Today’s guest, Peter Staveley, proposes that Robin Hood lived during the time of William II (near the time of the Norman conquest of England in 1066), rather than Richard I and Prince John of the late 1100s. He argues that Robin was responsible for the death of William II, also known as Rufus, in what was long considered a hunting accident in the New Forest in 1100. This act conveniently paved the way for William’s brother to ascend the throne as Henry I. Staveley places Robin deep within the geography of South Yorkshire, with strong ties to historic Hallamshire, Loxley, Bradfield, and Ecclesfield, challenging the traditional narrative and the long-held association with Nottingham.

We explore how Yorkshire, particularly Sheffield, might reclaim the legacy of Robin Hood from Nottingham and reveal the true, rougher man behind the legend.

Staveley is author of “Robin Unhooded, And the Death of a King.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's got here with another episode of the History Unplugged podcast.
0:08.0	The story of Robin Hood has been told and re-told dozens, if not hundreds of times since the first English
0:14.1	ballads of the 14th century all throughout the 19th and 20th centuries with Ivanhoe,
0:18.3	the Errol Flynn versions, the Kevin Kostner version, and most recently the 2018
0:23.0	Terran Eggerton version that imagines Robin Hood
0:25.8	as a medieval version of a SEAL team's six member.
0:29.4	Yes, it is that ridiculous.
0:31.3	Most historians think he never existed or is very loosely linked to a
0:35.2	real person and the bonds are so loose that they can barely appear in any recognizable figure in the historical record similar to King Arthur.
0:43.0	However, today's guest, Peter Stavely, believes he's found Robin Hood by looking at an earlier period of time than when most people think he lived.
0:51.0	Robin Hood's story places him in the late 1100s during the
0:54.4	Third Crusade and the reign of Richard the Lionheart but safely thinks the
0:58.4	historical inspiration for the real Robin Hood actually lived a century earlier around the time shortly after the Norman conquest.
1:06.0	If this is true, that means that Robin Hood wasn't a figure of the high middle ages with the
1:11.0	forked beard and mustache we all know and love, but would have been a much more Anglo-Saxon figure speaking old English and practically being a character out of Bailwolf.
1:20.0	Furthermore, Stavley thinks there's good evidence that Robin Hood may have actually assassinated the hated
1:26.2	king, William Rufus, who was replaced by Edward I, who kicked off a number of reforms that
1:31.8	eventually led to the Magna Carta.
1:33.4	Now there's a whole lot to get into here, and stateively describes all of this.
1:37.2	He's the author of the new book Robin Unhooded in the death of a king.
1:40.5	And if so, it challenges many of the assumptions we had about one of the world's most beloved figures.
1:45.0	Hope you enjoyed this discussion on Peter Stavley.
	...

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