Robin Hood historical. Robin Hood - real person or myth? YU

Sergey Lvov

He spent his life in the forest. Barons, bishops and abbots feared him. He was loved by peasants and artisans, widows and the poor. (From ancient chronicles.)

This is how they talk about his death. One day, a glorious archer felt that his hands did not have enough strength to pull the bowstring, and his legs were having difficulty walking along the usual forest path. And then he realized: old age was approaching...
He went to the monastery, whose abbess was known as a skilled healer, and asked to treat him. The nun pretended to be delighted by his arrival, cordially escorted the stranger to a distant cell, carefully laid him on the bed, and with a sharp knife opened a vein in his powerful arm (bloodletting was then considered good remedy from many ailments). And, saying that she would return immediately, she left.
Time passed slowly. The blood flowed faster. But the nun still did not return. Night has come. Dawn came after the night, and then the shooter realized that he had become a victim of betrayal. Above the head of his bed was a window into the forest. But the bleeding man no longer had enough strength to reach the window. There was barely enough breath in my chest to last time blow the curved hunting horn. A faint, trembling sound of horns sounded across the forest. True friend heard the calling signal. In alarm, he hurried to help.
Late! No one could have saved the shooter. So the enemies who long years They did not know how to defeat Robin Gul either in a hot battle or in a stubborn duel, and they tormented him with black betrayal.
The ancient historian names the year and day when this happened: November 18, 1247.
Several centuries have passed. Wars began and ended. The shortest lasted several days, the longest - a hundred years. Devastating epidemics swept through the cities and villages of England. Uprisings broke out. Kings came and went on the throne. People were born and died, generations replaced generations.
However, a stormy series of events, as they liked to say in ancient books, could not erase the name of Robin Hood from the memory of the English.
One day, it was about two hundred and fifty years ago, a heavy carriage slowly drove into a small town near London. The carriage was elegant and magnificent: only the most important people kingdoms rode around in these. Indeed, an important gentleman was sitting in the carriage: the Bishop of London himself! He came to the town to read a sermon to the townspeople. While the carriage was traveling from the city gates to the church square, the bishop managed to notice that the town seemed to have died out. The bishop was not surprised by this. This means that the rumor of his arrival preceded the carriage, and the townspeople hurried to the church: they do not often see and hear his Eminence. And he habitually imagined how he would get out of the carriage, how he would slowly ascend the steps of the temple through the respectfully parting crowd... But the church square was empty. There was a heavy lock on the church doors.
The bishop stood for a long time in the empty square, turning purple with anger and trying to maintain a dignified appearance befitting his rank and solemn vestments, which was not at all easy in front of a locked door.
Finally, a passerby, hurrying not to go to church, said to the bishop as he walked:
“Sir, you are waiting in vain, we are celebrating Robin Hood’s day today, the whole city is in the forest, and there will be no one in the church.”
There are different stories about what happens next. Some say that the bishop got into the carriage and returned to London, uttering in his mind words that bishops do not usually utter. Others claim that he went to the city meadow, where the townspeople, dressed in green caftans, depicted scenes from the life of Robin Hood, and joined the spectators.
What kind of life was this? Why is the memory of her preserved for centuries? Why the whole city could you remember Robin Hood for many hours in a row and think only about him?
What do you know about Robin Hood, except those pages of Walter Scott's novel "Ivanhoe", where he is depicted under the name of the brave yeoman, free peasant Loxley?
Robin Hood has two biographies. One is very short. Scientists have collected it bit by bit in ancient chronicles. From this biography you can learn that Robin Hood was ruined by rich enemies and fled from them to Sherwood Forest, a dense and dense bowl that stretched for many tens of miles. Fugitives like him joined him. He united them under his command into a formidable detachment of “forest brothers” and soon became the real ruler of Sherwood Forest. Robin Hood and his archers, numbering more than a hundred, hunted forbidden royal game, feuded with rich monasteries, robbed passing Norman knights, helped the persecuted and the poor.
The authorities announced a reward for the capture of Robin Hood many times. But not a single peasant into whose hut he entered, not a single “forest brother” was seduced by these promises.
That's all, or almost all, that historians know about Robin Hood.
The second biography of Robin Hood is much more detailed. From it you can learn how he first encountered the royal foresters and how this meeting ended; how he met the fugitive monk - Brother Tuck - and Little John, who became his assistants, and how Robin Hood won archery competitions, how he was at enmity with the Sheriff of Nottingham, who oppressed the peasants, how he refused to serve King Richard the Lionheart.
Where is all this and more about Robin Hood recorded? Not in historical works, but in folk songs- ballads, as literary historians call them.
They were composed throughout England over many centuries. The author of these songs was the people, and the performers were traveling singers. Songs about Robin Hood were overgrown with various details, several small songs merged into one or one large one broke up into several small ones... The singers who sang these ballads, if they knew how to write, wrote down the words of the song and, for a fee, gave them to those who wished to copy them. And when the first printing houses appeared in England, songs about Robin Hood began to be printed. At first these were separate sheets with prints of songs. They were eagerly bought up by residents of cities and villages, who celebrated Robin Hood Day once a year in the summer.
It was in these songs that the second biography of Robin Hood gradually took shape. In it he is the way the people imagined him. If the ancient Latin chronicle claims that Robin Hood was a nobleman, then the folk song decisively calls him the son of a peasant. Simple people England legendary biography Robin Hood began to be considered a real life story. For many decades and even centuries, everything that was told about Robin Hood in songs was believed by the British as an immutable historical fact.
There is interesting evidence for this. One of the oldest ballads tells how Robin Hood, as a fifteen-year-old youth, went to the city of Nottingham for an archery competition. Halfway there, the royal foresters stopped him and began to mock him. “Will this boy, who can barely bend his own bow, dare to appear in front of the king in a competition!” - they exclaimed. Robin Hood made a bet with them that he would hit the target within a hundred feet, and won the bet. But the royal foresters not only did not pay him for his winnings, but also threatened to beat him if he dared to show up at the competition.
Then Robin Hood, as the ballad enthusiastically reports, shot all the mockers with his bow. The people did not like the royal foresters, who did not allow the poor man to collect brushwood in the forest, much less hunt forest game or fish in forest streams and rivers. Not liking the royal foresters, folk singers sang this ballad with delight.
And so in April 1796, that is, five centuries after Robin Hood lived, a message appeared in one of the English magazines. Here it is: "When workmen were digging in a garden in Coxlane, near Nottingham, a few days ago, they came across six human skeletons, which lay close to each other, in a neat row. It is believed that this is part of the fifteen forest rangers who were killed by Robin Hood."
One can imagine how the magazine publisher asked the author of the note: “Are you sure that these are the same skeletons?” And the author answered, as journalists of all times answer: “Well, let’s write in the word “supposed” for caution.” But neither the author nor the publisher thought of doubting that Robin Hood really fought with the royal foresters on the road to the glorious city of Nottingham : after all, this is what is sung about in ballads!
Why Robin Hood became a favorite hero folk songs? To answer this question, we may have to remind you of what you learned in history lessons: in 1066, England was captured by the Normans led by William the Conqueror. They took away land, houses and property from the indigenous population of England - the Saxons - and imposed their laws on them with fire and sword. An ancient historian names Robin Hood as one of those who were robbed of their land.
Enmity between the old and new rulers continued two centuries later. Do you remember what place the enmity between Saxon and Norman nobles occupies in Walter Scott's book "Ivanhoe"? However, the Saxon nobles soon made peace with the conquerors. But the songs about Robin Hood were not forgotten. They were sung by the detachments of peasants who rebelled under the leadership of Watt Tyler. The people felt in their hearts: the struggle of Robin Hood, glorified in songs, is not only the struggle of the Saxons against the Normans, but in general the struggle of the people against the oppressors.
I'm leafing through an old book that contains ballads about Robin Hood one after another. Here is a ballad about how Robin Hood fought with his other worst enemy- the knight Guy Guysbourne and how, having defeated him and dressed in his attire - and you need to know that Guy Guysbourne always wore a tanned horse skin over his armor - he again outwitted the Sheriff of Nottingham. Here is the ballad "Robin Hood and the Bishop", which tells how Robin Hood took out his anger against the church on the bishop. Here is a ballad about how Robin Hood saved the three sons of a poor widow - and in each of these ballads he is always the same: brave in battle, faithful in friendship, a joker, a merry fellow, a mocker, an ageless folk hero.
I told you about Robin Hood, as he was portrayed in folk ballads, and now you yourself can see how Walter Scott changed this image when he brought him to Ivanhoe.
In Walter Scott, Yeoman Loxley, the name under which Robin God is written in the novel, becomes Richard's faithful assistant. Robin Hood, as his people praised him, refused to serve King Richard the Lionheart.
People remember Robin Hood exactly as he was sung in ancient folk songs. And this is the immortality of Robin Hood.

Drawings by P. Bunin.

Most famous character medieval epic- noble robber Robin Hood. What is the legend about? This article outlines summary. Robin Hood, in addition, is a personality who has aroused the interest of historians and inspired prose writers and poets for several centuries. The article also provides works of art, dedicated to the leader of the forest robbers.

Ballads of Robin Hood

A summary of the poetic work of Scottish folklorist Robert Burns can be summarized in a few sentences. The work of the eighteenth-century poet, which is based on a medieval legend, should be read in the original. Burns' legend is an example of poetic romanticism. Main role It’s not the plot that plays here, but literary language. Nevertheless, we will present a brief summary.

Robin Hood lived against fate. He was called a thief only because he did not let others steal. He was a robber, but he did not harm a single poor person. Little John once started a conversation with Robin about his duties in the gang. He, of course, ordered the inexperienced robber to rob the moneybags.

It's time for lunch. However, the gang leader was not used to eating at his own expense. Therefore, he ordered John to go off to fulfill his noble robber duty.

The young member of the gang did everything as his mentor taught. However, the victim of the robbery turned out to be an impoverished knight, who had once taken a large loan from the abbot. Robin Hood helped the poor man, providing him with armor and everything else necessary to fulfill his knightly duty. The first song tells this story. In the following chapters we're talking about about other glorious exploits of Robin.

The most popular is the version of the writer and historian Walter Scott. Based on a medieval legend, the Scottish author created the novel Ivanhoe. The work is known all over the world. It has been filmed more than once. Therefore, it is more important to analyze the image of the famous robber in the interpretation of the Scottish author than to present a brief summary.

Robin Hood in the prose of Walter Scott

The novel depicts an era of conflict between the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons. According to Scott's version, Robin Hood lived in the second half of the twelfth century. According to critics, best chapters This adventure work is dedicated to the struggle of people's liberators against the arbitrariness of power. Robin Hood's squad performs glorious feats in the novel. People's liberators storm the castle of Front de Boeuf. And the servants of the Norman feudal lord are unable to resist its onslaught.

The image of Robin Hood in Scott's work symbolizes not only justice, but also freedom, strength, and independence.

Based on the legends about the just robber, he wrote two novels. The French prose writer significantly changed the canonical history. What can you learn by reading the summary?

"Robin Hood - King of Thieves", like other classic works, is gripping prose. The novel in question also has an unexpected ending. How is Robin Hood depicted in the work of the French writer?

In the book, Robin is surrounded, as expected, by loyal friends. Among them is John Malyutka. But French writer paid attention not only to the exploits of the fearless robber. Robin Hood in Dumas's novel can also be called lyrical hero. He flirts with women. But at the same time he remains faithful to his beloved.

In the novel about Robin Hood, the heroes are either positive or negative. This is due to the author's style and romantic stories born in medieval era. However, Dumas' version is an unfinished story. The continuation is set out in the book “Robin Hood in Exile.”

In Russian prose

Russian writers also dedicated works of art to the noble leader of the forest robbers. One of them is Mikhail Gershenzon (“Robin Hood”).

A summary of the story about the beloved hero of the English people in any version is a presentation of an ancient legend. Robin Hood is a character with fearlessness, nobility, and a keen sense of justice. The interpretation of a particular author differs in its system of images, interpretation historical events. The image of the main character remains unchanged.

The story of Robin Hood was probably extremely close in spirit to Gershenzon. The writer died during the Great Patriotic War. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, he died on the battlefield “a completely Robin Hood death.”

Robin Hood is a hero whose story will always inspire writers and filmmakers. It doesn't matter how true the stories in the books about him are. The important thing is that the hero's image represents an example of honor, courage and self-sacrifice.

Most of us know the legend about noble robber Robin Hood. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor, whom the rich robbed. In any legend there is some truth and a lot of fiction. The legend of Robin Hood is no different in this sense. Scientists have long been trying to understand who was the prototype of this folk hero. During the entire study this issue There are several common versions. Let's figure it out.

Robin Dobry Maly

Let's start a little unconventionally and from afar, namely with the folklore of the Saxons and Scandinavians - more precisely, with the forest spirit Puck, or Peck, or Pook ( English Puck), who in England itself is called Hob ( English Hob). The folklore of the Saxons is important here, since part of this ancient Germanic tribe participated in the formation ethnic composition population of the British Isles. The Scandinavians also participated, but later, starting with the era of the Norman Conquest of England 1066-1072.

Actually, Puck is a forest spirit who scares people and makes them wander through the thickets. And if in Scandinavian folklore Puck is a creature associated more with evil, then for the British he is a joker and a spoiler, a trickster (he can either help or harm). Rudyard Kipling in Tales of Old England described him as an elf dressed all in green. In addition to the colors of clothing (Robin Hood wore a green cloak/cape with a pointed hood) and dual behavior (a robber, but a good robber), there is also a similarity in the name, since the English call Puck, or Hob, also by the name Robin Goodfellow - Robin the Good Fellow . One might assume that at some stage Hob “incarnated” himself into the character of the Robin Hood legend, but this is not entirely true.

Historical prototypes

The most common version of Robin Hood is the one in which the robber is a contemporary of King Richard I the Lionheart (second half of the 12th century). This is reported in a chronicle of the 16th century. But there is a nuance here - the famous episode from the legend of Robin Hood, which describes his participation in archery competitions. The fact is that such competitions in England began to be held no earlier than the 13th century. However, nothing prevented this story from becoming a legend right away.

Other information relating to 1261 tells us about a certain robber Robin, who ruled the forests of England at that time. There is also evidence according to which Robert Goad (Hood or Hod) was born in 1290, lived in the era of Edward II, at the age of 32 he found himself in the service of the Earl of Lancaster, who was defeated during the uprising he raised against the king, and his servants were declared outlaw. To avoid justice, Robert went to Sherwood Forest, where he gathered a band of robbers with the aim of extorting money from the rich. There is a record about this same Robert that he worked for several months at the court of Edward II - the legend beautifully played out this episode, building its own chronological sequence of events. Robert died in 1346 in the Kirkley monastery from a serious illness.

It turns out that the fact of the existence of the famous robber (or several) is documented and dates back to the 13th-14th centuries. But did he and his gang really live up to the image that popular rumor created?

Daniel Maclise. Robin Hood and his men entertain Richard the Lionheart in Sherwood Forest

It seems not, but most likely not at all. Even if he helped the poor, this is not recorded in any document. He did not know the girl Marian (Robin's legendary lover). Marian found herself in the legend of a noble robber from a 13th-century French poem, where she plays the role of the shepherd Robin's girlfriend. Monk Took, a drinker, a merry fellow and an unsurpassed stick fight fighter, either entirely fictional character, or its prototype was real priest one local church, who in reality created his own band of robbers and lived in the XIV-XV centuries. Robin Hood's faithful friend Little John, whose grave was opened in 1784, was indeed a very tall. But he was not a merry fellow at all. On the contrary, he is stern, touchy and capable of brutal murders.

It turns out that real prototype, which formed the basis of the legend about the noble robber Robin Hood and his gang, still existed. But people in those harsh times wanted a “ray of light” so much that it collective image turned out to be completely unrecognizable...

Scientists still do not agree on whether the robber Robin Hood actually existed. There is a version that the legends about the noble robber are echoes of ancient pagan cults of forest creatures. Proponents of this hypothesis cite as evidence one of the nicknames of the Celtic god Puck, who always walked with a retinue of not very kind spirits. This Puck was called Robin Goodfellow. However, today the mythological origin of Robin Hood is not taken seriously by most historians. The fifty legends and legends about the forest robber that have reached us do not contain anything fantastic. The images of Robin Hood and his associates are extremely down-to-earth; they are endowed with many features of real people.

The period in which the Robin Hood legends originated is almost non-controversial. The first mention of people singing ballads about the terrible robber Robin Hood is found in a poem by William Langland dated 1377. So the ballads about Robin appeared, apparently, in the 14th century.

Strange as it may seem to the modern reader, neither the legendary Robin Hood nor his possible historical prototype There was no way they could have met Richard the Lionheart and even been contemporaries of the famous crusader king. The acquaintance of the robber and the monarch was invented in mid-18th century century, and was popularized by Walter Scott. The Scottish novelist did not care much about the historical accuracy of his books, but the power of his talent has been making readers believe that Robin Hood lived in the 12th century for 200 years. This opinion was “cemented” by numerous followers of Sir Scott, who forced Robin and Richard to meet on the pages of books, movie screens and computer monitors.

Robin Hood's Gang

In fact, Robin Hood could live and rob only at least a century after the reign of Richard. Only in the 13th century did archery competitions appear in England - an invariable feature of the ballads about Robin Hood. An active member of the Sherwood gang, Brother Tuck in legend is called a “friar,” that is, a member of a mendicant monastic order. Such orders appeared in England only a few decades after the death of Richard the Lionheart.

It turns out that if real Robin If Gud existed, he could have lived between the middle of the 13th and 14th centuries. Are there any contenders for the title of prototype of the Sherwood robber who lived at this time? It turns out there is, and more than one.

Most often, a certain Robert Hoad is named as the “real” Robin Hood. Some Russian-speaking supporters of this version, violating modern rules transcribers of English proper names prefer to write the surname Hode as "Goad" or even "Hood". But phonetic tricks as arguments in a historical dispute hardly look convincing. Nothing in Robert Hoad's biography indicates that he was interested in robbery.

Possible grave of Robin Hood

He was born in 1290 in the family of forester Adam Hoad, who lived near the town of Wakefield in northern England. In 1322, Earl Warren, master of Howde, joined the Duke of Lancaster's rebellion against King Edward. The rebellion was defeated, its leaders were executed, and ordinary participants were declared outlaws. Robert Hoad's house, where his wife Matilda was already raising several children, was confiscated by the authorities. In 1323, Edward II paid a visit to Nottingham, and a few months later the name of Robert Howde appeared on the lists of the king's servants for a couple of years. The Gazette, dated November 22, 1324, reads: “By order of His Majesty the King, that Robert Howde, ex-Guardsman, be given 5 shillings, in view of his no longer serving in the palace.” Houd died in 1346. This biography is easily combined with one of the ballads, in which Edward II, disguised as an abbot, visits Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, forgives all the robbers and takes them into his service. However, all this may be nothing more than a coincidence.

Even less is known about the other applicant for the title of Robin Hood prototype. The name of one Robin Hoad appears in the year 1226 in the court records of the city of York. It says that this person's property total cost 32 shillings and 6 pence were confiscated, and he himself was declared an outlaw. Further traces of Robin Hod are lost, and not necessarily in Sherwood Forest.

Finally, the third applicant is of noble origin. His name was Robert Fitzut, Earl of Huntington. The only reason for appointing an offspring ancient family The leader of the bandit gang is a gravestone near Kirklees Abbey, where, according to legend, Robin Hood died. The famous archer bequeathed to bury himself there, where will it fall the last arrow he shot from his bow. And then in the middle of the 18th century a sensation broke out: the grave of Robin Hood was found. A certain William Stukeley, a doctor, freemason and amateur historian, wrote in his book “Paleographica Britannica” that the Sherwood robber belonged to the family of the Earls of Huntington. As evidence, he cited an inscription on a grave near Kirklees Abbey. It read: “Here, under this little stone, lies Robert, the true Earl of Huntington. There was no archer more skillful than him. And people called him Robin Hood. England will never see criminals like him and his men again.”

Robin Hood and Little John

This stone can still be seen today, although it is located on private property. True, it is almost impossible to make out the inscription - it has been almost completely erased. The authenticity of it, and of the grave itself, was already in great doubt in the 19th century: the text was written not in Old English, but in the language of the 18th century, “aged” with the help of gross errors. The date of death at the end of the inscription aroused even greater suspicion: “24 cal: Dekembris, 1247.” If we use the Roman calendar format adopted in 13th-century England, we get “23 days before December.” No inscription with a similar spelling of the date is known. Modern scientists believe that both the inscription and the stone are fakes of the 18th century.

By the way, the origin of Robin Hood from the village of Loxley, which became especially popular after the film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” is not seriously considered by anyone. This name is not mentioned either in the ballads of Robin Hood or in documents associated with him. possible prototypes. Loxley was first mentioned as the birthplace of the Earl of Huntington by Joseph Wriston in 1795, defending the theory of noble origin archer It is not clear what motivated him in doing so.

Sheriff of Nottingham

It is quite possible that Robin Hood does not have a specific known to historians prototype. Perhaps in the 13th century there lived in Sherwood Forest a cheerful and successful robber, of which there were many in England at that time. He helped peasants he knew several times, and the stories about this, growing with ever new details and conjectures, turned into folk legends. At least several of Robin Hood's friends and enemies known from the ballads have clearly legendary origins.

Of the entire Sherwood gang, only Little John left some material traces. The Derbyshire village of Heathersage proudly calls itself the birthplace of Robin Hood's closest friend. At the local cemetery they will readily show you his grave, albeit with a modern stone slab without indicating the date of death. When this burial was opened in 1784, they found the skeleton of a real giant. This convinced everyone that the grave was genuine: after all, John was nicknamed the Kid as a joke; according to legend, he was seven feet tall (213 centimeters). In court documents of the 14th century, it was also possible to find a mention of a certain John Le Little, who robbed people in the vicinity of Wakefield. But this can hardly be considered another proof of the reality of Little John’s existence, since nicknames given by height are not uncommon.

Robin Hood and Maid Marian, 1866. Painting by Thomas Frank Hafey

Traces of Robin Hood's remaining associates can only be found in folklore. Some of his friends don't appear in earlier versions legends, they became members of the gang already in late Middle Ages. Around the same time, Robin Hood had a lover. Marian's name is not mentioned in folk ballads, but this character was traditionally present at folk May holidays as the May Queen. Somewhere in the 15th century, Robin Hood became the hero of these walks, usually held at the edge of the forest. How could you not make a wonderful couple? The rest is the work of writers and filmmakers.

The origin of Robin Hood's eternal opponents is also rather vague. The Sheriff of Nottingham, of course, existed, but none of the legends mentions his name. So a dozen royal officials who took turns in this post for several centuries could have felt an acute personal hostility towards the Sherwood robber. The cruel knight Guy of Gisborne, who wore horse skin instead of a cloak, is a legendary figure. At the beginning of the millennium, there were separate legends about him, and at the end of the 15th century he appeared in the ballads about Robin Hood.

Bishop's oak

Who the heroes and anti-heroes of Sherwood Forest really were, today only the huge oak tree standing in the thicket at the crossroads knows for sure big roads. It is more than a thousand years old; back in the 19th century, special supports had to be made for the huge branches. According to legend, it was under this giant that Robin Hood forced the captured bishop to dance. Since then, the tree has been called the Bishop's Oak. Whether this actually happened or not is a mystery.