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Remembering the Outlaw in Medieval England

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Remembering the Outlaw in Medieval England The emergence of the Robin Hood legend Charles Robert Kos, B.Sc. (Melb), B.A. (Hons). Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Australia. July 2014 Under the Copyright Act 1968, this thesis must be used only under the normal conditions of scholarly fair dealing. In particular no results or conclusions should be extracted from it, nor should it be copied or closely paraphrased in whole or in part without the written consent of the author. Proper written acknowledgement should be made for any assistance obtained from this thesis. I certify that I have made all reasonable efforts to secure copyright permissions for third- party content included in this thesis and have not knowingly added copyright content to my work without the owner's permission. Table of Contents Summary ....................................................................................................................... v Statement .................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... ix Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. xi Introduction ............................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 Images of the outlaw ............................................................................. 1 What is an outlaw? ......................................................................................................... 3 Some historians and methods ......................................................................................... 5 Surviving lore of Robin Hood ...................................................................................... 14 ‘He robb’d the rich to feed the poor’ ........................................................................... 16 Images of Robin Hood ................................................................................................. 20 Looking for context in a timeless myth ....................................................................... 27 A multiplicity of outlaws ............................................................................................. 31 The longbow ................................................................................................................ 32 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 2 Seeds of unrest: 1216-1231 ................................................................. 37 Historians and the factional dispute ............................................................................. 40 Chroniclers ................................................................................................................... 46 ‘Outlaw’ and heroic tales of the day ............................................................................ 48 Political factions ........................................................................................................... 50 Dissent .......................................................................................................................... 52 i ii Table of Contents Crisis in 1215 ................................................................................................................ 55 1216: Invasion by Prince Louis .................................................................................... 56 Succession and Regency ............................................................................................... 58 1219-1220: Triumvirate ................................................................................................ 59 1223-24: Conspiracies .................................................................................................. 61 1224: The Loss of Poitou ............................................................................................. 67 1227-1230: The growth of resentment to Hubert de Burgh ......................................... 69 1230 - Christmas 1231 .................................................................................................. 70 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 3 Robert of Thwing and hostility to Roman clergy ............................. 75 Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris ....................................................................... 78 Prelude to the robberies ................................................................................................ 81 ‘With his purse, as it is said, emptied.’ ......................................................................... 89 On the violence at Wingham ........................................................................................ 90 The movement goes nationwide ................................................................................... 92 The official response to the robberies .......................................................................... 95 A letter to the Pope, from supporters of Robert of Thwing ........................................ 102 Matthew Paris and the image of Robert of Thwing ................................................... 108 A marginal addition .................................................................................................... 109 A political song of protest .......................................................................................... 113 The Significance of Thwing’s movement in Legend ................................................. 114 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 115 Chapter 4 The Complaints of England .............................................................. 117 Rebel identity .............................................................................................................. 118 Reasons for revolt ....................................................................................................... 120 Chroniclers and the complaints of England ................................................................ 125 Table of Contents iii Matthew Paris ............................................................................................................ 128 Criticism of royal government ................................................................................... 130 The revolution of 1258 ............................................................................................... 134 Exile and return of Montfort ...................................................................................... 138 A sermonising poem—‘Song of Lewes’ .................................................................... 139 The lost cause ............................................................................................................. 145 The Isle of Ely as a redoubt ....................................................................................... 147 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 149 Chapter 5 Early stories about heroic outlaws .................................................. 151 The heroic rebel ......................................................................................................... 157 Fouke Fitz Warin, Eustache the Monk ....................................................................... 157 The Ryms of Ranulf, Earl of Chester ......................................................................... 160 ‘Outlaw’s Song of Trailbaston’ .................................................................................. 161 The Tale of Gamelyn, c.1350 ..................................................................................... 166 Fourteenth-century Roberdesmen .............................................................................. 169 ‘Roberdes knaves’ and ‘Robert the Robber’ in Piers Plowman ................................ 170 Revolt in 1381 ............................................................................................................ 173 Andrew of Wyntoun’s Originale Chronykil, c.1408-1420 ........................................ 174 Walter Bower ............................................................................................................. 177 Robin is associated with disinherited earls ................................................................ 180 Polychronicon ............................................................................................................ 182 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 182 Chapter 6 Robin Hood—Yeoman ..................................................................... 185 Historiography ........................................................................................................... 189 Older traditions in the early ballads ........................................................................... 195 Robyn and Gandelyn .................................................................................................
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