History of Robin Hood

Historical Robin Hood 

There are a number of theories that attempt to identify a historical Robin Hood. A difficulty with any such historical search is that "Robert" was in medieval England a very common given name, and "Robin" (or Robyn), especially in the 13th century, was its very common . The surname "Hood" (or Hude or Hode etc.) was fairly common because it referred either to a Hooder, who was a maker of hoods; or alternatively to somebody who wore a hood as a head-covering. Unsurprisingly, therefore, reference is made to a number of people called "Robert Hood" or "Robin Hood" in medieval records. Some of these individuals are even known to have fallen afoul of the law.

Locations associated with Robbin Hood 

Sherwood Forest and Nottinghamshire

In popular culture, Robin Hood and his band of "merry men" are portrayed as living near Edwinstowe in Sherwood Forest, in the county of Nottinghamshire. Notably, the Lincoln Cathedral Manuscript, which is the first officially recorded Robin Hood song (dating from approximately 1420), makes an explicit reference to the outlaw which states that "Robyn hode in scherewode stod."] In a similar fashion, a monk of Witham Priory (1460) suggested that the archer had ‘infested shirwode’. His chronicle entry reads.