In Search of the Medieval Outlaw: The Tales of Robin Hood

In Search of the Medieval Outlaw: The Tales of Robin Hood - Professor Stephen Church

Рет қаралды 34,003

6 жыл бұрын

The rulers of the medieval English kingdom discouraged resistance to authority by the widespread use of execution, outlawry, and exile. Yet medieval English society also applauded such resistance. Encapsulated in the tales of Robin Hood, the good outlaw is loyal, courageous, and clever; while the authorities he outwits are disloyal, cowardly, and stupid, using the cover of the law to behave corruptly.
Examination of the outlaw in medieval literature tells us much about the mentality of the medieval English mind.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-an...
Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: gresham.ac.uk/support/

Пікірлер: 43

@robertr7569 11 ай бұрын

Thank goodness for the lectures from Gresham college. It beats the drivel being pushed by media outlets. Great lectures!

@almcdonald8676 5 ай бұрын

I seem to recall an episode of Robin of Sherwood from the eighties starring Michael Praed and Jason Connery that closely mirrors the tale of the knight being extorted by a corrupt abbot

@eds2888 6 жыл бұрын

I sincerely give Greshem College millions of my thanks to the lectures provided with grateful materials to assist learners. Really insightful !! Really! An inspiring future from the UK to the world !!

@jaimiemcphee5887 2 жыл бұрын

this guy just saved my life for my assignment

@glynwelshkarelian3489 7 ай бұрын

Genuinely illuminating. I knew a Yorkshireman, called Barry Boyd, in the 1980's who passionately argued that Robin Hood was buried in Kirklees, West Yorkshire. The grave is 'marked' on O/S maps, but impossible to access. Like the creator of this video: I think Robin Hood is a myth; but I would like to visit the marked site of Robin Hood's grave in memory of Barry Boyd, a gentleman madman.

@execelsior999 11 ай бұрын

Excellent lecture. Many thank to Gresham College.

@Amy-jn7oi Жыл бұрын

this was a fascinating talk, thank you so much! I'm so glad my own favourite Robin Hood (Mel Brook's Men in Tights) is carrying on the musical tradition :)

@benstox 6 жыл бұрын

Interesting lecture. Eamon Duffy in "The Stripping of the Altars" strongly disputes the idea that the speaker brings up a couple of times, that there was anything like a sacred and secular half year for the Medievals. That the major festivals on the calendar between Whitsun and Advent were all from the Sanctoral cycle didn't make it any less sacred for the medieval mind.

@deirdrefleming9935 3 жыл бұрын

An excellent book by Eamon Duffy. Reformation propaganda created its own cancel culture.

@MedievalTalesinPerformance 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the lecture! We love Robin Hood. ✨

@WildBillCox13 6 жыл бұрын

My oh my . . . so Robin is whatever the popular culture needs him to be? Sounds like Dennis Rodman. Thank you, professor, for a most entertaining lecture.

@gardgoldsmith3304 3 жыл бұрын

That was wonderful!! Thank you!

@emilbordon1329 7 ай бұрын

I can’t believe there wasn’t anybody in the Middle Ages called Robin Hood. Lots of people wore hoods, as evidenced by all those illuminated monks who drew them doing all sorts of medieval activities; cutting wood, carrying things and praying, etc, so it stands to reason someone was making the hoods and was probably known as Mr. Hood and his wife as Mrs. Hood. It’s a short leap to have a son named after the UK’s favourite Christmas card bird- the Robin! I can’t be bothered doing any research to back up my postulation but I’ll happily let someone else take the credit if they do.

@danielmalinen6337 6 ай бұрын

The problem is actually the opposite of the lack of Robin Hood. Between the years 1200 and 1400 there are several documented recorts (court rolls) of people named Robin/Robert/Robyn Hood/Hod/Hode in various parts of England and some of them were even outlaws. For this reason, it has been suggested that the Robin Hood of the legends would be an amalgamation of several different personnel.

@tweakiepop 6 жыл бұрын

Excellent channel, thanks

@ReservoirDrought Жыл бұрын

Thank you.

@davidseed2939 2 жыл бұрын

Dr who's transport is not in a 1920s phonebox, but an early 1960s police box. Something that was a commonplace in that time when dr who first appeared hence the police box was a disguise for the tardis.

@thechatteringmagpie Жыл бұрын

I'm interested in the Lincoln connection. Is that poem on public display I wonder?

@bazsnell3178 6 жыл бұрын

Excellent lecture. Now please dissect the Legend of King Arthur, another person who never existed yet lives on in the mass public psyche.

@MattHenshaw11 5 жыл бұрын

Loxley, South Yorkshire... no? Excellent lecture and summary, all but that one point

@jamesboswell9324 10 ай бұрын

Yes, it's on the western edge of Sheffield located in the valley of a small river of the same name - there even used to be a pub there called The Robin Hood (closed down about ten years ago). According to the current wikipedia entry: The extensive forest of Loxley Chase extended as far south east as Nottinghamshire in the 12th century where it joined up with Sherwood Forest. Loxley is one of the locations claimed as the birthplace of Robin Hood.

@mallarieanderson6439 6 жыл бұрын

Are we just not going to talk about that sick rhyme during his medieval commentary mid-lecture?

@fredolae2819 3 жыл бұрын

I like Joseph Hunter's 1852 research.

@CountBeetle 3 жыл бұрын

Tell me more and why, good fellow?

@currentcommentor8745 2 жыл бұрын

Locksle is real. It's on the edge of Sheffield...

@pepperspray7386 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like the middle class can't figure out Robin Hood anymore in the current year than they could in the period.

@dirkcampbell5847 3 жыл бұрын

01:00 'no historical evidence for King Arthur'. Prof Church has clearly not heard of the Brut Y Brenhinnedd or Chronicle of the Kings first translated into Latin by Geoffrey of Monmouth, a historical work documenting early Welsh history, or, as it was known then, British history. (Wales was called Britain and England Anglia.) The original Arthurian account is contained in the Brut. The idea that there is no historical evidence for Arthur derives from the fact that Gildas, who would have been Arthur's contemporary, makes no mention of him, is because Arthur was not popular with all the Welsh, being thought of as a tyrant. A later source, Nennius, states that Arthur killed Gildas' brother which is why he expunged him from his annals. This story is common in Welsh folklore and was written down by Elis Gruffydd in 1530.

@sarahlogan8630 2 жыл бұрын

geoffrey on monmouth is considered historically unreliable by the vast majority of modern historians and anthropologists. he wrote mostly fictionalized accounts of events and people.

@dirkcampbell5847 2 жыл бұрын

@@sarahlogan8630 He is considered unreliable by modern historians for the reasons I have given i.e. that there is no independent attestation of Arthur's existence. It is therefore generally considered that he wrote fiction. Geoffrey of Monmouth was not, however, making stuff up, he was translating from the Welsh (or British as it was called then) Brut Y Brenhinnedd, Chronicle of the Kings of Britain (or Wales as we now call it) of which no copies earlier than the 13th century now survive, leading historians to believe that the Brut is actually a translation into Welsh from Geoffrey's Latin, a preposterous idea since all the names in Geoffrey's account are clearly Latinisations of Welsh names! The basic account of Arthur's life and military career is contained in the Brut, along with his 'semi-miraculous' conception which is borrowed from the Greek myth of Zeus and Alcmene mother of Heracles. Later accretions by Chrétien de Troyes and others are clearly romantic legends and not historical in substance.

@georgekosko5124 2 жыл бұрын

@@dirkcampbell5847 how interesting, thank you for shining some light on this matter

@johnminnitt8101 2 жыл бұрын

@@dirkcampbell5847 Geoffrey claimed to have had an ancient book as a source indeed, whether he had or not, or how old ancient meant is another matter. He doesn't name the book IIRC so there is no strong reason to think it was the Brut, or, more likely, an earlier version of that. Even if he did use the Brut is there any reason to think it goes back to anywhere near Arthur's supposed time? Both it and Geoffrey could be the result of centuries of imagination applied to a few old stories. Look how much the tale of Roncesvalles developed between the Carolingian skirmish and the "Song of Roland" that we have, in less time that between Arthur and Geoffrey or the surviving Brut.

@stuartglover98 Жыл бұрын

you reckon a professor of medieval British literature hasn't heard of Monmouth's acount of Arthur?

@mistymoor7114 Жыл бұрын

Not in Yorkshire? Not in Robin Hoods Bay?

@Wotsitorlabart Жыл бұрын

What about the village of 'Robin Hood' in Leeds - plausible links to the legend there.

@BarbaraBastron 6 жыл бұрын

I think these are all the same person described by different writers who each viewed him differently.

@vickyrowe393 4 ай бұрын

Ancient order of foresters 1928 lieutenant little John. They stole from rich and gave back t poor. Red coits.

@ppetal1 2 ай бұрын

He was invented to justify crusader Richard 2nd.

@JH-pt6ih Жыл бұрын

Little John was a Bigfoot. I pity the fool who challenges Little John Bigfoot!

@ducdejoyeuse 6 ай бұрын

The problem with English academics, is that they never look beyond their Malvolion minds. Now if we look with an open mind not a closed singularity mind, we find in The Annals of Ulster, 497, that Uther Pendragon was the father of king Arthur. Then as Francis Bacon ( Shake-Speare) says in his Promus ( Storehouse ) pub 1883, " To win the game ; Tick , tack, begin the game with Irish." So Udar means, Author / Origins, were Judah is from, then Pen is the Swan = Cygnus and Dragon = Draco. Now for the name Arthur, Ur is Irish for New / Fresh, if we look in the Upanishads , we find that Artha, means, " The Wounded Self, " which all authors , have known because they all show Arthur as the New / Fresh Artha. If we then look at the legend of were he was born Tintagel, Tin / Tine = Fire and Tagartha, is Irish for , Reference / Mention, he is there but you need to look with eyes bereft of prejudice, the English still believe that the Angles were real, another con job, from the Irish An Geill, meaning To Surrender, all the archaeological evidence shows that the Angles never existed a creation of the Roman Bede, to hoodwink, which he has succeeded in doing, to the Irish, England was always Aengael, were Bede's corruption came from.

@syourke3 Жыл бұрын

Robin Hood was the prototype of the hero as guerilla warrior, the original Che Guevara. 😊

@Blissblizzard Жыл бұрын

Fictive Robin Hood was a compensatory fantasy. Che Guevara was a beret wearing poor little rich boy who enjoyed torturing and killing prisoners, a complete sh*t, a bored rich psychopath like Carlos the Jackal. So that'll be a no. One didn't exist, and it would have been better for everyone if the other hadn't ever existed.