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Offers a comprehensive thematic introduction to a wide range of medieval writings about the outlaw-hero from a series of different historical perspectives.
By the fifteenth century, churchmen were complaining that laypeople preferred to hear stories about Robin Hood rather than to listen to the word of God. But what was the attraction of this outlaw for contemporary audiences?
The essays collected here seek to examine the outlaw's legend in relation to late medieval society, politics and piety. They set out the different types of evidence which give us access to representations of Robin and his men in the pre-Reformation period, ask whether stories about the outlaw had any basis in reality and explore the many different purposes for which his legend was adapted.
The volume is divided into six parts: the sources for the medieval legend of Robin Hood and its origins; social structure; social conflict; kingship, law and warfare; piety and the church; and the outlaw's legend in Wales and Scotland. Key issues addressed by its essays include the dating of the surviving tales, attitudes to social hierarchy, representations of gender and masculinity, the extent to which the tales drew upon or shaped contemporary attitudes towards law and justice, the development of Robin Hood plays and games, and whether the legend emerged from or appealed to particular social groups. It not only sheds new light on a character who, whether "real" or not, is one of the most important and memorable figures in the history of medieval England but also explores the extent to which the outlaw became popular in Scotland and Wales.
By the fifteenth century, churchmen were complaining that laypeople preferred to hear stories about Robin Hood rather than to listen to the word of God. But what was the attraction of this outlaw for contemporary audiences?
The essays collected here seek to examine the outlaw's legend in relation to late medieval society, politics and piety. They set out the different types of evidence which give us access to representations of Robin and his men in the pre-Reformation period, ask whether stories about the outlaw had any basis in reality and explore the many different purposes for which his legend was adapted.
The volume is divided into six parts: the sources for the medieval legend of Robin Hood and its origins; social structure; social conflict; kingship, law and warfare; piety and the church; and the outlaw's legend in Wales and Scotland. Key issues addressed by its essays include the dating of the surviving tales, attitudes to social hierarchy, representations of gender and masculinity, the extent to which the tales drew upon or shaped contemporary attitudes towards law and justice, the development of Robin Hood plays and games, and whether the legend emerged from or appealed to particular social groups. It not only sheds new light on a character who, whether "real" or not, is one of the most important and memorable figures in the history of medieval England but also explores the extent to which the outlaw became popular in Scotland and Wales.
Price: $190.00
Pages: 498
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: D.S.Brewer
Publication Date:
19 November 2024
Trim Size: 9.21 X 6.14 in
ISBN: 9781843846697
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
LITERARY CRITICISM / Medieval, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, HISTORY / Europe / Medieval, LITERARY CRITICISM / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, European history: medieval period, middle ages
The volume is well balanced in presenting readers new to the academic study of the outlaw to its key themes and scholars, while providing new commentary and complications of its own.
Across sixteen chapters and a short appendix, Historians on Robin Hood provides not only summative statements on the histories of Robin Hood studies but also important challenges to the long-held views
regarding the dating, audience, and social contexts of the medieval Robin Hood texts. The interventions of the collection's scholarship alone would make this volume a significant contribution to the field, but the book's comprehensiveness and its closing aides situate it as an invaluable entry point for the teacher and an invaluable tool for the researcher.
The contributing authors, most of them historians, bring to bear impressive scholarship to explore what medieval audiences found appealing about the figure of Robin Hood, when and where the legend arose, whether Robin Hood reflected social or political protest, how Robin Hood's yeoman status should be understood, whether Robin Hood was anticlerical or opposed to monarchy, and how the legend reflected attitudes toward law and justice and warfare and masculinity.
Across sixteen chapters and a short appendix, Historians on Robin Hood provides not only summative statements on the histories of Robin Hood studies but also important challenges to the long-held views
regarding the dating, audience, and social contexts of the medieval Robin Hood texts. The interventions of the collection's scholarship alone would make this volume a significant contribution to the field, but the book's comprehensiveness and its closing aides situate it as an invaluable entry point for the teacher and an invaluable tool for the researcher.
The contributing authors, most of them historians, bring to bear impressive scholarship to explore what medieval audiences found appealing about the figure of Robin Hood, when and where the legend arose, whether Robin Hood reflected social or political protest, how Robin Hood's yeoman status should be understood, whether Robin Hood was anticlerical or opposed to monarchy, and how the legend reflected attitudes toward law and justice and warfare and masculinity.
List of Illustrations
List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
A Note on References to Robin Hood Ballads and Plays
PART I: SOURCES AND ORIGINS
1. The Medieval Legend of Robin Hood: The English Sources - Stephen H. Rigby
2. Dating the Gest of Robyn Hode - Stephen H. Rigby
3. The Robin Hood Names and the Origins of the Outlaw Legend - David Crook
PART II: SOCIAL HIERARCHY AND SOCIAL ORDERS
4. Robin Hood: Social Hierarchy and Social Mobility - Alex T. Brown
5. Robin Hood: Yeoman Status and Yeoman Service - Louisa Foroughi
6. Robin Hood: Mercantile Hero? - Stephen H. Rigby
7. Robin Hood: Gender, Masculinity and Homosociality - Katherine Lewis
PART III: SOCIAL CONFLICT
8. Robin Hood: Social and Political Protest - Shannon McSheffrey
9. Robin Hood: Social Bandit? - Stephen H. Rigby
PART IV: KINGSHIP, LAW AND WARFARE
10. Robin Hood: Kingship - Andrew Spencer
11. Robin Hood: Law and Justice - Anthony Musson
12. Robin Hood: Warfare and Weapons - Anne Curry
PART V: PIETY AND THE CHURCH
13. Robin Hood: Piety, Anticlericalism and the Church - Martin Heale
14. Robin Hood: Plays and Games - John Marshall
PART VI: WALES AND SCOTLAND
15. Robin Hood and the Welsh Outlaw Tradition - Helen Fulton
16. Robin Hood in Scotland - Helen Phillips
Appendix: Stephen H. Rigby, The Medieval Ballads of Robin Hood
Select Bibliography
Index
List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
A Note on References to Robin Hood Ballads and Plays
PART I: SOURCES AND ORIGINS
1. The Medieval Legend of Robin Hood: The English Sources - Stephen H. Rigby
2. Dating the Gest of Robyn Hode - Stephen H. Rigby
3. The Robin Hood Names and the Origins of the Outlaw Legend - David Crook
PART II: SOCIAL HIERARCHY AND SOCIAL ORDERS
4. Robin Hood: Social Hierarchy and Social Mobility - Alex T. Brown
5. Robin Hood: Yeoman Status and Yeoman Service - Louisa Foroughi
6. Robin Hood: Mercantile Hero? - Stephen H. Rigby
7. Robin Hood: Gender, Masculinity and Homosociality - Katherine Lewis
PART III: SOCIAL CONFLICT
8. Robin Hood: Social and Political Protest - Shannon McSheffrey
9. Robin Hood: Social Bandit? - Stephen H. Rigby
PART IV: KINGSHIP, LAW AND WARFARE
10. Robin Hood: Kingship - Andrew Spencer
11. Robin Hood: Law and Justice - Anthony Musson
12. Robin Hood: Warfare and Weapons - Anne Curry
PART V: PIETY AND THE CHURCH
13. Robin Hood: Piety, Anticlericalism and the Church - Martin Heale
14. Robin Hood: Plays and Games - John Marshall
PART VI: WALES AND SCOTLAND
15. Robin Hood and the Welsh Outlaw Tradition - Helen Fulton
16. Robin Hood in Scotland - Helen Phillips
Appendix: Stephen H. Rigby, The Medieval Ballads of Robin Hood
Select Bibliography
Index