what time period did the legend of robin hood take place?

Question

just curious.

Answer 1

Although the first written (documented) reference to Robin Hood is from 1377, the earliest known Robin Hood legend (written as a ballad) was written around 1450. Robin Hood is mentioned by three Scottish historians. They all treat the outlaw like a historical figure. And each chronicler places him in a different era. Andrew of Wyntoun, writing between 1408-1420, places Robin between the years 1283-1285, in the reign of Edward I. Walter Bower, who wrote in the 1440's, has Robin fighting in 1266, during the aftermath of a baronial rebellion against King Henry III. Finally, in 1521, John Major sets Robin Hood in the 1190's, the time of Richard the Lionhearted and King John.


For more detailed info, may I suggest this excellent site about Robin Hood (the legend and historic references), written by Allen W. Wright.
http://www.boldoutlaw.com/robages/index.html

I have used this site with my middle school students. The site is very extensive and has a section for students and teachers.

Answer 2

Late 1100's early 1200's During the reign of King Richard.

It is possible that Robin Hood was an historical person, but not much is known.

Answer 3

Robin Hood is the archetypal English folk hero; a courteous, pious and swashbuckling outlaw of the medieval era who, in modern versions of the legend, is famous for robbing the rich to feed the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. Robin was not a real person who lived, he was a fictional character and still is one. He operates with his "seven score" (140 strong) group of fellow outlawed yeomen – called his "Merry Men".[1] Robin Hood and his band are usually associated with Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. He has been the subject of numerous movies, books, comics and plays. In many stories Robin's nemesis is the Sheriff of Nottingham. In the oldest legends, this is merely because a sheriff is an outlaw's natural enemy,[2] but in later versions, the despotic sheriff gravely abuses his position, appropriating land, levying intolerable taxation, and unfairly persecuting the poor. In some tales the antagonist is Prince John, based on John of England, seen as the unjust usurper of his pious brother Richard. In the oldest versions surviving, Robin Hood is a yeoman, but in some versions he is said to have been a nobleman, the earl of Loxley (Locksley), who was unjustly deprived of his lands.[3] Sometimes he has served in the crusades, returning to England to find his lands pillaged by the dastardly sheriff. In some tales he is the champion of the people, fighting against corrupt officials and the oppressive order that protects them, while in others he is an arrogant and headstrong rebel, who delights in bloodshed, cruelly slaughtering and beheading his victims. In point of fact, Robin Hood stories are different in every period of their history. Robin himself is continually reshaped and redrawn, made to exemplify whatever values are deemed important by the storyteller at the time. The figure is less a personage and more of an amalgam of the various ideas his "life" has been structured to support. He is good and not bad, he help other people in need

Answer 4

Well as the king was in Jerusalem, it would have been during one of the crusades. I'd say that there was a good chance that it started shortly after the first one... but that would just be a guess.