Image from "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves."
The Sheriff of Nottingham – A Medieval Myth?
We remember the Sheriff of Nottingham, the ultimate
medieval ‘baddie’, enemy of Robin Hood, played with vigorous style by Alan
Rickman in “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.”
No records give this man’s name, only his title, yet
there never was a sheriff of Nottingham. So did this un-named villain exist?
One clue is in the title “Sheriff”, meaning
shire-reeve, the reeve (royal officer) of the shire.
A further clue to the genesis of this myth is the fact
that there was a High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal
Forests, appointed by the Crown by the Normans soon after the Norman Conquest
of 1066.
The Forest Laws were a Norman import, imposed upon
Anglo-Saxon Laws and customs, and very much despised by the conquered
population. The Forest Laws were a means by which the King could extend his
rule, eagerly used by monarchs to do just that. They could be imposed on more
than woodland or forest, and the High Sheriff, the creature of the King, was
hated as an enforcer of arbitrary, sometimes brutal laws. Forest Laws were
intended to reserve the red and fallow deer and the boar for the King and the aristocracy –
and no one else. Dogs, apart from guard dogs, were forbidden in forest areas,
and people were forbidden to carry hunting weapons. William Rufus, the son of
William the Conqueror, increased the severity of the laws in the royal forests
to include death and mutilation. Such sentences seem to have rarely imposed,
but such laws caused resentment.
King William II Rufus died in the royal New Forest,
struck by an arrow. Political assassination or an angry local, furious at the
laws?
Another reason why the foil of Robin Hood was a sheriff
was because, in history, so many sheriffs or high sheriffs were bad lots.
Philip Mark, sheriff from 1209 to 1224, Henry de Faucemberg (!318 to 1319) and
John de Oxenford (1334 to 1339) were all corrupt, robbing and extorting with a
will. ‘Gentlemen’ gangs of younger sons of the landed gentry, trained for
battle and with no lands to inherit, took readily to robbery and more. Men such
as the Folvilles and the Coterels actively recruited royal and other officials
to help them murder and steal. In 1335 Nicholas Coterel was even made bailiff
for the High Peak District of Derbyshire, the ultimate
huntsman-turned-gamekeeper!
Given the danger for breakers of the king’s laws,
poachers in the royal forest areas were often celebrated and praised. Few who
benefited protested, especially if they might receive a share of fresh, tasty
meat.
Woodland, forests and hunting feature in many of my
medieval stories. I have Magnus, the hero in “The Snow Bride” involved in an
assassination attempt in northern woodland during a hunt, and Conrad, the hero
of “Sir Conrad and the Christmas Treasure” is a steward of the forest high lands.
I speak of poaching, hunting and magic done to aid both in my novel, “The Master
Cook and the Maiden”. All three of these novels are available on Amazon and
free to read through Kindle Unlimited. Why not give them a try?
"The Snow Bride"
"Sir Conrad and the Christmas Treasure."
"The Master Cook and the Maiden."
Lindsay
