Yes, he was serving bad King John but the key thing is he was fighting the French. We don’t find anyone else who comes remotely close. McGlynn says: “If you want to fi nd the source of the Robin Hood stories it’s most likely to be William. There were howls of protest a few years ago when an airport in Doncaster, in neighbouring Yorkshire, was named in honour of Robin Hood. The academic believes William did visit Nottingham, which adopted the much-loved hero and ever since has guarded him jealously. IT’S suggested that as the tale became part of British folklore the name Robin Hood became a general term, standing for any outlaw. William and his men were skilled at raiding the French forces and may have returned stolen property to locals, giving rise to the robbing the rich to give to the poor story. John is usually portrayed as a villain who misruled England while his brother Richard The Lionheart was away fi ghting in the Crusades.
He and his band of 1,000 men had fl ed to the Kentish Weald forests after the French came to southern England at the invitation of barons opposing King John. William was involved in daring ambushes against an invading force led by Prince Louis of France in 1216. McGlynn has spent many hours poring over medieval documents for his new book Blood Cries Afar and sets out his position in the latest edition of monthly magazine History Today.
It might not have the same ring but his true name was William Of Kensham, who used the alias Willikin Of The Weald. Worse still for lovers of the legend, he claims to have uncovered evidence that the outlaw was not called Robin. He believes Robin Hood passed his days in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.Īnd far from being an enemy of the state, he was an ally of royalty who helped repel troublesome French invaders in the 13th century. Sean McGlynn from the University of Plymouth claims to have uncovered evidence which could move the entire story some 200 miles south. Now, however, an academic is challenging the notion that the real life Robin Hood ever lived in Sherwood Forest.
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