LONGBOW THEORY:

-ESSAY: Robin Hood, Friend of Liberty (Adam Young, April 14, 2004, Mises.org)

If the legends are true, and Robin and his men robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, it is likely that they fought the feudal system by robbing the taxers and returning the money to the oppressed taxpayers among the peasantry. The king and his looters had no property rights to the forest, its animal life or the labor and property of the peasantry. How could they? What they exercised were immoral privileges inherent to the feudal governmental regime, which allowed a few to exploit the labor and property of the many. A modern example of action against taxation was the Poujadist tactic of packing the auctions for tax delinquency in France in the 1950's, where local Poujadist's would then buy the property for a few cents and hand ownership back to the rightful owners.

It's likely the legend of Robin Hood arose in mid-century or maybe a little earlier, during the reigns of Edward II or Edward III. England at that time was a land in turmoil. The Hundred Years War broke out in 1337 and the Black Death struck England in 1348, recurring several times until the end of the century. In 1351, the Statute of Labourers was introduced to impose maximum wages for labor following the depopulation of the towns and countryside by the Black Death. Perhaps as a consequence, the year 1352 saw the introduction of the Statute of Treasons defining great treason against the king and petty treason against local lords.

Bubonic and pneumonic plague had killed between one-third and one-half of the rural population, causing a severe labor shortage. Hired laborers demanded higher wages and better food, while peasant tenant farmers asked for better conditions. In response, some landlords attempted to reassert forced labor dues, which the peasants heroically resisted. Parliament passed the Ordinance of Labourers in 1349 and the aforementioned Statute of Labourers in 1351 to fix wages to where they were before the Black Death wiped out half the population. Enforcement was problematic, but still the peasant's resented and resisted these attempts to interfere in the new opportunities they were presented with. If Robin really existed during this time, it is easy to see what drove his legend as an enemy of the Crown.

Also at this time, the Church was under attack by popular preachers amid an undercurrent of anticlericalism aimed against the corruption of the priests and abbots. We see this theme in the early legends of Robin Hood, before the invention of the Friar Tuck character, where Robin's nemesis are often corrupt Abbots, in addition to the Sheriff of Nottingham and the bounty hunter Guy of Gisbourne.

For years the crisis grew worse. In the "Good Parliament" of 1376, members demanded measures to deal with "rogues, vagabonds and sturdy beggars," but what set off the Peasant's Revolt was the Poll Tax. [...]

Taxes are the engine of tyranny and are resented and opposed by the people of every century. The legend of Robin Hood appeals because of that; the refusal to accept as legitimate what we all instinctively know is not.

As so much in legends, the historical truth isn't what matters. Instead it is the legendary deeds of Robin Hood that excite us. The man who challenged the state, who dared to take what the rotten government claimed to own, the man who not only did these deeds himself, but also recruited others to help him and in doing so, gained the trust and affection of his people. It's a legend that will never lose its appeal.

By our myths shall you know us.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 14, 2004 1:31 PM