13th century — the name in the records
"Robinhood" and "Robehod" appear as criminal bynames in English records (e.g., William Robehod, 1262). The name is already an outlaw's nickname before any ballad survives.
Timeline
Eight centuries of the greenwood, in order. Dates of writing and dates of claimed events are distinguished throughout — see the methodology page for the rule.
Reading this timeline
- Bold dates are dates of writing, printing, or performance — the evidence.
- Dates a text claims (a chronicler's "in 1283") are given in the description and are not evidence for that year.
- "c." means circa — an estimate; see methodology.
c. 1377 — the first mention
Langland's Piers Plowman (B-text): Sloth knows "rymes of Robyn Hood." The rhymes are lost; the name is now literary fact.
c. 1420 — Wyntoun's chronicle
Andrew of Wyntoun sets "Lytel Jhon and Robyne Hude" in Inglewood and Barnsdale under the year 1283 — a chronicler's dating, not evidence.
c. 1440s — Bower's chronicle
Walter Bower's Scotichronicon calls "Robertus Hode" a sicarius (murderer) rising in 1266 — and complains the people prefer his songs to all other romances.
c. 1450 — the Gest composed
A Gest of Robyn Hode is composed (Child's dating): some 450 stanzas, eight fyttes — the legend's foundation epic.
c. 1450 — Robin Hood and the Monk
One of the two oldest surviving ballads exists in manuscript from about this date.
c. 1475 — the play fragment
Robin Hood and the Sheriff: a play fragment among the Paston papers — the legend on stage, with a friar among the outlaws.
1490s — the first printing
Richard Pynson's fragments: the earliest surviving printing of any Robin Hood text. Wynkyn de Worde (c. 1506) and Chepman & Myllar (c. 1508) follow.
1500s — the May games
Robin and Marian preside as king and queen of the May games in parish records — festival figures before they are a love story.
1521 — John Major
Major's Historia sets Robin in Richard I's reign (ut auguror — "as I conjecture") and gives the first clear "rob the rich, feed the poor" formulation.
1569 — Grafton's earl
Richard Grafton's chronicle makes Robin an Earl of Huntingdon — the nobleman is born.
1598 — Munday's plays
Anthony Munday's Downfall and Death of Robert, Earl of Huntington: Prince John and Maid Marian enter the legend.
1632 — A True Tale
Martin Parker's broadside biography: the Earl of Huntingdon who builds almshouses for the poor — charity at the legend's center.
1765–1795 — the antiquarians
Percy's Reliques (1765); Ritson's great collection (1795) — Robin as political hero and national heritage.
1819 — Ivanhoe
Walter Scott's novel fixes the modern setting: Richard I, Prince John, Saxon versus Norman — "Locksley" at the Ashby tournament.
1882–1898 — Child's ballads
Francis James Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Robin Hood as numbers 117–154 — the scholarly canon.
1883 — Pyle
Howard Pyle's Merry Adventures: the legend becomes children's literature.
1922–2010 — the screen century
Fairbanks (1922), Flynn (1938), television (1955–59), Disney's fox (1973), Prince of Thieves (1991), the BBC series (2006–09), Ridley Scott (2010) — the legend's most-seen versions.
Source notes
- All dates are as documented on the site's other pages; see early chronicles, the ballads, adaptations.
- The 1262 byname (William Robehod) and the byname argument: see was he real.
Limitations
- "c." dates are scholarly estimates; a few (notably the Gest's composition) are debated within a range of decades.
- The timeline selects landmark events; it is not exhaustive.