The Folvilles and Robin Hood; who came first?
The last two blogs have concerned rebel heroes who might be compared to Robin Hood, or could be said to have inspired the ballads. This week, the focus is on a criminal gang operating at the time the earliest Robin Hood tales were supposed to be set. But were they really criminals? You must make up your own minds. I’d like to welcome back Author Jenny Kane to tell us more.
Although it cannot be categorically stated that the compilers of the Robin Hood ballads were influenced by the actual criminal gangs of the day, many similarities can be noted between the actions of gangs like the Folvilles, and those detailed in the literature of the day.
Audiences throughout history have all presented different ideas of what Robin Hood was like in word, action, and appearance. Every writer, film maker, and poet ever since the first tales were spoken, has adapted the outlaw figure to fit their own imagination.
Balladeers sang tales of Robin Hood long before they were written down. The earliest mention found (to date) of the name Robin Hood appears in the poem The Vision of Piers Plowman, which was written by William Langland in c.1377.
Piers Plowman was a protest against the harsh conditions endured by the poor in the Fourteen Century. Not only did it mention Robin Hood, but it also makes reference to the outlaw gang, the Folvilles.
“And some ryde and to recovere that unrightfully was wonne:
He wised hem wynne it ayein wightnesses of handes,
And fecchen it from false men with Folvyles lawes.”
The Folvilles were a noble family from Leicestershire who, throughout the late 1320’s and into the 1330’s, ran Ashby-Folville and its surrounds, as a base for criminal activity.
In 1310, John de Folville, Lord of Ashby Folville, died, leaving his widow Alice and seven sons. The eldest son, also John, inherited the manor. Historical records show that John lived largely within the bounds of the law. However, his brothers, Eustace, Laurence, Richard, Robert, Thomas and Walter formed a criminal gang which quickly became notorious.
The early fourteenth century was a lawless time in England. King Edward II’s reign was in chaos, and local crime rates soared. Corruption was rife in the governance of the land, and few people in power could be trusted.
The first crime that bought the Folvilles to the notice of the authorities was the murder of the Baron of the Exchequer, Roger Belers (or Bellers). Beler had risen to power due to the influence of the unpopular Despenser regime. Although neither Eustace, Robert, nor Walter, actually carried out the murder of Beler, they were all present at the time, and helped make sure it happened. (It is believed the murder was committed by one of the Folvilles associates, Roger de la Zouche)
Over the following decade, the Folville brothers’ travelled the countryside assaulting those they considered deserving of such treatment, and holding people and places to ransom. They hired themselves out as mercenaries, willing to commit crimes for the right price. The most violent of the brothers, Eustace, is known to have committed murders, robberies and even rapes across Leicestershire, Rutland, and possibly beyond into Derbyshire.
It was in 1332 that the Folville gang committed their most serious crime. They kidnapped the judge, Sir Richard Willoughby, on the road between Melton Mowbray and Grantham, near Waltham on the Wolds. A ransom of 1,300 marks was demanded from his men. While the Folvilles waited for the ransom they stole over one hundred pounds worth of goods from Willoughby as they dragged him from ‘wood to wood.’
The implications of Willoughby’s kidnap were far reaching. The Crown was expressing concern at the amount of outlaw action in the country, but after the kidnap they began to implement proceedings to stamp out the rise in violent lawlessness. The moves were ineffective, partly because the gangs were too well established, and partly because war with Scotland had suddenly become a bigger priority for the governance of England.
The kidnap and ransom of nobles passing through their land, the targeting of corrupt officials and the general gang activity employed by the Folvilles, all has echoes which can be found within the Robin Hood ballads, from The Lytell Geste to the later tales, such as Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne.
Like Robin Hood in the eighth fytte of the Geste, some of the Folvilles fought for the King (1337 Robert de Folville was sent overseas in the retinue of Earl of Northumberland, and Eustace de Folville fought in both Scotland and Flanders.)
When, at last, the law caught up with Richard de Folville, the Rector of Teigh, in 1336 a commission was sent out to arrest him and take him to the Tower of London. Richard however, took refuge in a church, along with some of his personal followers. He shot arrows from out of the church window, killing some of his pursuers, before he was dragged out and had his head chopped off directly outside the church!
It’s hard not to see another parallel with another Robin Hood tale here, as an image of Robin during the ballad Robin Hood’s Death, comes to mind; when taking sanctuary in Kirklees Abbey, Robin fired an arrow to mark where his body should be buried.
Like Robin, the Folvilles are often portrayed as the allies of the common people fighting a corrupt authority. Their targets were all officials that had gone beyond the norm of taking advantage of their positions. In fact Willoughby was so hated, that in 1340 another criminal gang made him the target of an attack, trapping him in Thurcaston castle. Later on Willoughby was imprisoned by King Edward III for corruption and was forced to pay 1200 marks to earn a pardon.
In 1450 the earliest single short ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk, was first committed to paper, but it wasn’t until 1510 that the original story (Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode), was recorded in its entirety. Whether the Robin Hood ballads were originally written as a result of storytellers being inspired by real gangs like the Folvilles, or whether the tales already existed, and were merely influenced further as real life events seeped into the consciousness of the balladeers, we may never know.
It can’t be denied however, that then, as now, literature was affected, adjusted, and changed by the reality around the storytellers of the time to modernised them; making them more relevant to their audience.
An echo of bands of criminal retainers like the Folvilles, and their fellow criminals the Coterel’s, and many others, are undeniably there in the Robin Hood story arc for all to see. But whether the Folvilles were the original source for the legend? The jury is still out.
Bio-
Jenny Kane is the author the contemporary romance Another Glass of Champagne, (Accent Press, 2016), Christmas at the Castle (Accent Press, 2015), the bestselling novel Abi’s House (Accent Press, 2015), the modern/medieval time slip novel Romancing Robin Hood (Accent Press, 2014), the bestselling novel Another Cup of Coffee (Accent Press, 2013), and its novella length sequels Another Cup of Christmas (Accent Press, 2013), and Christmas in the Cotswolds (Accent, 2014).
Jenny’s fifth full length romance novel, Abi’s Neighbour, will be published in June 2017.
Jenny’s first medieval murder mystery will be published in December 2016, and her second in 2017.
Jenny is also the author of quirky children’s picture books There’s a Cow in the Flat (Hushpuppy, 2014) and Ben’s Biscuit Tin (Hushpuppy, 2015)
Keep your eye on Jenny’s blog at www.jennykane.co.uk for more details.
Twitter- @JennyKaneAuthor
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