British Outlaws of Literature and History: Essays on Medieval and Early Modern Figures from Robin Hood to Twm Shon Catty

by Alexander L. Kaufman (editor), Michelle Markey Butler (Contributor)

The medieval outlaws of Britain maintain a hold on the present-day imagination, judging by their presence in literature and on film. Exploring the nature of both historical and fictional outlaws, these twelve critical essays survey the literary, historical, and cultural environments that produced them, namely the medieval and early modern periods. Divided into three parts, the text examines the historical records of real outlawed men and women and the representation of Jews in medieval Britain as possible outlaws, outlaws associated specifically with Wales, and the popular figure of Robin Hood and the context of the late medieval poems and plays that feature him as a prominent figure.

Genres: History

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2011

Reviews

[Sas]

A collection of 12 essays broken down into 3 sections: Outlaws as Outcasts and Outsiders, Wales and the Marches, and The Robin Hood Tradition. [return][return]The primary focus overall was on Robin Hood however there were a few other really fascinating topics included in the collection. Brewer's "Let Her Be Waived" really caught my interest; her essay looked into women and crime in the year 1293-1294. Also Fouke le Fitz Waryn, a Welsh folktale steeped in history, of whom I knew little about until now but my interest has been sparked to dig further and learn more.[return][return]A great collection of essays on fascinating topics, I highly recommend this compilation to any medieval history enthusiast. Great critical approach to the topics!

[Geoff]

I find that academic collections tend to be a mixed bag and this is no exception. I purchased this because of RH but of the non-RH essays, two standout: one by Brewer and the other by Hanawalt.
All the RH essays deal with the (literary) medieval RH and his place within that literary and cultural landscape. Three essays exploring that context I found noteworthy - that is the essays by Kaufman, Thompson and Leahy. But it was Crystal Kirgiss's "Popular Devotion and Prosperity Gospel in Early Robin Hood Tales" that I found most interesting. Is RH really as pious as he seems?

A mixed bag as I said but worth a look.

[Kimberly]

This was an excellent book. I throroughly enjoyed reading it. This book is a collection of academic essays which all feature many citations to other scholarly sources on the topics of outlawry and Robin Hood. This book provides an overview of current scholarship by many experts in the field. Both ficticious and real outlaws are highlighted. The first section covers general outlaw definitions and examples, including many female outlaws. The second section focuses on Wales and Fouke le Fitz Waryn. The third and longest section focuses on Robin Hood.