ROBIN HOOD In the years of King Richard the Lionheart (1189-1199) there lived a brave and intelligent man called Robin Hood. He was a feared outlaw, who loved liberty and hated oppression. He took the law into his own hands and robbed the rich to give to the poor. People loved him and thought of him as a justice-maker. In time he acquired a heroic reputation and came to represent the ideal of heroism of his age. Stories about him and his closest friends Friar Tuck, Little John, and Maid Marian may be found in the time. They say that Robin Hood and his companions lived in Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham. They were called the ‘merry men’ and used to wear green clothes, a particular shade of green, called “If you thought it was hard getting wages from him when he was alive, try getting wages from a dead king (Robin Hood).” The basis of Feudalism is protection. Feudalism was a set of political and military customs in Medieval Europe. Feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. The feudal system was based on the idea that ever person in the land had a lord to whom he owed a loyalty and services. At the top of this pyramid-like system was the king; King John, and below him were the clergy and barons who owned substantial amounts of land. In return for this ownership and loyalty they became the king’s “vassals” and swore obedience to King John. In the movie, “Robin Hood,” Lady Marion gives an example of Feudalism when she speaks of her five thousand acres of land. Sir Walter Loxely refers to this land in the later part of the movie as land awarded to her husband for his service in protecting and fighting for the king of England. Sir Walter explains to Robin Hood about the importance of fighting for what you believe in and persuades Robin to motivate other Lords into fighting for the crown and not
