Robin Hood History or legend? The tales present Robin Hood as a yeoman, the young retainer1 of a lord. He was accused of serious crime and outlawed; as a consequence, he fled and became a highway robber. He was the sworn2 enemy of the Sheriff of Nottingham and a very skilled archer, the finest in England. But did Robin Hood really exist? We don t know for sure. All the tales contain references to real places. Most of them are set in Sherwood Forest or in Barnsdale; the action sometimes moves from one place to the other, which is not surprising, as they aren t far away from each other, about a day s journey. The facts, too, seem real: feuds3 with the Sheriff and his meetings with the king used to take place in Nottingham and highway robberies were common in Barnsdale. Both places were well-known for their outlaws that made travelling through them scaring. If he existed, then, who was he and when did he live? Evidence of outlaws with similar names has been found in the area, even though not all suggesting the same period. Traditionally, Robin Hood lived in the late XII century, under the reign of Richard the Lionheart. Historical evidence for the tales, which are one of the main sources of information, only dates back to the XIV century, though. Documents referring to people with the surname Robinhood , almost all criminals, have been found recently. They are dated the second half of the XIII century. One of them reports the trial4 for robbery of a certain William, son of Robert the Smith, in Berkshire in 1261. 1. retainer: servitore, dipendente. 2. sworn: giurato. 3. feud: faida familiare. 4. trial: processo. 4