Dates as given by the sources linked · Published 30 October 2026
The ballads and books, in order
- c. 1377
Piers Plowman
Literature The first known mention in literature is in William Langland’s poem Piers Plowman, written around 1377. The character Sloth admits he cannot say his Paternoster properly, ‘but I kan rymes of Robyn Hood’. William Langland, The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, vol. 1 (ed. Thomas Wright), Project Gutenberg ↗ Dr Mike Ibeji, ‘Robin Hood and his Historical Context’ (2011, archived web article) ↗
- late 1370s
Gower’s Robin and Marion
Literature Robin and Marian appear as a pair, separately from the outlaw, in John Gower’s poem Mirour de l’omme of the late 1370s. Britannica says this Robin and Marian only merged with the outlaw legend in the 1500s. Britannica (Scholars): Robin Hood ↗
- c. 1400
The Gest probably composed
Literature Ibeji dates the main surviving tales: Robin Hood and the Monk (about 1450), and the Gest of Robyn Hode (written down about 1492 to 1510, but probably composed about 1400). Dr Mike Ibeji, ‘Robin Hood and his Historical Context’ (2011, archived web article) ↗
- c. 1420
Wyntoun’s chronicle
History The Scottish chronicler Andrew of Wyntoun (about 1420) puts Robin Hood and Little John under the year 1283, in Inglewood and Barnsdale. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- c. 1437
Walter Bower
History Walter Bower (about 1437) called Robin ‘that most celebrated robber’ and made him a follower of Simon de Montfort. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- c. 1450
Robin Hood and the Monk
Literature Robin Hood and the Monk survives in a Cambridge University Library manuscript from the middle of the 1400s. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1450–1500
Robin Hood joins the May games
Tradition Between 1450 and 1500, Robin Hood became part of English May games, and parish records from all over England show the custom. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1473
The Paston letter
Tradition In 1473 John Paston wrote that a servant he had kept to play ‘Saynt Jorge and Robyn Hod and the Shryff of Nottyngham’ had left him. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- c. 1500
Robin Hood and the Potter
Literature Robin Hood and the Potter survives in a manuscript of about 1500, also at Cambridge. Joseph Ritson first printed it in 1795. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1521
John Major
History John Major’s history of Britain, published in 1521, places Robin in the reign of Richard I and calls him ‘the prince and the most gentle thief’ of all thieves. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1569
Grafton: Robin the noble
History No claim that Robin was of noble birth has been found earlier than Grafton’s Chronicle of 1569. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1598
Munday and Chettle’s plays
Literature In the plays about Robert, Earl of Huntingdon by Anthony Munday and Henry Chettle, first mentioned in 1598, the outlawed earl flees to Sherwood and calls Matilda, his companion, Maid Marian. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- c. 1650
The Percy Folio
Literature Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne and the Percy Folio version of Robin’s death survive only in the Percy Folio manuscript of about 1650. Pages of it were torn out and ‘used by maids to light the fire’ before Bishop Percy found it. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1723
The bridge ballad in print
Literature The story of Robin meeting Little John on the bridge is not medieval. Child found its oldest copy in A Collection of Old Ballads of 1723, written ‘in a rank seventeenth-century style’, and a list shows it was being sold by 1689. Francis James Child (ed.), The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, vol. 3 (1888), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1746
Stukeley’s pedigree
History In 1746 the antiquary William Stukeley invented a noble family tree for ‘Robert Fitzooth, commonly called Robin Hood, pretended Earl of Huntingdon’. Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1883
Howard Pyle
Literature Howard Pyle’s Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883), which he also illustrated, stitched the old ballads together, ‘snipped and clipped and tied together again in a score of knots’, as his preface admits. Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1888
Child’s numbers
Literature In the 1880s the American scholar Francis James Child numbered the ballads. In his collection the Gest is No. 117, Guy of Gisborne 118, the Monk 119, Robin Hood’s Death 120, the Potter 121, the Curtal Friar 123 and Robin Hood and Little John 125. Francis James Child (ed.), The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, vol. 3 (1888), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1892
Tennyson’s The Foresters
Literature Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote a Robin Hood play, The Foresters, in 1892. Britannica (Scholars): Robin Hood ↗
The Gest is placed by when it was probably composed and printed; dates for medieval texts are estimates from the sources linked.
Records and places
- 958
Sherwood first recorded
History The name Sherwood was first recorded in 958, as Sciryuda, ‘the woodland belonging to the shire’. Nottinghamshire County Council: History of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood and Major Oak ↗
- 1225
Robert Hod, fugitive
History The earliest record Ibeji points to: at a royal court held at York on 25 July 1225, the goods of ‘Robert Hod, fugitive’ were valued at 32 shillings and 6 pence. The next year’s account calls him ‘Hobbehod’ and shows he had been a tenant of the Archbishop of York. Dr Mike Ibeji, ‘Robin Hood and his Historical Context’ (2011, archived web article) ↗
- 1261–1262
William Robehod
History A royal account roll of Easter 1262 records that the Prior of Sandleford, in Berkshire, was pardoned for seizing without warrant the goods of ‘William Robehod, fugitive’. Dr Mike Ibeji, ‘Robin Hood and his Historical Context’ (2011, archived web article) ↗
- 1417
Frere Tuk commission
History A royal commission dated 9 February 1417 ordered the arrest of ‘one assuming the name of Frere Tuk and other evildoers of his retinue’ in Surrey and Sussex. Reading the Rolls: Calendar of Patent Rolls entry, 9 February 1417 ↗
- 1429
Robert Stafford alias Frere Tuk
History A roll entry of 12 November 1429 names ‘Robert Stafford of Lyndefeld, chaplain, alias Frere Tuk’, summoned for failing to appear in court. (The online transcription of this entry is marked as machine-read and unverified.) Reading the Rolls: Calendar of Patent Rolls entry, 12 November 1429 (machine-read text) ↗
- 1439
The Venables petition
History In 1439 a petition to Parliament complained that one Piers Venables had gathered men and gone into the woods ‘like as it hadde be Robyn-hode and his meynë’ (as if he were Robin Hood and his band). Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
- 1539
Kirklees Priory surrendered
History Kirklees Priory, near Brighouse in West Yorkshire, was a small nunnery founded in the mid 1100s. It was surrendered to the Crown in 1539, when eight nuns lived there. Historic England: Kirklees Priory and Kirklees Park, list entry 1413828 ↗
- 1669
The Kirklees sketch
History The earliest known picture of the park is a sketch dated 1669 titled ‘The Prospect of Kirklees Abbey where Robin Hood Died’. Historic England: Kirklees Priory and Kirklees Park, list entry 1413828 ↗
- 1702
Gale records the epitaph
History An epitaph for a grave said to be Robin’s at Kirklees was recorded by Thomas Gale in 1702. Dr Mike Ibeji, ‘Robin Hood and his Historical Context’ (2011, archived web article) ↗
- c. 1710
Robin Hood’s Well
History Robin Hood’s Well, beside the Great North Road at Burghwallis in Barnsdale, is an ornamental well cover of about 1710 by Sir John Vanbrugh for the Earl of Carlisle. Historic England: Robin Hood’s Well, Burghwallis, list entry 1314882 ↗
- 1790
Rooke and the Major Oak
History The Major Oak’s earliest recorded name was the Cockpen Tree, in the mid 1800s. In 1790 Major Hayman Rooke put it in his book on Sherwood’s ancient oaks, and the tree has been looked after continuously since 1908. Nottinghamshire County Council: History of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood and Major Oak ↗
- 1929
Little John’s grave cared for
Tradition Church records show a bow, cap and horn hanging in Hathersage church in the 1400s. The grave has been cared for by the Ancient Order of Foresters since 1929. Derbyshire Historic Environment Record: Little John’s Grave, Hathersage (MDR4224) ↗
- 2026
The Major Oak fails to leaf
History In June 2026 the RSPB reported that the Major Oak, ‘thought to be up to 1,200 years old’, failed to come into leaf that spring and is believed by experts to have died. RSPB: The Major Oak, a new chapter for a legend of Sherwood Forest (18 June 2026) ↗
Notice how late the familiar details arrive. Maid Marian, Friar Tuck in the band, the noble earl and the reign of King Richard are all added long after the first ballads.
Follow the thread
Dr Mike Ibeji, ‘Robin Hood and his Historical Context’ (2011, archived web article) ↗
Britannica (Scholars): Robin Hood ↗
Frank Sidgwick (ed.), Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws (1912), Project Gutenberg ↗
Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883), Project Gutenberg ↗
Nottinghamshire County Council: History of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood and Major Oak ↗
Reading the Rolls: Calendar of Patent Rolls entry, 9 February 1417 ↗
Reading the Rolls: Calendar of Patent Rolls entry, 12 November 1429 (machine-read text) ↗
Historic England: Kirklees Priory and Kirklees Park, list entry 1413828 ↗
Historic England: Robin Hood’s Well, Burghwallis, list entry 1314882 ↗
Derbyshire Historic Environment Record: Little John’s Grave, Hathersage (MDR4224) ↗
RSPB: The Major Oak, a new chapter for a legend of Sherwood Forest (18 June 2026) ↗
Retellings are in our own words. Every sentence above carries a label (History, Literature or Tradition) and a link to the source it was checked against. A ballad is not a historical record.
Source method & more reading ↗