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| Robin Hood |
Since they were first told in the Middle Ages, the legendary tales of Robin Hood and his Merry Men have become firm favourites in folklore across the world. Filled with romance, intrigue and heroic deeds, the legend of Robin Hood told of an outlaw that only the wealthy and villainous need fear. With his famed modus operandi of robbing from the rich to give to the poor, this hugely popular wanted criminal became an enduring hero of popular myth and a potent symbol of the fight against oppression.
Yet fictional outlaws w ith a social conscience like Robin Hood weren’t so easy to come by in the factual records of the Medieval world. Outlaws weren’t in short supply by any means but Merry Men were rarely anywhere to be found. In fact, those with a price on their head weren’t usually too interested in robbing the rich, dropping a pithy one-liner and hastening off to distribute the wealth. In real life, they were far less choosy about the social status of their victims, while the whole giving to the poor bit that Robin Hood was so fond of often proved to be nowhere near as attractive as keeping all the spoils.
Whether saints-in-waiting, fearsome pirates or disinherited noblemen, the history of Europe is rich with tales of outlaws whose stories were every bit as fantastical as their folkloric counterpart. From murderers to blackmailers and robbers to bandits, these ten criminals at least attempted to follow Robin Hood’s creed and give the spoils of their often shocking crimes to the poor. Of course, it’s worth remembering that sometimes the poorest person those outlaws knew just happened to be themselves!
1. Eustace the Monk. (c.1170 — 24 August 1217)
Fact and fiction collide in the Black Monk’s tale.
Eustace Busket was born into privilege as the son of a nobleman and initially seemed set for a life in holy orders as a monk of Saint Samer Abbey, where he supposedly studied black magic. However, when his father was murdered, Eustace abandoned his monastic career and demanded justice from Renaud de Danmartin, Count of Boulogne. But Eustace was later accused of fraud and outlawed, losing his rank and territories.
The monk headed for the coast and England, where he was hired as a pirate by King John. He was such a valuable and fierce mercenary that, even when he raided English villages, the king pardoned him. Eventually Eustace switched sides again when his old enemy, Renaud, allied with the English. He may even have captured the Channel Islands but was eventually captured himself during a fearsome naval battle. Though he offered a fortune in return for his freedom, Eustace was beheaded.
Eustace passed into romantic legend thanks to a posthumous biography that painted him as a wizard of sorts, who hid in the forest and toyed with Renaud just as Robin Hood did with the sheriff of Nottingham. There is, however, no truth in the tale. Fact and fiction collide in the Black Monk’s tale
2. William Wallace. (c.1270 — 23 August 1305)
The infamous Scot who was a hero to some, an outlaw to others.
In 1296, Edward I of England seized power in Scotland. Few of his new subjects were happy about it and one man decided that something must be done. William Wallace was determined to lead a rebellion against the English king’s rule in Scotland.
After a decisive victory against the king’s forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, Edward sent an army after Wallace. Yet the newly ennobled Scottish hero was one step ahead of his pursuers and following a bruising battlefield defeat in 1298 he may have hastened to France, where he hoped to win military support for his cause.
Wallace returned five years later to find that Robert the Bruce and Edward had declared a truce. As a result, Wallace was declared a wanted man and the price on his head was high. His luck ran out in 1305 when he was captured in Glasgow. Taken to London for trial, he was charged with treason. While he argued that he had never recognised Edward as king of Scotland, so couldn’t have committed treason, his defence fell on deaf ears. On 23 August, Wallace was hanged, drawn and quartered. His head was put on display as a warning to others.
3. Ghino di Tacco. (Late 13th century)
An Italian who made banditry a family business.
Given that Ghinotto di Tacco spent his formative years joining his father, uncle and little brother on bandit raids, it’s hardly surprising that he continued his criminal career into adulthood. Motivated by dissatisfaction at the greed of their rulers, who imposed crippling taxes on the people of La Fratta, where the family lived, the bandits became notorious. When the elder di Taccos were captured and executed, it was left for Ghinotto and his brother to carry on the family business.
Ghinotto seized control of a castle and made it his base of operations, venturing out to rob travellers on the road. Considering himself to be a gentleman thief, he sometimes left his victims with enough to survive their journey and made sure to treat them to a feast before they went on their way. He was also known to only prey on the rich, and he never robbed from the poor.
However, he was not above killing his enemies and parading around with their heads on spikes to prove his fearsome reputation. When Ghinotto finally decided that the time had come to retire, he kidnapped an influential abbot and held him prisoner until he agreed to secure a pardon from Pope Boniface VIII, which allowed Ghinotto to live out his final
years in peace.
4. Eppelein von Gailingen. (c.1310s — 15 May 1381)
This German robber baron made a daring escape from death.
Eppelein von Gailingen wanted it all, whatever the cost. He was born into a family of minor nobles and watched in annoyance as his so-called masters spent money with abandon, while he was forced to borrow to fund his own relatively meagre lifestyle.
He decided to lead a life of crime and for a time, travellers on the roads around Nuremberg lived in terror of encountering Eppelein’s company. When highway robbery started to prove less lucrative than he had hoped, Eppelein raided the city itself and distributed the takings among his gang and local peasants.
Eppelein was eventually captured and sentenced to death — but he allegedly escaped the gallows by leaping onto his horse and jumping the battlements and moat of Nuremberg Castle, riding to safety. Though he was later executed for his crimes, Eppelein is commemorated today by a triannual festival in his honour.
5. Thomas Dun. (c.1068-1135)
The mysterious Thomas Dun was a master of disguise.
Thomas Dun was not a romantic hero. Operating around Bedfordshire, he wandered the roads disguised as a disabled beggar. When travellers stopped to offer assistance, he murdered them and stole whatever they were carrying, even going so far as to steal livestock and sell it on as his own.
As Dun’s criminal ambitions grew, he headed into the shelter of England’s forests. But Dun was certainly no Robin Hood and as he headed north to find new hunting grounds, he formed a gang with some of the other outlaws he met in the forest, becoming their self-appointed leader.
Dun’s luck ran out when he was recognised in a village and pursued by both the sheriff and locals. After a 20-year criminal career, he was captured and sentenced to death without trial. Though he even tried to fight off the executioners, he was eventually dismembered in front of a celebratory crowd.
6. Eustace Folville. (c.13th-14th century)
A notorious gang that made innocent travellers tremble.
Tired with the corrupt regime of Hugh Despenser the Younger, Eustace Folville, the son of a noble family, decided to do something about it. In 1326, he gathered together a gang of around 50 men and together they attacked and killed Sir Roger de Beler, the corrupt Baron of the Exchequer and a long-time enemy of the Folvilles.
Although initially outlawed for their crimes, the gang later received a pardon when Despenser’s regime fell. By this time, however, Folville and his men had become lauded as heroes for standing up to their tyrannical rulers. Like a Medieval A-Team, they remained at large and accepted contracts from people who were seeking retribution or wanted to right a wrong.
With robbery, ransom and abduction the everyday work of the Folville Gang, they were soon making a habit of being outlawed and pardoned. Although Richard, one of Eustace’s younger brothers, was captured and beheaded, Eustace himself managed to escape punishment and even lived well on the proceeds of his commissions.
Mentioned in contemporary literature alongside Robin Hood, the Folvilles were regarded as heroes by some and villains by others. As one of the first named criminal gangs of the era, though, they marked an important entry in the annals of crime in the Middle Ages.
7. Roger Godberd. (Unknown — 1276)
Was a servant literally the real-life Robin Hood?
Roger Godberd might have passed into the mists of history unremarked were it not for the fact that he has been named as a prime contender for the inspiration behind the legend of Robin Hood.
Godberd was a servant to Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, until he was made an outlaw in 1265 for fighting against Henry III. Forced from his lands, he made camp in Sherwood Forest where he remained for five years as the head of a band of mercenaries. Sadly, history records no Friar Tuck or Little John among his gang.
Pursued by the sheriff of Nottingham, Godberd proved a tricky man to apprehend. When captured, he always seemed able to escape but his good luck eventually deserted him and the sheriff managed to get Godberd behind bars. Transferred to the Tower of London, he waited for three years to see what his punishment would be.
In fact, Godberd’s good fortune returned once more because Edward I returned to rule England before he could be put on trial. He apparently pardoned the loyal Godberd and the notorious outlaw returned to his farm, where he lived out the rest of his happy days in peace.
8. Pier Gerlofs Donia. (c.1480–1520)
A giant of a man, Big Pier became a legend.
Born in Frisia, now the Netherlands, Pier Gerlofs Donia was a giant in every sense of the word. When his wife was allegedly raped and murdered by the Black Band, the duke of Saxony’s brutish regiment, the giant of a man swore that he would exact revenge.
He formed a pirate band known as the Black Hope and waged war against the House of Habsburg, plundering their ships and those of their supporters. Attacking coastal areas, they sacked the towns and killed the inhabitants, burning houses and castles alike to the ground.
Supposedly standing at over two metres tall and wielding a sword that weighed nearly 7 kilograms, Pier struck fear into the hearts of his enemies — but fear alone wasn’t enough to defeat the might of the Habsburgs. He died peacefully in 1520 and is fighter,striving to free his people from oppression.
9. Hajduk Momcilo. (Unknown — 1345)
The flip-flopping Momčilo always followed the money.
Hajduk Momčilo, known as Momchil, began his criminal career as a bandit terrorising the Rhodope Mountains. Assisted by his peasant army, he struck fear into the hearts of travellers.
Because the territory he prowled was part of an ongoing border dispute, the warring parties of Serbia, Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire all wanted to secure Momčilo’s support. He was ennobled and his outlaw army became a recognised military force.
When the Byzantine Civil War broke out in 1341, Momčilo played both sides off against each other like a pro. By switching between Stephen Dušan and his opponent, Emperor John VI Cantacuzene, on multiple occasions, when he left Cantacuzene’s service to throw his considerable might behind Dušan once too often, his card was marked.
Cantacuzene declared him an enemy and Momčilo was killed at Peritheorion, when the townspeople locked the city gates and left him to the mercy of his enemies.
10. Stig Andersen Hvide. (Unknown — 1293)
Sometimes the best pirate is a disenfranchised nobleman.
After nobleman Marsk Stig Andersen Hvide was wrongly implicated in the murder of King Eric V in 1286, he was forced to be an outlaw. However, he wasn’t about to surrender and instead began a new career as a pirate, with his frequent raids laying waste to the coast of his homeland. He established his headquarters on the island of Hjelm and from here sailed out to plunder Danish ships and coastal towns.
Although Stig vigorously protested his innocence of the regicide, Denmark refused to listen. Finding that his pleas for clemency were being ignored, Stig instead joined forces with the Norwegian crown. He continued to be allied to Norway until he died of natural causes in 1293.
Yet Stig’s memory didn’t die with him on Hjelm. Instead he became a legendary hero who either killed the king after the king seduced Stig’s wife, or, more frequently, was considered a patsy by those who wanted to curtail the power of the nobility. Stig’s story has been turned into novels, poetry and popular folklore. The pirate lord even became the subject of a popular 19th-century Danish opera that cements his heroic credentials.
By Catherine Curzon in "All About History", UK, issue 61, 2018, excerpts pp.70-74. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa