Simon Mattacks
speaker
2,981 appearances
17 recordings
3 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard 13 Sep
Simon Mattacks’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 14 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 3.
Appearances
These two were integrated in their own May Day celebrations.
The French Robin and Marian were generally involved in rustic activities in their stories and were actually unrelated to the figure of the English Robin Hood initially.
Some scholars believe the English and French May Day Robins got blended together and Marian came along for the ride.
This was also the era when Friar Tuck became part of the cast of characters.
It was really during the 16th century that the character of Robin Hood began to shapeshift away from the reckless and violent outlaw of the early stories.
In 1521, historian John Major wrote The History of Greater Britain.
In it, he placed Robin Hood's life during the reign of Richard I and his brother, John.
In May 1585, James VI was reportedly entertained with a Robin Hood play at Dalton Castle in Scotland.
And Shakespeare certainly did his part to keep Robin Hood's legend alive, mentioning him in multiple plays.
When it comes to evolving Robin's story, it's worth mentioning the year 1601.
That was when English playwright Anthony Munday published two Robin Hood plays telling a tale called The Downfall and The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon.
He seems to have drawn upon a variety of earlier sources,
But it's especially notable that he set the play during the reign of Richard I, and he also characterized Robin as being part of the gentry instead of a commoner.
This established another new piece of the Robin Hood we know and love today.
But before we leave the 16th century behind, it's important to mention how the advent of printing changed the way his stories were transmitted.
A type of publication called a broadside ballad became popular.
It was really just a ballad printed on a single cheap sheet of paper.
They were extremely popular.
Scholars estimate that millions were printed in London and they spread easily to the countryside.
As such, they were also often quite simple and focused on popular topics.
Showing 1661–1680 of 2,981 · page 84 of 150
← Previous
Next →