Outlaws of Medieval Legend: Analyzing the Normans, Hereward, and Fulk

1. The Norman Aristocracy 1000-1400

2. Timeline of Outlaws • Hereward the Wake: 1060s and 1070s • Fulk Fitzwarin: early 1200s • Eustace the Monk: early 1200s • William Wallace late 1290s and early 1300s • Gamelyn: not historical • Robin: not verifiably historical, probably late 1200s but no definite sign of the legend until 1377

3. Outlaws of Medieval Legend

4. Discuss Keen • What are some of the relevant issues raised in the chapter entitled “The Historical Background of the Hereward Legend?” • What was the impact of the Norman Conquest? • In what sense were the Normans “a foreign race?” • How did they address this perception? • What were the assets and liabilities of viewing themselves as such? • What were the long term effects of the image of the Normans as oppressors? • What were the “accretions” that Keen referred to in his analysis of the Hereward legend?

5. Discuss Keen • How did the story of Fulk differ from the story of Hereward? • What was the principal grievance against the king that Hereward and Fulk shared? • What do this grievance suggest about the concerns of medieval society? • Can we begin to construct archetype of the medieval English outlaw base on these characters and their similarities to Robin Hood? • What were Forest Laws? How were they connected to the outlaws?

6. What made Fulk Fitzwarin a popular figure? • He used magic and trickery to overcome his opponents • He fought against the highly unpopular king John • He sought to have his inheritance returned to him • He demonstrated manners and a sense of righteousness toward those whom he plundered

7. Which sources confirm the historicity of Hereward the Wake? • Geoffrey of Monmouth & the Brut Chronicles • The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle & Domesday Book • Magna Carta & the Rolls of Parliament • Piers Plowman & Thomas Walsingham’s Chronicle

8. What were Forest Laws? • Harsh laws imposed by the Normans • Community laws established by peasants • Laws regulating the planting of trees • Customs that grew up out of ancient Germanic practices

9. Royal Forests encompassed large swaths of England

10. How do the Hereward stories, such as the Gesta Herewardi, resemble Geoffrey’s History? • They were written in the 1100s. • They claimed to be based on an unidentified book. • They contained stories of fabulous events. • They seem to have had some basis in oral history, story telling, and songs. • All of the above

13. The English Aristocracy 1000-1500

14. Medieval Visions of the Social Order

15. The equipment and supplies necessary for medieval warfare were well beyond the means of most of European society

16. The Ideal Structure of Feudal Society

17. The Common Structure of Feudal Society

18. Motte & Bailey Castle

20. Windsor

21. Windsor

23. Dover Castle

24. Bodiam Castle

26. Chivalry & Social Practices

29. Outlaw Legends

30. Who was the mortal enemy of Eustace the Monk? • The Count of Boulogne • King John • King Philip of France • William the Conqueror • None of the Above

31. What factor most influenced Eustace’s decisions to rob? • If his victims were merchants • If his victims were liars • If his victims were Frenchmen • If his victims were Plantagenets

32. The English Crown 1066-1400

33. The English Crown1066-1272

34. William IThe Conqueror or Bastardr. 1066-1087

36. William Rufus1087-1100

37. Henry I1100-1135

38. The White Ship1120

39. The English Crown1066-1272

40. The Empress Matildarival claimant1135-1154

41. Stephen Iof Blois1135-1154

42. Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, 2nd husband of Matilda, Le Mans Cathedral

43. The English Crown1066-1272

44. Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204)Henry II (1133-89)Richard I (1157-1199)

45. The Angevin Empirec. 1160

46. The AngevinEmpire: 1189

47. Richard ILionheart1189-1199

48. The English Crown1066-1272

49. Plantagenet Coat of Arms

50. King Johnr. 1199-1126