A Whittington Castle legend: Was the real life Robin Hood from Shropshire?

This is the story of a Shropshire knight who, according to a trustee of the castle, may have inspired the legend of Robin Hood.

The man in question was Fulk FitzWarin III, a rebellious Shropshire lord with a penchant for upsetting kings and sheriffs.

This particular FitzWarin legend doesn’t begin with Fulk III at all though. It starts with his father - Fulk II.

According to Whittington Castle preservation trustee Sarah Thursfield, Fulk II laid an ancestral claim on the castle in 1195, but it wasn't a clear cut claim.

"The castle had been owned in the later 12th century by Roger of Powys, a Welshman," Sarah explained.

"It was Fulk II who tried to take possession of the castle...

"But it was never granted to him."

The legal work was apparently done and dusted and there was just one thing left to do - pay the entry fine of 40 marks.

But things turned sour.

Fulk II died in 1197 before he had the chance to take possession of the castle, forcing his son Fulk III to dip into his trust fund.

The young lord apparently did so willingly, as you would if you stood to gain such sought-after real estate, and in 1200 he paid a feudal relief fee of £100 to gain possession of the manor.

Unfortunately, legend has it that Fulk III paid the money but never got the property.

There were plenty of land disputes involving FitzWarins at the time, but there's another theory as to why things when awry for Fulk the 3rd.

During the middle ages, kings had the final say on pretty much anything provided they had the military clout to back it up, and it’s believed Fulk III was not on friendly terms with the recently-crowned King John thanks to a chess game-related falling out that occurred when John was still a young prince.

"The story in the romance is that Fulk III had grown up at court with John and they had a quarrel over a chess game," explained Sarah. "Fulk had won the game and the prince got very cross, as he was inclined to do, so he wasn't well disposed towards FitzWarin."

John unexpectedly ascended the throne in 1199, and refused to grant Fulk III Whittington Castle, instead handing the land to Meurig, son of the Welsh nobleman Roger of Powys.

The story goes that the "enraged Fulk" wasn’t amused and ended up killing Whittington’s new owner during a fracas at "the Pass of Ness."

As a result, the bitter Shropshire lord was essentially exiled, and forced to live the life of an outlaw, hiding out with his 52 followers near Nescliffe, while being pursued by 100 knights sent by the king.

This is where the Robin Hood parallels start to emerge.

According to Sarah, a lot of what we know about the FitzWarin story comes from a "romance" written in medieval French called The Gest of Fulk FitzWarin (Fouke le Fitz Waryn) and some of what's written is very similar to the Robin Hood tale, leading some people to believe that Robin Hood is in fact a fictionalised account of Fulk III's time as an outlaw.

For example, the folklore associated with this phase of Fulk III’s life tells that he spent three years, from 1200 to 1203, robbing from the rich and giving the proceeds to the poor.

"We've got him holed up in Nesscliffe for three years, robbing merchants, but allegedly, in the original story, he's robbing the rich and giving to the poor and being nice to the peasants," said Sarah. "Whether he really was or not, we don't know."

Fulk the bandit was active around the time of one of the crusades, and also only a few years after the character Robin Hood was supposedly up to his antics to the north east.

"It all ties in because the original, early Robin Hood stories are around the time of the crusades," Sarah continued.

Of course, the "romance" is thought to be part truth and very obviously part fantasy, so it's very difficult to tell what truly happened during those three years.

But it is known that his exile came to end, probably because some money exchanged hands, in 1203, with King John pardoning Fulk III and granting him Whittington Castle.

One of the stories, which there isn't much evidence for, is that Fulk kidnapped the king with his band of merry men and enforced the pardon. This would've been very Robin Hood, but sadly unproveable.

Once Fulk III had his hands on Whittington, things were pretty much hunky-dory for more than a decade. He seemingly lived the life of your average medieval landowner.

But it’s perhaps not unreasonable to suggest that a part of him never forgave John for what he did in the late 12th century. And when an opportunity to get revenge presented itself, he took full advantage.

After raising taxes in an attempt to build a warchest to retake his French territories, King John became extremely unpopular with the English elite.

The barons thought John was throwing his royal weight around a bit too much, so they rebelled and brought about a decisive defeat for the king at the hands of the French in 1214.

This, among other things, led to the signing of the Magna Carta.

While Fulk III wasn't a baron as such, he threw his lot in with the rebels and this would've made him a target of Sheriff of Shropshire, who was responsible for keeping order in the county. Perhaps another Robin Hood parallel? He apparently lost some of his lands as a result of the rebellion.

"He took the side of the rebel barons against the king and there was another dispute [with John] about that," Sarah explained.

John didn't really play fair following Magna Carta and conflict broke out across the country. Had the King not died the following year in 1216, there's a chance Fulk III would've found himself on the run for the second time in his life.

And that's the end of the "Robin Hood" part of the story.

In 1221, Whittington Castle underwent "extensive building work" to shore up its defences so that it started to look like the structure we can see today.

Fulk III briefly lost possession of the land during a siege and the castle was held by the Welsh king Llywelyn the Great in 1223.

But the ever-determined Fulk III did end up getting it back, with a diplomatic marriage linking him to Llywelyn.

There weren't many other controversies or Robin Hood parallels for the rest of his life, but one interesting detail is that he founded Alberbury Priory where he was buried.

Whether Fulk FitzWarin III was indeed the real Robin Hood or not, he was a real man, and even though the details we have about his life are in part fantasy, there's no doubt this particular Whittington Castle legend is absolutely fascinating.

The Fouke le Fitz Waryn was composed after his death and was not biographical, but it does tell some amazing stories about his time as an outlaw, and he must've been popular because his name was continually renewed for centuries.