Fulk Fitz Warin - Romance of Fouke Le Fitz Waryn

Romance of Fouke Le Fitz Waryn

The biography of Fulk III survives in a French prose "ancestral romance", extant in a miscellaneous manuscript containing English, French and Latin texts, which is based on a lost verse romance. A 16th century summary of a Middle English version has also been preserved. The work is part of the Matter of England. According to the tale, as a young boy, Fulk was sent to the court of King Henry II, where he grew up with the future King John. John became his enemy after a childhood quarrel during a game of chess. As an adult, Fulk was stripped of his family's holdings, and took to the woods as an outlaw. The story may in fact also have confused aspects of the lives of two Fulk FitzWarins, Fulk I (d. 1171) and Fulk II (d. 1197), father and son. The romance of Fulk FitzWarin has been noted for its parallels to the Robin Hood legend. It is also similar to that of other medieval outlaws such as Eustace the Monk and Hereward the Wake.

Fulk Fitzwarin II is depicted in the stained glass window at St Laurence Church, Ludlow.