Sheriff of Nottingham in The Robin Hood Legend?
Typically, the legends of Robin Hood are set during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart, especially when the king was away at the Crusade. If so that would make William de Wendenel the corrupt and cruel lawman of legend and typical arch nemesis of the folk hero of Sherwood Forest. It is said that Robin Hood robbed from the rich not only to relieve the commoners of the unnecessarily harsh taxes imposed on them by the greedy establishment, but also to help raise the ransom for Queen Mother Eleanor of Aquitaine to free her son Richard the Lionheart from captivity in the custody of first Leopold V of Austria and then Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor.
Many historical sheriffs from this period in history were indeed corrupt, and it is possible that de Wendenel was as well. Some, like Sir Robert Ingram, were actually in league with outlaws. This sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire was an ally of the Coterel gang, notorious 14th century outlaws. Other sheriffs, like John de Oxenford, were outlawed themselves. Oxenford was the sheriff from 1334 to 1339. In 1341, Oxenford was accused of "illegal purveyance, abusing his authority in regard to the county gaol and its prisoners, as well as various extortions.". He did not show up in court and was himself outlawed.
If de Wendenel was indeed in the same league as these corrupt officials, abusing the absence of a king to terrorise the populace, then he may have been killed in an uprising or by a revengeful outlawed peasant. Indeed there are records of riots going on at the time in Nottingham, where de Wendenel probably resided for a time (the city is also the site where Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester and David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, soon after laid siege to supporters of John of England). If this was the case then it would adequately explain why de Wendenel disappears from history. Some who believe in a historical Robin Hood have stated that de Wendenel was killed, and that his avenger was a famed outlaw of the time and disposed member of the lower gentry, now known as Robin Hood.
Unfortunately for these theories, the connection of Robin Hood with Richard's reign dates only to the historian John Mair, writing in the sixteenth century; the earliest chronicle references (Andrew Wyntoun, writing c. 1420, and Walter Bower, c. 1440) date his flourishing to 1283 and 1266 respectively, while the probable earliest literary source (A Gest of Robyn Hode) names the King as "Edward".
Read more about this topic: William De Wendenal
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