Note from Kitty: Here is another “Kitty’s Attic” blog post – I hope you enjoy it! (It ends abruptly, but I don’t remember where I was going with it, soooo, yes. Thanks for reading!)
————————————————————————————
You’re in for a surprise, Champions, because today I thought we could have some fun and look back at some of the history behind my Robyn Hood books! (I realized I never revealed all the research I put into them!)
While all the details about Robyn Hood aren’t historically accurate, I took special care to really nail the major political figures–King Richard I and Prince John.
As it is in my books, King Richard I was captured on his way home from the Crusades by Duke Leopold of Austria shortly before Christmas. The duke locked him up and informed Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, of Richard’s capture. Richard was passed around different Germanic holds until March 1193, when abbots caught up with him and began negotiations for his ransom. These negotiations took roughly a year, and most of the efforts were put forth by Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine–Richard’s mother–as Prince John wasn’t really keen on his brother’s return.
King Richard’s ransom ended up being 100,000 marks–which was a crazy amount and, according to my sources, about twice the total domestic product of England at the time. As such it took a while for the money to be gathered, so he wasn’t released until February 1194.
Richard came back to England and was there only a short time (long enough to put John back in his place) and then sailed off to retake Normandy. (Normandy is a northern region of France, but at the time Normandy was held by England–specifically by Richard’s father before he died and Richard inherited it.) In April 1199 King Richard died of gangrene after being shot.
Prince John then became king, and while Richard hadn’t been a great king (He was rarely in England and the Crusades, his ransom, and his quest to reconquer Normandy had drained the country) John was flat out hated. He mistreated his own supporters, was incompetent, and demanded even more money than Richard had.
The barons of England chaffed under his rule, leading to the drafting of the Magna Carta–which broke the stranglehold the kings of England had over the land. The Magna Carta was signed in Runnymeade meadow, unwillingly might I add.
Additionally, John really did lose the royal crown jewels–although it wasn’t not to Robin Hood, but bad traveling conditions. It’s not known exactly where he lost the jewels, but it is known that they were lost as part of his bagage train was lost to whirlpools and quicksand when traveling. (It’s actually a fascinating story, I do suggest you look it up!)