TheBishop of Herefordis a character in theRobin Hoodlegend. He is typically portrayed as a wealthy and greedy clergyman who is robbed by Robin and hisMerry Men.
History
editThe character first appears by this name in the ballad "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford".The earliest surviving text is in the Forresters manuscript (British LibraryAdd MS71158), which dates to the 1670s.[1]Relying on later printed versions,Francis James Childcollected the work asChild Ballad144.[2]In the song,Robin Hoodand some of his men, disguised as shepherds, poach a deer in an area where they know theBishop of Herefordwill pass through. Finding them, the Bishop threatens to bring them beforeKing Richard,and refuses to grant them pardon. Robin summons hisMerry Men,who capture the Bishop and force him to "pay for" a feast with the outlaws and to sing a mass for them.[3][4]Child regarded it as "far superior to most of the seventeenth-century broadsides".[2]
The work is related toChild Ballad143, "Robin Hood and the Bishop",which features an unidentified bishop and ends in a nearly identical way. Both are variants of the episode in the much older"Gest of Robyn Hode"in which Robin robs a monk.[5]The Bishop of Hereford appears in the subsequent Child Ballad, "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine",in which he refers to the action in the previous work and refuses to bet on Robin in an archery contest.[6]
Scholar Stephen Knight notes that there are multiple historical Bishops of Hereford who have been suggested as a model for the character in the ballads. He may have been based onAdam Orleton,Bishop from 1317 to 1327, an antagonist ofEdward II of Englandwho became very unpopular during the reign ofEdward III.He was a well-known figure at the time the earliest Robin Hood ballads likely developed in the 14th century. Another suggestion is the famously corruptPeter of Aigueblanche,Bishop of Hereford from 1240 to 1268. However, he would have been much less well known in the 14th century. As the ballad identifies the sitting king asRichard,the contemporary bishopWilliam de Vere,in office from 1186 until his death in 1198, has also been suggested, but Knight regards this as unlikely.[7][8]
The Bishop of Hereford appears inHoward Pyle's influential children's bookThe Merry Adventures of Robin Hood(1883), based on the medieval ballads. The Merry Men rob him to pay SirRichard at the Lee's debt. Later, he is scheduled to perform the marriage ofAlan-a-Dale's sweetheart to her unwanted wooer, until Robin intervenes. He also appears in the archery contest scene, where the Queen (hereEleanor of Aquitaine) attributes his refusal to bet on Robin more to greed than to the impropriety of his betting. The Hereford Bishop appears in the anime seriesRobin Hood no Daibōkenvoiced byYuu Shimaka,and is portrayed as a greedy bishop of Nottingham and ally to Baron Alwyn (the main antagonist) who desires Marian Lancaster for the Lancaster's wealth; however, he later betrays the Baron near the end and joins with Robin and his friends to overthrow his unstable leader.
The role of the Bishop of Hereford was played byHarold Innocentin the 1991 filmRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves.In this version, he is depicted as a corrupt clergyman who supports the Sheriff and insists to Robin that the latter's father admitted to being a devil-worshiper. This culminates inFriar Tuck,disgusted and enraged at the Bishop's corruption and hypocrisy,shoving him out of a windowto his death.
Notes
editReferences
edit- Child, Francis James (1904)English and Scottish Popular Ballads,p. 338. Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
- Knight, Stephen (1998).Robin Hood: The Forresters Manuscript.Boydell & Brewer.ISBN0859914364.Retrieved24 April2012.