Robin Hood is one the most famous outlaws of all time, his adventures are legendary, but did he really exist?

Despite the hundreds of tales dedicated to Robin Hood not one tells us who he was. Robin, or Robert, is one of the most common medieval names. Hood is also a fairly common last name, especially in Yorkshire, where many Robin Hood stories are set. Historically, several 'Robin Hood's" have been found:

• A "Robyn Hood" who worked for King Edward II, as Robin Hood apparently did according to the "Gest of Robyn Hode"

• A Robert Hood, a tenant of Wakefield, a town not far from Barnsdale, the medieval home of the legendary Robin Hood. He also had a wife named Matilda of which Marian could have derived from.

• Sir Robin of Locksley,  a knight who returned from the Third Crusade to find his land stolen by the sheriff.

• The Earl of Huntingdon (or the earl's son), a powerful land owner who loses his land either by going into debt or by betrayal. As the earl, Robin's real name is sometimes said to be Robin Fitzooth.

Robin Hood could have been any of these Historical figures, maybe he was all of them. English legal records suggest that, as early as the 13th century, “Robehod,” “Rabunhod” and other variations had become common names for criminals.

Whether he was real or not, Robin Hood is a legendary figure in Medieval Britain. He lives on in hundreds of tales and Ballads that are dedicated to his adventures as an outlaw who "Robbed the Rich to Feed the Poor".