Robin Hood

Robin Hoodand other outlaw

heroesby Wikipedians

Table of ContentsIntroduction................................................................................................................................................1Robin Hood................................................................................................................................................2Basil Fool for Christ.................................................................................................................................24Eustace Folville........................................................................................................................................25Ishikawa Goemon....................................................................................................................................30Hong Gildong...........................................................................................................................................32Juraj Jánošík.............................................................................................................................................34Kobus van der Schlossen.........................................................................................................................40Lampião...................................................................................................................................................41Ned Kelly.................................................................................................................................................44Nezumi Kozō...........................................................................................................................................68Roberto Cofresí........................................................................................................................................70Louis Riel.................................................................................................................................................77Ustym Karmaliuk.....................................................................................................................................97Salvatore Giuliano..................................................................................................................................100William de Wendenal.............................................................................................................................106Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd......................................................................................................................109William Wallace.....................................................................................................................................112

Introduction

IntroductionNote. This book is based on the Wikipedia article: “Robin Hood”. The supporting articles are those referenced as major expansion of selected sections.

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Robin Hood and other outlaw heroes at http://bit.ly/cDxWJe

Robin HoodRobin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor," assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men." Robin and many of his men wore Lincoln green clothes.Robin Hood became a popular folk figure starting in medieval times continuing through modern literature, films, and television. In the earliest sources Robin Hood is a commoner, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.

OverviewIn popular culture, Robin Hood and his band of merry men are usually portrayed as living in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, where much of the action in the early ballads

takes place. So does the very first recorded Robin Hood rhyme, four lines from the early 15th century, beginning: "Robyn hode in scherewode stod." To reinforce this belief, the University of Nottingham in 2010 has begun the Nottingham Caves Survey with the goal "to increase the tourist potential of these sites". The project "will use a 3D laser scanner to produce a three dimensional record of more than 450 sandstone caves around Nottingham". However, the overall picture from the surviving early ballads and other early references suggest that Robin Hood may have been based in the Barnsdale area of what is now South Yorkshire (which borders Nottinghamshire).Other traditions point to a variety of locations as Robin's "true" home both inside Yorkshire and elsewhere, with the abundance of places named for Robin causing further confusion. A tradition dating back at least to the end of the 16th century gives his birthplace as Loxley, Sheffield in South Yorkshire, while the site of Robin Hood's Well in Yorkshire has been associated with Robin Hood at least since 1422. His grave has been claimed to be at Kirklees Priory, Mirfield in West Yorkshire, as implied by the 18th-century version of Robin Hood's Death, and there is a headstone there of dubious authenticity.

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Illustration 1: Robin Hood statue in Nottingham

http://bit.ly/cDxWJe

Robin Hood

The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the late 14th-century poem Piers Plowman, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads which tell his story have been dated to the 15th century or the first decade of the 16th century. In these early accounts Robin Hood's partisanship of the lower classes, his Marianism and associated special regard for women, his outstanding skill as an archer, his anti-clericalism, and his particular animus towards the Sheriff of Nottingham are already clear. Little John, Much the Miller's Son and Will Scarlet (as Will "Scarlok" or "Scathelocke") all appear, although not yet Maid Marian or Friar Tuck. It is not certain what should be made of these latter two absences as it is known that Friar Tuck, for one, has been part of the legend since at least the later 15th century.In popular culture Robin Hood is typically seen as a contemporary and supporter of the late 12th-century king Richard the Lionheart, Robin being driven to outlawry during the misrule of Richard's evil brother John while Richard was away at the Third Crusade. This view first gained currency in the 16th century, but it has very little scholarly support. It is certainly not supported by the earliest ballads. The early compilation A Gest of Robyn Hode names the king as "Edward," and while it does show Robin Hood as accepting the King's pardon he later repudiates it and returns to the greenwood.The oldest surviving ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk gives even less support to the picture of Robin Hood as a partisan of the true king. The setting of the early ballads is usually attributed by scholars to either the 13th century or the 14th, although it is recognised they are not necessarily historically consistent.The early ballads are also quite clear on Robin Hood's social status: he is a yeoman. While the precise meaning of this term changed over time, including free retainers of an aristocrat and small landholders, it always referred to commoners. The essence of it in the present context was "neither a knight nor a peasant or 'husbonde' but something in between." We know that artisans (such as millers) were among those regarded as "yeomen" in the 14th century. From the 16th century on there were attempts to elevate Robin Hood to the nobility and in two extremely influential plays Anthony Munday presented him at the very end of the 16th century as the Earl of Huntingdon, as he is still commonly presented in modern times.As well as ballads, the legend was also transmitted by "Robin Hood games" or plays that were an important part of the late medieval and early modern May Day festivities. The first record of a Robin Hood game was in 1426 in Exeter, but the reference does not indicate how old or widespread this custom was at the time. The Robin Hood games are known to have flourished in the later 15th and 16th centuries. It is commonly stated as fact that Maid Marian and a jolly friar (at least partly identifiable with Friar Tuck) entered the legend through the May Games.

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The early ballads link Robin Hood to identifiable real places and many are convinced that he was a real person, more or less accurately portrayed. A number of theories as to the identity of "the real Robin Hood" have their supporters. Some of these theories posit that "Robin Hood" or "Robert Hood" or the like was his actual name; others suggest that this may have been merely a nick-name disguising a medieval bandit perhaps known to history under another name.At the same time it is possible that Robin Hood has always been a fictional character; the folklorist Francis James Child declared "Robin Hood is absolutely a creation of the ballad-muse" and this view has not been disproved. Another view is that Robin Hood's origins must be sought in folklore or mythology; Despite the frequent Christian references in the early ballads, Robin Hood has been claimed for the pagan witch-religion supposed by Margaret Murray to have existed in medieval Europe.

Early referencesThe oldest references to Robin Hood are not historical records, or even ballads recounting his exploits, but hints and allusions found in various works. From 1228, onwards the names 'Robinhood', 'Robehod' or 'Hobbehod' occur in the rolls of several English Justices. The majority of these references date from the late 13th century. Between 1261 and 1300, there are at least eight references to 'Rabunhod' in various regions across England, from Berkshire in the south to York in the north.In a petition presented to Parliament in 1439, the name is used to describe an itinerant felon. The petition cites one Piers Venables of Aston, Derbyshire, "who having no liflode, ne sufficeante of goodes, gadered and assembled unto him many misdoers, beynge of his clothynge, and, in manere of insurrection, wente into the wodes in that countrie, like as it hadde be Robyn Hude and his meyne." The name was still used to describe sedition and treachery in 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his associates were branded "Robin Hoods" by Robert Cecil.The first allusion to a literary tradition of Robin Hood tales occurs in William Langland's Piers Plowman (c. 1362–c. 1386) in which Sloth, the lazy priest, confesses: "I kan [know] not parfitly [perfectly] my Paternoster as the preest it singeth,/ But I kan rymes of Robyn Hood."The first mention of a quasi-historical Robin Hood is given in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Chronicle, written in about 1420. The following lines occur with little contextualisation under the year 1283:

• Lytil Jhon and Robyne Hude

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Robin Hood

• Wayth-men ware commendyd gude • In Yngil-wode and Barnysdale • Thai oysyd all this tyme thare trawale.

The next notice is a statement in the Scotichronicon, composed by John of Fordun between 1377 and 1384, and revised by Walter Bower in about 1440. Among Bower's many interpolations is a passage which directly refers to Robin. It is inserted after Fordun's account of the defeat of Simon de Montfort and the punishment of his adherents. Robin is represented as a fighter for de Montfort's cause. This was in fact true of the historical outlaw of Sherwood Forest Roger Godberd, whose points of similarity to the Robin Hood of the ballads have often been noted.Bower writes:

Then [c. 1266] arose the famous murderer, Robert Hood, as well as Little John, together with their accomplices from among the disinherited, whom the foolish populace are so inordinately fond of celebrating both in tragedies and comedies, and about whom they are delighted to hear the jesters and minstrels sing above all other ballads.

The word translated here as "murderer" is the Latin siccarius, from the Latin for "knife." Bower goes on to tell a story about Robin Hood in which he refuses to flee from his enemies while hearing Mass in the greenwood, and then gains a surprise victory over them, apparently as a reward for his piety.Another reference, discovered by Julian Luxford in 2009, appears in the margin of the "Polychronicon" in the Eton College library. Written around the year 1460 by a monk in Latin, it says:

Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw named Robin Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies.

William Shakespeare makes reference to Robin Hood in his late 16th-century play The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of his earliest. In it, the character Valentine is banished from Milan and driven out through the forest where he is approached by outlaws who, upon meeting him, desire him as their leader. They comment, "By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat friar, This fellow were a king for our wild faction!" implying that they imagine themselves as similar to the Robin Hood story.

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References to Robin as Earl of HuntingtonAnother reference is provided by Thomas Gale, Dean of York (c. 1635–1702), but this comes nearly four hundred years after the events it describes:

[Robin Hood's] death is stated by Ritson to have taken place on the 18th of November, 1247, about the 87th year of his age; but according to the following inscription found among the papers of the Dean of York...the death occurred a month later. In this inscription, which bears evidence of high antiquity, Robin Hood is described as Earl of Huntington - his claim to which title has been as hotly contested as any disputed peerage upon record.

1. Hear undernead dis laitl stean2. Lais Robert Earl of Huntingun3. Near arcir der as hie sa geud4. An pipl kauld im Robin Heud5. Sic utlaws as hi an is men6. Vil England nivr si agen.

1. Obiit 24 Kal Dekembris 1247

This inscription also appears on a grave in the grounds of Kirklees Priory near Kirklees Hall (see below). Robert is largely fictional by this time. The Gale note is inaccurate. The medieval texts do not refer to him directly, but mediate their allusions through a body of accounts and reports: for Langland, Robin exists principally in "rimes," for Bower, "comedies and tragedies," while for Wyntoun he is, "commendyd gude." Even in a legal context, where one would expect to find verifiable references to Robert, he is primarily a symbol, a generalised outlaw-figure rather than an individual. Consequently, in the medieval period itself, Robin Hood already belongs more to literature than to history. In fact, in an anonymous song called Woman of c. 1412, he is treated in precisely this manner - as a joke, a figure that the audience will instantly recognise as imaginary:

He that made this songe full good, Came of the northe and the sothern blode, And somewhat kyne to Robert Hoad.

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Robin Hood

SourcesThere is little scholarly support for the view that tales of Robin Hood have stemmed from mythology or folklore; from fairies (such as Puck under the alias Robin Goodfellow) or other mythological origins. When Robin Hood has been connected to such folklore, it is apparently a later development. Maurice Keen provides a brief summary and useful critique of the once-popular view that Robin Hood had mythological origins, while (unlike some) refraining from utterly and finally dismissing it. While Robin Hood and his men often show superb skill in archery, swordplay, and disguise, they are no more exaggerated than those characters in other ballads, such as Kinmont Willie, which were based on historical events.Robin Hood's role in the traditional May Day games could suggest pagan connections but that role has not been traced earlier than the early 15th century. However, it is uncontroversial that a Robin and Marion figured in 13th-century French "pastourelles" (of

which Jeu de Robin et Marion c. 1280 is a literary version) and presided over the French May festivities, "this Robin and Marion tended to preside, in the intervals of the attempted seduction of the latter by a series of knights, over a variety of rustic pastimes."In the Jeu de Robin and Marion Robin and his companions have to rescue Marion from the clutches of a "lustful knight." Dobson and Taylor in their survey of the legend, in which they reject the mythological theory, nevertheless regard it as "highly probable" that this French Robin's name and functions travelled to the English May Games where they fused with the Robin Hood legend.The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from tales of outlaws, such as Hereward the Wake, Eustace the Monk, Fulk FitzWarin, and William Wallace. Hereward appears in a ballad much

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Illustration 2: "Robin shoots with Sir Guy" by Louis Rhead


like Robin Hood and the Potter, and as the Hereward ballad is older, it appears to be the source. The ballad Adam Bell, Clym of the Cloughe and Wyllyam of Cloudeslee runs parallel to Robin Hood and the Monk, but it is not clear whether either one is the source for the other, or whether they merely show that such tales were told of outlaws.Some early Robin Hood stories appear to be unique, such as the story where Robin gives a knight, generally called Richard at the Lee, money to pay off his mortgage to an abbot, but this may merely indicate that no parallels have survived.There are a number of theories that attempt to identify a historical Robin Hood. A difficulty with any such historical search is that "Robert" was in medieval England a very common given name, and "Robin" (or Robyn) especially in the 13th century was its very common diminutive. The surname "Hood" (or Hude or Hode etc), referring ultimately to the head-covering, was also fairly common. Unsurprisingly, therefore, there are a number of people called "Robert Hood" or "Robin Hood" to be found in medieval records. Some of them are on record for having fallen foul of the law but this is not necessarily significant to the legend.The early ballads give a number of possible historical clues, notably the Gest names the reigning king as "Edward," but the ballads cannot be assumed to be reliable in such details. For whatever it may be worth, however, King Edward I took the throne in 1272, and an Edward remained on the throne until the death of Edward III in 1377.On the other hand what appears to be the first known example of "Robin Hood" as stock name for an outlaw dates to 1262 in Berkshire where the surname "Robehod" was applied to a man after he had been outlawed, and apparently because he had been outlawed. This could suggest two main possibilities: either that an early form of the Robin Hood legend was already well established in the mid-13th century; or alternatively that the name "Robin Hood" preceded the outlaw hero that we know; so that the "Robin Hood" of legend was so-called because that was seen as an appropriate name for an outlaw.It has long been suggested, notably by John Maddicott, that "Robin Hood" was a stock alias used by thieves. Another theory of the origin of the name needs to be mentioned here. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica remarks that 'hood' was a common dialectical form of 'wood'; and that the outlaw's name has been given as "Robin Wood." There are indeed a number of references to Robin Hood as Robin Wood, or Whood, or Whod, from the 16th and 17th centuries. The earliest recorded example, in connection with May games in Somerset, dates from 1518.One well-known theory of origin was proposed by Joseph Hunter in 1852. Hunter identified the outlaw with a "Robyn Hode" recorded as employed by Edward II in 1323 during the king's progress through Lancashire. This Robyn Hood was identified with (one or more people called) Robert Hood living in Wakefield

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Robin Hood

before and after that time. Comparing the available records with especially the Gest and also other ballads Hunter developed a fairly detailed theory according to which Robin Hood was an adherent of the rebel Earl of Lancaster, defeated at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322. According to this theory Robin Hood was pardoned and employed by the king in 1323. (The Gest does relate that Robin Hood was pardoned by "King Edward" and taken into his service.) The theory supplies Robin Hood with a wife, Matilda, thought to be origin of Maid Marian; and Hunter also conjectured that the author of the Gest may have been the religious poet Richard Rolle (1290–1349) who lived in the village of Hampole in Barnsdale.This theory has long been recognised to have serious problems, one of the most serious being that "Robin Hood" and similar names were already used as nicknames for outlaws in the 13th century. Another is that there is no direct evidence that Hunter's Hood had ever been an outlaw or any kind of criminal or rebel at all, the theory is built on conjecture and coincidence of detail. Finally recent research has shown that Hunter's Robyn Hood had been employed by the king at an earlier stage, this casting doubt on this Robyn Hood's supposed earlier career as outlaw and rebel.Another theory identifies him with the historical outlaw Roger Godberd who was a die-hard supporter of Simon de Montfort; which would place Robin Hood around the 1260s. There are certainly parallels between Godberd's career and that of Robin Hood as he appears in the Gest, John Maddicott has called Godberd "that prototype Robin Hood." Some problems with this theory are that there is no evidence that Godberd was ever known as Robin Hood, and no sign in the early Robin Hood ballads of the specific concerns of de Montfort's revolt.Another well-known theory, first proposed by the historian L. V. D. Owen in 1936 and more recently floated by J. C. Holt and others, is that the original Robin Hood might be identified with an outlawed Robert Hood, or Hod, or Hobbehod, all apparently the same man, referred to in nine successive Yorkshire Pipe Rolls between 1226 and 1234. There is no evidence however that this Robert Hood, although an outlaw, was also a bandit.

Ballads and talesThe earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood ballad is "Robin Hood and the Monk." This is preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48, which was written shortly after 1450. It contains many of the elements still associated with the legend, from the Nottingham setting to the bitter enmity between Robin and the local sheriff.

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The first printed version is A Gest of Robyn Hode (c. 1475), a collection of separate stories which attempts to unite the episodes into a single continuous narrative. After this comes "Robin Hood and the Potter," contained in a manuscript of c. 1503. "The Potter" is markedly different in tone from "The Monk:" whereas the earlier tale is "a thriller" the latter is more comic, its plot involving trickery and cunning rather than straightforward force. The difference between the two texts recalls Bower's claim that Robin-tales may be both 'comedies and tragedies'.Other early texts are dramatic pieces such as the fragmentary Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham (c. 1472). These are particularly noteworthy as they show Robin's integration into May Day rituals towards the end of the Middle Ages.The plots of neither "the Monk" nor

"the Potter" are included in the Gest; and neither is the plot of "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" which is probably at least as old as those two ballads although preserved in a more recent copy. Each of these three ballads survived in a single copy, so it is unclear how much of the medieval legend has survived, and what has survived may not be typical of the medieval legend. It has been argued that the fact that the surviving ballads were preserved in written form in itself makes it unlikely they were typical; in particular stories with an interest for the gentry were by this view more likely to be preserved. The story of Robin's aid to the "poor knight" that takes up much of the Gest may be an example. The character of Robin in these first texts is rougher edged than in his later incarnations. In "Robin Hood and the Monk," for example, he is shown as quick tempered and violent, assaulting Little John for defeating him in an archery contest; in the same ballad Much the Miller's Son casually kills a "little page" in the course of rescuing Robin Hood from prison. No extant ballad actually shows Robin Hood "giving to the poor," although in a "A Gest of Robyn Hode" Robin does make a large loan to an unfortunate knight which he does not in the end require to be repaid; and later in the same ballad Robin Hood states his intention of giving money to the next traveller to come down the road if he happens to be poor.

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Illustration 3: Douglas Fairbanks as Robin Hood; the sword with which he is depicted was common in the oldest ballads


Robin Hood

Of my good he shall haue some, Yf he be a por man.

As it happens the next traveller is not poor, but it seems in context that Robin Hood is stating a general policy. From the beginning Robin Hood is on the side of the poor; the Gest quotes Robin Hood as instructing his men that when they rob:

loke ye do no husbonde harme That tilleth with his ploughe. No more ye shall no gode yeman That walketh by gren-wode shawe; Ne no knyght ne no squyer That wol be a gode felawe.

And in its final lines the Gest sums up: he was a good outlawe, And dyde pore men moch god.

Within Robin Hood's band medieval forms of courtesy rather than modern ideals of equality are generally in evidence. In the early ballads Robin's men usually kneel before him in strict obedience: in A Gest of Robyn Hode the king even observes that "His men are more at his byddynge/Then my men be at myn." Their social status, as yeomen, is shown by their weapons; they use swords rather than quarterstaffs. The only character to use a quarterstaff in the early ballads is the potter, and Robin Hood does not take to a staff until the 18th century Robin Hood and Little John.The political and social assumptions underlying the early Robin Hood ballads have long been controversial. It has been influentially argued by J. C. Holt that the Robin Hood legend was cultivated in the households of the gentry, and that it would be mistaken to see in him a figure of peasant revolt. He is not a peasant but a yeoman, and his tales make no mention of the complaints of the peasants, such as oppressive taxes. He appears not so much as a revolt against societal standards as an embodiment of them, being generous, pious, and courteous, opposed to stingy, worldly, and churlish foes. Other scholars have by contrast stressed the subversive aspects of the legend, and see in the medieval Robin Hood ballads a plebeian literature hostile to the feudal order.Although the term "Merry Men" belongs to a later period, the ballads do name several of Robin's companions. These include Will Scarlet (or Scathlock), Much the Miller's Son, and Little John - who was called "little" as a joke, as he was quite the opposite. Even though the band is regularly described as being over a hundred men, usually only three or four are specified. Some appear only once or

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twice in a ballad: Will Stutely in Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly and Robin Hood and Little John; David of Doncaster in Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow; Gilbert with the White Hand in A Gest of Robyn Hode; and Arthur a Bland in Robin Hood and the Tanner.Printed versions of the Robin Hood ballads, generally based on the Gest, appear in the early 16th century, shortly after the introduction of printing in England. Later that century Robin is promoted to the level of nobleman: he is styled Earl of Huntingdon, Robert of Locksley, or Robert Fitz Ooth. In the early ballads, by contrast, he was a member of the yeoman classes, which included common freeholders possessing a small landed estate.By the early 15th century at the latest, Robin Hood had become associated with May Day celebrations, with revellers dressing as Robin or as members of his band for the festivities. This was not common throughout England, but in some regions the custom lasted until Elizabethan times, and during the reign of Henry VIII, was briefly popular at court. Robin was often allocated the role of a May King, presiding over games and processions, but plays were also performed with the characters in the roles, sometimes performed at church ales, a means by which churches raised funds.A complaint of 1492, brought to the Star Chamber, accuses men of acting riotously by coming to a fair as Robin Hood and his men; the accused defended themselves on the grounds that the practice was a long-standing custom to raise money for churches, and they had not acted riotously but peaceably.It is from this association that Robin's romantic attachment to Maid Marian (or Marion) stems. The naming of Marian may have come from the French pastoral play of c. 1280, the Jeu de Robin et Marion, although this play is unrelated to the English legends. Both Robin and Marian were certainly associated with May Day festivities in England (as was Friar Tuck), but these were originally two distinct

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Illustration 4: "Little John and Robin Hood" by Frank Godwin


Robin Hood

types of performance - Alexander Barclay, writing in c. 1500, refers to "some merry fytte of Maid Marian or else of Robin Hood" - but the characters were brought together. Marian did not immediately gain the unquestioned role; in Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage, his sweetheart is 'Clorinda the Queen of the Shepherdesses'. Clorinda survives in some later stories as an

alias of Marian.In the 16th century, Robin Hood is given a specific historical setting. Up until this point there was little interest in exactly when Robin's adventures took place. The original ballads refer at various points to "King Edward," without stipulating whether this is Edward I, Edward II, or Edward III. Hood may thus have been active at any point between 1272 and 1377. However, during the 16th century the stories become fixed to the 1190s, the period in which King Richard was absent from his throne, fighting in the crusades. This date is first proposed by John Mair in his Historia Majoris Britanniæ (1521), and gains popular acceptance by the end of the century.Giving Robin an aristocratic title and female love interest, and placing him in the historical context of the true king's absence, all represent moves to domesticate his legend and reconcile it to ruling powers. In this, his legend is similar to that of King Arthur, which morphed from a dangerous male-centred story to a more comfortable,

chivalrous romance under the troubadours serving Eleanor of Aquitaine. From the 16th century on, the legend of Robin Hood is often used to promote the hereditary ruling class, romance, and religious piety. The "criminal" element is retained to provide dramatic colour, rather than as a real challenge to convention.In 1598, Anthony Munday wrote a pair of plays on the Robin Hood legend, The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington (published 1601). The 17th century introduced the minstrel Alan-a-Dale. He first appeared in a 17th century broadside ballad, and unlike many of the characters thus associated, managed to adhere to the legend. This is also the era in which the character of Robin became fixed as stealing from the rich to give to the poor.In the 18th century, the stories become even more conservative, and develop a slightly more farcical vein. From this period there are a number of ballads in which Robin is severely "drubbed" by a succession of professionals including a tanner, a tinker and a ranger. In fact, the only character who does not get the

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Illustration 5: Robin Hood and Maid Marian


better of Hood is the luckless Sheriff. Yet even in these ballads Robin is more than a mere simpleton: on the contrary, he often acts with great shrewdness. The tinker, setting out to capture Robin, only manages to fight with him after he has been cheated out of his money and the arrest warrant he is carrying. In Robin Hood's Golden Prize, Robin disguises himself as a friar and cheats two priests out of their cash. Even when Robin is defeated, he usually tricks his foe into letting him sound his horn, summoning the Merry Men to his aid. When his enemies do not fall for this ruse, he persuades them to drink with him instead.The continued popularity of the Robin Hood tales is attested by a number of literary references. In As You Like It, the exiled duke and his men "live like the old Robin Hood of England," while Ben Jonson produced the (incomplete) masque The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood as a satire on Puritanism. Somewhat later, the Romantic poet John Keats composed Robin Hood. To A Friend and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a play The Foresters, or Robin Hood and Maid Marian, which was presented with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan in 1892. Later still, T. H. White featured Robin and his band in The Sword in the Stone - anachronistically, since the novel's chief theme is the childhood of King

Arthur.The Victorian era generated its own distinct versions of Robin Hood. The traditional tales were often adapted for children, most notably in Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, which influenced accounts of Robin Hood through the 20th century. These versions firmly stamp Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man who takes from the rich to give to the poor. Nevertheless, the adventures are still more local than national in scope: while King Richard's participation in the Crusades is mentioned in passing, Robin takes no stand against Prince John, and plays no part in raising the ransom to free Richard. These developments are part of the 20th century Robin Hood myth.The idea of Robin Hood as a high-minded Saxon fighting Norman lords also originates in the 19th century. The most notable contributions to this idea of Robin are Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry's Histoire de la Conquête de l'Angleterre par les Normands (1825) and Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1819). In this last work in particular, the modern Robin Hood - "King of Outlaws and prince of good fellows!" as Richard the Lionheart calls him - makes his debut.

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Illustration 6: Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland as Robin Hood and Maid Marian


Robin Hood

The 20th century has grafted still further details on to the original legends. The 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, portrayed Robin as a hero on a national scale, leading the oppressed Saxons in revolt against their Norman overlords while Richard the Lionheart fought in the Crusades; this movie established itself so definitively that many studios resorted to movies about his son (invented for that purpose) rather than compete with the image of this one.In the 1973 animated Disney film Robin Hood, the title character is portrayed as an anthropomorphic fox voiced by Brian Bedford. Years before Robin Hood had even entered production, Disney had considered doing a project on Reynard the Fox. However, due to concerns that Reynard was unsuitable as a hero, animator Ken Anderson lifted many elements from Reynard into Robin Hood, thus making the titular character a fox.The 1976 British and American film Robin and Marian, starring Sean Connery as Robin Hood and Audrey Hepburn as Maid Marian, portrays the figures in later years after Robin has returned from service with Richard the Lion Hearted in a foreign crusade and Marian has gone into seclusion in a nunnery. Since the 1980s, it has become commonplace to include a Saracen among the Merry Men, a trend which began with the character Nasir in the Robin of Sherwood television series. Later versions of the story have followed suit: the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and 2006 BBC TV series Robin Hood each contain equivalents of Nasir, in the figures of Azeem and Djaq respectively. The latest movie version to be released summer of 2010 is simply entitled Robin Hood is directed by Ridley Scott, with Robin played by Russell Crowe.The Robin Hood legend has thus been subject to numerous shifts and mutations throughout its history. Robin himself has evolved from a yeoman bandit to a national hero of epic proportions, who not only supports the poor by taking from

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Illustration 7: The title page of Howard Pyle's 1883 novel, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood


the rich, but heroically defends the throne of England itself from unworthy and venal claimants.

Connections to existing locationsIn modern versions of the legend, Robin Hood is said to have taken up residence in the verdant Sherwood Forest in the county of Nottinghamshire. For this reason the people of present-day Nottinghamshire have a special affinity with Robin Hood, often claiming him as the symbol of their county. For example, major road signs entering the shire depict Robin Hood with his bow and arrow, welcoming people to 'Robin Hood County.' BBC Radio Nottingham also uses the phrase 'Robin Hood County' on its regular programmes. The Robin Hood Way runs through Nottinghamshire and the county is home to literally thousands of

other places, roads, inns and objects bearing Robin's name. Specific sites linked to Robin Hood include the Major Oak tree, claimed to have been used by him as a hideout, Robin Hood's Well, located near Newstead Abbey (within the boundaries of Sherwood Forest), and the Church of St. Mary in the village of Edwinstowe, where Robin and Maid Marian are historically thought to have wed.However, the Nottingham setting is a matter of some contention. While the Sheriff of Nottingham and the town itself appear in early ballads,

and Sherwood is specifically mentioned in the early ballad Robin Hood and the Monk, certain of the original ballads (even those with Nottingham references) locate Robin on occasion in Barnsdale (the area between Pontefract and Doncaster), some fifty miles north of Sherwood in the county of Yorkshire; furthermore, it has been suggested that the ballads placed in this area are far more geographically specific and accurate. This is reinforced for some by the alleged similarity of Locksley to the area of Loxley, South Yorkshire in Sheffield, where in nearby Tideswell, which was the "Kings Larder" in the Royal Forest of the Peak, a record of the appearance of a "Robert de Lockesly" in court is found, dated 1245. As "Robert" and its diminutives were amongst the most common of names at the time, and also since it was usual for men to adopt the name of their hometown ("De Lockesly" means simply, "Of [or from] Lockesly"), the record could just as easily be referring to any man from the area named Robert.

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Illustration 8: The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest


Robin Hood

Although it cannot be proven whether or not this is the man himself, it is further believed by some that Robin had a brother called Thomas - an assertion with no documentary evidence whatsoever to support it in any of the stories, tales or ballads. If the Robert mentioned above was indeed Robin Hood, and if he did have a brother named Thomas, then consideration of the following reference may lend this theory a modicum of credence:

24) No. 389, f0- 78. Ascension Day, 29 H. III., Nic Meverill, with John Kantia, on the one part, and Henry de Leke. Henry released to Nicholas and John 5 m. rent, which he received from Nicolas and John and Robert de Lockesly for his life from the lands of Gellery, in consideration of receiving from each of them 2M (2 marks). only, the said Henry to live at table with one of them and to receive 2M. annually from the other. T., Sampson de Leke, Magister Peter Meverill, Roger de Lockesly, John de Leke, Robert fil Umfred, Rico de Newland, Richard Meverill. (25) No. 402, p. 80 b. Thomas de Lockesly bound himself that he would not sell his lands at Leke, which Nicolas Meveril had rendered to him, under a penalty of L40 (40 pounds).

A pound was 240 silver pence, and a mark was 160 silver pence (i.e., 13 shillings and fourpence). It is again, however, equally likely that Nicolas, John, Robert and Thomas were simply members of a family which came from the area. In Barnsdale Forest, Yorkshire, there is a well known as Robin Hood's Well (by the side of the Great North Road), a Little John's Well (near Hampole) and a Robin Hood's stream (in Highfields Wood at Woodlands). There is something of a modern movement amongst Yorkshire residents to attempt to claim the legend of Robin Hood, to the extent that South Yorkshire's new airport, on the site of the redeveloped RAF Finningley airbase near Doncaster, although ironically in the historic county of Nottinghamshire, has been given the name Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield. Centuries ago, a variant of "as plain as the nose on your face" was "Robin Hood in Barnesdale stood." There have been further claims made that he is from Swannington in Leicestershire or Loxley, Warwickshire.

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This debate is hardly surprising, given the considerable value that the Robin Hood legend has for local tourism. The Sheriff of Nottingham also had jurisdiction in Derbyshire that was known as the "Shire of the Deer," and this is where the Royal Forest of the Peak is found, which roughly corresponds to today's Peak District National Park. The Royal Forest included Bakewell, Tideswell, Castleton, Ladybower and the Derwent Valley near Loxley. The Sheriff of Nottingham possessed property near Loxley, amongst other places both far and wide including Hazlebadge Hall, Peveril Castle and Haddon Hall. Mercia, to which Nottingham belonged, came to within three miles of Sheffield City Centre. The supposed grave of Little John can be found in Hathersage, also in the Peak District. Robin Hood himself was once thought to have been buried in the grounds of Kirklees Priory between Brighouse and Mirfield in West Yorkshire, although for the reasons given above this theory has now largely been abandoned. There is an elaborate grave there with the inscription referred to above. The story said that the Prioress was a relative of Robin's. Robin was ill and staying at the Priory where the Prioress was supposedly caring for him. However, she betrayed him, his health worsened, and he eventually died there. Before he died, he told Little John (or possibly another of his Merry Men) where to bury him. He shot an arrow from the Priory window, and where the arrow landed was to be the site of his grave. The grave with the inscription is within sight of the ruins of the Kirklees Priory, behind the Three Nuns pub in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. The grave can be visited on occasional organised walks, organised by Calderdale Council Tourist Information office. Further indications of the legend's connection with West Yorkshire (and particularly Calderdale) are noted in the fact that there are pubs called the Robin Hood in both nearby Brighouse and at Cragg Vale; higher up in the Pennines beyond Halifax, where Robin Hood Rocks can also be found. Robin Hood Hill is near Outwood, West Yorkshire, not far from Lofthouse. There is a village in West Yorkshire called Robin Hood, on the A61 between Leeds and Wakefield and close to Rothwell and Lofthouse. Considering these references to Robin Hood, it is not surprising that the people of both South and West Yorkshire lay some claim to Robin Hood, who, if he existed, could easily have roamed between Nottingham,

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Illustration 9: Robin Hood Tree aka Sycamore Gap, Hadrian's Wall, UK. This location was used in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.


Robin Hood

Lincoln, Doncaster and right into West Yorkshire. A British Army Territorial (reserves) battalion formed in Nottingham in 1859 was known as the The Robin Hood Battalion through various reorganisations until the "Robin Hood" name finally disappeared in 1992. With the 1881 Childers reforms that linked regular and reserve units into regimental families, the Robin Hood Battalion became part of The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). A Neolithic causewayed enclosure on Salisbury Plain has acquired the name Robin Hood's Ball, although had Robin Hood existed it is doubtful that he would have travelled so far south.

List of traditional balladsBallads are the oldest existing form of the Robin Hood legends, although none of them are recorded at the time of the first allusions to him, and many are much later. They share many common features, often opening with praise of the greenwood and relying heavily on disguise as a plot device, but include a wide variation in tone and plot. The ballads below are sorted into three groups, very roughly according to date of first known free-standing copy. Ballads whose first recorded version appears (usually incomplete) in the Percy Folio may appear in later versions and may be much older than the mid 17th century when the Folio was compiled. Any ballad may be older than the oldest copy which happens to survive, or descended from a lost older ballad. For example, the plot of Robin Hood's Death, found in the Percy Folio, is summarised in the 15th-century A Gest of Robyn Hode, and it also appears in an 18th-century version.

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Illustration 10: Elizabethan song of Robin Hood


Early ballads (i.e., surviving in 15th- or early 16th-century copies)

•A Gest of Robyn Hode•Robin Hood and the Monk•Robin Hood and the Potter

Ballads appearing in 17th-century Percy FolioNB. The first two ballads listed here (the "Death" and "Gisborne"), although preserved in 17th century copies, are generally agreed to preserve the substance of late medieval ballads. The third (the "Curtal Friar") and the fourth (the "Butcher"), also probably have late medieval origins.•Robin Hood's Death•Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne•Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar•Robin Hood and the Butcher•Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly•Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires•The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield•Little John and the Four Beggars•Robin Hood and Queen Katherine

Other ballads•A True Tale of Robin Hood•Robin Hood and the Bishop•Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford•Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow•Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon•Robin Hood and the Ranger•Robin Hood and the Scotchman•Robin Hood and the Tanner

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Robin Hood

•Robin Hood and the Tinker•Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight•Robin Hood Newly Revived•Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage•Robin Hood's Chase•Robin Hood's Delight•Robin Hood's Golden Prize•Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham•The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood•The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood•The Noble FishermanSome ballads, such as Erlinton, feature Robin Hood in some variants, where the folk hero appears to be added to a ballad pre-existing him and in which he does not fit very well. He was added to one variant of Rose Red and the White Lily, apparently on no more connection than that one hero of the other variants is named "Brown Robin." Francis James Child indeed retitled Child ballad 102; though it was titled The Birth of Robin Hood, its clear lack of connection with the Robin Hood cycle (and connection with other, unrelated ballads) led him to title it Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter in his collection.

Bibliography•Baldwin, David (2010). Robin Hood: The English Outlaw Unmasked. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84868-378-5.•Barry, Edward (1832). Sur les vicissitudes et les transformations du cycle populaire de Robin Hood. Rignoux.•Blamires, David (1998). Robin Hood: A Hero for All Times. J. Rylands Univ. Lib. of Manchester. ISBN 0-86373-136-8.•Child, Francis James (1997). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 1–5. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-43150-5.•Coghlan, Ronan (2003). The Robin Hood Companion. Xiphos Books. ISBN 0-9544936-0-5.•Deitweiler, Laurie, Coleman, Diane (2004). Robin Hood Comprehension Guide. Veritas Pr Inc. ISBN 1-930710-77-1.

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•Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (2006). The Robin Hood Handbook. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3977-X.•Dobson, R. B.; Taylor, John (1977). The Rymes of Robin Hood: An Introduction to the English Outlaw. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-750916613.•Doel, Fran, Doel, Geoff (2000). Robin Hood: Outlaw and Greenwood Myth. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-1479-8.•Green, Barbara (2001). Secrets of the Grave. Palmyra Press. ISBN 0-9540164-0-8.•Hahn, Thomas (2000). Robin Hood in Popular Culture: Violence, Transgression and Justice. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-564-6.•Harris, P. V. (1978). Truth About Robin Hood. Linney. ISBN 0-900525-16-9.•Hilton, R.H., The Origins of Robin Hood, Past and Present, No. 14. (Nov., 1958), pp. 30–44. Available online at JSTOR.•Holt, J. C. (1982). Robin Hood. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27541-6.•Hutton, Ronald (1997). The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-288045-4.•Hutton, Ronald (1996). The Rise and Fall of Merry England: The Ritual Year 1400–1700. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-285327-9.•Knight, Stephen T. (1994). Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-19486-X.•Knight, Stephen T. (2005). Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography. Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-931-8.•Phillips, Helen (2003). Robin Hood: Medieval and Post-medieval. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3885-3.•Pollard, A. J. (2004). Imagining Robin Hood: The Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context. Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd. ISBN 0-415-22308-3.•Potter, Lewis (1998). Playing Robin Hood: The Legend as Performance in Five Centuries. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0874136636.•Pringle, Patrick (1991). Stand and Deliver: Highway Men from Robin Hood to Dick Turpin. Dorset Press. ISBN 0-88029-698-4.•Ritson, Joseph (1832). Robin Hood: A Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, Now Extant Relative to That Celebrated English Outlaw: To Which are Prefixed Historical Anecdotes of His Life. William Pickering. ISBN 1-4212-6209-6.

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Robin Hood

•Rutherford-Moore, Richard (1999). The Legend of Robin Hood. Capall Bann Publishing. ISBN 1-86163-069-7.•Rutherford-Moore, Richard (2002). Robin Hood: On the Outlaw Trail. Capall Bann Publishing. ISBN 1-86163-177-4.•Vahimagi, Tise (1994). British Television: An Illustrated Guide. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-818336-4.•Wright, Thomas (1847). Songs and Carols, now first imprinted. Percy Society.

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Basil Fool for ChristBasil the Blessed (known also as Basil, fool for Christ, Basil, Wonderworker of Moscow, or Blessed Basil of Moscow, fool for Christ; Russian: Василий Блаженный, Vasily Blazhenny) is a Russian Orthodox saint of the type known as yurodivy or "holy fool for Christ". He was born to serfs in December of 1468 or 1469 in Yelokhovo, near Moscow (now in Moscow). His father was named Jacob and his mother Anna. According to tradition, he was born on the portico of the local church. He is thought to have died in 1552. Originally an apprentice shoemaker in Moscow, he adopted an eccentric lifestyle of shoplifting and giving to the poor to shame the miserly and help those in need. He went naked and weighed himself down with chains. He rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention in church, and for his violent behaviour towards the innocent.When he died on August 2, 1552 or 1557, St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, served his funeral with many clergy. Ivan the Terrible himself acted as pallbearer and carried his coffin to the cemetery. He is buried in St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, which was commissioned by Ivan and is named after the saint. Basil was formally canonised around 1580. His

feast day is celebrated on August 2 (August 15, N.S.).

References•Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0140513124.

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Illustration 11: Icon of St. Basil the Blessed(Bas relief, St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow)


Eustace Folville

Eustace FolvilleEustace Folville (d.1346) was the leader of a robber band active in Leicestershire and Derbyshire in the first half of the 14th century. With four of his younger brothers, he was responsible for two of the most notorious crimes of early 14th century England: no mean achievement, considering the same period saw Richard of Pudlicott ransack the royal treasury, and Adam the Leper seize the port of Bristol.

The Folville familyEustace's family had its seat at Ashby Folville, Leicestershire. They were landholders of some prominence. The family name, ultimately derived from Folleville in the French region of Picardy, is attached to several other sites in Leicestershire, such as the deserted village of Newbolt Folville. They seem to have gained most their estate at the beginning of the 12th century. Several of their possessions, such as Ashby and the manor at Teigh, were in the hands of other parties at the time of the Domesday survey, but had passed to the Folvilles by the reign of Stephen (1135-1154). The family were certainly well-established in Leicestershire by the mid 13th century. In 1240 a member of the family donated a large sum to the church at Cranoe.The father of Eustace was most likely Sir John Folville, by all accounts a respectable member of the gentry. Under Edward I, John represented Leicestershire at six Parliaments, and in 1301 he was summoned 'to attend the royal standard, with horse and arms well fitted, at Berwick-upon-Tweed, on the nativity of John the Baptist, in the prosecution of the Scottish wars'. He may also have held the office, ironically enough, of Deliverer of Warwick Gaol in 1277 and 1287. With his wife Alice he produced seven sons. The oldest, also named John, inherited his father's estates in 1310, and passed them in turn to his second son, Jeffrey. John is the only one of the seven Folville brothers who was not implicated in large-scale theft, kidnapping, extortion and murder.

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Illustration 12: The Folville Cross, said to mark the site of Sir Roger Bellere's murder in 1326. Photographed by Bob Trubshaw


The Folville GangEustace, named for his grandfather, was the second oldest of the Folville brothers. His criminal career apparently began in 1326 when, on 19 January, he led an ambush against Sir Roger Bellere, in which the victim was cruelly murdered. Bellere was attacked in a 'small valley' near Rearsby, Leicestershire, apparently with a retinue of fifty men. With Eustace were his brothers Roger and Walter, and fellow local landowners Roger la Zouche and Robert Halewell. While la Zouche may have inflicted the death-blow, the blame was squarely laid with Eustace: the chronicler Henry Knighton, a native of Leicestershire himself, refers to him as Eustachius de Fuluyle qui Robertum Bellere interfecerat ('Eustace de Folville who assassinated Roger Bellere'). Even by contemporary standards the crime was one of extreme audacity, made all the more shocking by the standing of the victim. Bellere was not only a local nobleman of some repute, the possessor of some nine manors and the founder of the chantry chapel at Kirby, he was also a baron of the exchequer, and at one stage its chief treasurer. The so-called Folville Cross, a 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high fragment of an ancient crucifix, is supposed to mark the site of the murder.The Folvilles were immediately summoned to stand trial for Bellere's death. However, like many other medieval felons, they could not be traced by the authorities: they may have fled to Wales or France. They were declared outlaws in their absence. This new status seems to have suited them, as within a few years petitions were issued to the Sheriff of Nottingham, 'complaining that two of the Folville brothers were roaming abroad again at the head of a band, waylaying persons whom they spoiled and held to ransom'. In the period of 1327-1330, Eustace was either directly accused of, or mentioned in connection with, three robberies, four murders, and a rape. This last charge, it should be noted, may not necessarily imply sexual violation. The medieval term raptus is notoriously slippery, and contained a range of meanings, from bodily violence to abduction. The Folvilles also seem to have allied themselves with the infamous Cotterel gang. The Cotterels certainly gave the Folvilles shelter in their territory, the Peak District, Derbyshire. They were at one stage pursued here by officers of the crown, but managed to evade capture after a local informer warned them of the danger.Various indictments from the period portray Eustace and his brothers as freelance mercenaries, hired 'by the ostensibly law-abiding...to commit acts of violence on their behalf'. Members of Sempringham Priory and Haverholm Abbey, both in Lincolnshire, seem to have made use of their services, and at one stage they were under the patronage of Sir Robert Tuchet, a major lord of Derbyshire and Cheshire. In 1332 the Folvilles launched what may be seen as a sequel to the murder of Roger Bellere, and attacked another agent of the crown, the justice Sir Richard Willoughby. This time the victim was ransomed for the

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Eustace Folville

sum of 1300 marks, close to £900. Willoughby was easily able to raise this substantial amount, and was freed within twenty-four hours.

RehabilitationA year after the kidnap of Willoughby, Eustace was serving in the armies of Edward III against the Scottish. He may well have fought at the Halidon Hill. Perhaps most surprisingly, in recognition of this military service, Eustace received a full pardon for his crimes. He was in combat again in 1337 and 1338, at Scotland and Flanders respectively. He finally died in 1346, a member of the council of the abbot of Crowland, having stood trial for none of the charges lodged against him. He is buried at St Mary's church, Ashby Folville. His monument has been badly damaged: a Victorian description states that 'the fragments of his helmet form the only part of his funeral achievement now remaining'.

AssessmentFor a modern reader, it may seem strange that Eustace Folville faced such little resistance in his lifetime, and suffered no form of legal penalty. After all, he was well-known as an habitual offender for two full decades. During this time he went wholly unpunished, unlike his unfortunate brother Richard. But two factors may explain Folville's apparent good fortune. Firstly, the political turbulence of the 1320s worked in his favour, particularly in the case of his worst crime, the murder of Bellere. While this was

undeniably an outrage, and at least partly an affront to royal authority, Bellere had been closely connected to the Despensers: he was appointed attorney to Hugh Despenser the Younger in 1322, and used the revenues of confiscated lands to curry favour with the family. Owing to the Despensers' proximity to Edward II, after the downfall of that King, official opinion had little sympathy for an ally of the family. In fact Eustace was pardoned for the murder as early as 1327, the same year that Edward was deposed, and again in 1329. Neither

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Illustration 13: The churchyard of St Mary's, Ashby Folville


pardon seems to have tempted him back to a more honest life, but they did bring an end to the first wave of prosecution against him. Secondly, and most importantly, there does seem to be a widespread perception that Eustace and others like him were basically honest and forthright, at least more so than the authorities that pursued them. This would mean that the justices and their clerks, reliant as they were on testimonies from local people, would find their job extremely difficult in the Folville's home territory. As E.L.G. Stones notes, complaints along these lines are frequently made by the trailbaston and other commissions: 'in all these things they are aided and abetted by local people, who incite them to their evil deeds and shield them after they are done'. While these laments might seem to excuse the commissions' own failures, there is undoubtedly some truth to them. After all, a tip-off from a local source allowed the Folvilles and Cotterels to elude capture in the Peak District. This popular support seems to be rooted in a sense that the Folvilles were allies of the common people, combating the crooked establishment which oppressed them. There is at least some justification for this view. Eustace's two principal victims were certainly highly corrupt individuals. Bellere used his office to seize land and syphon money to his patrons, and his murder should be regarded less as a crime by the Folvilles alone, and more a conspiracy by several Leicestershire landowners. Eustace's accomplices were members of the Halewell and Zouche families, which suggests a breadth of ill-feeling against Sir Roger, going well beyond any one group. Willoughby was no more popular. In 1340 he was targeted by a second gang, who trapped him in Thurcaston castle. He was later imprisoned by Edward III on charges of corruption, indicted by several juries across the country, and forced to pay 1200 marks for the king's pardon. Eustace was respected as an opponent of such figures, even if this opposition was not his primary motive.

Later reputationFor the generations after Eustace's death, the positive view of the Folville gang only increased. In later sources they are not merely regarded as law-breakers, but agents of an unofficial law, outside human legislation and less susceptible to abuse. In the B-text of Piers Plowman (c.1377-9), William Langland, a Midlander himself, sees them as instruments of the divine order. While he is scathing about popular veneration of 'Robyn Hood and Ralph Erl of Chestre', he speaks approvingly of 'Folvyles lawes'. The crimes of the family are presented as correctives to the 'false' legal establishment. The 'Folvyles' are listed among the 'tresors' that Grace has given to reassert God's pattern against the 'Antecrist'. Langland states: "Forthi," quod Grace, "er I go, I wol gyve yow tresor/ And wepne to fighte with whan Antecrist yow assailleth...some to ryde and to recovere that unrightfully was wonne ('"Therefore," said Grace, "before I go, I

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Eustace Folville

will give you treasure and weaponry to fight with when Antichrist attacks you...some men to ride and to recover that which was unjustly taken'). Henry Knighton is no less sympathetic. He portrays Bellere and Willoughby as entirely legitimate targets: Willoughby's ransom is reduced to a less avaricious 90 marks, while Bellere becomes the aggressor of his killers, not only 'heaping threats and injustices' on to his neighbours but coveting their 'possessions'. Most interestingly, the kidnap of Willoughby is portrayed as a direct conflict between the two codes represented by the outlaws and the justice: Sir Richard is abducted as punishment for trespassing on the territory of a rival order, specifically 'because of the trailbaston commissions of 1331'.For his contemporaries and near-contemporaries, Eustace Folville was clearly more than an acquisitive thug. He was something closer to an enforcer of 'God's law and the common custom, which was different from the state's or the lord's law, but nevertheless a social order'. Whether he in fact merited such a reputation is a matter of debate.

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Ishikawa Goemon In this Japanese name, the family name is Ishikawa.

Ishikawa Goemon (石川五衛門 or 石川五右衛門 , 1558-1594) was a legendary bandit hero who stole gold and valuables and gave them to the poor. He is notable for being boiled alive after a failed assassination attempt on Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A large iron kettle-shaped bathtub is now called a Goemon-buro ("Goemon bath").

BiographyThere is little historical information on Goemon's life, and thus he has become a folk hero, whose background and origins have been widely speculated upon. In one version of the story, Goemon tried to assassinate Hideyoshi to avenge the death of his wife and capture of his son, Gobei. He entered Hideyoshi's room but knocked a bell off a table. The noise awoke the samurai guards and Goemon was captured. He was sentenced to death by being boiled alive in an iron cauldron along with his young son, but was able to save his son by holding him above the oil. In another version, Goemon wanted to kill Hideyoshi because he was a despot. When he entered Hideyoshi's room, he was detected by a mystical incense burner. He was executed on August 24 along with his whole family by being boiled in oil.In yet a third version, Goemon stole a prized songbird of Hideyoshi's, but the bird sang. His whole family was executed, but Gobei was saved by Goemon.

In popular cultureIshikawa Goemon is the subject of many kabuki plays. The only one still in performance today is Kinmon Gosan no Kiri (The Golden Gate and the Paulownia Crest), a five-act play written by Namiki Gohei in 1778. The most famous act is "Sanmon Gosan no Kiri" ("The Temple Gate and the Paulownia Crest") in which

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Illustration 14: Ishikawa Goemon played by kabuki actor Arashi Hinasuke II (painting by Toyokuni III, 1863)


Ishikawa Goemon

Goemon is first seen sitting on top of the Sanmon gate at Nanzen-ji in Kyoto. He is smoking an over-sized silver pipe called a kiseru and exclaims "The spring view is worth a thousand gold pieces, or so they say, but 'tis too little, too little. These eyes of Goemon rate it worth ten thousand!" Goemon soon learns that his father, a Chinese man named So Sokei, was killed by Mashiba Hisayoshi (a popular kabuki alias for Toyotomi Hideyoshi) and he sets off to avenge his father's death.Goemon was the titular character of the long-running Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Ganbare Goemon) series of video games and was the subject of Tomoyoshi Murayama's Shinobi no Mono novels, which in the 1960s became a film series starring Ichikawa Raizō VIII as Ishikawa. (In the series, Goemon escapes execution.) He appears as a playable character in the Samurai Warriors and Ninja Master's video game series. The character Goemon Ishikawa XIII of the manga and anime series Lupin III is purported to be Ishikawa Goemon's descendant (the opening sequence in Burn, Zantetsuken! shows Goemon Ishikawa XIII weeping while watching the famed kabuki performance based on his ancestor's life).Most recently, Goemon was portrayed by Yosuke Eguchi in the Kazuaki Kiriya film Goemon.

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Hong GildongThis is a Korean name; the family name is Hong

Hong Gildong is a fictitious character in an old Korean novel, Tale of Hong Gildong (Hangul: 홍길동 전 ; Hanja: 洪吉童傳 ; RR: Hong Gildong-jeon), written in the Joseon Dynasty. The story was authored by Heo Gyun and is believed to have been written in the late 16th or early 17th century. Hong Gildong is famous for his robbing the rich to feed the poor, much like the English folk hero Robin Hood.

The author of the novel, Heo Gyun (허균), is usually known in Korea as the writer of the first Korean novel, but was also a radical intellectual. He was born in a studious scholar family, as Korea at the time was a Confucianist state. His half-brother Heo Seong was at that time a famous poet, and his sister Heo Nanseolheon one of Korea's few famous female poets and artists. Heo Gyun had long dreamed to change Korea into a fair society with no pressures within a hierarchy. Hong Gildong is also a common placeholder name, similar to John Doe in the United States.

The Story of Hong GildongDue to the strict Confucian laws of the Joseon Dynasty, Heo expressed his ideas in this novel, where Hong, born an illegitimate child, is not accepted by his father and family. His father, after hearing from a shaman that his son is cursed, attempts to kill him but fails. Shocked and appalled at his father's actions, he goes out into the world, where he becomes a bandit leader. He becomes a bandit for the people, and steals from the rich only to give to the poor. His popularity within the peasant society soars, and many view him as a hero. Because of this, he is wanted by the government under Yeonsangun and is marked as a national traitor. With the order from the King, the government forces try to capture him many times, only to capture three hundred of his manifestations. Eventually, to control him, the government offers him the job of War Minister in which he

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Illustration 15: Opening page of Tale of Hong Gildong.


Hong Gildong

accepts. For a while, he is satisfied with his occupation, but later, he realizes that the people still suffer. To find out the truth, he departs for Nanking to seek truth there. On his way, by chance he discovers the nation of Yul-do, which was oppressed by demons. He defeats the demons, and is elected the king of Yul-do. However, he hears the news of his father’s death, and hurries back to Joseon to serve his father’s funeral for three years, according to tradition. After his service, he returns to Yul-do, where he lives happily as a king and hero. Interestingly, Hong is shown as returning to serve his father's funeral for three years, whereas his father attempted to murder him years ago. This reveals Hong's heroic state of mind furnished by Heo Gyun.

AdaptationsThe story was adapted into a South Korean animated feature film of the same name in 1967. A North Korean martial arts film, Hong Kil Dong, was released in 1986.A character from Hong Gildong was also adapted in the Shin Agyo Onshi manga as female bandit leader.A South Korean TV series based on the same story, entitled Hong Gil-Dong, The Hero (a.k.a Hong Gil Dong), first aired on January 2, 2008 on KBS2.A modern day film adaptation named Descendants of Hong Gil-Dong was made in 2009.

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Juraj JánošíkJuraj Jánošík (first name also Juro or Jurko, Slovak pronunciation: [ˈjuraj ˈjaːnɔʃiːk]; Polish: Jerzy Janosik Polish pronunciation: [ˈjɛʐɨ jaˈnɔɕik], Hungarian: György Jánosik; baptised January 25, 1688, died March 17, 1713) was a famous Slovak outlaw.Jánošík has been the main character of many Slovak and Polish legends, novels, poems, and films. According to the legend, he robbed nobles and gave the loot to the poor. The legend were also known in neighboring Silesia, the Margraviate of Moravia and later spread to the Kingdom of Bohemia. The actual robber had little to do with the modern legend, whose content partly reflects the ubiquitous folk myths of a hero taking from the rich and giving to the poor. However, the legend was also shaped in important ways by the activists and writers in the 19th century when Jánošík became the key highwayman character in stories that spread in the north counties of the Kingdom of Hungary (present Slovakia) and among the local Gorals and Polish tourists in the Podhale region north of the Tatras (Tatra). The image of Jánošík as a symbol of resistance to oppression was reinforced when poems about him became part of the Slovak and Czech middle and high school literature curriculum, and then again with the numerous films that propagated his modern legend in the 20th century. During the anti-Nazi Slovak National Uprising, one of the partisan groups bore his name.

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Illustration 16: Janosik, wood engraving by Władysław Skoczylas. Reads "The name of Janosik will never die".


Juraj Jánošík

BiographyThe actual future highwayman Juraj Jánošík was born shortly before his baptism on January 25, 1688. His parents were Martin Jánošík and Anna Čišníková from Terchová. His godparents were Jakub Merjad and Barbara Krištofíková. His first name, ("George" in English) has been a very common name all over Europe and his last name is still common around his birthplace. Jánošík was born and most certainly grew up in the village of Terchová (Tyerhova) in the Habsburg monarchy's Kingdom of Hungary area, (present-day Žilina District in northwestern Slovakia). He fought with the Kuruc insurgents when he was fifteen. After the lost Battle of Trenčín, Jánošík was recruited by the Habsburg army. In autumn, 1710, as a young prison guard in Bytča (Nagybiccse), he helped the imprisoned Tomáš Uhorčík escape. They created a forest robber group and Jánošík became the leader at the age of 23, after Uhorčík left the group to settle in Klenovec. The group was active mostly in northwestern Kingdom of Hungary (today's Slovakia), around the Váh (Vág) river between Važec (Vázsec) and Východná (Vichodna), but the territory of their activity extended also to other parts of today's Slovakia, as well as to Poland and Moravia. Most of their victims were rich merchants. Under Jánošík's leadership, the group was exceptionally chivalrous: They did not kill any of the robbed victims and even helped an accidentally injured priest. They are also said to share their loot with the poor and this part of the legend may be based on the facts too.Jánošík was captured in the fall of 1712 and detained at the Mansion of Hrachov, but was released soon afterward. He was captured again in spring of 1713, in the Uhorčík's residence in Klenovec (Klenóc). Uhorčík lived there under the false name Martin Mravec at that time. According to a widespread legend, he was caught in a pub run by Tomáš Uhorčík, after slipping on spilled peas, thrown in his way by a treacherous old lady. Jánošík was imprisoned and tried in Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš (Liptószentmiklós, present Liptovský Mikuláš). His trial took place on March 16 and March 17, 1713 when he was sentenced to death. The date of his execution was not recorded, but it was customary to carry it out as soon as the trial was over. The manner of his execution, not in public awareness until the early 19th century, became part of his modern legend. A hook was pierced through his left side and he was left dangling on the gallows to die. This brutal way of execution was reserved for leaders of robber bands. However, sources diverge about the way of his execution, and it is also possible, that Jánošík was hanged. A legend says that he refused the grace offered in exchange for enlisting soldiers of his abilities with the words: "If you have baked me so you should also eat me!" and jumped on the hook.

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Other members of Jánošík's group•Vrabel and Hunčiak (aka Huncaga) (so-called Turiak) from Staškov (Sztaskó) •Jakub Chliastkov from Oščadnica (Ócsad) •Ondráš from Dlhá nad Kysucou (Dlhavölgy) •Ondrej Kindis from Dlhé Pole (Dlhepole) •Plavčík from Dunajov (Dunajó) •Pavol Bernatík from Nová Bystrica (Újbeszterce) •Kovalský and Bagaj from Raková (Trencsénrákó) •Kovalíček, Holubek and Valíček from Moravia•Gavora, Satora and Oresiak from Poland

Jánošík in film•1921 Jánošík – first Slovak feature film; financed by Slovak-American Tatra Film Co.; director: Jaroslav Jerry Siakeľ, Jánošík: Theodor Pištěk. (Based on this film UNESCO registers Slovakia as the tenth national cinema in the world that began to produce feature films).•1935 Jánošík – Slovak and Czech film; director: Martin Frič, Jánošík: Paľo Bielik.•1954 Janosik – first Polish animation; director: Włodzimierz Haupe and Halina Bielińska.•1963 Jánošík I and II – Slovak film; director: Paľo Bielik, Jánošík: František Kuchta.•1974 Janosik – Polish film; director: Jerzy Passendorfer, Janosik: Marek Perepeczko.•1974 Janosik – Polish 13-episode TV series; director: Jerzy Passendorfer, Janosik: Marek Perepeczko.•1976 Highwayman Jurko / Zbojník Jurko – Slovak animated film; director: Viktor Kubal.•1991 Highwayman Jurošík / Zbojník Jurošík – Slovak 28-episode animated TV series; director: Jaroslav Baran.•2009 Jánošík. The True Story / Jánošík. Pravdivá história / Janosik. Prawdziwa historia – Slovak-Polish-Czech co-production; director: Agnieszka Holland and Katarzyna Adamik, Janosik: Václav Jiráček.

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Juraj Jánošík

Jánošík in literature•1785 Slovak – Anon., "An Excellent Sermon by a Certain Preacher in the Days of the Chief Highwayman Jánošík." Staré nowiny liternjho uměnj, May 1785.•1809 Slovak – Bohuslav Tablic, "Jánošík, the Highwayman of Liptov County." Slowensstj Werssowcy. Collecta revirescunt. Swazek druhý.•1814 Slovak – Pavol Jozef Šafárik, "Celebrating Slavic Lads." Tatranská Můza s ljrau Slowanskau.•1829 Slovak lower nobleman in German – Johann Csaplovics, "Robbers." Gemälde von Ungern.•1845 Slovak lower nobleman – Štefan Marko Daxner, "Jánošík's Treasure." Orol Tatránski.•1846 Slovak – Ján Botto, "Jánošík's Song." Holubica, Zábavník Levočskích Slovákou.•1846 Slovak – Samo Chalupka, "Jánošík's Contemplation." Orol Tatránski.•1862 Ján Botto, "The Death of Jánošík. A Romance." Lipa. — A key poem in Slovak literature and culture.•1867 Slovak lower nobleman – Jonáš Záborský, Jánošík's Dinner. A Play in Four Acts With an Historical Background. A supplement to the journal Sokol.•1875 Hungarian – "Jánosik and a Snitch." Nyitramegyei Szemle.•1884 Polish – August Wrześniowski, "A Story About Janosik." Pamięci Towarzystwa Tatrzańskiego.•1884 Czech – Alois Jirásek, "About Jánošík." Staré pověsti české.•1893 American in Slovak – Dobrý Slovák, Jánošík, the Lad of Freedom: A Legend of Times Gone By.•1894 American in Slovak – Gustáv Maršall-Petrovský, Jánošík, Captain of Mountain Lads – His Tumultuous Life and Horrific Death. A Novel. — A source of the screeenplay for the 1921 Slovak film Jánošík.•1900 American – George J. Krajsa, Janosik.•1905 Polish – Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, "The Legend of Janosik's Death." Poezje.•1910 Czech – Jiří Mahen, Jánošík. — A play, a source of the screeenplay for the 1921 Slovak film Jánošík.•1933 Slovak – Ján Hrušovský, "Jánošík." Slovenská politika. — Narrative newspaper strips published later as a novel.

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•1937 Polish – Stanisław Ryszard Dobrowolski, Janosik of Terchová.•1943 Slovak – Mária Rázusová-Martáková, Jánošík: A Rhymed Play in Five Acts.•1947 Polish – Stanisław Nedza-Kubiniec, Janosik: A Poem About the Highwayman who Wanted to Make the World Equal.•1955 Slovak – Mária Rázusová-Martáková, Tales about Jánošík.•1958 Polish – Jalu Kurek, Janosik...•1964 German – Käthe Altwallstädt, "Janosik and the Students." Die blaue Rose: Märchen aus Polen.•1969 Polish – Katarzyna Gaertner, music, and Ernest Bryll, lyrics, Painted on Glass. — A musical whose Bratislava production had the longest run in the history of Slovak theater.•1970 Slovak – Stanislav Štepka, Jááánošííík. — A spoof and the Slovak play with the longest run.•1972 Polish – Tadeusz Kwiatkowski, Janosik. — A graphic novel.•1972 Serbian in Slovak – Štefan Gráf, Jur Jánošiak. — Parallel publication in Serbia (Yugoslavia) and Slovakia (Czechoslovakia).•1976 Polish – Viera Gašparíková and Teresa Komorowska, Highwaymen's Bounty. Polish and Slovak Tales from the Tatras.•1979 Slovak – Ľubomír Feldek, Jánošík According to Vivaldi. — A spoof play.•1980 Slovak – Margita Figuli, A Ballad of Jur Jánošík.•1980 Slovak – Ladislav Ťažký, Jánošík's Tear.•1984 Polish – Andrzej Kijowski, About A Good Commander and Ironcald Champion.•1985 American – John H. Hausner, "Jánošík, We Remember!" And Other Poems.•1993 Ukrainian in Polish – Василь Iванович Сави, Яносик, польська народна казка. — A picture book.•1994 Slovak – Anton Marec, Jánošík, Jánošík... (33 Legends About the Famous Highwayman Commander.)•2007 Polish – Sebastian Miernicki, Pan Samochodzik i Janosik.

In music•Polish folk music group Trebunie-Tutki issued two albums:

1. 1992: Żywot Janicka Zbójnika ("Life of Janosik the Robber")

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Juraj Jánošík

2. 1993: Ballada o śmierci Janosika ("Ballad on the Death of Janosik")

References•Kočiš, Jozef (1986). Neznámy Jánošík. Martin: Vydavatel´stvo Osveta. (Slovak) - contains also list of published literature, German, French, Russian and Hungarian resumé. •Melicherčík, Andrej (1963). Juraj Jánošík, hrdina protifeudálného odboja slovenského l´udu. Martin. (Slovak)

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Kobus van der SchlossenKobus (or Jacobus) van der Schlossen (? - 1695) was a late-seventeenth century Dutch thief who features prominently in folktales from the Noord-Brabant region. After serving as a soldier in the many wars which left the Netherlands in turmoil, he joined a gang of ex-soldiers called 'de zwartmakers'. Eventually he was captured in Uden and imprisoned in Ravenstein Castle (since demolished). He was executed in 1695 near Velp.According to folklore, he had Robin Hood-like qualities and protected poor widows against greedy landlords, but he also sold his soul to the devil in exchange for magical powers. With his robber band 'De Zwarte Bende' he made his home in the vast and impenetrable Slabroek forests near Uden. Stories were told about his miraculous escapes from the forces of law. De Brobbelbies, an area of Slabroek which still exists, received its name from one of these stories. One day, so the story goes, Kobus accidentally ran into some law-officers in the woods. When he found he couldn't outrun them he jumped into a pond and turned into a water plant ('Bies'). Because of the magical transformation the water started bubbling ('brobbelen'; hence 'Brobbelbies').

Sources•Reggie Naus, Zwartmakerij in het land van Ravenstein: de Geschiedenis van Jacobus van der Schlossen, 2006.

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Illustration 17: Ravenstein


Lampião

LampiãoLampião ("Oil Lamp" in Portuguese) was the nickname of "Captain" Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, the most famous leader of a Cangaço band (marauders and outlaws who terrorized the Brazilian Northeast in the 1920s and 1930s).

BiographyVirgulino was born in June 7, 1897 in the village of Serra Talhada, in the semi-arid backlands (sertão) of the state of Pernambuco, as the third child of José Ferreira da Silva and Maria Lopes, a humble family of peasants. Until 21 years old, he was a hard-working leather-craft artisan (he was also literate and used reading glasses-both quite unusual features for the rough and poor region where he lived). He lived with his family in a deadly feud with other local families until his father was killed in a confrontation with the police in 1919. Virgulino sought

vengeance and proved to be extremely violent in doing so. He became an outlaw and was incessantly pursued by the police (whom he called macacos or monkeys). For the next 19 years, he traveled with his small band of cangaceiros (men of cangaço) which was never larger than about 50 heavily armed men on horses wearing leather outfits including hats, jackets, sandals, ammunition belts, and trousers to protect them from the thorns of the caatinga (dry shrubs and brushwood typical of the dry hinterland of Brazil's Northeast.) Their weapons were mostly stolen from the police and paramilitary units and consisted of Mauser military rifles and a variety of smaller firearms including Winchester rifles, revolvers and the prized Mauser semi-automatic pistol. Lampião used to attack small cities and farms in seven states, kill people and cattle, take hostages for ransom, torture, fire-brand, maim, rape, and ransack. He was joined in 1930 by his girlfriend, Maria Déa, nicknamed Maria Bonita (Beautiful Maria), who, like other women in the band, dressed like cangaceiros and participated in many of their actions. They had a daughter in 1932.

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Illustration 18: Legal bill printed by ths State of Bahia Government (Brazil), announcing a reward for the outlaw Lampião capture, 1930.


DeathFinally, on July 28, 1938, Lampião and his band were betrayed by one of his supporters and were ambushed in one of his hideouts, the Angico farm, in the state of Sergipe, by a police troop armed with machine guns. In a quick battle, Lampião, Maria Bonita and 9 of his troops were killed. Their heads were cut and sent off to Salvador, the capital of Bahia, for examination by specialists at the State Forensic Institute, and later, for public exhibition, and only after 1971 were the families of Lampião and Maria Bonita able to reclaim the preserved heads to finally bury them.

Notable band members Lampião was active for a number of years and thus many men and women passed through his band. More notable ones included: •Antonio Ferreira - Lampião's eldest brother, died in an accident in 1926.•Levino Ferreira - Lampião's brother, killed in battle with police in July 1925.•Luis Pedro - a member of the band for over a decade, he returned to die by Lampião's side even though he may have been able to escape.•Corisco - feared for his cruelty. There was speculation that he would take control of the band after Angicos, where had not been present. He was killed by police in 1940.•Angelo Roque - a trusted lieutenant who was also not present when Lampião was finally killed. Operated until 1940 when he surrendered to police after being assured that he would not be killed for his crimes. He was initially sentenced to 95 years in prison, which was later reduced to 30 years and then commuted in 1950.

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Illustration 19: The heads of Lampião's band exposed before the SFI


Lampião

Folk heroThus started the legend of Lampião and Maria Bonita, who became subjects of innumerable folk stories, books, popular pamphlets (cordel literature), songs, movies, and a number of TV soap operas, with all the elements of drama, passion, and violence typical of "Far West" stories. By many, he was considered a folk hero, a kind of Robin Hood and the head of a peasant revolt against the all-dominant, feudal farmers of the region (the so-called coronels). The fact remains that he was the most notorious of the many rural bandits (in his own admission) that infested the poor hinterland of Northeast Brazil. Lampião was mentioned in the lyrics

of "Ratamahatta", song of Brazil metal band Sepultura, from their Roots record.

References•Chandler, Billy Jaynes (1984). The Bandit King: Lampião of Brazil. Texas A&M University Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-0890961940.

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Illustration 20: Lampião dolls


Ned KellyEdward "Ned" Kelly (June 1854/June 1855 – 11 November 1880) was an Irish-Australian bushranger, and, to some, a folk hero for his defiance of the colonial authorities. Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish convict father, and as a young man he clashed with the Victoria Police. Following an incident at his home in 1878, police parties searched for him in the bush. After he killed three policemen, the colony proclaimed Kelly and his gang wanted outlaws. A final violent confrontation with police took place at Glenrowan. Kelly, dressed in home-made plate metal armour and helmet, was captured and sent to jail. He was hanged for murder at Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880. His daring and notoriety made him an iconic figure in Australian history, folk lore, literature, art and film.

Early lifeJohn "Red" Kelly, the father of Ned Kelly, was born and raised in Ireland, where he was convicted of criminal acts sometime during his adulthood. There is uncertainty surrounding the exact nature of his crime as most of Ireland's court records were destroyed during the Irish Civil War. Ian Jones claims that Red Kelly stole two pigs and was an informer, but the claim is contested in Kenneally who said 'Red' was a patriot. Red Kelly was sentenced to seven years of penal servitude and transported to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), arriving in 1843. After his release in 1848, Red Kelly moved to Victoria and found work in Beveridge at the farm of James Quinn. At the age of 30 he married Quinn's daughter Ellen, then 18. Their first child died early, but Ellen then gave birth to a daughter, Annie, in 1853. Seven of their children survived past infancy. Their first son, Edward (Ned), was born in Beveridge, just north of Melbourne. His date of birth is not known, but it occurred between June 1854 and June 1855. Ned was baptised by an Augustinian priest, Charles O'Hea. As a boy, he obtained some basic schooling and once risked his life to save another boy, Richard Shelton, from drowning. As a reward he was given a green sash by the boy's

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Illustration 21: Ned Kelly the day before his execution.


Ned Kelly

family, which he wore under his armour during his final showdown with police in 1880.The Kellys were suspected many times of cattle or horse stealing, though never convicted. Red Kelly was arrested when he killed and skinned a calf claimed to be the property of his neighbour. He was found innocent of theft, but guilty of removing the brand from the skin and given the option of a twenty-five pound fine or a sentence of six months with hard labour. Without money to pay the fine Red served his sentence in Kilmore gaol, with the sentence having an ultimately fatal effect on his health. The saga surrounding Red, and his treatment by the police, made a strong impression on his son Ned. Red Kelly died at Avenel on 27 December 1866 when Ned was eleven and a half years old. Several months later the Kelly family acquired 80 acres of uncultivated farmland at Eleven Mile Creek near the Greta area of Victoria, which to this day is known as "Kelly Country". In all, eighteen charges were brought against members of Ned's immediate family before he was declared an outlaw, while only half that number resulted in guilty verdicts. This is a highly unusual ratio for the time, and is one of the reasons that has caused many to posit that Ned's family was unfairly targeted from the time they moved to northeast Victoria. Perhaps the move was necessary because of Ellen's squabbles with family members and her appearances in court over family disputes. Antony O'Brien, however, argued that Victoria's colonial policing had nothing to do with winning a conviction, rather the determinant of one's criminality was the arrest. Further, O'Brien argued, using the "Statistics of Victoria" crime figures that the region's or family's or national criminality was determined not by individual arrests, but rather by the total number of arrests.

Rise to notorietyIn 1869, the 14-year-old Ned Kelly was arrested for assaulting a Chinese pig farmer named Ah Fook. Ah Fook claimed that he had been robbed by Ned, who stated that Ah Fook had a row with his sister Annie. Kelly spent ten days in custody before the charges were dismissed. From then on the police regarded him as a "juvenile bushranger". The following year, he was arrested and accused of being an accomplice of bush-ranger Harry Power. No evidence was produced in court and he was released after a month. Historians tend to disagree over this episode: some see it as evidence of police harassment; others believe that Kelly’s relatives intimidated the witnesses, making them reluctant to give evidence. Ned's grandfather, James Quinn, owned a huge piece of land at the headwaters of the King River known as Glenmore Station, where Power was ultimately arrested. Following Power's arrest it was rumoured that Ned had informed on him and Ned was treated with

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hostility within the community. Ned wrote a letter to police Sergeant Babington pleading for his help in the matter. The informant was in fact Ned's uncle, Jack Lloyd. In October 1870, Kelly was arrested again for assaulting a hawker, Jeremiah McCormack, and for his part in sending McCormack's childless wife an indecent note that had calves' testicles enclosed. This was a result of a row earlier that day caused when McCormack accused a friend of the Kellys, Ben Gould, of using his horse without permission. Gould wrote the note, and Kelly passed it on to one of his cousins to give to the woman. He was sentenced to three months' hard labour on each charge. Upon his release Kelly returned home. There he met Isaiah "Wild" Wright who had arrived in the area on a chestnut mare. While staying with the Kelly's, the mare had gone missing and Wright borrowed one of the Kelly horses to return to Mansfield. He asked Ned to look for the chestnut and keep it until his return. Kelly found the mare and used it to go to Wangaratta where he stayed for a few days but while riding through Greta on his way home, Ned was approached by police constable Hall who, from the description of the animal, knew the horse was stolen property. When his attempt to arrest Kelly turned into a fight, Hall drew his gun and tried to shoot him, but Kelly overpowered the policeman and humiliated him by riding him like a horse. Hall later struck Kelly several times with his revolver after he had been arrested. Ned always maintained that he had no idea that the mare actually belonged to the Mansfield postmaster and that Wright had stolen it. After just three weeks of freedom, 16-year-old Kelly, along with his brother-in-law Alex Gunn, was sentenced to three years imprisonment with hard labour for "feloniously receiving a horse". "Wild" Wright escaped arrest for the theft on May 2 following an "exchange of shots" with police, but was arrested the following day, Wright received only eighteen months for stealing the horse. After his release from prison in 1874, Ned allegedly fought and won a bare-knuckled boxing match with 'Wild' Wright that lasted 20 rounds. While Kelly was in prison, his brothers Jim (aged 12) and Dan (aged 10) were arrested by Constable Flood for riding a horse that did not belong to them. The horse had been lent to them by a farmer for whom they had been doing some work, but the boys spent a night in the cells before the matter was cleared. Two years later, Jim Kelly was arrested for cattle-rustling. He and his family claimed that he did not know that some of the cattle did not belong to his employer and cousin Tom Lloyd. Jim was given a five-year sentence, but as O'Brien pointed out the receiver of the 'stolen stock' James Dixon was not prosecuted as he was 'a gentleman' In September 1877 Ned was arrested for drunkenness. While being escorted by four policemen he broke free and ran into a shop. The police tried to subdue him but failed and Ned later gave himself up to a Justice of the Peace and was fined. During the incident Constable Lonigan, who Ned was to later shoot dead, "black-

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Ned Kelly

balled" him (grabbed and squeezed his testicles). Legend has it that Ned told Lonigan "If I ever shoot a man, Lonigan, it'll be you!". In October 1877, Gustav and William Baumgarten were arrested for supplying stolen horses to Ned Kelly and were later sentenced in 1878. William served time in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne. Following Red Kelly's death, Ned's mother, Ellen, had married a Californian named George King, by whom she had three children. He, Ned and Dan became involved in a cattle rustling operation.

The Fitzpatrick IncidentOn the 15 April 1878, 21 year old Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick arrived at Benalla suffering from an alleged bullet wound to his left wrist. He claimed that he had been attacked by Ned, Dan, Ellen, their associate Bricky Williamson and Ned's brother-in-law, Bill Skilling. Fitzpatrick claimed that all except Ellen had been armed with revolvers. Williamson and Skilling were arrested for their part in the affair. Ned and Dan were nowhere to be found, but Ellen was taken into custody along with her baby, Alice. She was still in prison at the time of Ned's execution. (Ellen would outlive her most famous son by several decades and died on 27 March 1923.) The Kellys claimed that Fitzpatrick came into their house to question Dan over a cattle duffing incident. While there, he made a pass at Ellen's daughter Kate. Her mother hit his hand with a coal shovel and the men knocked Fitzpatrick to the floor. They then bandaged his injured wrist, and he had left saying that no real harm had been done. No guns, they claimed, were used during the incident, and Ned was not involved since he had been away in New South Wales. The belief that Ned was in New South Wales is still disputed, although Fitzpatrick's testimony of events is coloured by the fact that he was later dismissed from the force for drunkenness and perjury.The trial at BeechworthDespite Fitzpatrick's treating doctor reporting a strong smell of alcohol on the constable and his inability to confirm the wrist wound was caused by a bullet, Fitzpatrick's evidence was accepted by the police and the Judge. Ellen Kelly, Skillon and Williamson appeared on 9 October 1878 before Judge Redmond Barry charged with attempted murder and were convicted on Fitzpatrick's unsupported evidence. Barry stated that if Ned were present he would 'give him 15 years'.

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The Killings at Stringybark CreekDan and Ned Kelly doubted they could convince the police of their story. Instead they went into hiding, where they were later joined by friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart. On 25 October 1878, Sergeant Kennedy set off to search for the Kellys, accompanied by Constables McIntyre, Lonigan, and Scanlon. The wanted men were suspected of being in the Wombat Ranges north of Mansfield, Victoria. The police set up a camp near two shepherd huts at Stringybark Creek in a heavily timbered area. A second police party had set off from Greata near the Wangaratta end, with the intention of closing in on Ned in a pincer movement. The Mansfield team of police under Kennedy on arrival at Stringybark split into two groups: Kennedy and Scanlon went in search of the Kellys, while the others, Lonigan and McIntyre remained to guard their camp. Brown suggested in, Australian Son (1948) that Sgt.

Kennedy was tipped off as to the whereabouts of the Kellys. O'Brien (1999) drew attention to the 1881 Royal Commission's questioning of McIntyre, which explored a possibility that Kennedy and Scanlon may have searched for the Kellys to gain a reward for themselves. Jones stated (p. 131) that Kennedy and Scanlon had once split a reward for the arrest of 'Wild Wright'. O'Brien's research focus on the practice of splitting rewards highlighted that it was known as 'going whacks'.The Mansfield police team (Lonigan and McIntyre) remaining in the base camp fired at parrots, unaware they were only a mile away from the Kelly camp. Alerted by the shooting, the Kellys searched and discovered the well-armed police camped near the "shingle hut" at Stringybark Creek. Although the police were disguised as prospectors, they had pack horses with leather strap arrangements suitable for carrying out bodies.

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Illustration 22: Monument erected in Mansfield, Victoria in honour of the three policemen murdered by Kelly's gang, Lonigan, Scanlon and Kennedy


Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly and his brother Dan considered their chances of survival against the well-armed party and decided to overpower the two officers, then wait for the two others to return. According to Jones (p. 132) the Kellys knew that a police member (Strahan), from Greta team boasted he would shoot Ned 'like a dog' and Kelly believed these police were that Greta party. He was unaware of the Mansfield group. Ned's plan was for the police to surrender, allowing the Kellys to take their arms and horses. Ned and Dan advanced to the police camp, ordering them to surrender. Constable McIntyre threw his arms up. Lonigan drew his revolver and Ned shot him. Lonigan staggered some distance, and collapsed dead. When the other two police returned to camp, Constable McIntyre, at Ned's direction, called on them to surrender. Scanlon went for his pistol; Ned fired. Scanlon was killed. Kennedy ran, firing as he sought cover moving from tree to tree. In an exchange of gunfire, Kennedy was mortally shot. Ned fired a fatal shot into Kennedy. McIntyre, in the confusion, escaped on horseback uninjured. The exact place at Germans Creek where this occurred has only recently been identified. On leaving the scene Ned stole Sergeant Kennedy's handwritten note for his wife and his gold fob watch. Asked later why he stole the watch, Ned replied, "What's the use of a watch to a dead man?" Kennedy's watch was returned to his kin many years later. In response to these killings the Victorian parliament passed the Felons' Apprehension Act which outlawed the gang and made it possible for anyone to shoot them. There was no need for the outlaws to be arrested and for there to be a trial. The Act was based on the 1865 Act passed in New South Wales which declared Ben Hall and his gang outlaws.

Bank robberiesFollowing the killings at Stringybark, the gang committed two major robberies, at Euroa, Victoria and Jerilderie, New South Wales. Their strategy involved the taking of hostages and robbing the bank safes.

EuroaOn the 10 December 1878, the gang raided the National Bank at Euroa. They had already taken a number of hostages at Faithful Creek station and went to the bank claiming to be delivering a message from McCauley, the station manager. They got into the bank and held up the manager, Scott, and his two tellers. After obtaining all the money available, the outlaws ordered Scott, along with his wife, family, maids and tellers to accompany them to Faithful Creek where they were

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locked up with the other hostages, who included the station's staff and some passing hawkers and sportsmen. It is claimed that Ned, posing as a policeman, took one of the men prisoner on the grounds of being the "notorious Ned Kelly". The man was locked up in the storeroom saying that he would report the "officer" to his superiors. It was only then that he was told who his captor was. The outlaws gave an exhibition of horsemanship which entertained and surprised their hostages. After having supper, and telling the hostages not to raise the alarm for

another three hours, they left. The entire crime was carried out without injury and the gang netted £2,260, a large sum in those days and equivalent to around $100,000 today. In January 1879 police arrested all known Kelly friends and sympathisers and held them without charge for three months. This action caused resentment of the government's abuse of power that led to condemnation in the media and a groundswell of support for the gang that was a factor in their evading capture for so long.

JerilderieThe raid on Jerilderie is particularly noteworthy for its boldness and cunning. The gang arrived in the town on Saturday 8 February 1879. They broke into the local police station and imprisoned police officers Richards and Devine in their own cell. The outlaws then changed into the police uniforms and mixed with the locals, claiming to be reinforcements from Sydney. On Monday the gang rounded up various people and forced them into the back parlour of the Royal Mail Hotel. While Dan Kelly and Steve Hart kept the hostages busy with "drinks on the house", Ned Kelly and Joe Byrne robbed the local bank of £2,414. Kelly also burned all the townspeople's mortgage deeds in the bank. New South Wales issued rewards totaling £4,000. The Victorian Government increased its reward to match making the total reward for the Kelly gang £8,000 (AUS$400,000).

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Illustration 23: 8000 pound reward notice for the capture of the Ned Kelly gang, 15 February 1879


Ned Kelly

From early March 1879 to June 1880 nothing was heard of the gang's whereabouts with one possible exception. In late march 1879 Ned's sisters Kate and Margaret approached the captain of the Victoria Cross, then docked in Melbourne, and enquired as to how much he would charge to take four or five gentlemen friends to California if they boarded in Queenscliff. Nothing definite was arranged but on March 31, a man he described as having a somewhat suspicious appearance called on the captain to confirm the passage discussed by the Kelly sisters. The captain arranged an appointment at the General Post Office that afternoon to give a definite answer for the cost then contacted police who placed a large number of detectives and plain-clothes police throughout the building, however the man failed to appear. There is no evidence that Ned's sisters were enquiring on behalf of the gang but it was reported in Melbourne media as probable with speculation that the number of police present at the Post Office had alerted them.In April 1880 a Notice of Withdrawal of Reward was posted by Government. It stated that after July 20, 1880 the Government would "absolutely cancel and withdraw the offer for the reward".

The Jerilderie LetterMonths prior to arriving in Jerilderie, and with help from Joe Byrne, Ned Kelly dictated a lengthy letter for publication describing his view of his activities and the treatment of his family and, more generally, the treatment of Irish Catholics by the police and the English and Irish Protestant squatters. The Jerilderie Letter, as it is called, is a document of 7,391 words and has become a famous piece of Australian literature. Kelly had written a previous letter (14 December 1878) to a member of Parliament stating his grievances, but the correspondence had been suppressed from the public. The letter highlights the various incidents that led to him becoming an outlaw (see Rise to notoriety). The letter was never published and was concealed until re-discovered in 1930. It was then published by the Melbourne Herald. The handwritten document was donated anonymously to the State Library of Victoria in 2000. Historian Alex McDermott says of the Letter, "... even now it's hard to defy his voice. With this letter Kelly inserts himself into history, on his own terms, with his own voice...We hear the living speaker in a way that no other document in our history achieves..." Kelly's language is colourful, rough and full of metaphors; it is "one of the most extraordinary documents in Australian history". The National Museum of Australia in Canberra holds publican John Hanlon's transcript of the Jerilderie Letter.

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Capture, trial and executionOn 26 June 1880 the Felons' Apprehension Act 612 expired, with the result that not only was the gang's outlaw status no longer in effect but that their arrest warrants also expired. While Ned and Dan still had prior warrants outstanding for the attempted murder of Fitzpatrick, technically Hart and Byrne were free men although the police still retained the right to re-issue the murder warrants.The gang discovered that Aaron Sherritt, Joe Byrne's erstwhile best friend, was a police informer. On 26 June 1880, the same day their outlaw status expired, Dan Kelly and Joe Byrne went to Sherritt's house and killed him. (Superintendent Hare later testified that Sherritt was the "scout of the district" and regularly informed Kelly of police movements however, he also testified that following the Jerilderie robbery he paid Sherritt for informing on Kelly's whereabouts. Ian Jones, authority on the Kelly Gang, has made a compelling case in his book, The Fatal Friendship that the police manipulated events so that Sherritt appeared a traitor and to provoke the gang into emerging from hiding to dispose of him.) The four policemen who were living openly with him at the time hid under the bed and did not report the murder until late the following morning. This delay was to prove crucial since it upset Ned's timing for another ambush.The Kelly Gang arrived in Glenrowan on 27 June forcibly taking about seventy hostages at the Glenrowan Inn. They knew that a passenger train carrying a police detachment was on its way and ordered the rail tracks pulled up in order to cause a derailment.

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Illustration 24: The trial of Ned Kelly


Ned Kelly

The gang members were equipped with armour that was tough enough to repel bullets (but left the legs unprotected). It is not known exactly who made the armour, although it was likely forged from stolen or donated plough mouldboards. Each man's armour weighed about 96 pounds (44 kg); all four had helmets, and Byrne's was said to be the most well done, with the brow reaching down to the nose piece, almost forming two eye slits. All wore grey cotton coats reaching past the knees over the armour. While holed up in the Glenrowan Inn, the Kelly gang's attempt to derail the police train failed due to the actions of a released hostage, schoolmaster Thomas Curnow. Curnow convinced Ned to let him go and then as soon

as he was released he alerted the authorities by standing on the railway line near sunrise and waving a lantern wrapped in his red scarf. The police then stopped the train before it would have been derailed and laid siege to the inn at dawn on Monday 28 June. The accounts of who opened fire first are contradictory. According to Superintendent Hare he was close to the inn when he saw the flash of a rifle and felt his left hand go limp. Three more flashes followed from the veranda and then whoever had first fired at him stepped back and began to fire again after which the police opened fire. Kelly testified in court that he was dismounting from his horse when a bolt in his armour failed. While he was fixing the bolt the police fired two volleys into the inn. Kelly claimed that as he walked towards the inn the police fired a third volley with the result that one bullet hit him in the foot and another in the left arm. It was at that moment he claimed his gang began returning the fire. Kelly now walked in what police called a "lurching motion" towards them from 30 metres (98 ft) away. Due to the restrictions of his armour, and now only being able to hold his revolving rifle in one hand, he had to hold the rifle at arm’s length to fire, and claimed he fired randomly, two shots to the front and two shots to his left. Constable Arthur fired three times, hitting Kelly once in the helmet and twice in his body, but despite staggering from the impacts he continued to advance. Constables Phillips and Healy then fired with similar effect. Kelly's lower limbs, however, were unprotected, and when 15 metres (49 ft) from the police line he was shot repeatedly in the legs. As he

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Illustration 25: Kelly in the dock


fell he was hit by a shotgun blast that injured his hip and right hand. The other Kelly Gang members died in the hotel; Joe Byrne perished due to loss of blood from a gunshot wound that severed his femoral artery as he allegedly stood at the bar pouring himself a glass of whisky, Dan Kelly and Steve Hart committed suicide (according to witness Matthew Gibney). No autopsy was done to determine cause of death, as their bodies were burnt when the police set fire to the inn. The police suffered only one minor injury: Superintendent Francis Hare, the senior officer on the scene, received a slight wound to his wrist, then fled the battle. For his cowardice the Royal Commission later suspended Hare from the Victorian Police Force. Several hostages were also shot, two fatally. The body of Joe Byrne was taken to Benalla and strung up as a curiosity for photographers and spectators. His body was not claimed by his family, and he was buried by police in an unmarked grave in Benalla Cemetery. Dan Kelly and Steve Hart were buried in unmarked graves by their families in Greta Cemetery 30 km (19 mi) east of Benalla. Ned Kelly survived to stand trial, and was sentenced to death by the Irish-born judge Justice Redmond Barry. This case was extraordinary in that there were exchanges between the prisoner Kelly and the judge, and the case has been the subject of attention by historians and lawyers. When the judge uttered the customary words "May God have mercy on your soul", Kelly replied "I will go a little further than that, and say I will see you there when I go". At Ned's request, his photographic portrait was taken and he was granted farewell interviews with family members. His mother's last words to Ned were reported to be "Mind you die like a Kelly". He was hanged on 11 November 1880 at the Melbourne Gaol for the murder of Constable Lonigan. Although two newspapers (The Age and The Herald) reported Kelly's last words as "Such is life", another source, Kelly's gaol warden, wrote in his diary that when Kelly was prompted to say his last words, the

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Illustration 26: Ned Kelly's death mask in the Old Melbourne Gaol


Ned Kelly

prisoner opened his mouth and mumbled something that he couldn't hear. Sir Redmond Barry died of the effects of a carbuncle on his neck on 23 November 1880, twelve days after Kelly.Although the exact number is unknown, it is estimated that a petition to spare Kelly's life attracted over 30,000 signatures.

RewardThere was considerable controversy over the division of the £8,000 (AUS$400,000 in 2008 dollars) reward before the enquiry into the siege was conducted although the money itself was not actually paid until it had concluded. Most commentators complained that Curnow should have received more while many of the police deserved less pointing out that some police who received large amounts were of little value at Glenrowan, whilst others receiving lesser amounts distinguished themselves. Public opposition was such that Superintendent Hare and Sub-inspector O’Connor, who was in charge of the Aboriginal trackers, declined to collect their shares of £800 (AUS$40,000 in 2008 dollars) and £237 (AUS$11,850 in 2008 dollars) respectively. Despite being suspended for cowardice at Glenrowan, Superintendent Hare received the largest share, £800 while Thomas Curnow, who alerted police to the ambush thus saving many lives, received £550. Seven senior police officers received from £165 to £377 each, seven constables £137, Mr. C. C. Rawlins (civilian volunteer) £137, one constable £125, 15 constables £115, the three train engineers £104, one detective £100, one senior constable £97, the train driver, fireman and guard £84 each, assistant engine fireman £69, assistant engine driver £68, one senior constable £48, 14 constables £42 each and Messrs Cheshire and Osborne, £25 each. Nine civilians, 13 constables and two police agents applied for a share of the reward but were rejected. The board acknowledged that some who received nothing deserved a share but adherence to the terms of the proclamation precluded rewarding them. Four members of the media had accompanied the police and the board stated that, had they applied for a share, it would have been approved. Seven native trackers also received £50 each although the board deemed it undesirable to place any sum of money in the hands of persons unable to use it and recommend that the sums set opposite the names of the black trackers be handed to the Queensland and Victorian Governments to be dealt with at their discretion.

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Kelly Gang ArmourAll four suits consisted of a breast-plate, back-plate, and a helmet. Joe Byrne's suit was the only one without an apron to protect the groin and thighs, as a result he died from a shot to the groin. Ned's suit was the only one to also have an apron at the back. The suits' separate parts were strapped together on the body while the helmet was separate and sat on the shoulders allowing it to be removed easily when the need arose. Padding is only known from Ned's armour and it is not clear if the other suits were similarly padded. Ned wore a padded skull cap and his helmet also had internal strapping so his head could take some of the weight. All the men wore dustcoats over the armour. The Victorian Police had been told three times by informants of the existence of the armour and that it was capable of deflecting bullets but Police Superintendents Hare and Sadlier both dismissed the information as "nonsense" and "an impossibility". Despite these warnings none of the police realised the gang were wearing armour until after the siege was over. Until Ned fell the police even questioned whether he was human. Constable Arthur, who was closest, thought he was a "huge blackfellow wrapped in a blanket", Constable Dowsett exclaimed it was "old Nick" and Senior Constable Kelly called out "Look out, boys, it’s the bunyip. He’s bullet-proof!". Constable Gascoigne, who recognised Ned's voice, told Superintendent Sadlier he had "fired at him point blank and hit him straight in the body. But there is no use firing at Ned Kelly; he can't be hurt". Although aware of the information supplied by the informant prior to the siege, Sadlier later wrote that even after Gascoigne's comment "no thought of armour" had occurred to him. Following the siege of Glenrowan the media reported the events and use of armour around the world. The gang were admired in military circles and Arthur Conan Doyle commented on the gang's imagination and recommended similar armour for use by British infantry. The police announcement to the Australian public that the armour was made from ploughshares was ridiculed, disputed, and deemed impossible even by blacksmiths.

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Illustration 27: Ned Kelly's armour, from an 1880 illustration


Ned Kelly

After Ned Kelly's capture there was considerable debate over having the armour destroyed, all four disassembled suits of armour were eventually stored by Police Superintendent Hare in Melbourne. Hare gave Ned Kelly's armour to Sir William Clarke, and it was later donated to the State Library of Victoria. Joe Byrne's suit of armour was kept by Hare and now belongs to his descendants. Dan Kelly and Steve Hart's armour are still owned by the Victorian Police force. As no effort was made to maintain the armour's integrity while stored, the suits were reassembled by guesswork. In 2002 several parts were identified from photographs taken shortly after the siege and reunited with their original suits. As a result the State Library of Victoria was able to exchange their backplate, which was found to be Steve Hart's breastplate, for Ned Kelly's own backplate, making their suit currently the most original. In January 2002 all four suits were displayed together for an exhibition in the Old Melbourne Gaol.According to legend the armour was made on a Stringybark log by the gang themselves. Due to the quality of the workmanship and the difficulties involved in forging, historians and blacksmiths had long believed the armour could only have

been made by a professional blacksmith in a forge. A professional blacksmith would have heated the steel to over 1000 °C (1832 °F), before shaping it. A bush forge would only be able to get the metal to 750 °C (1382 °F), which would make shaping the metal very difficult. In 2003 Byrne's suit of armour was disassembled and tested by ANSTO at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney to determine how the armour was made and what temperatures were involved. The results of testing indicated the heating of the metal was "patchy".

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Illustration 28: Ned Kelly's armour on display in the State Library of VictoriaThe apron and one shoulderplate are not Ned's and comes from either Dan Kelly's or Steve Hart's armour.


Some parts had been bent cold while other parts had been subjected to extended periods in a heat source of not much more than 700 °C (1292 °F), which is consistent with a bush forge. The quality of forging was also determined to be less than believed, and it is now considered unlikely to have been done by a blacksmith. The method now widely accepted is that mouldboards were heated in a makeshift bush forge and then beaten straight over a green log before being cut into shape and riveted together to form each individual piece.

Ned Kelly's remains and graveFollowing his execution Kelly's body was dissected, with his head and organs removed for study. In line with the practice of the day, as no records are kept regarding the disposal of a condemned person's body or body parts, Kelly's remains may, or may not have, been buried in Melbourne Gaol's mass graveyard. Kelly's head was given to phrenologists for study then returned to the police, who used it for a time as a paperweight. In 1929, Melbourne gaol was closed, and the bodies in its graveyard were transferred to Pentridge prison. During the transfer of bodies, workers stole skeletal parts from a grave marked with the initials EK in the belief they belonged to Kelly. The site foreman retrieved the skull and gave it to the Australian Institute of Anatomy in Canberra. The skull in the possession of police was also given, at some unknown date, to the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra who, in 1971, gave it to the National Trust. It was displayed at the Old Melbourne Gaol until it was stolen in December 1978. Tom Baxter, a farmer from West Australia claims he has the skull stolen in 1978 but has refused to hand it over for identification or burial. Despite attempts, the police have been unable to locate the stolen skull. The skull does not match photographs of the stolen skull, and a facial reconstruction based on a cast made from the skull in Baxter's possession does not resemble Kelly, but does resemble the death mask of Ernest Knox, who was executed in 1894 for murder. If this is indeed the skull stolen in 1978, it means that Kelly's skull was on display originally, but was taken off display at some time and thereafter replaced with Knox's skull.On 9 March 2008 it was announced that Australian archaeologists believed they had found Kelly's grave on the site of Pentridge prison. The bones were uncovered at a mass grave, and Kelly's are among those of 32 felons who had been executed by hanging. Jeremy Smith, a senior archaeologist with Heritage Victoria said, "We believe we have conclusively found the burial site but that is very different from finding the remains." Forensic pathologists have examined the bones, which are much decayed and jumbled with the remains of others, making identification difficult. However, Kelly's remains were identified by an old wrist injury and by the fact that his

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Ned Kelly

head was removed for phrenological study. Mrs. Ellen Hollow, Kelly's 62-year-old great-niece, offered to supply her own DNA to help identify Kelly's bones.

The Kelly aftermath and the lessonsAfter Ned Kelly's death, the Victorian Royal Commission (1881–83) into the Victorian Police Force led to many changes to the nature of policing in the colony. The Commission took 18 months and its findings put many of the police involved in the Kelly hunt in a less than favourable light, yet neither did it excuse or sanction the actions of the Kelly Gang. As a result of the Commission a number of members of the Victorian police, including senior staff, were reprimanded, demoted, or dismissed. Some dismiss the Kelly Outbreak as simply a spate of criminality. These included: Boxhall, The Story of Australian Bushrangers (1899), Henry Giles Turner, History of the Colony of Victoria (1904) and several police writers of the time like Hare and more modern writers like Penzig (1988) who wrote legitimising narratives about law and order and moral justification.Others, commencing with Kenneally (1929), and McQuilton (1979) and Jones (1995), perceived the Kelly Outbreak and the problems of Victoria's Land Selection Acts post-1860s as interlinked. McQuilton identified Kelly as the "social bandit" who was caught up in unresolved social contradictions — that is, the selector-squatter conflicts over land — and that Kelly gave the selectors the leadership they so lacked. O'Brien (1999) identified a leaderless rural malaise in Northeastern Victoria as early as 1872-73, around land, policing and the Impounding Act.Though the Kelly Gang was destroyed in 1880, for almost seven years a serious threat of a second outbreak existed because of major problems around land settlement and selection (McQuilton, Ch. 10). McQuilton suggested two police officers involved in the pursuit of the Kelly Gang — namely, Superintendent John Sadleir (1833–1919), author of Recollections of a Victorian Police Officer, and Inspector W.B. Montford — averted the Second Outbreak by coming to understand that the unresolved social contradiction in Northeastern Victoria was around land, not crime, and by their good work in aiding small selectors.

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The Kellys and the modern eraNed's mother Ellen died in 1923 at the age of 92, by which time planes, cars and radio had been introduced to Australia. Photographs have recently been discovered showing her sitting in a motor car.

November 2007 auctioning of claimed Kelly revolverOn 13 November 2007, a weapon claimed to be Constable Fitzpatrick's service revolver was auctioned for approximately $70,000 in Melbourne and is now located in Westbury Tasmania. The vendor's representative, Tom Thompson, claimed that the revolver was left by Constable Fitzpatrick at the Kelly house after the melee in 1878, given to Kate Kelly, and then (much later) found in a house or shed in Forbes, New South Wales.According to press reports in the days following the auction, firearms experts assessed the revolver as being of a design (a copy of an English Webley .32 revolver) not manufactured until 1884, well after the claimed provenance had the weapon changing hands from Constable Fitzpatrick to the Kellys. In addition, a stamp on the gun which the auction catalogue interpreted as R*C, an indication that the revolver was of the Royal Constabulary, was instead read as a European manufacturer's proof mark. Further, evidence by Constable Fitzpatrick said that when he left the Kelly homestead after the incident, he had his revolver and handcuffs; (cited in Keith McMenomy (1984), p. 69.)

Cultural effectOne of the gaols in which Kelly was incarcerated has become the Ned Kelly Museum in Glenrowan, Victoria, and many weapons and artifacts used by him and his gang are in exhibit there. Since his death, Kelly has become part of Australian folklore, the language and the subject of a large number of books and several films. The Australian term "as game as Ned Kelly" entered the language and is a common expression.Films included the first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang (Australia, 1906), another with Mick Jagger in the title role (1970), and more recently Ned Kelly (2003) starring Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush. A TV mini series of six episodes The Last Outlaw (1980) highlighted the plight of the selector and the social conflicts and battles between selector and squatters.

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Ned Kelly

During the 1960s, Ned Kelly graduated from folk lore into the academic arena. His story and the social issues around land selection, squatters, national identity, policing and his court case are studied at universities, seminars and lectures.

Ned Kelly as a political iconIn the time since his execution, Ned Kelly has been mythologised among some into a Robin Hood, a political revolutionary and a figure of Irish Catholic and working-class resistance to the establishment and British colonial ties. It is claimed that Kelly's bank robberies were to fund the push for a "Republic of the North-East of Victoria", and that the police found a declaration of the republic in his pocket when he was captured, which has led to him being seen as an icon by some in the Australian republicanism cause.

Ned Kelly captures President Kruger and wins the Boer War, 1900

In early June 1900, when the Boer Transvaal capital Pretoria fell to the British assault, President Paul Kruger and his government fled east on a train and evaded capture. In the Melbourne Punch of 21 June 1900, a cartoon titled "BAIL-UP!" depicted the Kelly Gang capturing Kruger's train and seizing Kruger's gold, thus winning the Boer War for the British. This is among the first of the Australian political cartoons to invoke Kelly's memory.

Ned Kelly the honest bushranger, 1915During the tough days during World War I cartoons in the Queensland Worker, later re-printed in Labor Call, 16 September 1915, showed profiteers robbing Australian citizens, while Ned Kelly in armour watched on saying; "Well Well! I never got as low as that, and they hung me."

Ned Kelly - invoked to fight the Japanese in 1942During World War II, Clive Turnbull published Ned Kelly: Being His Own Story of His Life and Crimes. In the introduction Turnbull invoked the Kelly historical memory to urge Australians to adopt the Kelly spirit and resist the oppression of the potential invader.

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Ned Kelly in iconographyThe distinctive homemade armour Kelly wore for his final unsuccessful stand against the police was the subject of a famous series of paintings by Sidney

Nolan. Jerilderie, one of the towns Kelly robbed, built its police station featuring numerous structural components mimicking his distinctive face plate. Some examples include walls made of differently toned bricks making up his image to storm drains with holes cut in them to form it. An image of Kelly, based on Sidney Nolan's imagery, appeared in the "Tin Symphony" segment of the opening ceremony for the year 2000 Olympic Games. He has also appeared in advertisements, most notably in television spots for Bushell's tea. A man drinking tea in

the iconic suit of armour is the focal point of part of the ad. Australia Post produced a stamp/envelope set The Siege Of Glenrowan - Centenary 1980 to mark the capture of Kelly 100 years before. The 22-cent 'stamp' printed on the envelope shows Kelly 'at bay' wearing his armoured helmet and Colt revolver in hand.

AdvertisingIn the 1990s British ads for the cereal Weetabix implied that it made the eater so strong and powerful that others were terrified of him. One such TV ad had Kelly in full armour in a hut under siege by the police. As the officer in charge calls for his surrender, Kelly emerges from the hut with a spoon and cereal bowl, threatening to "eat the Weetabix" if they make a false move. The officer tells his men to stand back since Kelly is not bluffing. One of them cocks his rifle, whereupon Kelly brings the spoon to his mouth only to find that the mouthpiece in his helmet is too small for the spoon. Thus he cannot carry out his threat and is forced to surrender.

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Illustration 29: Sidney Nolan's painting The Trial, depicting Ned Kelly on trial


Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly in fictionA. Bertram Chandler's novel Kelly Country (1983) is an alternate history in which Kelly leads a successful revolution; the result is that Australia becomes a world power. Our Sunshine (1991) by Robert Drewe was the basis of the 2003 film, Ned Kelly, that starred Heath Ledger. Peter Carey's novel True History of the Kelly Gang was published in 2000, and was awarded the 2001 Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.

Films and televisionThe Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) now recognised as the world's first feature-length film had a then-unprecedented running time of 60 minutes. One of the actual suits worn by the gang (believed to be Joe Byrne's) was borrowed from a private collection and worn in the film. Two pieces of film totalling 21 minutes still exist and one piece includes the key scene of the Kelly's last stand.Harry Southwell wrote, directed and produced three films based on the Kelly Gang: The Kelly Gang (1920), When the Kellys Were Out (1923) and When the Kellys Rode (1934), as well as the unfinished, A Message to Kelly (1947).The Glenrowan Affair was produced by Rupert Kathner in 1951, featuring the exploits of Kelly and his "wild colonial boys" on their journey of treachery, violence, murder and terror, told from the perspective of an aging Dan Kelly. It starred the famous Carlton footballer Bob Chitty as Ned Kelly. It was one of the last films to portray him with an Australian accent.In 1967, independent filmmaker Garry Shead directed and produced Stringybark Massacre, an avant garde re-creation of the murder of the three police officers at Stringybark Creek.The next major film of the Kelly story was Ned Kelly (1970), starring Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and directed by Tony Richardson. It was not a success and during its making it led to a protest by Australian Actors Equity over the importation of Jagger, with complaints from Kelly family descendants and others over the film being shot in New South Wales, rather than in the Victoria locations where most of the events actually took place.Ian Jones and Bronwyn Binns wrote a script for a four-part television mini-series, The Last Outlaw 1980, which they co-produced. The series premiered on the centenary of the day that Kelly was hanged. The film's detailed historical accuracy distinguished it from many other Kelly films. Actor John Jarratt starred as Kelly.

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Yahoo Serious wrote, directed and starred in the 1993 satire film Reckless Kelly as a descendant of Ned Kelly. In 2003, Ned Kelly, a $30 million budget movie about Kelly's life was released. Directed by Gregor Jordan, and written by John M. McDonagh, it starred Heath Ledger as Kelly, along with Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, and Naomi Watts. Based on Robert Drewe's book Our Sunshine, the film covers the period from Kelly's arrest for horse theft as a teenager to the gang's armour-clad battle at Glenrowan. It attempts to portray the events from the perspectives of both Kelly and of the authorities responsible for his capture and prosecution. It was not a success; one review dismissed it as fiction.That same year (2003) a low budget satire movie called Ned was released. Written, directed and starring Abe Forsythe, it depicted the Kelly gang wearing fake beards and tin buckets on their heads. In 2008 the DC Comics comic arc Batman RIP introduced a Batman villain named Swagman who appears identical to Ned Kelly in his armour.

Bush poems and verse Many poems and ditties emerged during the Kelly era (1878–80) relating their exploits. Some were later put to music. Stringybark Creek (below) was often sung during the Outbreak. Offenders caught chanting or singing this piece were fined £2 or £5, in default one or two months.

Stringybark Creek

A sergeant and three constables Set out from Mansfield town Near the end of last October For to hunt the Kellys down;So they travelled to the Wombat,And thought it quite a lark,And they camped upon the borders ofA creek called Stringybark.

They had grub and ammunition thereTo last them many a week.Next morning two of them rode out,All to explore the creek.Leaving McIntyre behind them atThe camp to cook the grub,And Lonigan to sweep the floorAnd boss the washing tub.

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Ned Kelly

Music

Songs•In 1971, US country singer Johnny Cash wrote and recorded the song "Ned Kelly" for his album The Man in Black.•The Australian band "The Kelly Gang" consisted of Jack Nolan, Scott Aplin, Rick Grossman (bassist for Hoodoo Gurus) and Rob Hirst (drummer for Midnight Oil) and recorded one album Looking for the Sun (2004) which has one of Sydney Nolan's iconic "Ned Kelly" series as its album cover.•"Shelter for my Soul" was written and recorded by Powderfinger's Bernard Fanning for the 2003 film Ned Kelly. It was written from Kelly's perspective on death row and played over the movie's closing credits.•"888" was written and recorded by Melbourne Celt/Punk band The Currency. It has a reference to the Old Melbourne Gaol. And its lyrics say "It says here, Ned's parting words, it says here, such is life". Other songs about Ned Kelly include those by Paul Kelly ("Our Sunshine" (1999)), Slim Dusty ("Game as Ned Kelly" and "Ned Kelly Isn't Dead"), Ashley Davies ("Ned Kelly" (2001)), Waylon Jennings ("Ned Kelly" (1970)), Redgum ("Poor Ned" (1978)), Midnight Oil ("If Ned Kelly Was King" (1983)), The Whitlams ("Kate Kelly" (2002)), and Trevor Lucas ("Ballad of Ned Kelly", performed by Fotheringay on their eponymous album). He was also referred to in the Midnight Oil song "Mountains of Burma" (1990) ("The heart of Kelly's country cleared"). Also one by Rolf Harris.

References•Sadleir, J., Recollections of a Victorian Police Officer, George Robertson & Co., (Melbourne), 1913. (Facsimile reprint, Penguin Books, 1973, ISBN 0-140-70037-4)•O'Brien, Antony (2006). Bye-Bye Dolly Gray. Hartwell: Artillery Publishing.(historical fiction with lots of Kelly oral and histories in a twisting & turning plot) •Brown, Max (1948). Australian Son. Melbourne: Georgian House. (plus reprints)(a sound pro-Kelly history of the events) •'Cameron Letter', 14 December 1878, in Meredith, J. & Scott, B. Ned Kelly After a Century of Acrimony, Lansdowne, Sydney, 1980, pp. 63–66. (Ned Kelly's own words)

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•Gibb, D. M. (1982). National Identity and Counsciousness: Commentary and Documents. Melbourne: Nelson. (Chapter 1. Ned Kelly's view of his world and others) •Hare, F.A. (1892). The Last of the Bushrangers. London. (a police perspective of the 'criminal class') •Hobsbawm, E.J. (1972). Bandits. Ringwood: Pelican. (wide ranging world wide history on social bandits in which he argues that Ned Kelly can be better understood) •Jones, Ian (1995). Ned Kelly : A Short Life. Port Melbourne: Lothian. (a comprehensive and well researched piece of history and events) •Kenneally, J.J. (1929). Inner History of the Kelly Gang. (plus many reprints) (the first pro-Kelly piece of literature) •McDermott, Alex, ed (2001). The Jerilderie Letter. Melbourne: Text Publishing. (an insight into the famous Jerilderie Letter) •McMenomy, Keith (1984). Ned Kelly: The Authentic Illustrated Story. South Yarra: Curry O'Neill Ross. (lots of photos from the era, photos of records etc. a sound research piece) •McQuilton, John, The Kelly Outbreak 1788–1880; The geographical dimension of social banditry, 1979. (among the most important academic works, which expands on Hobsbawm; links the unresolved land problems to the Kelly Outbreak)•Penzig, Edgar, F. (1988). Bushrangers - Heroes or Villains. Katoomba: Tranter. ( a pro-police/establishment piece) •Deakin University (1995). The Kelly Outbreak Reader. Geelong: Deakin University. (is now hard to locate but it contains a wide selection of research documents and commentary for university level history students) •Turnbull, C (1942). Ned Kelly: Being his own story of his life and crimes. Melbourne: Hawthorn Press. ( very hard to locate, but Ned Kelly become a national figure) •Wilcox, Craig (2005). Australia's Boer War: The War in South Africa 1899–1902. South Melbourne: Oxford. (has a cartoon of 1900 depicting Ned Kelly and the gang capturing The Boer President Paul Kruger) •O'Brien, Phil (2002) "101 Adventures that got me Absolutely Nowhere" Vol 2 (p. 92 A resemblance to Ned Kelly's makeshift body armour of a child with a pot overturned on his head) •Keith Dunstan, Saint Ned, (1980), chronicles lesser known aspects of Ned Kelly's life, whilst discussing the rise of the 'Kellyana' industry.

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Ned Kelly

Further reading

Fiction•Carey, Peter (2000). Ned Kelly, True History of the Kelly Gang.•O'Brien, Antony (2006) Bye-Bye Dolly Gray, Artillery Publishing, Hartwell. (Though this work is set 20 years after the Ned's death it contains insights into the Kelly story)•Upfield, Arthur. (1960) Bony and the Kelly Gang,Pan Books, London. (Upfield's famous fictional character, Inspector Boney, clashes with a new Kelly Gang)

Unpublished Kelly theses•Morrissey, Douglas. "Selectors, Squatters and Stock Thieves: A Social History of the Kelly Country", PhD, La Trobe (in Borchardt Library, La Trobe University, Victoria) •O'Brien, Antony. "Awaiting Ned Kelly: Rural Malaise in Northestern Victoria 1872-73", B.A. (Hons), Deakin University, 1999 (sighted in Burke Museum, Beechworth) (See. p. 45, re Royal Commission questions)

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Nezumi KozōNezumi Kozō (鼠小僧) is the nickname of Nakamura Jirokichi (仲村次郎吉 1797 - 1831), a Japanese thief and folk hero who lived in Edo (present-day Tokyo) during the Edo period.

Capture and tattooIn 1822, he was caught and tattooed, and banished from Edo. On August 8, 1831, he was captured again, and confessed to the burglary of over 100 samurai estates and the impressive theft of over 30,000 ryō throughout his 15-year career. He was tied to a horse and paraded in public before being beheaded at the Suzugamori execution grounds. His head was then publicly displayed on a stake. He was buried at Ekō-in located in the Ryōgoku section of Tokyo. So many pilgrims chip away pieces of his tombstone for charms that substitute stones have had to be constructed since shortly after his death.

BackgroundAt the time of the arrest, Jirokichi was found to have very little money. This, combined with the public humiliation he dealt out to the daimyo, resulted in the popular legend that he gave the money to the poor, turning the petty crook into a posthumous folk hero similar to Robin Hood. The fact that he died alone, serving his wives with divorce papers just prior to arrest in order to protect them from sharing in the punishment as the law decreed, further enhanced his stature. Modern scholars are of the view that Jirokichi most likely spent his money on women and liquor.

NicknameJirokichi's nickname, Nezumi Kozō, is not a name. Nezumi is the Japanese word for "rat"; a kozō was a young errand-boy who worked in a shop in the Edo period. The nickname can thus be roughly translated as "rat boy". Since a nickname containing the term kozō was often given to pickpockets, who were often youngs boys and girls since the profession required nimble fingers, it has been suggested that Jirokichi was a well known pickpocket when he was younger.

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Nezumi Kozō

In popular cultureHis exploits have been commemorated in kabuki theatre, folk songs, jidaigeki, video games, and modern pop culture. See more in the Japanese historical people in popular culture article.

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Roberto CofresíRoberto Cofresí (June 17, 1791 – March 29, 1825), better known as "El Pirata Cofresí", was the most renowned pirate in Puerto Rico. He became interested in sailing at a young age. By the time he reached adulthood there were some political and economic difficulties in Puerto Rico, which at the time was a colony of Spain. Influenced by this situation he decided to become a pirate in 1818. Cofresí commanded several assaults against cargo vessels focusing on those that were responsible for exporting gold. During this time he focused his attention on ships from the United States and the local Spanish government ignored several of these actions. On March 5, 1825, Cofresí engaged a float of ships led by John Slout in battle. He eventually abandoned his ship and tried to escape by land before being captured. After being imprisoned he was sent to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where a brief military trial found him guilty and on March 29, 1825, he and other members of his crew were executed by a firing squad. After his

death his life was used as inspiration for several stories and myths, which served as the basis for books and other media.

Early yearsCofresí was born Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. His father was Franz Von Kupferschein (1751-1814), an Italian national of Austrian descent born in Trieste, Italy. According to Professor Ursula Acosta, a historian and member of the Puerto Rican Genealogy Society, the Kupferschein family immigrated from Austria to Trieste where Franz Von Kupferschein was known as Francisco Confersin. Immigrants were required by the Italian authorities to adopt Italian sounding names. When Francisco Confersin (Franz Von Kupferschein) immigrated to Puerto Rico, he went to live in the coastal town of Cabo Rojo and changed his name to Francisco Cofresí, which made it much easier for the Spanish authorities to pronounce.Francisco Cofresí met and married María Germana Ramírez de Arellano, whose father was the cousin of Nicolás Ramírez de Arellano, the founder of Cabo Rojo. The couple had four children, a daughter by the name of Juana and three sons, Juan Francisco, Ignacio and their youngest Roberto. Roberto Cofresí was four years old when his mother died.

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Illustration 30: Monument of Roberto Cofresí located in Cabo Rojo


Roberto Cofresí

Cofresí and his siblings went to school in his hometown. Living in a coastal town the Cofresí brothers often came in to contact with visiting sailors. They were inspired to become seamen by the tales that they heard from the sailors who visited their town. Cofresí eventually purchased a small boat, which he christened El Mosquito ("The Mosquito").He met and married Juana Creitoff, a native of Curaçao, in the San Miguel Arcángel Parish of Cabo Rojo. They had two sons, both of whom died soon after birth. In 1822, Cofresí and Juana had a daughter, whom they named Maria Bernada.

Cofresí the pirateIn 1818, Cofresí decided to become a pirate and organized a crew composed of eight to ten men from his hometown. The men established a hideout in Mona Island, a small island located between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It was a common practice then for the Spanish Crown to look the other way when pirates such as Cofresí attacked ships that did not carry the Spanish flag.Cofresí ignored the ships that came from other nations including those from France, Holland and England and his attacks were mainly focused on ships from the United States. His dislike of American sailors originated when he was once caught eating sugar from an American cargo ship without paying and was injured by the ship's captain. After this event Cofresí declared war on all of those that operated under the flag of the United States. He often displayed cruel behavior against hostages that were on these vessels, including reports that he ordered that his captives were to be nailed alive to El Mosquito's deck.Spain and the United States were having diplomatic and political differences, therefore the Spanish colonial government did not pursue Cofresí or his crew as long as he assaulted American ships. The government felt that Cofresí's actions were patriotic. This situation changed because of various factors. Spain had lost most of her possessions in the New World and her last two possessions, Puerto

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Illustration 31: Small schooner similar to El Mosquito


Rico and Cuba were faced with economical problems and political unrest. Cofresí was influenced by the separatist faction which was supporting Puerto Rico's independence from Spain.Cofresí felt that the Spaniards were oppressing the Puerto Ricans in their "own home" and he began assaulting Spanish ships along with the American and English vessels that were being used to export the island's resources, gold in particular. He did this in order to debilitate the Spanish economy, justifying it by saying that he "wouldn't allow foreign hands to take a piece of the country that saw his birth". On January 23, 1824, Lieutenant General Miguel Luciano De La Torre y Pando (1822-1837), the Spanish appointed governor of Puerto Rico, issued several anti-piracy measures based on the economic losses that the Spanish government was sustaining and the political pressure from the United States.

Imprisonment in the Dominican RepublicOn one occasion Cofresí and his crew were captured after his ship arrived at Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. They were sentenced to six years in prison and sent to Torre del Homenaje. Cofresí and his men escaped from prison, however they were captured once again and imprisoned. The group decided to escape once more, they broke the locks of their cell doors and climbed down the walls of the prison's courtyard during a stormy night using a rope that was made of their clothes. The group reached the providence of San Pedro de Macorís and boarded a ship. They sailed to the island of Vieques where they established a new hideout and reorganized a new crew of fourteen men. Cofresí then selected six of them and traveled to the main island (Puerto Rico) where they hijacked a schooner named Ana forcing the crew to jump into the ocean, an incident which they survived. Cofresí renamed the captured ship El Mosquito. They then proceeded to steal a cannon from another ship that was under construction. The crew members of El Mosquito armed themselves, with the weapons found in the vessels that they boarded.

Final yearsCofresí set out once more to sea in his schooner, with his crew and continued to attack merchant ships in the Caribbean. Among the ships which they attacked was a cargo ship named Neptune. The Neptune's cargo consisted of fabrics and

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Illustration 32: Area where Cofresí and his men operated


Roberto Cofresí

provisions and was attacked while it was docked in Jobos Port, located in the vicinity of Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Cofresí then used the vessel as his pirate flagship. On February 1825, Cofresí and his crew attacked a second cargo ship owned by a company based on Saint Thomas and gained control of a load of imported merchandise. After the assault, the pirates left the ship abandoned in the ocean. Some time later they boarded another vessel owned by the same

company and repeated the same action as before.The people on the coasts of Puerto Rico are said to have protected him from the authorities and, according to the Puerto Rican historian Aurelio Tio, Cofresí shared his spoils with the needy, especially members of his family and his friends being regarded by many as the Puerto Rican version of Robin Hood.Cofresí's crew continued to assault several ships and on one occasion they attacked eight consecutive ships, including one from the United States. Cofresí's last successful assault took place on March 5, 1825, when he commanded the hijacking of a boat property of Vicente Antoneti in Salinas, Puerto Rico.

Capture and executionThe Spanish government received many complaints from the nations whose ships were being attacked by "El Pirata Cofresí", as he became to be known. The government felt compelled to have Cofresí pursued and captured. The Spanish government requested the service of three military vessels. These were San José, Las Animas which belonged to Spain and the Grampus which belonged to the United States. In 1825, Captain John Slout, commander of the Schooner U.S. "Grampus", engaged Cofresí in battle. There are two official accounts of this event, submitted by those involved in it.

Spanish government's versionThe Spanish government's version states that on March 2, 1825, the commander of the island's south military division requested the service of three military vessels. These were San José, Las Animas and the Grampus, which belonged to the United States. The mayor of the municipality of Ponce asked Capt. John D. Sloat to command a recon mission with the intention of capturing Cofresí. Three American officers and a doctor accompanied Sloat in this mission, they were: Garred S. Pedergrast, George A. Magrades and Francis Store plus a crew of twenty-three sailors were assigned to the mission. The sailors were heavily armed and a new canon was mounted on the ship. On the afternoon of the third day one of the ships located Cofresí, near the port of Boca del Infierno. When the

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Illustration 33: Cofresí's earrings on display at the American Museum of Natural History


pirates spotted the American vessel they confused it with a merchant ship, and proceeded to attack it. Both vessels exchanged cannon fire. Cofresí commanded El Mosquito to go near land, but was forced to disembark in the coast and to retreat into a nearby forestal area.The Grampus' crew sent their sailors to look for the pirates by land, while the ships closed the access to the beach. Sloat estimated that Cofresí had lost a third of his crew in the previous exchange, based on the number of bodies on the water surrounding the boat. Later that day the mayor of the town of Los Jobos issued a statement which detailed the pirate's entrance into the beach, and he subsequently notified the local authorities about the event. A search operation was launched and during the dusk hours six pirates were captured. The Spanish government then sent military personnel to block all the roads and plains surrounding the area. Two of the search groups believed that the pirates would have to pass through a certain road in order to escape and planned to ambush them there. The pirates reached the location at 10:30 p.m. and tried to escape, but were intercepted. Cofresí was injured in the confrontation, which facilitated their capture. His injuries were severe, but a doctor dictated that they were not lethal. The rest of the crew was captured by the police departments of Patillas and Guayama on March 7 and 8.

United States government versionThe American version states that Commander Sloat solicited permission for the use of two small ships after becoming aware of Cofresí's latest actions. The report claims that Sloat was aware of a strategy that was used by the pirates to escape from large ships, which consisted of traveling as close to the coast as possible and thereby avoid being followed. Therefore, he used the small ships in order to pursue them while attempting this strategy. Both vessels were armed and began working in a exploratory manner, traveling through several ports and coastal towns. On the third day while sailing near Ponce, the group located a ship in Boca del Infierno and identified it as El Mosquito (Ana). When Cofresí saw the American ship he confused it with a merchant vessel and began to attack it. When his vessel approached the ship, the ship opened fire. The subsequent exchange lasted forty-five minutes and ended when the pirates abandoned their ship and swam to the nearby beach. Vicente Antoneti who was traveling with Sloat, disembarked and notified the local Spanish military unit about the event.

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Illustration 34: U.S. Schooner Grampus (1821-1843)Note: the "Grampus" was lost at sea with all hands in 1843and is depicted flying her National Ensigns upside down, a sign of distress.


Roberto Cofresí

Two of the pirates died in the battle and six others, including Cofresí, were injured.

AftermathCofresí was captured along with eleven members of his crew, and they were turned over to the Spanish government. They were jailed in El Castillo del Morro (Fort San Felipe del Morro) in San Juan. The crew was tried by a Spanish military court and found guilty. On March 29, 1825, Cofresí and his men were executed by a firing squad. According to legend, Cofresí "maldijo" (placed a curse on) Capt. Sloat and the USS Grampus before he died. In 1848, the USS Grampus was lost at sea with all hands aboard. Cofresí and his men were buried behind the cemetery on what is now a lush green hill that overlooks the cemetery wall. They were not buried in the Old San Juan Cemetery (Cementerio Antiguo de San Juan), as believed in the local lore, since they were executed as a criminals and therefore could not be laid to rest in this Catholic cemetery. His widow Juana died a year later.Cofresí's Cave is located in a sector of Cabo Rojo called "Barrio Pedernales" which is just south of Boqueron Bay. According to local legend, after Cofresí shared some of his treasure with his family and friends, he would hide what was left over in the cave. Throughout the years no one has found any treasure in the cave.

LegacyCofresí's life and death have inspired several myths and stories. These included those depicting him as a generous figure, who used to share what he stole with the region's poor population. In these myths he is generally described as a benevolent person, with authors writing about his supposed personality. These portray him as a noble gentleman who became a pirate out of necessity; as a generous man, claiming that on one occasion he went as far as saving the life of a baby in a confrontation and providing money for his upbringing and as a brave man, showing disregard for his life on several occasions. Other myths and stories

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Illustration 35: Fort San Felipe del Morro


describe Cofresí as an evil or demonic figure. Among them there are myths that claim that during his life he had sold his soul to the devil in order to "defeat men and be loved by women".Accounts of apparitions of his spirit include accounts claiming that when summoned in medium sections, the strength of Cofresí's spirit was excessive, to the point of killing some of the hosts he possessed. A Fiat Lux, a magazine published in Cabo Rojo, notes that several persons in that municipality have said that they have witnessed the pirate's spirit. In the Dominican Republic, folktales attribute magic abilities to Cofresí; these say that he was able to make his boat disappear when surrounded. This was based on a hideout that he had established in a cave located in a nearby beach.Cofresí has been the subject of numerous biographical books which include the following: •"El Marinero, Bandolero, Pirata y Contrabandista Roberto Cofresí"; (Spanish) by Walter R. Cardona Bonet•"The Pirate of Puerto Rico" by Lee Cooper•"El Mito de Cofresí en la Narrativa Antillana" (Spanish) by Robert Fernandez Valledor•"Das Kurge Heldenhafte Leben Des Don Roberto Cofresí" (German) by Angelika Mectel and•"Roberto Cofresí: "El Bravo Pirata de Puerto Rico" (Spanish) by Edwin Vazquez.Other kinds of tributes have been made to commemorate Cofresí throughout the Caribbean. In Puerto Rico, a monument to Cofresí was built by Jose Buscaglia Guillermety in Boquerón Bay, a water body located in Cabo Rojo. The town of Cofresí, 10 km west of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic was named after him.

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Louis Riel

Louis RielLouis David Riel (22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885, pronounced /ˈluːi riːˈɛl/ in English) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Riel sought to preserve Métis rights and culture as their homelands in the Northwest came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence. He is regarded by many as a Canadian folk hero today.The first resistance was the Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870. The provisional government established by Riel ultimately negotiated the terms under which the modern province of Manitoba entered the Canadian Confederation. Riel was forced into exile in the United States

as a result of the controversial execution of Thomas Scott during the rebellion. Despite this, he is frequently referred to as the "Father of Manitoba". While a fugitive, he was elected three times to the Canadian House of Commons, although he never assumed his seat. During these years, he was frustrated by having to remain in exile despite his growing belief that he was a divinely chosen leader and prophet, a belief which would later resurface and influence his actions. He married in 1881 while in exile in Montana, and fathered two children. Riel returned to what is now the province of Saskatchewan to represent Métis grievances to the Canadian government. This resistance escalated into a military confrontation known as the North-West Rebellion of 1885. It ended in his arrest, trial, and execution on a charge of high treason. Riel was viewed sympathetically in Francophone regions of Canada, and his execution had a lasting influence on relations between the province of Quebec and English-speaking Canada. Whether seen as a Father of Confederation or a traitor, he remains one of the

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Illustration 36: Louis David Riel


most complex, controversial, and ultimately tragic figures in the history of Canada.

Early lifeThe Red River Settlement was a community in Rupert's Land nominally administered by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and largely inhabited by First Nations tribes and the Métis, an ethnic group of mixed Cree, Ojibwa, Saulteaux, French Canadian, Scottish, and English descent. Louis Riel was born there in 1844, near modern Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Louis Riel, Sr. and Julie Lagimodière. Riel was the eldest of eleven children in a locally well-respected French Canadian-Métis family. His father had gained prominence in this community by organizing a group that supported Guillaume Sayer, a Métis imprisoned for challenging the HBC's historical trade monopoly. Sayer's eventual release as a result of agitations by Louis Sr.'s group effectively ended the monopoly, and the name Riel was therefore well known in the Red River area. His mother was the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, one of the earliest white families to settle in the Red River Settlement in 1812. The Riels were noted for their devout Catholicism and strong family ties.Riel was first educated by Roman Catholic priests at St. Boniface. At age 13 he came to the attention of Alexandre Taché, the suffragan Bishop of St. Boniface, who was eagerly promoting the priesthood for talented young Métis. In 1858 Taché arranged for Riel to attend the Petit Séminaire of the Collège de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec under the direction of the Sulpician order. Descriptions of him at the time indicate that he was a fine scholar of languages, science, and philosophy, but exhibited a frequent and unpredictable moodiness.Following news of his father's premature death in 1864, Riel lost interest in the priesthood and he withdrew from the college in March 1865. For a time he continued his studies as a day student in the convent of the Grey Nuns, but was soon asked to leave following breaches of discipline. He remained in Montreal over a year, living at the home of his aunt, Lucie Riel. Impoverished by the death

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Illustration 37: Louis Riel, age 14


Louis Riel

of his father, Riel took employment as a law clerk in the Montreal office of Rodolphe Laflamme. During this time he was involved in a failed romance with a young woman named Marie-Julie Guernon. This progressed to the point of Riel having signed a contract of marriage, but his fiancée's family opposed her involvement with a Métis, and the engagement was soon broken. Compounding this disappointment, Riel found legal work unpleasant, and by early 1866 he had resolved to leave Quebec. Some of his friends said later that he worked odd jobs in Chicago, Illinois while staying with poet Louis-Honoré Fréchette, and wrote poems himself in the manner of Lamartine; also that he was then for a time employed as a clerk in St. Paul, Minnesota prior to returning to the Red River Settlement on 26 July 1868.

Red River RebellionThe majority population of the Red River had historically been Métis and First Nation people. Upon his return, Riel found that religious, nationalistic, and racial tensions were exacerbated by an influx of Anglophone Protestant settlers from Ontario. The political situation was also uncertain, as ongoing negotiations for the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada had not addressed the political terms of transfer. Finally, despite warnings to the Macdonald government from Bishop Taché and the HBC governor William Mactavish that any such activity would precipitate unrest, the Canadian minister of public works, William McDougall, ordered a survey of the area. The arrival on 20 August 1869 of a survey party headed by Colonel John Stoughton Dennis increased anxiety among the Métis. The Métis did not possess title to their land, which was in any case laid out according to the seigneurial system rather than in English-style square lots.

Riel emerges as a leaderIn late August, Riel denounced the survey in a speech, and on 11 October 1869, the survey's work was disrupted by a group of Métis that included Riel. This group organized itself as the "Métis National Committee" on 16 October, with Riel as secretary and John Bruce as president. When summoned by the HBC-controlled Council of Assiniboia to explain his actions, Riel declared that any attempt by Canada to assume authority would be contested unless Ottawa had first negotiated terms with the Métis. Nevertheless, the non-bilingual McDougall was appointed the lieutenant governor-designate, and attempted to enter the settlement on 2 November. McDougall's party was turned back near the American border, and on the same day, Métis led by Riel seized Fort Garry.

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On 6 November, Riel invited Anglophones to attend a convention alongside Métis representatives to discuss a course of action, and on 1 December he proposed to this convention a list of rights to be demanded as a condition of union. Much of the settlement came to accept the Métis point of view, but a passionately pro-Canadian minority began organizing in opposition. Loosely constituted as the Canadian Party, this group was led by John Christian Schultz, Charles Mair, Colonel John Stoughton Dennis, and a more reticent Major Charles Boulton. McDougall attempted to assert his authority by authorizing Dennis to raise a contingent of armed men, but the Anglophone settlers largely ignored this call to arms. Schultz, however, attracted approximately fifty recruits and fortified his house and store. Riel ordered Schultz's home surrounded, and the outnumbered Canadians soon surrendered and were imprisoned in Upper Fort Garry.

Provisional governmentHearing of the unrest, Ottawa sent three emissaries to the Red River, including HBC representative Donald Alexander Smith. While they were en route, the Métis National Committee declared a provisional government on 8 December, with Riel becoming its president on 27 December. Meetings between Riel and the Ottawa delegation took place on January 5 and 6, 1870, but when these proved fruitless, Smith chose to present his case in a public forum.

Smith assured large audiences of the Government's goodwill in meetings on 19 January and 20 January, leading Riel to propose the formation of a new convention split evenly between French and English settlers to consider Smith's instructions. On 7 February, a new list of rights was presented to the Ottawa delegation, and Smith and Riel agreed to send representatives to Ottawa to engage in direct negotiations on that basis. The provisional government established by Louis Riel published its own newspaper titled New Nation and established the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia to pass laws.

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Illustration 38: The Métis provisional government


Louis Riel

Canadian resistance and the execution of ScottDespite the apparent progress on the political front, the Canadian party continued to plot against the provisional government. However, they suffered a setback on 17 February, when forty-eight men, including Boulton and Thomas Scott, were arrested near Fort Garry. Boulton was tried by a tribunal headed by Ambroise-Dydime Lépine and sentenced to death for his interference with the provisional government. He was pardoned, but Scott interpreted this as weakness by the Métis, whom he regarded with open contempt. After Scott repeatedly quarreled with his guards, they insisted that he be tried for insubordination. At his trial, he was found guilty of defying the authority of the provisional government and was sentenced to death. Riel was repeatedly entreated to commute the sentence, but Donald Smith reported that Riel responded to his pleas by saying:

“I have done three good things since I have commenced: I have spared Boulton's life at your instance, I pardoned Gaddy, and now I shall shoot Scott.”

Scott was executed by firing squad on 4 March. Riel's motivations for allowing the execution have been the cause of much speculation, but his own justification was that he felt it necessary to demonstrate to the Canadians that the Métis must be taken seriously.

Creation of Manitoba and the Wolseley expeditionThe delegates representing the provisional government departed for Ottawa in March. Although they initially met with legal difficulties arising from the execution of Scott, they were soon able to enter into direct talks with Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier. An agreement enshrining the demands in the list of rights was quickly reached, and this formed the basis for the Manitoba Act of 12 May 1870, which formally admitted Manitoba into the Canadian confederation.

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Illustration 39: The execution of Thomas Scott


However, the negotiators were unable to secure a general amnesty for the provisional government. As a means of exercising Canadian authority in the settlement and dissuading American expansionists, a Canadian military expedition under Colonel Garnet Wolseley was dispatched to the Red River. Although the government described it as an "errand of peace", Riel learned that Canadian militia elements in the expedition meant to lynch him, and he fled as the expedition approached the Red River. The arrival of the expedition on 20 August marked the effective end of the Red River Rebellion.

Intervening years

Amnesty questionIt was not until 2 September 1870 that the new lieutenant-governor Adams George Archibald arrived and set about the establishment of civil government. Without an amnesty, and with the Canadian militia beating and intimidating his sympathisers, Riel fled to the safety of the St. Joseph's mission across the border in the Dakota Territory. However the results of the first provincial election in December 1870 were promising for Riel, as many of his supporters came to power. Nevertheless, stress and financial troubles precipitated a serious illness—perhaps a harbinger of his future mental afflictions—that prevented his return to Manitoba until May 1871. The settlement now faced another threat, this time from cross-border Fenian raids coordinated by his former associate William Bernard O'Donoghue. While the threat proved overstated, Archibald proclaimed a general call to arms on 4 October. Companies of armed horsemen were raised, including one led by Riel. When Archibald reviewed the troops in St. Boniface, he made the significant gesture of publicly shaking Riel's hand, signaling that a rapprochement had been affected. This was not to be—when this news reached Ontario, Mair and members of the Canada First movement whipped up a significant resurgence of anti-Riel (and anti-Archibald) sentiment. With Federal elections coming in 1872, Macdonald could ill afford further rift in Quebec-Ontario relations. He therefore quietly arranged for Taché to offer Riel what amounted to a bribe of $1,000 to enter voluntary exile. This was supplemented by an additional £600 from Smith for the care of Riel's family. Riel accepted, arriving in St. Paul on 2 March 1872. However, by late June Riel was back in Manitoba and was soon persuaded to run as a member of parliament for the electoral district of Provencher. However, following the early September defeat of Cartier in his home riding in Quebec, Riel stood aside so that Cartier—on record as being in favour of amnesty for Riel

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Louis Riel

—might secure a seat. Cartier won by acclamation, but Riel's hopes for a swift resolution to the amnesty question were dashed following Cartier's death on 20 May 1873. In the ensuing by-election in October 1873, Riel ran unopposed as an Independent, although he had again fled, a warrant having been issued for his arrest in September. Lépine was not so lucky; he was captured and faced trial. Riel made his way to Montreal and, fearing arrest or assassination, vacillated as to whether he should attempt to take up his seat in the House of Commons—Edward Blake, the Premier of Ontario, had announced a bounty of $5,000 for his arrest. Famously, Riel was the only Member of Parliament who was not present for the great Pacific Scandal debate of 1873 that led to the resignation of the Macdonald government in November. Liberal leader Alexander Mackenzie became the interim prime minister, and a general election was held in January 1874. Although the Liberals under Mackenzie formed the new government, Riel easily retained his seat. Formally, Riel had to sign a register book at least once upon being elected, and he did so under disguise in late January. He was nevertheless stricken from the rolls following a motion supported by Schultz, who had become the member for the electoral district of Lisgar. Undeterred, Riel prevailed again in the resulting by-election, and although again expelled, his symbolic point had been made and public opinion in Quebec was strongly tipped in his favour.

Exile and mental illnessDuring this period, Riel had been staying with priests of the Oblate order in Plattsburgh, New York who introduced him to Father Fabien Martin dit Barnabé in the nearby village of Keeseville. It was here that he received news of Lépine's fate: following his trial for the murder of Scott, which had begun on 13 October 1874, Lépine was found guilty and sentenced to death. This sparked outrage in

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Illustration 40: Louis Riel circa 1875


the sympathetic Quebec press, and calls for amnesty for both Lépine and Riel were renewed. This presented a severe political difficulty for Mackenzie, who was hopelessly caught between the demands of Quebec and Ontario. However, a solution was forthcoming when, acting on his own initiative, the Governor General Lord Dufferin commuted Lépine's sentence in January 1875. This opened the door for Mackenzie to secure from parliament an amnesty for Riel, on that the condition that he remain in exile for five years.During his time of exile, he was primarily concerned with religious rather than political matters. Spurred on by a sympathetic Roman Catholic priest in Quebec, he was increasingly influenced by his belief that he was a divinely chosen leader of the Métis. Modern biographers have speculated that he may have suffered from the psychological condition megalomania. His mental state deteriorated, and following a violent outburst he was taken to Montreal, where he was under the care of his uncle, John Lee, for a few months. But after Riel disrupted a religious service, Lee arranged to have him committed in an asylum in Longue-Pointe on 6 March 1876 under the assumed name "Louis R. David". Fearing discovery, his doctors soon transferred him to the Beauport Asylum near Quebec City under the name "Louis Larochelle". While he suffered from sporadic irrational outbursts, he continued his religious writing, composing theological tracts with an admixture of Christian and Judaic ideas. He consequently began calling himself Louis "David" Riel, prophet of the new world, and he would pray (standing) for hours, having servants help him to hold his arms in the shape of a cross. Nevertheless, he slowly recovered, and was released from the asylum on 23 January 1878 with an admonition to lead a quiet life. He returned for a time to Keeseville, where he became involved in a passionate romance with Evelina Martin dit Barnabé, sister of his friend, the oblate father Fabien Barnabé. But with insufficient means to propose marriage, Riel returned to the west, hoping that she might follow. However, she decided that she would be unsuited to prairie life, and their correspondence soon ended.

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Louis Riel

Montana and family lifeIn the fall of 1878, Riel returned to St. Paul, and briefly visited his friends and family. This was a time of rapid change for the Métis of the Red River—the buffalo on which they depended were becoming increasingly scarce, the influx of settlers was ever-increasing, and much land was sold to unscrupulous land speculators. Like other Red River Métis who had left Manitoba, Riel headed further west to start a new life. Travelling to the Montana Territory, he became a trader and interpreter in the area surrounding Fort Benton. Observing rampant alcoholism and its detrimental impact on the Native American and Métis people, he engaged in an unsuccessful attempt to curtail the whisky trade. In 1881, he married Marguerite Monet dit Bellehumeur (1861–1886), a young Métis, "in the fashion of the country" on 28 April, an arrangement that was solemnized on 9 March 1882. They were to have three children: Jean-Louis (1882–1908); Marie-Angélique (1883–1897); and a boy who

was born and died on 21 October 1885, less than one month before Riel was hanged.Riel soon became involved in the politics of Montana, and in 1882, actively campaigned on behalf of the Republican Party. He brought a suit against a Democrat for rigging a vote, but was then himself accused of fraudulently inducing British subjects to take part in the election. In response, Riel applied for United States citizenship and was naturalized on 16 March 1883. With two young children, he had by 1884 settled down and was teaching school at the St. Peter's Jesuit mission in the Sun River district of Montana.

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Illustration 41: Jean-Louis and Marie-Angélique Riel, children of Louis Riel


The North-West Rebellion

Grievances in the Saskatchewan territoryFollowing the Red River Rebellion, Métis travelled west and settled in the Saskatchewan Valley, especially along the south branch of the river in the country surrounding the Saint-Laurent mission (near modern St. Laurent de Grandin, Saskatchewan). But by the 1880s, it had become clear that westward migration was no panacea for the troubles of the Métis and the plains Indians. The rapid collapse of the buffalo herd was causing near starvation among the Plains Cree and Blackfoot First Nations. This was exacerbated by a reduction in government assistance in 1883, and by a general failure of Ottawa to live up to its treaty obligations. The Métis were likewise obliged to give up the hunt and take up agriculture — but this transition was accompanied by complex issues surrounding land claims similar to those that had previously arisen in Manitoba. Moreover, settlers from Europe and the eastern provinces were also moving into the Saskatchewan territories, and they too had complaints related to the administration of the territories. Virtually all parties therefore had grievances, and by 1884 English settlers, Anglo-Métis and Métis communities were holding meetings and petitioning a largely unresponsive government for redress. In the electoral district of Lorne, a meeting of the south branch Métis was held in the village of Batoche on 24 March, and thirty representatives voted to ask Riel to return and represent their cause. On 6 May a joint "Settler's Union" meeting was attended by both the Métis and English-speaking representatives from Prince Albert, including William Henry Jackson, an Ontario settler sympathetic to the Métis and known to them as Honoré Jackson, and James Isbister of the Anglo-Métis. It was here resolved to send a delegation to ask Riel's assistance in presenting their grievances to the Canadian government.

Return of RielThe head of the delegation to Riel was Gabriel Dumont, a respected buffalo hunter and leader of the Saint-Laurent Métis who had known Riel in Manitoba. James Isbister was the lone Anglo-Métis delegate. Riel was easily swayed to support their cause—which was perhaps not surprising in view of Riel's continuing conviction that he was the divinely selected leader of the Métis and the prophet of a new form of Christianity. Riel also intended to use the new position of influence to pursue his own land claims in Manitoba. The party departed 4 June, and arrived back at Batoche on 5 July. Upon his arrival Métis and English settlers alike formed an initially favourable impression of Riel following a series of speeches in which he advocated moderation and a reasoned

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Louis Riel

approach. During June 1884, the Plains Cree leaders Big Bear and Poundmaker were independently formulating their complaints, and subsequently held meetings with Riel. However, the Indians' grievances were quite different from those of the settlers, and nothing was then resolved. Inspired by Riel, Honoré Jackson and representatives of other communities set about drafting a petition, and Jackson on 28 July released a manifesto detailing grievances and the settler's objectives. A joint English-Métis central committee with Jackson acting as secretary worked to reconcile proposals from different communities. In the interim, Riel's support began to waver. As Riel's religious pronouncements became increasingly removed from Roman Catholicism, the clergy began to distance themselves, and father Alexis André cautioned Riel against mixing religion and politics. Also, in response to bribes by territorial lieutenant-governor and Indian commissioner Edgar Dewdney, local English-language newspapers adopted an editorial stance critical of Riel. Nevertheless, the work continued, and on 16 December Riel forwarded the committee's petition to the government, along with the suggestion that delegates be sent to Ottawa to engage in direct negotiation. Receipt of the petition was acknowledged by Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, Macdonald's Secretary of State, although Macdonald himself would later deny having ever seen it.

Break with the churchWhile Riel awaited news from Ottawa he considered returning to Montana, but had by February resolved to stay. Without a productive course of action, Riel began to engage in obsessive prayer, and was experiencing a significant relapse of his mental agitations. This led to a deterioration in his relationship with the Catholic hierarchy, as he publicly espoused an increasingly heretical doctrine. On 11 February 1885, a response to the petition was received. The government proposed to take a census of the North-West Territories, and to form a commission to investigate grievances. This angered the Métis, who interpreted this as a mere delaying tactic — a faction emerged that favoured taking up arms at once. This was not supported by the Church, the majority of the English-speaking community, or, indeed, by the Métis faction supporting local leader Charles Nolin. But Riel, undoubtedly influenced by his messianic delusions, became increasingly supportive of this course of action. In the church at Saint-Laurent on 15 March, Riel disrupted a sermon to argue for this position, following which he was barred from receiving the sacraments, and increasingly frequently discussed his "divine revelations". But disenchanted with the status quo, and swayed by Riel's charisma and eloquent rhetoric, Métis remained loyal to Riel, despite his proclamations that Bishop Ignace Bourget should be accepted as pope, and that "Rome has fallen".At his trial, Riel denied allegations that his religious beliefs were as irrational as were being (and continue to be) alleged. He explained as follows:

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"I wish to leave Rome aside, inasmuch as it is the cause of division between Catholics and Protestants. I did not wish to force my views...If I could have any influence in the new world it would be to help in that way, even if it takes 200 years to become practical...so my children's children can shake hands with the Protestants of the new world in a friendly manner. I do not wish those evils which exist in Europe to be continued, as much as I can influence it, among the (Metis). I do not wish that to be repeated in America.

Open rebellionOn 18 March it became known that the North-West Mounted Police garrison at Battleford was being reinforced. Although only 100 men had been sent in response to warnings from father Alexis André and NWMP superintendent L.N.F. Crozier, a rumour soon began to circulate that 500 heavily armed troops were advancing on the territory. Métis patience was exhausted, and Riel's followers seized arms, took hostages, and cut the telegraph lines between Batoche and Battleford. The Provisional Government of Saskatchewan was declared at Batoche on 19 March, with Riel as the political and spiritual leader and with Dumont assuming responsibility for military affairs. Riel formed a council called the Exovedate (a neologism meaning "those who have left the flock"), and sent representatives to court Poundmaker and Big Bear. On 21 March, Riel's emissaries demanded that Crozier surrender Fort Carlton, but this was refused. The situation was becoming critical, and on 23 March Dewdney sent a telegraph to Macdonald indicating that military intervention might be necessary. Scouting near Duck Lake on 26 March, a force led by Gabriel Dumont unexpectedly chanced upon a party from Fort Carlton. In the ensuing Battle of Duck Lake, the police were routed, and the Indians also rose up once the news became known. The die was cast for a violent outcome, and the North-West Rebellion was begun in earnest. Riel had counted on the Canadian government being unable to effectively respond to another uprising in the distant North-West Territories, thereby forcing them to accept political negotiation. This was essentially the same strategy that had worked to such great effect during the 1870 rebellion. But in that instance, the first troops did not arrive until three months after Riel seized control. However, Riel had completely overlooked the significance of the nascent Canadian Pacific Railway. Despite major gaps in railway construction, the first Canadian regular and militia units, under the command of Major-General Frederick Dobson Middleton, arrived in Duck Lake less than two weeks after Riel had made his demands. Knowing that he could not defeat the Canadians in direct confrontation, Dumont had hoped to force the Canadians to negotiate by engaging in a long-drawn out campaign of guerrilla warfare; Dumont realised a modest success along these lines at the Battle of Fish Creek on 24 April 1885. Riel, however, insisted on concentrating forces at Batoche in order to defend his

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Louis Riel

"city of God". The outcome of the ensuing Battle of Batoche which took place from 9 May – 12 May was never in doubt, and on 15 May a disheveled Riel surrendered to Canadian forces. Although Big Bear's forces managed to hold out until the Battle of Loon Lake on 3 June, the rebellion was a dismal failure for Métis and Indian alike, with most surrendering or fleeing.

Trial for treason

Several individuals closely tied to the government requested that the trial be held in Winnipeg in July 1885. There are historians who contend that the trial was moved to Regina because of concerns with the possibility of an ethnically mixed and sympathetic jury. Tom Flanagan states that an amendment of the North-West Territories Act (which dropped the provision that trials with crimes punishable by death should be tried in Manitoba) meant that the trial could be convened within the North-West Territories and did not have to be held in Winnipeg.Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald ordered the trial to be convened in Regina, where Riel was tried before a jury of six English and Scottish Protestants, all from the area surrounding the city. The trial began on 28 July 1885, and lasted only five days.Riel delivered two long speeches during his trial, defending his own actions and affirming the rights of the Métis people. He rejected his lawyer's attempt to argue that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting,

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Illustration 42: Louis Riel imprisoned in Middleton's camp at Batoche, 16 May 1885

Illustration 43: Louis Riel testifies at his trial


“Life, without the dignity of an intelligent being, is not worth having.”

The jury found him guilty but recommended mercy; nonetheless, Judge Hugh Richardson sentenced him to death, with the date of his execution initially set for 18 September 1885. Fifty years later one of the jurors, Edwin Brooks, said that Riel was tried for treason but hanged for the execution of Thomas Scott.

ExecutionBoulton writes in his memoirs that, as the date of his execution approached, Riel regretted his opposition to the defence of insanity and vainly attempted to provide evidence that he was not sane. Requests for a retrial and an appeal to the Privy Council in England were denied. Sir John A. Macdonald, who was instrumental in upholding Riel's sentence, is famously quoted as saying:

“He shall hang though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour.”

Prior to his execution, Riel was reconciled with the Catholic Church, and assigned Father André as his spiritual advisor. He was also given writing materials so that he could employ his time in prison to write a book. Louis Riel was hanged for treason on 16 November 1885.Boulton writes of Riel's final moments,

“… Père André, after explaining to Riel that the end was at hand, asked him if he was at peace with men. Riel answered "Yes." The next question was, "Do you forgive all your enemies?" "Yes." Riel then asked him if he might speak. Father André advised him not to do so. He then received the kiss of peace from both the priests, and Father André exclaimed in French, "Alors, allez au ciel!" meaning "so, to heaven!"

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Illustration 44: Riel's tombstone at the St. Boniface Cathedral


Louis Riel

… [Riel's] last words were to say good-bye to Dr. Jukes and thank him for his kindness, and just before the white cap was pulled over his face he said, "Remerciez, Madame Forget." meaning "thank, Ms. Forget".

The cap was pulled down, and while he was praying the trap was pulled. Death was not instantaneous. Louis Riel's pulse ceased four minutes after the trap-door fell and during that time the rope around his neck slowly strangled and choked him to death. The body was to have been interred inside the gallows' enclosure, and the grave was commenced, but an order came from the Lieutenant-Governor to hand the body over to Sheriff Chapleau which was accordingly done that night.”

Following the execution, Riel's body was returned to his mother's home in St. Vital, where it lay in state. On 12 December 1886, his remains were laid in the churchyard of the Saint-Boniface Cathedral following the celebration of a requiem mass.

Legacy

PoliticalThe Saskatchewan Métis' requested land grants were all provided by the government by the end of 1887, and the government resurveyed the Métis river lots in accordance with their wishes. The Métis did not understand the long term value of their new land, however, and it was soon bought by speculators who later turned huge profits from it. Riel's worst fears were realised—following the failed rebellion, the French language and Roman Catholic religion faced increasing marginalisation in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as exemplified by the controversy surrounding the Manitoba Schools Question. The Métis themselves were increasingly forced to live on undesirable land or in the shadow of Indian reserves (as they did not themselves have treaty status). Saskatchewan did not attain provincehood until 1905. Riel's execution and Macdonald's refusal to commute his sentence caused lasting upset in Quebec, and led to a fundamental alteration in the Canadian political order. In Quebec, Honoré Mercier exploited discontent over Riel's execution to reconstitute the Parti National. This party, which promoted Quebec nationalism, won a majority in the 1886 Quebec election by winning a number of seats formerly controlled by the Quebec Conservative Party. The federal election of 1887 likewise saw significant gains by the federal Liberals, again at the expense of the Conservatives. This led to the victory of the Liberal party under Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the federal election of 1896, which in turn set the stage for the

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domination of Canadian federal politics by the Liberal party in the 20th century. That Riel's name still has resonance in Canadian politics was evidenced on 16 November 1994, when Suzanne Tremblay, a Bloc Québécois member of parliament, introduced private members' bill C-228, "An Act to revoke the conviction of Louis David Riel". The unsuccessful bill was widely perceived in English Canada as an attempt to arouse support for Quebec nationalism prior to the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty.

Riel reconsideredThe formerly widespread perception of Louis Riel as an insane traitor, especially outside of the Métis and French Canadian community, weakened considerably since the late 20th century. Riel is regarded by some as a heroic freedom fighter who stood up for his people in the face of racist bigotry, and those who question his sanity still view him as an essentially honourable figure. Riel nevertheless presents an enigma, although as historian J.M.S. Careless has observed, it is possible that Riel was both a murderer and a hero. It is also possible that his rash decision to execute Scott drastically altered the history of his people. For example, shortly after the Red River Rebellion the Canadian government began a programme that speculators and other non-Métis exploited to dispossess the Métis of their land; had Scott not been executed, the government might well have supervised the program more rigorously, given the prior good relations between Canada and the Métis. Métis scholars have noted that Riel is a more important figure to non-Métis than to Métis, perhaps because he is often the only Métis figure most non-Métis are aware of. Political scientists such as Thomas Flanagan have pointed out certain parallels between Riel's following during the North-West Rebellion and millenarian cults. Others have embraced his image as a revolutionary—in the 1960s, the Quebec terrorist group, the Front de libération du Québec, went so far as to adopt the name "Louis Riel" for one of its terrorist cells. Bill C-213 or Louis Riel Day Act and Bill C-417 Louis Riel Act are the more notable acts which have gone through parliament. Bill C-297 to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel was introduced to the House of Commons October 21 and November 22, 1996, however the motion lacked unanimous consent from the House and was dropped. Bill C-213 or the Louis Riel Day Act of 1997 attempted to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel for high treason and establish a National Day in his honour on November 16. Bill C-417 or the Louis Riel Act which also had a first reading in parliament to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel, and establish July 15 as Louis Riel Day was tabled.On 18 February 2008, the province of Manitoba officially recognized the first Louis Riel Day as a general provincial holiday. It will now fall on the third Monday of February each year in the Province of Manitoba.

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Louis Riel

CommemorationsA resolution was passed by Parliament on 10 March 1992 citing that Louis Riel was the founder of Manitoba. Two statues of Riel are located in Winnipeg. One of the Winnipeg statues, the work of architect Étienne Gaboury and sculptor Marcien Lemay, depicts Riel as a naked and tortured figure. It was unveiled in 1970 and stood in the grounds of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for 23 years. After much outcry (especially from the Métis community) that the statue was an undignified misrepresentation, the statue was removed and placed at the Collège

universitaire de Saint-Boniface. It was replaced in 1994 with a statue designed by Miguel Joyal depicting Riel as a dignified statesman. The unveiling ceremony was on 16 May 1996, in Winnipeg.A statue of Riel on the grounds of the Saskatchewan legislative building in Regina was installed and later removed for similar reasons. In numerous communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and even in Ontario, Riel is commemorated in the names of streets, schools, neighbourhoods, and other buildings. Examples in Winnipeg include the landmark Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge linking Old Saint-Boniface with Winnipeg, the Louis Riel School Division, Louis Riel Avenue in Old Saint-Boniface, and Riel Avenue in St. Vital's Minnetonka neighbourhood (which is sometimes called Riel). The student centre and campus pub at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon are named after Riel (Place Riel and Louis', respectively). Highway 11, stretching from Regina to just south of Prince Albert, has been named Louis Riel Trail by the province; the roadway passes near locations of the 1885 rebellion. One of the student residences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia is named Louis Riel House.

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Illustration 45: Statue of Louis Riel by Miguel Joyal in Winnipeg, Manitoba.


On 26 September 2007, Manitoba legislature passed a bill establishing a statutory holiday on the third Monday in February as Louis Riel Day, the same day some other provinces celebrate Family Day, beginning in 2008. The first Louis Riel Day was celebrated on 18 February 2008. This new statutory holiday coincides with the celebration on 15–24 February of the Festival du Voyageur.In the spring of 2008, the Government of Saskatchewan Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Christine Tell proclaimed in Duck Lake that "the 125th commemoration, in 2010, of the 1885 Northwest Resistance is an excellent opportunity to tell the story of the prairie Métis and First Nations peoples' struggle with Government forces and how it has shaped Canada today." One of three Territorial Government Buildings remains on Dewdney Avenue in the Saskatchewan capital city of Regina, Saskatchewan which was the site of the Trial of Louis Riel, where the drama the "Trial of Louis Riel" is still performed. Following the May trial, Louis Riel was hanged November 16, 1885. The RCMP Heritage Centre, in Regina, opened in May 2007. The Métis brought his body to his mother's home, now the Riel House National Historic Site, and then interred at the St. Boniface Basilica in Manitoba, his birthplace, for burial.

Arts, literature and popular culture In 1925, the French writer Maurice Constantin-Weyer who lived 10 years in Manitoba published in French a fictionalized biography of Louis Riel titled La Bourrasque. An English translation/adaptation was published in 1930: A Martyr's Folly (Toronto, The Macmillan Company), and a new version in 1954, The Half-Breed (New York, The Macaulay Compagny).

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Illustration 46: "Tortured" Louis Riel statue at the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface


Louis Riel

Portrayals of Riel's role in the Red River Rebellion include the 1979 CBC television film Riel and Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown's acclaimed 2003 graphic novel Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography.An opera about Riel entitled Louis Riel was commissioned for Canada's centennial celebrations in 1967. It was an opera in three acts, written by Harry Somers, with an English and French libretto by Mavor Moore and Jacques Languirand. The Canadian Opera Company produced and performed the first run of the opera in September and October, 1967.From the late 1960s until the early 1990s, the city of Saskatoon hosted "Louis Riel Day", a summer celebration that included a relay race that combined running, backpack carrying, canoeing, hill climbing, and horseback riding along the South Saskatchewan River in the city's downtown core. Traditionally, the event also included a cabbage roll eating contest and tug-of-war competition, as well as live musical performances. Although not affiliated with the Saskatoon Exhibition, for years Louis Riel Day was scheduled for the day prior to the start of the fair, and as such came to be considered the Exhibition's unofficial kick-off (the scheduling of the two events was separated in later years). The event was discontinued when major sponsors pulled out. Billy Childish wrote a song entitled "Louis Riel", which was performed by Thee Headcoats. Texas musician Doug Sahm wrote a song entitled "Louis Riel," which appeared on the album S.D.Q. '98. In the song, Sahm likens the lore surrounding Riel to Davey Crockett's legend in his home state, spinning an abridged tale of Riel's life as a revolutionary: "...but you gotta respect him for what he thought was right... And all around Regina they talk about him still – why did they have to kill Louis Riel?"The Seattle based Indie rock band Grand Archives also wrote a song entitled "Louis Riel" that appears on their 2008 self-titled album. On 22 October 2003, the Canadian news channel CBC Newsworld and its French-language equivalent, Réseau de l'information, staged a simulated retrial of Riel. Viewers were invited to enter a verdict on the trial over the internet, and more than 10,000 votes were received—87% of which were "not guilty". The results of this straw poll led to renewed calls for Riel's posthumous pardon. Also on the basis of a public poll, the CBC's Greatest Canadian project ranked Riel as the 11th "Greatest Canadian".An episode of the TV-series How the West Was Won from 1979 was named L'Affaire Riel, featuring Louis Riel while in exile in the United States.In 2001, Canadian sketch comedy troupe Royal Canadian Air Farce featured Riel in its send-up of the CBC documentary series Canada: A People's History. Significant parallels were drawn between Riel's actions and those of modern-day Québécois separatists, and the comedian who portrayed Riel was made up to look like then-Premier Lucien Bouchard.

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References•Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion and Darren Prefontaine. Metis Legacy: A Historiography and Annotated Bibliography. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications Inc. and Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2001. ISBN 1-894717-03-1•Boulton, Charles A. (1886) Reminiscences of the North-West Rebellions. Toronto. Online text. A first person account of the rebellions.•Brown, Chester (2003). Louis Riel: A Comic-strip Biography. Drawn and Quarterly, Montreal. ISBN 1-896597-63-7. A biography of Riel in the form of a graphic novel. •Careless, J.M.S. (1991). Canada: A story of challenge. Stoddart. ISBN 0-7736-7354-7. A survey of Canadian history. •Flanagan, Thomas (1983). Riel and the Rebellion. Western Producer Prairie Books, Saskatoon. ISBN 0-88833-108-8.•Flanagan, Thomas (1992). Louis Riel. Canadian Historical Association, Ottawa. ISBN 0-88798-180-1. A short work highlighting the complexity of Riel's character. Interpretations are available. •Flanagan, Thomas (1979). Louis 'David' Riel: prophet of the new world. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. ISBN 0-88780-118-8. An influential work suggesting parallels between Riel's following and Millenarianism. •George R. D. Goulet (2005). The Trial of Louis Riel, Justice and Mercy Denied. FabJob, Calgary. ISBN 1-894638-70-0. A critical legal and political analysis of Riel's 1885 high treason trial. •Howard, Josephine Kinsey (1952). Strange Empire: A Narrative of the Northwest (Louis Riel and the Metis People). William Morrow & Co, New York. ISBN 0-87-351298-7. Online text. "[T]he first reasonably accurate biography of Louis Riel to be written.", an exhaustive, "objective" yet sympathetic scholarly account. •Riel, Louis (1985). The collected writings of Louis Riel. ed. George Stanley. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton. ISBN 0-88864-091-9. Riel's own writings and letters. •Siggins, Maggie (1994). Riel: a life of revolution. HarperCollins, Toronto. ISBN 0-00-215792-6. A sympathetic reevaluation of Riel drawing heavily on his own writings. •Stanley, George (1963). Louis Riel. McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Toronto. ISBN 0-07-092961-0. A standard Riel biography, covering most of the material in this article; source where no other is cited.

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Ustym Karmaliuk

Ustym KarmaliukUstym Yakymovych Karmаliuk (Ukrainian: Устим Якимович Кармалюк) (March 10, 1787 – October 22, 1835) was a Ukrainian peasant outlaw who became a folk hero. He is often referred to as the "Ukrainian Robin Hood".

Early AgeKarmalyuk was born a serf in the settlement of Holovchyntsi in Lityn District of Podilia Province. There is little known about his early life except that he possessed some literacy and was fluent in Russian, Polish and Yiddish, besides his native Ukrainian language, as attested by the police documents of the time. He was taken by his owner at the age of 17 to work as a servant in the manor, but was notoriously insolent. As a result his owner decided to forcibly send him into Russian military

service, in order to remove him from others whom he was inciting to rebellion.

Established RevolutionaryHe was forcibly inducted into the Russian Imperial Army, and served in the Napoleonic Wars of 1812 in an ulan regiment, but eventually escaped and organized rebel bands who attacked merchants and landowners, while distributing the booty between the poor. He was captured in 1814, and was sentenced in Kamianets-Podilskyi to run a gauntlet of 500 "spitzruten" blows, a typical military punishment. He was then sent to serve out the 25 year term of service in a military unit in the Crimea, but he fled again, returning to northern Podilia. Once again he organized rebel bands in Proskuriv, Letychiv, and Lityn regions, attracting a wide support base among the serfs, Jews and even Poles. The rebellions intensified over the years, and then had spread not only to other

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Illustration 47: Ustym Karmlyuk by Vasily Tropinin


parts of Podilia, but also to the neighboring provinces of Volynia, Kyivshchyna, and Bessarabia. By the early 1830s Karmaliuk's guerrilla army was approximately 20,000 strong, with over 1,000 raids on the estates of the Polish and Russian landowners over a 20 year period. The response of the Tsar was to station military units in those regions hardest hit by Karmaliuk. Karmaliuk was caught four times and sentenced to hard labor in Siberia, but escaped each time, returning to Lityn and Letychiv Districts. A tower in the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle bears the name of its famous prisoner. Unlike the Haidamaks of the previous century Karmaluk bore no ill will towards the poor of all ethnic groups and minorities in Ukraine, Jews in particular, and as a result they supported him en masse. His close compatriots were the Poles Jan and Alex Glembovski, Feliks Jankovski and Alexander Wytwycki and also Jews Avrum El Izkovych, Abrashko Duvydovych Sokolnytsky and Aron Viniar. Many Jews were prosecuted for participating in Karmalyuk's raids and aiding and abetting them. In general, Karmalyuk inspired unprecedented loyalty in all his supporters.

Karmalyuk's deathOn October 22, 1835, a Tsarist posse closed in on the Karmaliuk gang at the house of a Ukrainian peasant by the name of E. Protskova, in the hamlet of Shlyakhovi-Korychyntsi near Derazhnia. There, they successfully ambushed the gang. Karmaliuk was shot and killed, at the age of 48. His body was brought to Letychiv where he was buried. Now a famous statue honors him there. The man who killed Karmaliuk, Polish nobleman F. Rutkovsky, was given a medal by the Tsar himself and was granted a pension for life. According to the legend, Karmalyuk was impervious to bullets, and was killed by the only thing that could get him, a lead garment button.

Karmalyuk in Art and LiteratureKarmalyuk is a subject of many art- and folk-songs. He is sometimes referred to as "the Houdini of Podilia", as no prison was able to hold him for very long. Affectionately, he is known as the last Haidamak of Ukraine. Karmaliuk was the subject of three portraits by Russian painter Vasily Tropinin. There are a few different versions of Karmaliuk's acquaintance with the artist. According to one version Tropinin was introduced to Karmaliuk by his friend physician Prokopy Danylevsky, who had given medical help to Karmaliuk people. According to another version, Tropinin painted Karmaliuk inside prison. Three portraits of Karmaliuk by Tropinin survive. One is kept in the Nizhny Tagil art

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Ustym Karmaliuk

museum, another is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the third is in the Russian Museum.Karmalyuk was the subject of a number of poems by the songwriter Tomasz Padura, some of which became folk songs.

References•Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, The Road from Letichev: The history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Volume 2. ISBN 0-595-00667-1 iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000, pp. 465-468.

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Salvatore GiulianoSalvatore Giuliano (November 16, 1922 – July 5, 1950) was a Sicilian peasant. The subjugated social status of his class led him to become a bandit and separatist who has been mythologised during his life and after his death. He is commonly compared to the legend of Robin Hood in popular culture, due to stories pertaining to him helping the poor villagers in his area by taking from the rich.As a member of the Sicilian Independentist Movement, Giuliano actively pursued efforts into gaining independence for the island from the Italian government. His story gained attention in the media worldwide, in part due to his handsome looks, including features in Time.

Biography

Early lifeSalvatore Giuliano was born in Montelepre within the Province of Palermo as the fourth child of Salvatore and Maria Giuliano. As a child he was nicknamed Turiddu or Turi. He had a decent primary education, but limited by Sicilian class strictures, went to work on his father's land at the age of 13. He transported olive oil and worked as a telephone repairman and on road construction. Giuliano was due to be called up to the Italian army, but the Allied invasion of Sicily prevented his actual enlistment. He became involved in the wartime black market and was armed in case of attacks from bandits.

Rise to infamyOn September 2, 1943, he killed a Sicilian carabiniere at a checkpoint near Quattro Molini while transporting illegally purchased grain. He left his identity papers at the scene and was wounded when a carabiniere shot him twice as he was running away, it was then that he returned fire and killed the carabiniere. His family sent him to Palermo to have the bullet removed. In late December, a number of residents of Montelepre, including Giuliano's father, were arrested

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Illustration 48: Salvatore Giuliano, while in his 20s.


Salvatore Giuliano

during a police raid. Giuliano helped some of them escape from prison in Monreale, and a number of the freed men stayed with him. In the Sagana mountains, Giuliano collected a gang of approximately fifty bandits, criminals, deserters, and homeless men under his leadership and gave them military-style marksmanship training. The gang took to robbery and burglary for the money they needed for food and weapons. When carabinieri came to look for them, they were met with accurate submachinegun fire. He also joined a Sicilian separatist group, Sicilian Independence Movement (MIS), which included members of very different political views, such as revolutionary socialist Antonio Canepa, centrist Giovanni

Guarino Amella, right-wingers, most of them aristocrats, such as baron Lucio Tasca and duke Guglielmo Paternò, as well as some members with close ties to the Mafia, and outright Mafiosi such as Calogero Vizzini. The union between Giuliano and separatist leaders came to fruition in the latter part of 1945. Giuliano entered the armed branch of the movement, EVIS (Esercito Volontario per l'Indipendenza della Sicilia, Volunteer Army for the Independence of Sicily), as a colonel and was promised that in the event of a separatist victory, he would be pardoned for his crimes and appointed to some position in the newly independent state. Defenders of the Giuliano-separatist alliance justified the agreement by claiming that Giuliano had been forced to become a bandit by the cruelty and injustice of the Italian state. Although an EVIS commander, Giuliano remained cautious about subordinating himself to the movements leadership.Giuliano led small-scale attacks on government and police targets in the name of this movement. He supported the MIS and the similar MASCA with funds for the 1946 elections, in which both groups did poorly. Reputedly, Giuliano himself would have liked to have seen Sicily become a state within the United States of America. He sent president Harry S. Truman a letter in which he urged him to annex Sicily. Giuliano remained a long term problem for authorities. He continued to fight the Italian government in the name of the separatist movement. His attacks gained worldwide attention and made him a legend. In January 1946, at Montedoro, Giuliano and his band fought a brutal battle with authorities in which perhaps a thousand separatists took part. His actions kept alive the vision of Sicilian independence accomplished through the force of arms. Police and military forces

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Illustration 49: Newspaper reports.


were unable to destroy Giuliano’s EVIS formations. In fact, with the aid of the peasants – many of whom saw Giuliano as a sort of Robin Hood – and the landowners – who feared him – Giuliano continued to operate almost untouched.Giuliano also fostered a number of myths around himself. One tale tells how he discovered a postal worker was stealing letters that contained money Sicilian families had sent to their relatives in the USA; he killed the postal worker and assured the letters continued to their correct destinations. When he robbed the duchess of Pratameno, he left her with her wedding ring and borrowed a book she was reading; he returned it later with compliments. He fostered cooperation of poor tenant farmers by sending them money and food. Contrary to some claims, he was not a Mafioso.

Portella della Ginestra massacreAs more separatist leaders were arrested, his funds became limited and he was forced to find new sources of supply. He eventually alienated himself from the peasants and became a tool of the landowners and conservatives. In this role he was manipulated to slaughter innocent peasants in the name of halting Communism in May 1947. In 1947, with his group steadily shrinking, he turned to kidnapping for ransom and turned regular profits. Also in that year there were more elections, following a limited

victory for socialist-communist groups. After receiving a mysterious letter from an unknown source, Giuliano led his remaining men on a raid to the mountain pass Portella della Ginestra on May 1, intending to capture Sicily's most prominent communist, Girolamo Li Causi. However, the event turned into a massacre. Fourteen civilians, including a woman and three children, were killed and more than 30 wounded. Giuliano himself (who fired no shots) stated he ordered his band to fire above the heads of the crowd hoping they would disperse. Some sources accuse the Mafia of infiltrating it and claim mafiosi instead shot at the crowd causing the massacre.The incident created a national scandal, which ended in 1956 with the conviction of the remaining members of the band. It still remains a highly controversial topic, especially with regard to the contents of the letter Giuliano received before it; the finger of blame has been pointed at numerous sources, including

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Illustration 50: Mural of the Portella della Ginestra massacre


Salvatore Giuliano

the Italian government, which had long sought to destroy the famous bandit. Leftists who were the victims of the attack have blamed the landed barons and the Mafia; significantly, the memorial plaque erected by them makes no mention of Giuliano or his band:

“On May 1, 1947, here on the rock of Barbato, celebrating the working class festival [...] people of Piana degli Albanesi, San Giuseppe Jato and San Cipirello [...] fell under the ferocious barbarity of the bullets of the Mafia and the landed barons [...]”

—Portella della Ginestra memorial plaque

Decline and death Giuliano continued to work against socialist groups whenever he had the opportunity but by 1948 his popular support was ebbing. Locals and even the Mafia were less willing to aid him and helped the police, despite his tendency to kill suspected informers. Giuliano dared police by sending them boisterous letters about himself and dining in Palermo restaurants and leaving a note about his presence with a tip. The reward for his capture was doubled, and a special police force was instituted to suppress banditry. 300 carabinieri attacked his mountain stronghold, but most of his gang escaped. On August 14, 1949 Giuliano's men exploded mines under a convoy of police vehicles near the Bellolampo barracks outside Palermo, killing seven Carabinieri and wounding 11. As a result, the Italian government dispatched an additional 1000 troops to Western Sicily, with all troops under the command of Colonel Ugo Luca.

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Illustration 51: Cover of L'Europeo of July 1950 about the mysterious death of Giuliano


On July 5, 1950, Giuliano was shot in Castelvetrano. According to police, carabinieri captain Antonio Perenze shot him as he was resisting arrest. However, the investigative reporter Tommaso Besozzi from the weekly news magazine L'Europeo soon exposed the official version as fiction; the headline read: "The only thing certain is that he is dead". Gaspare Pisciotta, Giuliano's lieutenant, claimed later that police had promised him a pardon and reward if he would kill Giuliano. Giuliano's mother Maria reportedly believed this story. Pisciotta died four years later in prison from poisoning, after ingesting 20 centigrams of strychnine, hidden in a cup of tea.At the trial for the Portella della Ginestra massacre, Gaspare Pisciotta had said: "Those who have made promises to us are called Bernardo Mattarella, Prince Alliata, the monarchist MP Marchesano and also Signor Scelba, Minister for Home Affairs … it was Marchesano, Prince Alliata and Bernardo Mattarella who ordered the massacre of Portella di Ginestra. Before the massacre they met Giuliano…" However the MPs Mattarella, Alliata and Marchesano were declared innocent by the Court of Appeal of Palermo, at a trial which dealt with their alleged role in the event.

Dramatizations A film of his life, Salvatore Giuliano, was directed by Francesco Rosi in 1961. Novelist Mario Puzo published The Sicilian, a dramatized version of Giuliano's life, in 1984. The book was made into a film in 1987, directed by Michael Cimino and starring Christopher Lambert as Giuliano. An opera, Salvatore Giuliano, was composed in 1985 by Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero and premiered on 25 January 1986 at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. The libretto outlines in short, graphic scenes the network of intrigue between Sicilian independence activists, Mafia and State that surrounds, and eventually destroys, the bandit hero.

References•Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London: Coronet ISBN 0-340-82435-2•Finkelstein, Monte S.(1998). Separatism, the Allies and the Mafia: The Struggle for Sicilian Independence, 1943-1948, Bethlehem: Lehigh University Press ISBN 0934223513•Servadio, Gaia (1976), Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day, London: Secker & Warburg ISBN 0-436-44700-2

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Salvatore Giuliano

•Norman Lewis (2003). The Honoured Society: The Sicilian Mafia Observed Eland Publishing Ltd ISBN 978-0907871484

Bibliography•God Protect Me From My Friends. Gavin Maxwell (USA title: Bandit), Longmans, Green, London, 1956•”The Bandit Giuliano”, Eric Hobsbawm, New York Review of Books, 14 February 1985•King of the Mountain. Billy Jaynes Chandler, Northern Illinois University Press, 1988

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William de WendenalWilliam de Wendenal (also William de Wendeval) was a Norman baron probably born during the mid-12th century. He was one of the highest officials left in charge of the Kingdom of England when King Richard the Lionheart was away at the Third Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land from the control of Saladin of the Ayyubid dynasty.William also served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire (and possibly intermittently as Sheriff of Yorkshire) during King Richard's absence from England, from 1191 until 1194. William has been linked to the legends of Robin Hood and some have said him to be the villainous "Sheriff of Nottingham" of legend.

BiographyLittle is known of William, for record keeping was sketchy at best during the 1190s, a fiery decade of great political upheaval in the History of England. It is a curious and unusual fact that de Wendenel did not appear to be the lord of any particular area of England; it is possible that he was related to a noble family or had come into esteem with one, perhaps starting out as a squire. He may have owned land somewhere, though. Many lower nobles, and even some yeomen (the equivalent of today's middle classes) who owned more land than most, were given prominent official positions during King Richard's absence from the kingdom, due to the fact many nobles had gone away with Richard to the Crusade, leaving the administration of England short on staff. It is possible, though, that Wendenal held a joint title with another baron, perhaps William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby. Although we can not be sure of this, holding joint titles was a frequent occurrence during those times. From his name we can deduce that he was of Scandinavian/French descent, perhaps the great-grandchild of one of the nobles that came across to England with William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England in 1066. This would also explain why he was in favour with Richard the Lionheart (for he must have been to be left in a position of such trust, responsibility and prestige). As such he may have been at loggerheads with many of the Anglo-Saxon nobles and Anglo-Saxon peasant populations, due to the fact bitterness was still prevalent and division still a reality between the two communities after the Norman Conquest. There is one contemporary account, a Middle Ages legal document, which states William served as the High Sheriff (or law-enforcer and bailiff) of the counties of both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire during the years of King Richard's

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William de Wendenal

absence from the country, and perhaps other areas of England also, such as Yorkshire (sheriffs were known to go outside their areas of jurisdiction frequently in order to capture fugitive criminals and bandits). This would have made him one of the most important and influential officials during these years. It is stated in this legal document that William took over these official duties in 1190 from Baron Roger de Lizoures (later Roger de Lacy, due to his grandmother denying him the claim to the Lizoures titles and estates) who we know was also the Constable of Chester and Lord of Pontefract and Clitheroe. It is possible that William took over this duty too whilst de Lacy (and the majority of English noblemen) were attending the Crusade. Because of this he may have been resident at Ludlow Castle, built by de Lacy and still standing today. However when King Richard landed back in England in the late March of 1194, it is stated that William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby, took over all William de Wendenal's duties and took up his position. After this, William de Wendenal simply disappears from the records altogether.

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

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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".

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Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd

Gwenllian ferch GruffyddGwenllian ferch Gruffydd (Gwenllian, daughter of Gruffydd) (b.c. 1097, died 1136) was Princess-consort of Deheubarth in Wales, and married to Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth. Gwenllian was the daughter of Gruffydd ap Cynan (1055-1137), Prince of Gwynedd, and a member of the princely Aberffraw family of Gwynedd. Gwenllain was the sister of Prince Owain Gwynedd (died 1170). Gwenllian's "patriotic revolt" and subsequent death in battle at Kidwelly Castle contributed to the Great Revolt of 1136.There are several notable artistic depictions of Gwenllian. However, she is often confused with Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn, who lived two centuries later.

Early lifeGwenllian was the youngest daughter of Gruffudd ap Cynan, Prince of Gwynedd and his wife Angharad. She was born in 1097 on Ynys Môn at the family seat at Aberffraw, and was the youngest of eight children; four older sisters, Mared, Rhiannell, Susanna, and Annest, and three older brothers, Cadwallon, Owain and Cadwaladr. Gwenllian grew to be strikingly beautiful, and after Gruffydd ap Rhys, the Prince of Deheubarth, ventured to Gwynedd around 1113 to meet with her father, she and Deheubarth's prince became romantically involved and eloped.Gwenllian joined her husband at his family seat of Dinefwr in Deheubarth. However, Deheubarth was struggling against the Norman invasion in south Wales, with Norman, English, and Flemish colonists in footholds through-out the country. While the conflict between the Normans and the Welsh continued, the princely family were often displaced, with Gwenllian joining her husband in mountainous and forested strongholds. From here, she and Gruffydd ap Rhys led retalitory strikes against Norman-held positions in Deheubarth.

The Great Revolt 1136By 1136 an opportunity arose for the Welsh to recover lands lost to the Marcher lords when Stephen de Blois displaced his cousin Empress Matilda from succeeding her father to the English throne the prior year, sparking the Anarchy in England. The usurption and conflict it caused eroded central authority in England. The revolt began in south Wales, as Hywel ap Maredudd, lord of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire), gathered his men and marched to the Gower, defeating the Norman and English colonists there at the Battle of Llwchwr.

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Inspired by Hywel of Brycheiniog's success, Gruffydd ap Rhys hastened to meet with Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd, his father-in-law, to enlist his aid in the revolt.While her husband was in Gwynedd seeking an alliance with her father against the Normans, Maurice of London and other Normans led raids against Deheubarth's Welsh, and Gwenllian was compelled to raise an army for their defense. In a battle fought near Kidwelly Castle, Gwenllian's army was routed, and she was captured and beheaded by the Normans. In the battle her son Morgan was also slain and another son, Maelgwyn captured and executed. Though defeated, her 'patriotic revolt' inspired others in south Wales to rise. The Welsh of Gwent, led by Iowerth ab Owain (grandson of Caradog ap Gruffydd, Gwent's Welsh ruler displaced by the Norman invasions), ambushed and slew Richard Fitz Gilbert, the Norman lord who controlled Ceredigion.When word reached Gwynedd of Gwenllain's death and the revolt in Gwent, Gwenllian's brothers Owain and Cadwaladr invaded Norman controlled Ceredigion, taking Llanfihangel, Aberystwyth, and Llanbadarn.

Gwenllian's legacyGwenllian's actions can be compared to another Celtic leader: Boadicea (Buddug). This is the only known example of a medieval period woman leading a Welsh army into battle. The field where the battle is believed to have taken place, close to Kidwelly Castle and north of the town, is known as Maes Gwenllian (Welsh, meaning 'Field of Gwenllian'). A spring in the field is also named after her, supposedly welling up on the spot where she was beheaded. For centuries after her death, Welshmen cried-out Revenge for Gwenllian when engaging in battle. Additionally, Gwenllian and her husband harassed Norman, English, and Flemish colonists in Deheubarth, taking goods and money and redistributed them among the Deheubarth Welsh who were themselves dispossessed by those colonizers, like a pair of Robin Hoods of Wales, as historian and author Philip Warner writes.Gwenllian's youngest son went on to become a notable leader of Deheubarth, The Lord Rhys.

Sources •Davies, John (1994). A History of Wales. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-014581-8.

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Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd

•Lloyd, J.E (2004). A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest. New York: Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0-7607-5241-9.•Lloyd, J.E (1935). A History of Carmarthenshire. Cardiff.•Warner, Philip (1997). Famous Welsh Battles. New York: Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0-7-607-0466-x.

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William WallaceSir William Wallace (Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam Uallas; 1272 – 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight and landowner who is known for leading a resistance during the Wars of Scottish Independence and is today remembered in Scotland as a patriot and national hero.Along with Andrew Moray, he defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, and became Guardian of Scotland, serving until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. A few years later Wallace was captured in Robroyston near Glasgow and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him executed for treason. Wallace was the inspiration for the poem The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, by the 15th century minstrel, Blind Harry and this poem was to some extent the basis of Randall Wallace's screenplay for the 1995 film Braveheart.

BackgroundLittle is known for certain of William Wallace's immediate family. The Wallace family may have originally come from Wales or Shropshire as followers of Walter Fitzalan (died June 1177), High Steward of Scotland and ancestor of the Stewart family. The early members of the family are recorded as holding lands including Riccarton, Tarbolton, and Auchincruive in Kyle, and Stenton in Haddingtonshire.The seal attached to a letter sent to the Hanse city of Lübeck in 1297 appears to give his father's name as Alan. His brothers Malcolm and John are known from other sources. Alan Wallace may appear in the Ragman Rolls as a crown tenant in Ayrshire, but this is uncertain. The traditional view is that Wallace's birthplace was Elderslie in Renfrewshire, but it has been recently claimed to be Ellerslie in Ayrshire. There is no contemporary evidence linking him with either location, although both areas were linked to the wider Wallace family.At the time of Wallace's birth, which cannot be securely dated, King Alexander III (Medieval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Alaxandair; Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Alasdair) ruled Scotland. His reign had seen a period of peace and economic stability. Alexander had maintained a positive relationship with the kings of

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Illustration 52: Sir William Wallace


William Wallace

England, while successfully fending off continuing English claims to sovereignty. In 1286 Alexander died after falling from his horse; none of his children survived him. The Scottish lords declared Alexander's four-year-old granddaughter, Margaret (called "the Maid of Norway"), Queen. Due to her young age, the Scottish lords set up an interim government to administer Scotland until Margaret came of age. King Edward I of England (popularly known as "Longshanks" among other names) took advantage of the instability by arranging the Treaty of Birgham with the lords, betrothing Margaret to his son, Edward, on the understanding that Scotland would preserve its status as a separate kingdom. Margaret, however, fell ill and died at only seven years of age (1290) on her way from her native Norway to Scotland. Claimants to the Scottish throne came forward almost immediately. With Scotland threatening to descend into a dynastic war, Edward stepped in as arbitrator — as a powerful neighbour and significant jurist he could hardly be ignored. Before the process could begin, he insisted, despite his previous promise to the contrary, that all of the contenders recognise him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. After some initial resistance, all, including John Balliol and Robert Bruce (grandfather of the Robert Bruce who later became king), the chief contenders, accepted this precondition. Finally, in early November 1292, at a great feudal court held in the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, judgement was given in favour of John Balliol having the strongest claim in law. Formal announcement of the judgement was given by Edward on 17 November. Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish guardians and even summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common felon. Balliol was a weak king and not the strong leader Scotland needed in these troubled times. Thus he became to be known as "Toom Tabard", or "Empty Coat". Balliol supporters including Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews and John Comyn, Earl of Buchan appealed to King Edward to keep the promise he had made in the Treaty of Birgham and elsewhere to respect the customs and laws of Scotland. Edward repudiated the treaty, saying he was no longer bound by it. Balliol renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the month Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then-Scottish border town. He slaughtered almost all of his opponents who resided there, even if they fled to their homes. In April, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothian and by July Edward had forced Balliol to abdicate at Stracathro near Montrose. Edward then instructed his officers to receive formal homage from some 1800 Scottish nobles (many of the rest being prisoners of war at that time), having previously removed the Stone of Destiny, the Scottish coronation stone, from Scone Palace, and taken it to London.

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Military career

Early exploitsBlind Harry invented a tale that Wallace's father was killed along with his brother John in a skirmish at Loudoun Hill in 1291 by the notorious Lambies, who came from the Clan Lamont. According to local Ayrshire legend, two English soldiers challenged Wallace in the Lanark marketplace regarding his catching of fish. According to various historians, including John Strawhorn, author of The History of Irvine, the legend has Wallace fishing on the River Irvine. He had been staying with his uncle in Riccarton. A group of English soldiers approached, whereupon the leader of the band came forward and demanded the entire catch. Even after Wallace offered half of his fish, the English refused such diplomacy and threatened him with death if he refused. Wallace allegedly floored the approaching soldier with his fishing rod and took up the assailant's sword. He set upon the entire team of English soldiers with stereotypical success. The argument had escalated into a brawl and two English soldiers were killed. Blind Harry places this incident along the River Irvine with five soldiers being killed. The authorities issued a warrant for his arrest shortly thereafter. According to a plaque outside St. Paul's Cathedral in Dundee, however, William Wallace began his war for independence by killing the son of the English governor of Dundee, who had made a habit of bullying Wallace and his family. This story perhaps has more weight because it is speculated that Wallace may have attended what is now the High School of Dundee, and spent some of his time growing up in the nearby village of Kilspindie. In 1291, or 1292, William Wallace killed the son of an English noble, named Selby, with a dirk. Wallace enters history when he killed William Heselrig, the English Sheriff of Lanark, in May 1297. According to later legend this was to avenge the death of Marion Braidfute of Lamington — the young maiden Wallace courted and married in Blind Harry's tale. Soon, he achieved victory in skirmishes at Loudoun Hill (near Darvel, Ayrshire) and Ayr; he also fought alongside Sir William Douglas the Hardy at Scone, routing the English justiciar, William Ormesby from cities such as Aberdeen, Perth, Glasgow, Scone and Dundee. Supporters of the growing revolt suffered a major blow when Scottish nobles agreed to personal terms with the English at Irvine in July. In August, Wallace left Selkirk Forest with his followers to join Andrew Moray, who had begun another uprising, at Stirling, where they prepared to meet the English in battle.

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William Wallace

As Wallace's ranks swelled, information obtained by John de Graham prompted Wallace to move his force from Selkirk Forest to the Highlands; there is no historical evidence to suggest that Wallace ever left the Lowlands area of Scotland other than his visit to France and his trip to the scaffold in London.

Battle of Stirling BridgeOn September 11, 1297, Wallace won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish forces led by Wallace and Andrew Moray routed the English army. John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey's professional army of 3,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry met disaster as they crossed over to the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented many soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so while the English soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed and then killed the English as quickly as they could cross. The infantry were sent on first, followed by heavy cavalry. But the Scots' sheltron formations forced the infantry back into the advancing cavalry and in the general confusion the bridge collapsed, sending armoured knights to drown in the river below. A pivotal charge, led by one of Wallace's captains, caused some of the English soldiers to retreat as others pushed forward, and under the overwhelming weight, the bridge collapsed and many English soldiers drowned. Harry claims that the bridge was rigged to collapse by the action of a man hidden beneath the bridge. The Scots won a significant victory which boosted the confidence of their army. Hugh Cressingham, Edward's treasurer in Scotland, died in the fighting and it is reputed that his body was subsequently flayed and the skin cut into small pieces as tokens of the victory. The Lanercost Chronicle records that Wallace had "a broad strip [of Cressingham’s skin] ... taken from the head to the heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword". William Crawford led 400 Scottish heavy cavalry to complete the action by running the English out of Scotland. It is widely believed that Moray died of wounds suffered on the battlefield sometime in the winter of 1297, but an inquisition into the affairs of his uncle, Sir William Moray of Bothwell, held at Berwick in late November 1300, records he was "slain at Stirling against the king." Upon his return from the battle, Wallace was knighted along with his second-in-command John de Graham, possibly by Robert the Bruce, and Wallace was named "Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies". The type of engagement used by Wallace was contrary to the contemporary views on chivalric warfare whereby strength of arms and knightly combat was espoused in the stead of tactical engagements and strategic use of terrain. The battle thus embittered relations between the two antagonistic nations, whilst also perhaps providing a new departure in the type of warfare with which England had hitherto engaged. The numerical and material inferiority of the

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Scottish forces would be mirrored by the English in the 100 Years War, who, in turn, abandoned chivalric warfare to achieve decisive victory in similar engagements such as Crecy and Poiters. In the six months following Stirling Bridge, Wallace led a raid into northern England. His intent was to take the battle to English soil to demonstrate to Edward that Scotland also had the power to inflict the same sort of damage south of the border.

Battle of FalkirkA year later, Wallace lost the Battle of Falkirk. On 1 April 1298, the English invaded Scotland at Roxburgh. They plundered Lothian and regained some castles, but had failed to bring Wallace to combat. The Scots adopted a scorched earth policy in their own country, and English quartermasters' failure to prepare for the expedition left morale and food low, but Edward's search for Wallace would not end at Falkirk. Wallace arranged his spearmen in four "schiltrons" — circular, hedgehog formations surrounded by a defensive wall of wooden stakes. The English however employed Welsh longbowmen which swung strategic superiority in their favour. The English proceeded to attack with cavalry, and breaking up the Scottish archers. Under the command of the Scottish nobles, the Scottish knights withdrew, and Edward's men began to attack the schiltrons. It remains unclear whether the infantry firing bolts, arrows and stones at the spearmen proved the deciding factor, although it is very likely that it was the arrows of Edward's bowmen. Gaps in the schiltrons soon appeared, and the English exploited these to crush the remaining resistance. The Scots lost many men, including John de Graham. Wallace escaped, though his military reputation suffered badly. By September 1298, Wallace had decided to resign as Guardian of Scotland in favour of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick (the future king) and John Comyn of Badenoch, King John Balliol's brother-in-law. Bruce became reconciled with King Edward in 1302, while Wallace spurned such moves towards peace. According to Harry, Wallace left with William Crawford in late 1298 on a mission to the court of King Philip IV of France to plead the case for assistance in the Scottish struggle for independence. Backing this claim is a surviving letter from the French king dated 7 November 1300 to his envoys in Rome demanding that they should help Sir William. Whether or not Wallace made it to Rome is uncertain. Harry also states that on their trip down the English coast, the small convoy ran into the infamous pirate Thomas Longoville, also known as the Red Reiver for his red sails and ruthless raids. Hiding in the hold of the ship while Crawford and a small contingent of men sailed, Wallace surprised the pirates as they boarded the ship. Longoville was captured and taken to Paris where the

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William Wallace

Scots convinced Philip to grant amnesty so that Longoville could prey on English ships. This last story is one of many recorded by Blind Harry for which there is no evidence. Harry also invented a major action against Edward I at Biggar, which, though often cited, never actually occurred. In 1303, Squire Guthrie was sent to France to ask Wallace and his men to return to Scotland, which they did that same year. They slipped in under the cover of darkness to recover on the farm of William Crawford, near Elcho Wood. Having heard rumours of Wallace's appearance in the area, the English moved in on the farm. A chase ensued and the band of men slipped away after being surrounded in Elcho Wood. Here, Wallace took the life of one of his men that he suspected of disloyalty, in order to divert the English from the trail. In 1304 he was involved in skirmishes at Happrew and Earnside.

Capture and executionWallace evaded capture by the English until 5 August 1305 when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over to English soldiers at Robroyston near Glasgow. Wallace was transported to London and taken to Westminster Hall, where he was tried for treason and was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the king of outlaws. He responded to the treason charge, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject." With this, Wallace asserted that the absent John Balliol was officially his king. Wallace was declared guilty. Following the trial, on 23 August 1305, Wallace was taken from the hall, stripped naked and dragged through the city at the heels of a horse to the Elms at Smithfield. He was hanged, drawn and quartered — strangled by hanging but released while he was still alive, eviscerated and his bowels burnt before him, beheaded, then cut into four parts. His preserved head (dipped in tar) was placed on a pike atop London Bridge. It was later joined by the heads of the brothers, John and Simon Fraser. His limbs were displayed, separately, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling, and Aberdeen. A plaque stands in a wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital near the site of Wallace's execution at Smithfield.

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Illustration 53: Plaque marking the place of Wallace's trial in Westminster Hall


The Wallace Sword, which supposedly belonged to Wallace, although some parts are at least 160 years later in origin, was held for many years in Loudoun Castle and is now in the Wallace Monument near Stirling. In 2002 William Wallace was ranked #48 as one of the 100 Greatest Britons in an extensive UK poll conducted by the BBC

Portrayal in fictionComprehensive and historically

accurate information was written about Wallace, but many stories are based on the 15th century minstrel Blind Harry's epic poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, written around 1470. Historians either reject almost all of the parts of Blind Harry's tale, or dismiss the entire composition. Although Blind Harry wrote from oral tradition describing events 170 years earlier, giving rise to alterations of fact, Harry's is not in any sense an authoritative description of Wallace's exploits. Indeed, hardly any of Harry's work is supported by contemporary evidence including names from land charters, the Ragman Roll, and religious and public office holders and their archives. Several modern writers note that the Bishop of St. Andrews did commission a friar to write a first-hand account of Wallace's exploits, but the existence, let alone the disposition of this manuscript is not known. Blind Harry's poem , for example, describes a mythical incident the "Barns of Ayr", when 360 Scottish nobles, led by Wallace’s uncle, Ronald Crawford, were summoned by the English to a conference in Spring of 1297. As each passed through a narrow entry, a rope was dropped around his neck and he was hanged. The incident as described by Blind Harry does appear in the 1995 film Braveheart with even less accuracy, placing the event in the childhood of Wallace and ignoring the murder of his uncle Crawford.

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Illustration 54: William Wallace Statue, Aberdeen


William Wallace

In the early 19th century, Walter Scott wrote of Wallace in Exploits and Death of William Wallace, the "Hero of Scotland", and Jane Porter penned a romantic version of the Wallace legend in The Scottish Chiefs in 1810.G. A. Henty wrote a novel in 1885 about this time period titled In Freedom's Cause. Henty, a producer of Boys Own fiction who wrote for that magazine, portrays the life of William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, The Black Douglas, and others, while dovetailing the novel with historical fiction.Nigel Tranter wrote a historical novel titled The Wallace, published in 1975, which is said by academics to be more accurate than its literary predecessors.A well-known account of the life of Wallace is presented in the 1995 film Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson, written by Randall Wallace, and filmed in both Scotland and Ireland. The film was a commercial and critical success, winning five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Sources •Barrow, G. W. S. (1989), Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000–1306, The New History of Scotland, 2 (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0104-X•Barrow, G. W. S. (1976), Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-85224-307-3•Barrow, G. W. S. (2003), The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the eleventh to the fourteenth century (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1803-1•Brown, Michael (2004), The Wars of Scotland 1214–1371, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, 4, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1238-6•Cowan, Edward J. (2003), 'For Freedom Alone': The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320, West Linton: Tuckwell Press, ISBN 1-84158-632-3

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Illustration 55: The Wallace Monument, near Stirling Castle, commemorates the actions of William Wallace during the Wars of Independence


•Cowan, Edward J.; Finlay, Richard J., eds. (2002), Scottish History: The Power of the Past, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1420-6•Cowan, Edward J., ed. (2007), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, ISBN 0-85976-652-4•Cowan, Edward J. (2007), "William Wallace: 'The Choice of the Estates'", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 9–25, ISBN 0-85976-652-4•Duncan, A. A. M. (2007), "William, Son of Alan Wallace: The Documents", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 42–63, ISBN 0-85976-652-4•Fisher, Andrew (2002), William Wallace (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn, ISBN 1-84158-593-9•Fraser, James E. (2002), "'A Swan from a Raven': William Wallace, Brucean Propaganda and Gesta Annalia II", The Scottish Historical Review (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press) LXXXI (1): 1–22, ISSN 0036-9241•Grant, Alexander (2007), "Bravehearts and Coronets: Images of William Wallace and the Scottish Nobility", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 86–106, ISBN 0-85976-652-4•King, Elspeth (2007), "The Material Culture of William Wallace", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 117–135, ISBN 0-85976-652-4•Prestwich, Michael (2007), "The Battle of Stirling Bridge: An English Perspective", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 64–76, ISBN 0-85976-652-4•Riddy, Felicity (2007), "Unmapping the Territory: Blind Hary's Wallace", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 107–116, ISBN 0-85976-652-4•Watson, Fiona (2002), "The Demonisation of King John", in Cowan, Edward J.; Finlay, Richard J., Scottish History: The Power of the Past, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 29–46, ISBN 0-7486-1420-6•Watson, Fiona (2007), "Sir William Wallace: What We Do — and Don't — Know", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 26–41, ISBN 0-85976-652-4•Young, Alan (1997), Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212–1314, East Linton: Tuckwell Press, ISBN 1-86232-053-5•Brown, Chris. William Wallace. The True Story of Braveheart. Stroud: Tempus Publishing Ltd, 2005. ISBN 0-7524-3432-2.

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•"The Chronicle of Lanercost 1272–1346", ed. H. Maxwell, 1913; •Clater-Roszak, Christine. "Sir William Wallace ignited a flame." Military History 14 (1997): 12–15.•Harris, Nathaniel. Heritage of Scotland: A Cultural History of Scotland & Its People. London: Hamlyn, 2000. ISBN 0-600-59834-9.•Loudoun, Darren John. Scotland's Brave. Sydney: Paragon Books, 2007.•MacLean, Fitzroy. Scotland: A Concise History. London: Thames & Hudson, 1997. ISBN 0-500-27706-0.•Morton, Graeme. William Wallace. London: Sutton, 2004. ISBN 0-7509-3523-5.•Reese, Peter. William Wallace: A Biography. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1998. ISBN 0-86241-607-8.•Scott, Sir Walter. Exploits and death of William Wallace, the 'Hero of Scotland' •Stead, Michael J., and Alan Young. In the Footsteps of William Wallace. London: Sutton, 2002.•Tranter, Nigel. The Wallace: The Compelling 13th century Story of William Wallace. McArthur & Co., 1997. ISBN 0-3402-1237-3.•Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. London: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1973, 519–20.•The 'Robert the Bruce' trilogy by Nigel Tranter

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Robin Hood

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Transcript of Robin Hood