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Another historical anachronism

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Richard III, as we know, was originally buried by the Leicester Greyfriars or Franciscans, with whom his family had something of a connection.

In an earlier era, the (fictional) Friar Tuck is portrayed as an associate of Robin Hood, resisting Prince John’s assumption of power in Richard I’s absence.

Richard I died in 1199. The first Franciscan order was established in c.1209, only arriving in England in 1224 through Agnellus of Pisa, two years before St. Francis’ death.

A good thing he was fictional.

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12 responses to “Another historical anachronism”

  1. hoodedman1 Avatar
    hoodedman1

    Indeed. I note in the HTV series Robin of Sherwood, which, despite being historical fantasy, did pay some attention to historical details and events (unlike many of the later more’realistic’ Robins) called him Brother Tuck rather than Friar Tuck, and he was supposed to be a renegade monk from Thornton Abbey (a real place.)
    Of course some people think that Robin Hood, whoever he was and if he lived at all, was from a later part of the Middle Ages–the era of Edward II. Then, of course, he could have had a Franciscan Friar in his band.

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  2. Alan White Avatar
    Alan White

    Interesting point – the first Dominican friars arrived in England only 3 years earlier, in 1221.

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    1. super blue Avatar
      super blue

      Quite. I know this is from Wikipedia but it states that only the Carmelites and Trinitarians existed before Richard I’s death:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friar
      The Carmelites seem not to have arrived in England in 1242 and their early history is questioned. The Trinitarians date from 17 December 1198 and Richard I died on 6 April following, giving a friar under four months to cross the Channel, establish himself with Robin Hood and develop an East Midland persona.

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  3. Remembering … | murreyandblue

    […] Unmasked, in which he identified Hood as an adherent of Simon de Montfort, which would explain the Friar Tuck anachronism. Henry VIII’s Last Love, about that King and Lady Katherine […]

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  4. Jean A. Dickey Avatar
    Jean A. Dickey

    Is there any possible way the merrie bold fellow who was studying to be a priest is long lived and lives to be 80 or 90, becoming a friar for real over his long life? If he manages to be alive and kicking in 1250, but has memories of his almost feral young adulthood, referring to Friar Tuck is like saying Sir Isaac Newton entered Trinity at the age or 19 or that Richard the Third left London for Middleham Castle in the summer or fall of 1461.

    Clearly Isaac Newton the Natural Philosopher was not dubbed “Sir” until Queen Anne agreed to this, and Richard III was only just the Duke of Gloucester when in the Castle of his kinsman, Warwick the Kingmaker. There may have been a young half Saxon half Norman nobleman who tried to rally his section and/or locality of England against greedy & decietful Prince John and the prospect of any hypothetical or possible usurpation of the English throne prior to 1198 or 1199. Eleanor of Aquitaine herself helped to raise the ransom for the Lionheart.

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    1. super blue Avatar
      super blue

      In the legend, he is portrayed at the time of Hood’s rebellion against John as an active Friar.

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  5. Jean A. Dickey Avatar
    Jean A. Dickey

    http://www.robinhoodlegend.com/the-many-robin-hoods-4/ Robin Hood soon became a legend, if historic and real…

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  6. Jean A. Dickey Avatar
    Jean A. Dickey

    Found this link to a Norman noble who King John went after hammer and tong, but Shropshire is not Nottingham. Maybe John had this habit of going after the estates of his older brother’s supporters, and Fulk FitzWarin is not as alone or isolated.

    Fulk FitzWarin, or Shropshire’s Real Robin Hood

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  7. Robin Hood in Richard’s Era | murreyandblue

    […] At least this question seems to have been answered: https://murreyandblue.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/another-historical-anachronism/ […]

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  8. “Braveheart” at Falkirk – a great spectacle? | murreyandblue

    […] anachronisms before – showing that “Friar Tuck” could not have rebelled during Richard I’s reign because there were no friars in England until 25 years after Richard’s death. Similarly, […]

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  9. Richard the Lionheart….or Richard the pain in the you-know-what…. – murreyandblue

    […] Hood movies of that period, He was noble and chivalrous (George Sanders, as I recall), while Prince John was a Blue Meanie of the highest […]

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  10. Richard the Lionheart….or Richard the pain in the you-know-what…. – murreyandblue

    […] of that period, He was noble and chivalrous (George Sanders, as I recall, see below), while Prince John was a Blue Meanie of the highest […]

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