Before leaving to fight the Crusades, King Richard the Lionhearted gave power to his brother John, who immediately seized the nobles’ wealth and property, exiling them.
Rather than leave England, one banished young noble named Robin hid in Sherwood Forest, where he met other outcasts like himself.
They became an outlaw band whose mission was to take from the evil rich and give to the poor. A large man named John Little stick-battled Robin, and knocked him off the log they were both trying to use to cross a stream. Robin made him his second-in-command, calling him “Little John.”
The Sheriff of Nottingham held an archery contest with a golden arrow as first prize, hoping to lure and capture Robin there, and thus receive a £10,000 reward. Disguised as a bent and ragged peasant, Robin won the contest with a remarkable shot. No longer fooled by Robin’s disguise, the Sheriff set his men in pursuit of the wily bandit, but he disappeared in the woods.
When King Richard returned to England, he pardoned Robin and his Merry Men, but they all decided to remain in Sherwood Forest and continue their adventures.
