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5 unusual facts about Robert Fitzooth


Robert Fitzooth

Stukeley's genealogical "researches" then turned up a descendant of Earl Waltheof, and therefore a rival claimant to the earldom, related to the lords of Kyme, whom he named as Robert Fitzooth, born in 1160 and dying in 1247: and he claimed that "Ooth" or Odo had become corrupted into "Hood".

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This has been a popular identification for later writers of fiction, beginning at Pierce Egan the Younger's 1840 novel Robin Hood and Little John.

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By then the association of Robin with the earldom of Huntingdon had become conventional, thanks to Anthony Munday's 1598 play The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon: it was also generally believed that he had flourished in the reign of Richard I of England.

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In actual history, David of Scotland was Earl of Huntingdon throughout Richard's reign, succeeded by his son John.

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Robert Fitzooth or Fitzooth, Earl of Huntingdon (alleged dates: 1160–1247), is a fictitious identity for Robin Hood.



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