In the ballad A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode, the king is referred to as "Edward our comly king" no less than seven times. Comly meant "handsome". There is no reference to King Richard in the Gest, a widely held myth encouraged by John Major, Walter Scott's Ivanhoe and sundry mass- market films. Looking at their portraits which one might it have been? The three Plantagenet Edwards, the Three Neds, reigned in succession from 1272 to 1377:

Edward I, 1272-1307

Edward II, 1307-27

Edward III, 1327-77

There is some evidence that Edward I was at Nottingham in 1299 whilst preparing to amass troops throughout England for the siege of Caerlaverock [1300] which may have given him time to visit the forest around Nottingham.
Joseph Hunter noted that Edward II had in 1324 a "valet de chambre" with the name of Robin Hood, though there was no indication that he had been in trouble with the law. Professor James C. Holt discussed the connection with some scepticism, but also felt that some of the events in the seventh and eighth fyttes had a basis in historical fact (Robin Hood, 1989, pp. 155-56). He noted that after the execution of Thomas Earl of Lancaster in 1322, the earl's supporters committed wide-spread acts of vengeance, including the pillaging of the king's deer in the royal forests, and that, as in the Gest, Edward II himself travelled to the area to investigate these disturbances. There is little doubt that Edward II was a tall, strong king who liked wrestling, swimming, and oddly, digging ditches, thatching roofs and other physical pursuits. Despite the fact that he liked acting, playing kettle drums and enjoyed fine and bizarre clothing he was certainly no effeminate as sometimes portrayed in mass-media entertainment.

Knight has suggested that Edward IV, may best fit the description our 'comly kynge' (in lines 1457, 1513, 1549, 1637, 1727), but as his period of rule (1461-83) is not inconsistent with the argument that the Gest is composed much later than has usually been thought (1994, pp. 46-48).
We might identify the king in fyttes seven and eight as Edward III, because Laurence Minot refers to him as Edward, oure cumly king in line 1 of Poem IV, which was composed about 1339 to commemorate Edward III's invasion of France at the beginning of the Hundred Years War (Richard Osberg, ed., The Poems of Laurence Minot, 1333-1352, Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 1996)¹.  
Another, almost unthinkable possiblity, is that the Gest is referring to two or more 'Edwards' and these have been conflated within the ballad.
Certainly Edward I was more popular than Edward II, whilst the author of the Gest may have been purposely vague in order to impress the then incumbent, Edward III.

Home

Link :