* From the manor of Wakefield Court Rolls.

Subsequent to these miscreant deeds Henry at the age of twenty-three was appointed Sheriff of Nottinghamshire on the 29th October 1318! This begs the question whether Henry de Faucumberg, the sheriff, and Henry de Faucumberg of the Wakefield Court Rolls were the same person. The conclusion seems more appropriate if they were not the same person. However, it was not unusual for persons to have been convicted of crimes to be appointed to official positions at this turbulent time.

Henry's tenure as Sheriff of Notts. and Derbs. lasted initially until 5th November 1319 until again between 1st June 1323 to 20 October 1324 he assumed the office of sheriff. During this time Henry was made the Commander of Array for Yorkshire in July 1322 and served in King Edward II's army against the Scots in the second half of 1322 when Edward unsuccessfully entered Scotland ande retreated to Rievaulx Abbey in October where he was almost captured. Henry was made a knight for Yorkshire on the 30th May 1324 and a Sheriff of Yorkshire  and Custodian of York Castle in October of the same year to Easter 1325. A list of sheriffs from Langdale's Yorkshire Dictionary also gives Hen. Falconberg as sheriff in 1329. This record also shows a John de Faucumberg [Joh.de Falconberg], perhaps his brother, was Sheriff for Yorkshire in 1342⁴  The period  from 1323 to 1327 was occupied by  Roger de Somerville being the Sheriff for Yorkshire for 5 years during  the aftermath of the turmoil in Yorkshire following Thomas Earl of Lancaster's uprising against King Edward II.

By 1327 the barons under Queen Isabella had overthrown Edward II. Edward III was crowned in the same year, whilst Edward II was placed in custody under Henry Plantagenet earl of  Leicester (the late Thomas Earl of Lancaster's brother who later became the 3rd Earl of Lancaster). Edward  II was incarcerated comfortably in Henry's castle at Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Two months later Edward was taken to Berkeley Castle near Bristol where he died, probably under tortuous conditions, popular stories relate by having a red-hot poker inserted in his rectum, leaving no obvious external evidence as to the cause of death.

John de Eland
Later, in 1341, during Edward III's reign, Sir John de Eland was made the sheriff for Yorkshire. Sir William de Eland  appears to have been a brother to John. As the Deputy Constable of Nottingham Castle in 1330, William de Eland, with Edward III burst in on his the king's mother, Queen Isabella and her lover to seize the crown. The ?brother, John De Eland, became the High Steward to earl John de Warrene, Earl of Surrey who held the manor of Wakefield. This steward as well as being a Yorkshire sheriff combined with the character of Faucumberg could well have been the model for the "Sheriff of Nottingham" in the ballads, both appearing as harsh and cruel overseers. John De Eland and his son John were later murdered in 1353, following the so-called 'Elland Feud". An inter- family feud which dominated the power politics of West and South Yorkshire during the middle 1300's.

                                                  The career of  Henry de Faucumberg, 'Sheriff of Nottingham'
                                                                                           and Yorkshire:

                                                                                                        Sources: C.P.R; C.F.R; Bellamy , pp. 43-47.

* Henry de Faucumberg's task was to "reposses the lands of those who had assisted the Earl of Lancaster during the rebellion." [Phillips and Keatman p.86] Here we have the reason for Richard II Le Waley's son, Stephen II, the suspected compiler/author of the Geste to heartily dislike Faucumberg and write him in as the nefarious sheriff, the dispossesser of his father's lands. As Phillips and Keatman emphatically state [p.86] "There is, in fact, historical evidence that a Lancastrian rebel would have been a sworn enemy of Henry de Faucumberg", and Sir Richard II Le Waleys was a Lancastrian rebel.
Phillips and Keatman again state "Moreover, he [Faucumberg] seems actively to have supported the king [Ed. II] in defeating the Lancastrians. After the revolt [1322], Faucumberg aquired new lands in Yorkshire, seized from a Contrariant called Thomas Furneaux. Since Faucumberg was granted the lands of a Lancastrian, it is almost certain that he had fought with the king against the rebels. It is very likely, therefore, that Henry de Faucumberg not only helped to defeat the Lancastrians but was responsible for seizing their lands across [at least] three counties."

# In October 1330 William de Eland, deputy constable of Nottingham Castle and other knights led Edward III through a series of passages off "Mortimer's Hole" under Nottingham Castle to arrest Roger Mortimer Queen Isabella's lover. Henry de Falconberg was the Sherriff at the time  Is this then hated 'Sheriff of Nottingham' mentioned in the Geste? At this point Edward III truly becomes king, this may be the "Cumly King" who meets with "Contrariants" still hiding out in Barnsdale, where he pardons them, all contrariants were outlawed. One of these contrariants was Richard II Le Waleys who had lost his lands under Ed. II. Henry de Falconberg/Faucumberg has been ousted and his control over the forests and woodlands of both Sherwood and Barnsdale are at an end. These relict outlaws from the Battle of Boroughbridge had been opposed to Edward II & Gaveston but now they had a new, young and Arthurian King

Some have suggested that 'Little John' of the Geste was John the first son of William de Faucumberg of Catfoss manor in Holderness. Henry de Faucumberg was William's second son. The eldest brother John should have inherited the Catfoss estate in Holderness, but for an unknown reason when the father,William, died in January 1295, Henry took over the estate.

                          Lord William de Faucumberg=============Matilda de Goushill
                                  of Catfoss*, Holderness                      |      
                                  b~1270  d 4th Feb 1295
                               _____________________________________________________________________
                              |                                                          |                                                                             |                        |
                John de Faucumberg                     Henry de Faucumberg ===Elena de Hertford      William               Lora=====Herbert
            [found to be an idiot 1295]⁺              Sheriff of Notts.& Derbs.                                                                     b. 1290        St. Quentin
                                                                             and Yorks                                                                                             Skelton    of Frome, Dorset        

       * Held of  a distant cousin of William's, Walter de Faucumberg of Skelton  near Goole and Rise.     
       + Henry had to pay his elder brother £20 per year until  John's death for the inheritance of Catfoss. This John may be the model
             for Little John in the Geste.

It may be that John was declared mentally incompetent to inherit [Phillips and Keatman p.87]. The name Henry Faucumberg appears several times in the WCR, which shows that he gained a good sized estate in Holderness.
When the sheriff of the Geste enquires of Little John:
 
"Tell me now, young man,
What is your name?
In what country were you born,
Where abouts is your home?"

Little John replies:

"In Holderness, Sir I was born,
I was told by my mum,
Men call me Reynald Greenleaf
whenever I am at home."

Upon hearing this the audience would have fallen about on the floor laughing at the comic irony. When we know the inside story it is hilarious! The author is having fun with his father's enemy. Henry Faucumberg's early career may have been less than commendable, as tabled above, by 12th March 1313 in the WCR a person called Henry de Faucumberg was recorded as stealing wood from the barn of John 8th earl Warrene, this barn may have resided within Sandal Castle itself. By the 4th of October he had received a fine for again stealing wood and by 27 March he was recorded in the WCR for his refusal to take an oath [contempt of court]. By now at least he was a recidivist for once again on the 18th October 1315, he was fined for theft, but in a rapid reversal of fortunes [if this person is the same as the man from Catfoss] he was appointed, by 1318, as the Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Again Faucumberg is in the opposing camp to the Le Waleys, for during the first two decades of the 1300's he was a resident of the manor of Wakefield and the Le Waleys were under the umbrella of the honour of Pontefract.

In the Geste the sheriff is not named. Bellamy [1985] has suggested that this was because the sheriffs of each county changed office regularly, often every year. In 1323 the critical year, Ingram was the sheriff until June 1st when he was succeeded by Henry de Faucumberg.
Apart from Henry de Faucumberg, Gervase Clifton 1st baronet was the only other man to serve both as a sheriff of Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire within the period 1250-1350.[Phillips & Keatman p.86]
Again, as Phillips and Keatman say without suspecting the authorship of the Geste "Faucumberg is easily the best candidate for the sheriff that the ballad writer wished to target." [p.86]
Certainly, the author here agrees with Phillips and Keatman that "....the composer of the Gest based his story on historical events following the Lancastrian revolt." But while Phillips and Keatman, like many others, followed the road to try to identify who Robyn Hode was, we are here following the road to identify the author of the Geste. Instead of King John being the King who ruled during the time of the 'Sheriff of Nottingham' in the Geste, it is an equally detested king in some quarters, Edward II.

The latest speculated attire of  the ballad character, 'Robyn Hode'.  A well-known actor is set to play Robyn in a film for 2009. Once again it seems to be falsely set in the 1200's and the part is not played by an English actor with a regional accent. One thing we can be sure of, the person upon whom the ballad character was based was certainly not an Australian with an Americanised accent!

Footnote:
Although Henry de Faucumberg at first appears to be equated with the 'sheriff' in the Geste, and may in part be a conflation with another, there is a far better identity who is undoubtedly an excellent model for the reviled one. However, because I have found the Geste to be highly allegorical, this identity will be a great surprise to many. I hope to publish my findings on this subject in the near future.

A little hilarity here where the various filmic 'Robin Hood's' challenge each other:

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