Was Robin Hood real?

Matter of the Greenwood Topic

Summary: The best candidates are Robert Hod of York, a fugitive in the 1225-26 assize rolls (possibly the Robert of Wetherby hunted as an outlaw), and the Robert Hood of Wakefield favoured by earlier antiquarians. The strongest datum is negative: in 1262 a clerk renamed the Berkshire fugitive William son of Robert le Fevre as 'William Robehod', which shows the name already carried the sense of outlaw. That is evidence that the legend existed by 1262, not that the man did. 'Robin Hood' also functioned as an alias.