Fulk FitzWarin

Fulk FitzWarin (also called Fulke or Fouke FitzWaryn or FitzWarren) was a medieval landed gentleman turned outlaw, from Whittington Castle in the English county of Shropshire. The traditional story of his life survives in a French prose "ancestral romance", extant in a miscellaneous manuscript containing English, French and Latin texts, which is based on a lost verse romance. A 16th century summary of a Middle English version has also been preserved.

According to the tale, as a young boy, Fulk was sent to the court of King Henry II, where he grew up with the future King John. John became his enemy after a childhood quarrel. As an adult, Fulk was stripped of his family's holdings, and took to the woods as an outlaw. His wife was Maud le Vavasour. The story may combine aspects of the lives of two Fulk FitzWarins, father and son, who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The tale of Fulk FitzWarin has been noted for its parallels to the Robin Hood legend. (See the Introduction to Fouke le Fitz Waryn, edited by Stephen Knight and Thomas H. Ohlgren, originally published in Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1997.) It is also similar to that of other medieval outlaws such as Eustace the Monk and Hereward the Wake.

Fulk Fitzwarin II is included in the stained glass window at St Laurence Church, Ludlow.

Fiction

A modern fictional re-telling of FitzWarin's story can be found in Elizabeth Chadwick's Lords of the White Castle. Chadwick excises the more fantastical elements of the romance but broadly adheres to its chronology, which will not stand up to close comparison with historical fact. The book Shadows and Strongholds tells of the loss of the familial holding of Whittington to the Welsh family of Powys and of the relationship between Brunin FitzWarin (later, Fulke Le Brun, father of Fulke FitzWarin) and Hawise de Dinan (later Hawise FitzWarin, mother to Fulke FitzWarin).

A character called Fulk FitzWarin is implemented in the PC/DVD Action role-playing game, released in March 2010.

References

• Fouke le Fitz Waryn, edited by Stephen Knight and Thomas H. Ohlgren, originally published in Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1997.

External links

• Fouke le Fitz Waryn at TEAMS Middle English Texts
• L'Histoire de Foulques FitzWarin, A Treatise on the Law of Landlord and Tenant, as Administered in Ireland, John Smith Furlong, 1845