Like many boys, I loved "The Adventures of Robin Hood."
I enjoyed both the Errol Flynn version on TV's "Million Dollar Movies" and the picture book Mom and Dad bought me.
Robin Hood, despite being the hero of a well-known story, has had his mission distorted for years.
He didn't rob from the rich to give to the poor, even though that's how most interpret the legend, a sentiment found even in the movie's trailer.
Robin Hood actually robbed from government tax collectors to return the money to the serfs and tradespeople who earned it.
The town crier announces disheartening news from Vienna with these words: "Leopold of Austria has seized King Richard on his return from the Crusades. Our king is being held prisoner. Nothing further is known. His Highness Prince John will make further public pronouncement tomorrow."
What type of fake news will Prince John have for English subjects?
King Richard also had some kind of run-in with King Phillip II of France in the Holy Lands, so when it came time to head home to England, Richard found French ports closed to him.
Perhaps it came down to royal mannerisms, or perhaps his men called him "Sire" out of habit, but Richard was captured and turned over to Leopold, who transferred Richard 50 miles away to be imprisoned secretly in Dürnstein Castle.
Duke Leopold then demanded a huge ransom estimated to be one fourth of the wealth of England to return their sovereign.
As such, it seems far more likely to me that the onerous taxes imposed on the people of England would have been in order to pay "a king's ransom" rather than to over-stuff the pockets of evil Prince John and his henchman, the Sheriff of Nottingham.
I enjoyed both the Errol Flynn version on TV's "Million Dollar Movies" and the picture book Mom and Dad bought me.
Robin Hood, despite being the hero of a well-known story, has had his mission distorted for years.
He didn't rob from the rich to give to the poor, even though that's how most interpret the legend, a sentiment found even in the movie's trailer.
Robin Hood actually robbed from government tax collectors to return the money to the serfs and tradespeople who earned it.
According to the story, the tax collectors were acting on the orders of evil Prince John, who was sitting on the throne of his brother, the good King Richard.
Richard had embarked on a holy Crusade in 1191, and throughout most of the movie, the subjects of England hopefully await Richard the Lionheart's triumphant return to restore justice to the land.
Richard had embarked on a holy Crusade in 1191, and throughout most of the movie, the subjects of England hopefully await Richard the Lionheart's triumphant return to restore justice to the land.
What type of fake news will Prince John have for English subjects?
Well, you'll have to watch the movie to know.
The historical reality of the imprisonment of King Richard was not without justification.
King Richard had insulted Duke Leopold of Austria in the Holy Lands by taking down the Austrian flag when Leopold's cousin Conrad raised it alongside the flags of England, France and Jerusalem.
With this affront to his honor, Leopold stormed home. Later, his cousin Conrad was murdered, and Leopold believed Richard was involved. He wanted revenge.
He may have shipwrecked, but one way or another Richard had to take the long way home over land through less than friendly territories.
While traveling incognito through Austria, something gave him away in a tavern or brothel on the outskirts of Vienna.
Perhaps it came down to royal mannerisms, or perhaps his men called him "Sire" out of habit, but Richard was captured and turned over to Leopold, who transferred Richard 50 miles away to be imprisoned secretly in Dürnstein Castle.
Duke Leopold then demanded a huge ransom estimated to be one fourth of the wealth of England to return their sovereign.As such, it seems far more likely to me that the onerous taxes imposed on the people of England would have been in order to pay "a king's ransom" rather than to over-stuff the pockets of evil Prince John and his henchman, the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The transfer of wealth was sufficient to build new city walls and other fortifications for Vienna as well as founding some additional cities.
Duke Leopold was excommunicated by the Pope, but apparently he could live with that.
Without this re-distribution of wealth, I question whether the Habsburgs of Austria would have risen to such prominence.
It seems to me that Leopold of Austria was sort of the embodiment of the widely perceived Robin Hood legend of robbing from the rich to give to the poor...or at least to re-distribute wealth from a greater world power, England, to his less privileged kingdom.
Our morning cruise through the Wachau Valley brought us past our port to allow us to view Dürnstein Castle from the Danube River.
When we returned to dock in Weissenkirchen, we departed the ship for our tour of Dürnstein and Melk Abbey.
We drove through the beautiful countryside's grape vineyards and apricot orchards to reach Dürnstein.
In the village, merchants prominently feature apricot products including candy and brandy.
We enjoyed the tour of the town plus some time on our own before heading up to Melk Abbey, a Benedictine Monastery that's home of an impressive library and lots of holy artifacts and relics.
The subject of relics always makes me wonder how anyone knows what is real, a subject humorously explored in an odd book I read on another cruise, "The Relic Master," written by Christopher Buckley, who normally writes political satires like "Thank You for Smoking."
When we returned from our excursion, we had some time to relax before dinner, but after our meal, we were off on another included excursion to a small family-owned bar for a wine tasting.
I would say AmaWaterways needs to find better wine bar hosts, perhaps paying them to bring out better vintages.
Considering how good wine was on board, it's odd Ama couldn't find better hosts in the village.
Still, it was a fun outing to walk through the village at night and sip wine in a rustic weinstube.
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