"In 1193, the lord of Loxley manor was Robert Fitz Odo (also known as Fitzooth), a descendent of Bishop Odo of Bayeux, the half-brother of William and the man who commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry. Because 'Fitz' indicated an illegitimate descendant, it was sometimes dropped, which would leave 'Robert Odo' – a relatively close corruption of Robin Hood (Robin being an accepted nickname for Robert).
A 12th-century charter exists in which Robert Fitz Odo granted lands to the priory of Kenilworth. The Register of Arms of 1196 states that Fitz Odo was no longer a knight – but he wasn't dead. There's a record of a Robert Fitz Odo alive in nearby Harbury seven years later, in 1203, although he seems to have been stripped of his title.
Our Robin Odo became an outlaw, robbing people and generally causing trouble in the surrounding woodlands. He was finally given back his lands when Richard Lionheart returned from the Crusades. So to quite a degree he does match the Robin Hood of the modern legend."
