- The Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is a character in the
Robin Hood legend, known for his greed.He first appears in the
Child ballad "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford ", where he merely finds Robin and his men poaching deer and threatens to bring them to the law.In
Howard Pyle 's "Merry Adventures of Robin Hood", he is the man robbed to pay SirRichard at the Lee 's debt, the priest to perform the marriage ceremony forAlan-a-Dale 's sweetheart, Ellen, and her unwanted wooer, until Robin intervenes, and one of the spectators at a royal shooting match, where he refuses to bet that there are any archers that can match the king's, which Queen Eleanor attributes more to greed than to the impropiety of his betting.He is a Bishop who is in cohorts with the
Sheriff of Nottingham and is also fighting with him for the respect of King John.Fact|date=February 2007 He is captured in the woods by Robin Hood's band and robbed in many versions of the legend.The role of the Bishop of Hereford has been played by
Harold Innocent in the 1991 film "". In this version he is shown as a corrupt clerygyman who supports the Sheriff and insists to Robin that the latter's father admitted to being a devil worshipper.
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