Baker, Jack R. “Christ’s Crucifixion and ‘Robin Hood and the Monk’: a Latin Charm Against Thieves in Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.5.48.” Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society 14, no. 1 (2008): 71-85.
Abstract: The study offers a commentary, transcription, and translation of a previously unpublished Latin version of a charm against thieves titled _Contra ffures et latrones_. In the charm, the story of the two thieves who are crucified with Christ becomes a signification for those travelers who seek to avoid roadside robbers. The charm is bound in a 15th century MS attributed to Gilbert Pilkington that includes the earliest known Robin Hood poem, and allows us to point toward the very real fear of thieves in the late Middle Ages, observe the steps taken for protection against them, and empathize with the thief’s potential for redemption.
