| “ | No, Robert, he'll kill us both! | „ |
Hugo de Rainault, often referred to as Abbot Hugo, is a major antagonist in Robin of Sherwood, appearing from the first episode and making his last appearance in the two-part third season premiere "Herne's Son".
He was portrayed by Philip Jackson.
Biography[]
Abbot Hugo was the brother of Robert de Rainault, Sheriff of Nottingham. Like his brother, his main reason for holding his position was to amass wealth for himself. He had been made the guardian of Marion of Leaford, whose father had gone missing in the Crusades, and intended to have her take holy orders as soon as she was of age, so the church (or rather, Hugo himself) could claim her father's estate. The warlock Simon De Belleme requested her as his bride and Abbot Hugo agreed when De Belleme promised he could keep her wealth. This put him at odds with his junior Friar Tuck, who turned to Robin Hood and his men for help.
Hugo chaired a trial for Jennet of Elsdon, who had been accused of withcraft. Despite her protests that Guy of Gisburne had faked the claims in order to punish her for rejecting his advances, Hugo sentenced her and her husband Thomas to death. The Sheriff tried to use Jennet to capture the outlaws by threatening Thomas but the attempt failed and ended with the Sheriff and Hugo being confronted by Robin. While Robert made a disastrous attempt to fight Robin, Hugo quickly ran to get the papers needed to pardon Jennet and Thomas.
Hugo found his position precarious when King Richard returned to England, with he and Robert having to buy their way back into the king's favour. He was later involved in Prince John's attempt to seize the throne and learned that John was keeping Marion's father Sir Richard of Leaford prisoner so he wouldn't inform the king of his ambitions. Hugo was captured by the outlaws and scared into revealing the information before being ransomed.
While the Sheriff was away, Hugo clashed with Gisburne when he had the hand of one of his servants cut off for stealing. He disapproved of Gisburne hiring mercenaries to hunt the outlaws, and refused to punish the villagers for their pagan beliefs, saying they could stick to as many old religions as they liked as long as they had their children christened. He wanted Gisburne that the old beliefs might have some truth in them and was proved right when Gisburne was driven from Sherwood by Herne the Hunter's magic.
A year after the death of Robin of Loxley, Hugo accompanied the Sheriff and Gisburne to the court of Owen of Clun. He refused to hide his disdain at the presence of Marion, whose father had bought her a pardon from King John. When Marion was abducted by Owen, Hugo took part in his brother's scheme to loan Richard troops and then have them desert him, with Richard's land being held in surety. They were both left disappointed when Robert of Huntington, the new Hooded Man, provided Richard with the money to pay off his debt and keep the land.