England in the year 1214 is suffering under the reign of the tyrannical King John I, brother of the late King Richard I. King John amuses himself by attending jousts, one of which will feature a match between Sir Baldric, champion of Flanders, and England's Robin, Earl of Huntington, son of the famed Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest. Determined to take revenge on Robin's father for conspiring with Richard to bring about his exile, King John has made arrangements with Sir Baldric to kill the young Robin during the event. During the joust, Robin discovers that his lance has been tampered with, but he uses his skills to win the match nevertheless. Afterward, Robin shifts his attention to the lovely Lady Marianne, the king's ward, of whom he is enamored. Despite his feelings for Marianne, Robin accuses her of having known about the king's scheme, then departs for Nottingham. En route, Robin and his cohorts discover that the king not only has rejected his predecessor's tax reforms, but has enacted a law demanding English subjects pay a prohibitive tax, and is extracting money from them in a cruel manner. The king has ordered the new tax so that he can purchase the services of the Flemish militia to crush the Anglo Saxons. At every turn, the young Robin encounters the king's officials forcing English subjects to pay taxes, but he manages to fight them off in the name of the people. Robin and his father's faithful friend Little John are eventually arrested for their acts, charged with treason and ordered to die on the gallows. However, their execution is prevented with the clever help of Marianne, who provides Robin with tools to help him escape from his cell. After overpowering his guards, Robin flees the prison in disguise and takes refuge in an outlying cave. He then assembles an army consisting of his father's old friends and sympathizers, including Friar Tuck, Alan-a-Dale and Will Scarlett, and vows to give the king no rest until he reverses his cruel taxation practices. Robin is successful in thwarting the king's tax collection efforts with the help of Marianne, who sends him word of the collectors' movements by attaching notes to homing pigeons that fly to him. Soon after, an attempt is made by the king to incriminate Robin in the murder of three of the wealthiest men in the kingdom, all of whom were poisoned by the king himself. The king then arranges Marianne's marriage to the Count of Flanders, a term of the king's secret deal with the count, and issues a proclamation of their wedding. Robin learns of the wedding but knows that Marianne does not wish it, so he sends her a message instructing her to insist that the wedding be held at St. Dunstan's Abbey. Along the route to St. Dustan's, Robin and his men lie in wait for the royal procession. As the procession passes, Robin engages the king and his troops in a battle and wins. Following his victory, in 1215, Robin leads the people of England to force King John to sign a charter that will bring about the end of his tyranny, and they name the charter the Magna Carta.