Corrected entry: 12th Century man Azeem uses gunpowder 171 years before Marco Polo brought any back from China.
Corrected entry: The post of 'Sheriff of Nottingham' was not created until the fifteenth century. The county had a Sheriff for centuries beforehand but from watching this film you'd think that the city alone was under his sole authority which it definitely was not. Yes it's standard movie lore, but that doesn't make it less of a mistake.
Correction: Although his power has always been exaggerated in the films to a certain extent, the position did exist.
Corrected entry: When Robin uses the "telescope" by the laws of physics the image should appear upside-down. Yet the image incorrectly appears right-side-up.
Corrected entry: By the time Robin and Azeem reach England, they have been traveling together for four months. And yet, in the scene by the wall, Robin asks Azeem very personal (and expositional) questions that he definitely would have asked earlier during those four months. Why were you in jail, what does your name mean, etc.
Correction: There are also other people in the boat besides Robin and Azeem. Given the fact they are fugitives, it's quite possible they didn't want to reveal any personal information about themselves until they arrived safely in England.
True, although it wouldn't have taken four months to sail from Jerusalem to England so, that obviously made their way across land. Additionally the comments is made regarding the smell of garlic, which is generally associated with France, hence a strong indication that they embarked in France.
Corrected entry: The Sheriff tells two girls to be at his room at 10:30 and 10:45. The concept of the 24 hour clock had not yet been thought of - it was thought of by a group of monks who needed to know when to start their morning prayers in the 1330's.
Correction: But there's nothing there to say he is using the 24 hour clock. 10 pm in 24 hr is 2200 - which he doesn't say. 10.30 / 10.45 is in 12 hr mode, which is fine. Even if the mistake refers to modern time conventions, it's acceptable given that language back then would be near-incomprehensible to us now anyway - this is just another example of dialogue being "translated" into modern English.
Corrected entry: The Sheriff says something like "It's a wonder I'm still sane." at one point. Surely the concept of sanity didn't come about until centuries later?
Correction: The word 'sane' comes from the Latin word 'sanus' meaning healthy (as in mind). Why wouldn't the concept of sanity have been around? By the time in the movie, Latin was no longer a living language, so the word 'sanus' would not have been made up after the 12th century. Just because there were no shrinks or insane asylums doesn't mean no one was crazy.
Corrected entry: The portrayal of the Celts is not particularly accurate. The Celts were not even that wild or barbarous when Caesar first encountered them in 55 BC. During the Roman occupation many Celts became Romanised and "civilised." By the 12th century most Celts lived in the North, the West (Wales), or the Southwest (Cornwall), but other than their language, they were basically the same as anyone else in the country. They weren't wild men living in the forest wearing animal skins. They look more like Picts than Celts, although there were no Picts like that by that time either, and the Picts were definitely not Celtic.
Correction: The Sheriff is supposedly racist for one thing. For another, they're identified as hired thugs or mercenaries. Probably violent Celt outcasts.
Corrected entry: The first person to use sutures on wounds - instead of cauterizing them with boiling oil or some such thing - was Ambroise Paré, who lived from 1520-1590, after the time period in which the sheriff is shown having his wound stitched.
Correction: Actually, stitches were used as far back as the Romans, whose medical tradition was referenced extensively by the medievals. (There's a horrifying little bit of history about how Cato after Caesar's victory tried to kill himself by stabbing himself, but fell over some furniture, and his family heard him, "put his bowels back in" and got him medical help in time. Then they took his knife away and thought he was safe, but he managed to rip out his stitches, and bleed to death.) Cautery won't stop major bleeding, or keep open skin together, after all. I've read that castle ladies used to practice stitching-up on the carcases of pigs before they were roasted: medical dummy and dinner all in one.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Robin is taking a bath at the foot of the waterfall, you can see a tan line from swim trunks when he walks under the waterfall.
Correction: Robin has just recently completed a long journey from Jerusalem, who knows what tan lines he might have.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Robin shoots his arrow to cut down Wolf from the noose, we get a close up side view of the arrow flying. The arrowhead is slid over the shaft - this is different than the way they were making the arrows in the camp. In this scene they were making a type of arrowhead that is fitted into the split shaft and tied on.
Correction: It is quite possible this could be an arrow stolen from the soldiers in one of the highway robbings, or reused from the attack on the forest hideout.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Will Scarlet is presented to the Sheriff of Nottingham after being discovered in the crowd at the execution, the sheriff calls Will a "turncoat". The term "turncoat" did not originate until the American Revolutionary War.
Correction: The entire film is presented in modern-day English, despite the fact that this would bear only a limited resemblance to what would actually have been spoken at the time. As such, present day terminology has been used to allow audiences to understand what's going on. This is a dramatic convention and is not considered a mistake.
Corrected entry: While Azeem is off praying, Robin fights the men attempting to capture the young poacher. As Robin defeats the men, careful viewers will notice Azeem climb down the rock wall, climb back up, and once more, climb down to join Robin.
Correction: While it certainly appears that Azeem climbs down the climbs back up, the author failed to write that the first time, Azeem tries to descend backwards, and the second time tries descends forwards. It is not climbing down then up, then down again. It is merely a failed attempt to descend the first time, while successful on the second.
Corrected entry: Azeem first wounds the witch with the spear outside the room that Marian and the Sheriff are being married in. Then in a later scene when the witch attacks Robin, and Azeem kills her with his sword she has miraculously made it back into the room even though Azeem has not yet broken down the door.
Correction: The Witch obviously knows secret passages and other doors within the castle. She could've used one of them.
Correction: Azeem is not from England, he is from the Middle East. Perhaps they had traveled to China earlier and learned how to make it, which is what Azeem does.