Hubert Babinski, in a review of a study of the 18th-century Italian bandit-outlaw Angelo Duca defines it as follows: the noble outlaw is "a basically good person who had been wronged early in his life by some superior in the social hierarchy.
[3] He related these developments to shifts in the values of Romantic authors and readers "from conformism in large social patterns of conduct or thought, to radical individualism; from humble right reason, common sense, and the proper study of mankind, to a thirst to know and experience all things, to encompass infinities; from acquiescence before God and the social order, to heroism and hubris".
[2] Examples from the Romantic period in Europe include Goethe's Götz,[7] Friedrich Schiller's Karl Moor,[7][5] and Walter Scott's Lord Marmion[7] and Byron's Conrad.
[4] The noble outlaw as highwayman was a widespread and popular character in the literature of the 18th century (colonial era) Southern United States and thenceforwards.
[5] Walter Scott himself was to describe his historical novels as full of "the dubious characters of Borderers, buccaneers, Highland robbers, and all others of a Robin Hood description".