People in Gotham are accustomed to hearing Batman jokes, but many aren't aware of its historical connection to the fictional Gotham City. So how did a sleepy Nottinghamshire settlement lend its name to a city of crime and corruption?
Gotham is now a friendly village popular with families, but a few hundred years ago its residents had a reputation for "madness".
One story goes that King John, also the villain in the legend of Robin Hood, was due to travel through Gotham on his way to nearby Nottingham.
Any road the king travelled on would become a public highway, so the villagers are said to have feigned madness to deter the king - as it was thought to be infectious.
Their absurd acts included building a fence around a bush to prevent a cuckoo escaping, and attempting to drown an eel in a pond.
The trick worked, leading to the saying: "There are more fools pass through Gotham than remain in it." Villagers were also dubbed the Wise Men of Gotham.
Word of the supposedly foolish acts spread, and they were collected in various books including The Merie Tales of the Mad Men of Gotam, published in 1565.
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