falstaff
falstaff
Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff seems to be almost entirely a creation of his imagination, but he did draw from at least one real-life character. The common consensus is that Falstaff is based on one Sir John Oldcastle, a Knight who was a friend and companion of Prince Hal's. It is essentially there that the similarity stops, but the story of Oldcastle's life is still fascinating to learn about.
Oldcastle was born in 1378 (which makes him only about a decade older than the Prince), the son of Sir Richard Oldcastle of Almeley in Herefordshire. He served in the military under King Henry IV, fighting alongside Prince Hal and Hotspur in Wales. He became good friends with the Prince during this time, and when he became King Henry V, Oldcastle was given honorable and powerful positions in the kingdom. He married the heiress of Lord Cobham in 1408, thus coming into a good deal of money and prestige.
Like the Prince Henry of Shakespeare's play, the real Henry eventually cast off his old friend. His cause was much different, however: Oldcastle's rejection occurred because he was a follower of Lollardism (so named from a Dutch word meaning "mumbler," since the Lollards were constantly mumbling prayers), an unorthodox religion based on the teachings of John Wyclif. Lollardism was so unpopular in London at the time that Henry V was induced to make harsh laws against it. He tried to convince Oldcastle to give up his strange religion, but he refused, and Henry had to have him arrested. Oldcastle was condemned for heresy in 1413, but Henry granted him a 40-day stay of execution in the hopes that he would reconsider. During this time, Oldcastle managed to escape from the Tower of London and flee into Wales. He was not recaptured until 1417, and he spent the interim leading Lollard plots against the government, conspiring even to kill the King. Eventually he was taken back into custody, and King Henry had him summarily executed on 14 December by roasting over a slow fire (the traditional punishment for heretics). Later, when the predominant religion in England switched from Catholic to Protestant, the Lollards were looked on much more favorably, and Oldcastle was remembered as a martyr.
Shakespeare's characterization of Falstaff seems to have been inspired not so much by the real Oldcastle, but by a Sir John Oldcastle that appears as a boorish friend of Prince Hal's in THE FAMOUS VICTORIES OF HENRY V, a minor play written sometime before 1588 that served as source material for Shakespeare. Shakespeare in fact originally named his character Sir John Oldcastle, but the still-prominent Cobham family were offended by his inaccurate portrayal of their strictly religious ancestor. Shakespeare was thus obliged to change the name before his play was published, and so we have Sir John Falstaff, apparently named after another companion of the Prince's, a John Falstolfe, who was accused of cowardice in battle - much closer to the Falstaff generations of theatregoers have come to know and love.