Henry IV, Part 1 of Patay, and whom Shakespeare had previously represented in "Henry VI, Part 1". Fastolf had died without descendants, making him safe for a playwright's use. Shortly afterward, a team of playwrights wrote a two-part play entitled "Sir John Oldcastle", which presents a heroic dramatisation of Oldcastle's life and was published in 1600. In 1986, the Oxford Shakespeare edition of Shakespeare's works rendered the character's name as Oldcastle, rather than Falstaff, in "Henry IV, Part 1" (although not, confusingly, in "Part 2"), as a consequence of the editors' aim to present the plays as they would have appeared during their original
John Shakespeare jest with him at any time." As Katherine Duncan-Jones points out, this is impossible, since Mennes was two years old when John Shakespeare died. She thinks Plume may have been recording an anecdote related by Mennes taken from his father. In the 18th century a tract signed by John Shakespeare, in which he pledged to remain a Catholic in his heart, was found in the rafters of the house on Henley Street. It was seen and described by the scholar Edmond Malone. Although it was subsequently lost, a very similar copy of the formulaic text came to light in the