John Oldcastle In "Henry IV, Part 2" an epilogue emphasises that Falstaff is not Oldcastle: "Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already a' be killed with your hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not the man." In 1599, another play, "Sir John Oldcastle", presented Oldcastle in a more kindly light. The record of Oldcastle's trial is printed in "Fasciculi Zizaniorum" (Rolls series) and in David Wilkins's "Concilia", iii. 351–357. The chief contemporary notices of his later career are given in "Gesta Henrici Quinti" ("Eng. Hist. Soc.") and in Walsingham's "Historia Anglicana". There have been many lives of
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