Religious views of William Shakespeare the Anglican church in Stratford in order for his wedding to be performed as a Catholic sacrament. He was thought to have rushed his marriage ceremony, as Anne was three months pregnant. In 1611 the historian John Speed asserted Shakespeare's links with Catholicism, accusing him of satirising in "Henry IV" the Lollard (or proto-Protestant) martyr John Oldcastle (first portrayed by Shakespeare under his character's real name, then the alias John Falstaff after complaints from Oldcastle's descendants) and linking the playwright with Jesuit Robert Persons, describing them together as "the Papist and his poet". Modern critics have attributed other motives for
Oldcastle Revolt Oldcastle managed to evade detainment with support of his old friend John ap Harry, who collected rents from his forfeited estates. Oldcastle was eventually arrested in the area of Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, while returning from a meeting with Welsh rebel Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndŵr, the father of whom he had fought during the early stages of the Glyndŵr Rising. Oldcastle was then escorted to London, where he was brought to the St. Giles's Fields and burned at the stake on 14 December 1417. Oldcastle Revolt The Oldcastle Revolt was a Lollard uprising directed against the Catholic Church and the English king,