John Oldcastle alive. His heretical opinions and early friendship with Henry V created a traditional scandal which long continued. In the old play "The Famous Victories of Henry V", written before 1588, Oldcastle figures as the Prince's boon companion. When Shakespeare adapted that play in "Henry IV, Part 1", Oldcastle still appeared, but when the play was printed in 1598, the name was changed to Falstaff (modelled after John Fastolf), in deference to one of Oldcastle's descendants, Lord Cobham. Though the fat knight still remains "my old lad of the Castle", the stage character has nothing to do with the Lollard leader.
Early texts of Shakespeare's works the First Folio and much of the same additional material, with the addition of an unsigned poem by John Milton. The Third Folio was issued in 1663, published by Philip Chetwinde; Chetwinde had married Robert Allot's widow and so obtained the rights to the book. To the second impression of the Third Folio (1664) he added seven plays, namely "Pericles, Prince of Tyre;" "Locrine;" "The London Prodigal;" "The Puritan;" "Sir John Oldcastle;" "Thomas Lord Cromwell;" and "A Yorkshire Tragedy." (See: Shakespeare Apocrypha.) All seven of these additional plays had been published as quartos while Shakespeare was alive, but only "Pericles"