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
Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet family: his half-brother William MacMahon obtained the coveted judicial office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland through John's influence, although in the event he proved to be a popular and respected judge. He had no children but his title passed by special remainder to his brother Thomas. He is a minor character in Georgette Heyer's novel "Regency Buck", which shows him in a rather unflattering light. Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet Colonel Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet (c. 1754 – 12 September 1817) was an Irish-born politician and Private Secretary to the Sovereign 1811–1817. He was born in Limerick,