John Oldcastle John Oldcastle Sir John Oldcastle (died 14 December 1417) was an English Lollard leader. Being a friend of Henry V, he long escaped prosecution for heresy. When convicted, he escaped from the Tower of London and then led a rebellion against the King. Eventually, he was captured and executed in London. He formed the basis for William Shakespeare's character John Falstaff, who was originally called John Oldcastle. Oldcastle's date of birth is unknown, although dubious and possibly apocryphal sources place it variously at 1360 or 1378. His father was Richard Oldcastle of Almeley in northwest Herefordshire. His grandfather, also called
Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare The temple's interior was furnished as a shrine to Shakespeare. It was dominated by a statue of the playwright commissioned by Garrick from the French Huguenot sculptor Louis-François Roubiliac at a cost of 300 guineas (£315, equivalent to approximately £32,000 now). Roubiliac chose to model the statue on the Chandos portrait of Shakespeare while Garrick himself is said to have posed for the sculpture. Its appearance is rather more reminiscent of Garrick than Shakespeare; it is said that the actor struck a pose and exclaimed, "Lo, the Bard of Avon!" to illustrate how he wanted Shakespeare to be portrayed. The