Henry IV, Part 1 of Patay, and whom Shakespeare had previously represented in "Henry VI, Part 1". Fastolf had died without descendants, making him safe for a playwright's use. Shortly afterward, a team of playwrights wrote a two-part play entitled "Sir John Oldcastle", which presents a heroic dramatisation of Oldcastle's life and was published in 1600. In 1986, the Oxford Shakespeare edition of Shakespeare's works rendered the character's name as Oldcastle, rather than Falstaff, in "Henry IV, Part 1" (although not, confusingly, in "Part 2"), as a consequence of the editors' aim to present the plays as they would have appeared during their original
Religious views of William Shakespeare Shakespeare's portrayal; the story of Oldcastle was a popular one and telling the tale from the "Papist" perspective (while acknowledging that perhaps this was a perspective with which Shakespeare already had some affinity) was an effective and familiar way to bring it to his audience. A direct explanation, however, comes from the facts of the story in the contemporary accounts of the period; Prince Henry had left his dear friend Oldcastle to his fate after he had failed to persuade the stubborn old knight to recant when he was imprisoned for lollardry. Archdeacon Richard Davies, a 17th-century Anglican cleric, wrote