Sir John Oldcastle
Sir John Oldecastle
(d. 1417)
Baron Cobham. After being convicted of heresy and imprisoned for his Lollard support,
Oldcastle escaped from the Tower of
London and led a Lollard rebellion. After spending three years as an outlaw, he was
captured, charged with treason, and executed. As the basis of Shakespeare’s popular
Falstaff
character, Sir John Oldcastle and his legacy are of particular interest to Shakespeare
scholars.
