John Oldcastle
John Oldcastle (* 1378, † December 14, 1417 ) was a leader of the English Lollards.
Oldcastle Oldcastle was a son of Richard. Under Henry IV, he participated from 1400 to campaigns to Scotland and Wales, during which he gained the friendship of the Crown Prince, the future Henry V..
1404 Oldcastle was appointed as a representative of the county of Herefordshire to parliament. 1408 he acquired through the marriage of the heir to the title of Lord Cobham a seat in the House of Lords. He was the only follower of the teachings of John Wyclif at this meeting.
The Crown Prince sat him in 1411 as leader of the expedition army that was to support Burgundy in Flanders.
Oldcastles commitment to the teachings of Wyclif, coupled with his high personal level of education, led to sharp disputes with the Church, especially with the Archbishop of York, Thomas Arundel. 1413 Oldcastle of heresy was found guilty and sentenced to death. Henry V sat by shifting the execution by 40 days that took advantage of the convict to escape from the Tower of London.
Oldcastle sat down with other Lollards in conjunction. Whether he thereby actually planned the capture of the king, is still controversial. It is undisputed, however, that Oldcastle, an armed group gathered around him, but this was crushed by royalist troops. He himself escaped to Herefordshire and was in the following years several conspiracies (eg conspiracy of Southampton ) involved. 1417 he was arrested in November, sentenced to death on 14 December of heresy, hanged on the same day and then burned.
Oldcastle was the model for Shakespeare's Falstaff sauf and freßsüchtige figure. In response, in turn, led to compete with Shakespeare Theatre Company Admiral 's Men, the play The Life of Sir John Oldcastle on, is in the Oldcastle one driven by his conscience martyrs.