The name was changed to " Falstaff ", based on Sir John Fastolf, an historical person with a reputation for cowardice at the Battle of Patay, and whom Shakespeare had previously represented in Henry VI, Part 1.

The historical John Fastolf fought at the Battle of Patay against Joan of Arc, which the English lost.

However, it was found that, a few days before Fastolf's death, he had executed a fresh will in which Fastolf had named ten executors, of whom two only, John Paston and another, were to act ; and, moreover, that Fastolf had bequeathed all his lands in Norfolk and Suffolk to Paston, subject only to the duty of founding the college at Caister, and paying 4, 000 marks to the other executors.

During the 1429 siege of Orleans, the French had planned to abandon the city after they heard rumours ( which were true ) that John Fastolf was coming with a force of men to reinforce the English besiegers.

With as many as 13 of such feoffees, there was much confusion over the title to land following a lord's death, as evidenced by the case of Sir John Fastolf, which lasted from 1459 to 1476.

As for the English, Talbot accused Fastolf of deserting his comrades in the face of the enemy, a charge which he pursued vigorously once he negotiated his release from captivity.

In the fifteenth century, Blickling Hall was in the possession of Sir John Fastolf of Caister in Norfolk ( 1380 – 1459 ), who made a fortune in the Hundred Years ' War, and whose coat of arms is still on display there.

He was son of a Norfolk gentleman, Sir John Fastolf of Caister-on-Sea, and is said to have been squire to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, before 1398 and to have served with Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence in Ireland during 1405 and 1406.

Sir John Fastolf is shown as a comical figure who wins the battle thanks to rumours he may have heard about the Bohemian heretics and their commander, Jan Žižka ( whose name he pronounces as " Sheeshka ").

* 1429 – French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay.

* February 12 – battle of Rouvray ( or " of the Herrings "): English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk at Orléans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stewart.

* June 18 – Battle of Patay: French forces under Joan of Arc smash the English forces under Lord Talbot and Sir John Fastolf, forcing the withdrawal of the English from the Loire Valley.

Hearing of the dispatch of an English supply convoy from Paris, under the command of Sir John Fastolf for the English siege troops, Clermont decided to take a detour to intercept it.

Fastolf brought the supplies in triumph to the English soldiers at Orleans three days later.

As in 1437, York was able to count on the loyalty of Bedford's supporters, including Sir John Fastolf and Sir William Oldhall.

The Fastolf family, whose most celebrated member was Sir John Fastolf, are recorded here from the thirteenth century.

Sir John Fastolf, the inspiration for Shakespeare's Falstaff, was buried here in December 1459, next to his wife Millicent in a new aisle built by Fastolf on the South side of the abbey church.

See: Sir John Oldcastle and Sir John Fastolf.

Fastolf had died without descendants, making him safe for a playwright's use.

At his defeat at Patay in 1429 he was advised not to fight there by Sir John Fastolf, who was subsequently blamed for the debacle, but the French, inspired by Joan of Arc, showed unprecedented fighting spirit-usually they approached an English position with great terror.

Talbot's failures are all blamed on Fastolf and feuding factions in the English court.

The name Falstaff was derived from Sir John Fastolf, who was also a historical person — allegedly a greedy and grasping individual, who had a ( probably undeserved ) reputation for cowardice at the Battle of Patay.

Fastolf, however, died without descendants, making him safe for a playwright's use.

Paston had become very intimate with the wealthy knight Sir John Fastolf, who was probably related to his wife, and who had employed him on several matters of business.

Sir John Fastolf was a prominent soldier in the Hundred Years ' War who gave his name to Shakespeare's character Falstaff.

The village prospered during the fifteenth century, when it belonged to Millicent, the wife of Sir Stephen Le Scrope and then of Sir John Fastolf ( 1380 – 1459 ), a Norfolk knight who was the effective lord of the manor for fifty years.

The word curling first appears in print in 1620 in Perth, in the preface and the verses of a poem by Henry Adamson.

Eleanor appears to have taken an ambivalent attitude towards these affairs: for example, Geoffrey of York, an illegitimate son of Henry and a prostitute named Ykenai, was acknowledged by Henry as his child and raised at Westminster in the care of the Queen.

By late 1166, and the birth of her final child, however, Henry's notorious affair with Rosamund Clifford had become known, and her marriage to Henry appears to have become terminally strained.

At the royal court, celebrated there that Christmas, she appears to have agreed to a separation from Henry.

Shakespeare's Henry IV plays and Henry V adapted and developed the material in an earlier play called the Famous Victories of Henry V, in which Sir John " Jockey " Oldcastle appears as a dissolute companion of the young Henry.

Judging by the number of reprints, Hamlet appears to have been Shakespeare's fourth most popular play during his lifetime — only Henry IV Part 1, Richard III and Pericles eclipsed it.

* 1510 – Henry VIII of England, then 18 years old, appears incognito in the lists at Richmond, and is applauded for his jousting before he reveals his identity.

Similarly, the most popular Arthurian tale throughout this period seems to have been that of Tom Thumb, which was told first through chapbooks and later through the political plays of Henry Fielding ; although the action is clearly set in Arthurian Britain, the treatment is humorous and Arthur appears as a primarily comedic version of his romance character.

The proprietor, Mr. Henry Wensleydale ( Palin ), appears to have nothing in stock, not even Cheddar, " the single most popular cheese in the world ".

As the 17th century British commentator Matthew Henry notes, " Mary added no more, as Martha did ; but it appears, by what follows, that what she fell short in words she made up in tears ; she said less than Martha, but wept more.

His family appears to have been well-off, but, during the stormy reign of Henry III of England, their property was despoiled and several members of the family were driven into exile.

Perhaps in realisation of the implications of this, Richard then appears to have led an impromptu cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.

Henry appears to have been uncertain what to do with Rhys, but after a few weeks decided to free him and allow him to rule Cantref Mawr.

Stephen's accession to the throne still needed to be ratified by the Pope, however, and Henry of Blois appears to have been responsible for ensuring that testimonials of support were sent both from Stephen's elder brother Theobald and from the French king Louis VI, to whom Stephen represented a useful balance to Angevin power in the north of France.

The word Unitarian had been circulating in private letters in England, in reference to imported copies of such publications as the Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians ( 1665 ), Henry Hedworth was the first to use the word " Unitarian " in print in English ( 1673 ), and the word first appears in a title in Stephen Nye's A brief history of the Unitarians, called also Socinians ( 1687 ).

The gravitational constant appears in Newton's law of universal gravitation, but it was not measured until seventy one years after Newton's death by Henry Cavendish with his Cavendish experiment, performed in 1798 ( Philosophical Transactions 1798 ).

* January 23 – Henry VIII of England, then 18 years old, appears incognito in the lists at Richmond, and is applauded for his jousting before he reveals himself.

In 1714, Henry Mill obtained a patent in Britain for a machine that, from the patent, appears to have been similar to a typewriter.

Unlike the other rulers, who neglected their spiritual welfare due to preoccupation with worldly concerns, Henry appears to have been relegated to Ante-Purgatory for neglecting his kingly duties out of an excess of religious piety.

Owain appears as a minor character in novels of Sharon Kay Penman concerning Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine (" When Christ and His Saints Slept " and " Time and Chance "), books which have more of an historical quality than those of Peters.