Prince Hal called Sir John Oldcastle. The descendants of the real Oldcastle complained, so the name was changed to Sir John Falstaff, under which name he is identified in three later plays. The tradition of Fastolf's braggart cowardice may have suggested the use of his name. Some writers have also suggested that Fastolf favoured Lollardy, which was also associated with Oldcastle, so this circumstance may have aided the adoption of the name. Stephen Cooper considers that there is in fact no evidence that Fastolf was a Lollard, and substantial indications that he was in fact Catholic like his one-time master Henry V. Other points of resemblance between the historic Fastolf and the Falstaff of the dramatist are to be found in their service under Thomas Mowbray, and association with a Boar's Head Inn. But Falstaff is in no true sense a dramatisation of the real soldier, more an amalgam of a few real personages with a dash of creative licence. Indeed, the aged Falstaff dies early in the reign of Henry V, when Fastolf was midway through his career. Later portrayals Fastolf appears as a featured character in Koei's video game known as Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War, in which he is seen as a contributor to the cause of England, wielding a longsword as his primary weapon. He is the subject of a novel by Robert Nye entitled Falstaff (Publisher: Allison & Busby; New Ed edition (1 Oct 2001)) Fastolf is also an opponent in Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, in the game's Joan of Arc campaign. Fastolf fights on England's side and his unit is a lance-wielding knight. Footnotes References Further reading . . . . , enlarged by Gough in Kippis's edition. . . [ 1st ed.], [ 2nd ed.] . External links Caister Castle Fastolf not 'Falstaff': the soldier behind Shakespeare’s myth 1380 births 1459 deaths 14th-century English people 15th-century English people English landowners Knights of the Garter Medieval English knights People from Caister-on-Sea People of the Hundred Years' War