MIGHT ART LOST IN DISSOLVED MONASTERIES HAVE HELPED CONNECT HAMLET'S FRANCISCO & BERNARDO TO THE SAINTS?

Did Shakespeare choose the names Francesco and Bernardo as the first two characters in Hamlet, sentinels, because he named them after Saints Francis of Assisi and Bernard of Clairvaux, two saints associated with hundreds of Franciscan and Cistercian monasteries that were lost during the reign of Henry VIII?

And might Shakespeare's parents have remembered wall paintings in churches or chapels near or on these monastery grounds, which depicted events from the lives of these saints - as many frescoes do in other parts of Europe?

A number of churches in Florence, the location of the Pazzi conspiracy, have frescoes that depict Francis, cutting ties with his father, or Francis going to visit the sultan (leader of the enemy forces) during a crusade. These were well-known stories and may have some relevance to the plot of Hamlet.

[April 12, 2024 note: Much is made of the fact that Hamlet is upset with his mother for marrying his uncle, considered a scandalously incestuous marriage in Shakespeare's time, and also perhaps, by doing so, denying him the throne he expected after his father's death. Perhaps more famously, St. Francis of Assisi is famous for having disowned his father before the bishop in a public place, removing and returning his clothes to his father, saying that he had a "father in heaven"; but it's important to note that Bernard of Clairvaux also found heavenly parentage by way of a dream in which he drank milk from the breast of a heavenly Virgin Mary; this scene was portrayed by various painters before Shakespeare's time, and perhaps important to note, the writings of St. Bernard of Clairvaux were favored by Martin Luther, so Berdard of Clairvaux was not merely a famous Catholic figure, but also an important Protestant source for Luther.]

But whether churches in England had such frescoes, and whether such paintings were known to Shakespeare and his family, is hard to tell. Wall paintings were whitewashed during the Reformation, and many were lost.

But the stories would certainly have been familiar, especially to Shakespeare's father, who was a young boy when Henry VIII broke from Rome.

THE GUARDIAN:
OPINION: THE DAZZLING WALLS OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND DESERVE A BOLD RESTORER

See also The Saint and the Sultan by Paul Moses (2009).]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INDEX OF POSTS on Francisco & Bernardo:

PAZZI CONSPIRACY - possible allusion noted by C. Elliot Browne in 1876 in the names of Francisco & Bernardo
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/05/c-elliot-browne-wrote-in-1876-that.html
1 May, 2017

SCOURGE AND MINISTER: BERNARD AND FRANCIS https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/03/scourge-minister-bernard-francis.html
- March 26, 2018

MIGHT ART LOST IN DISSOLVED MONASTERIES HAVE HELPED CONNECT HAMLET'S FRANCISCO & BERNARDO TO THE SAINTS?
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/04/might-lost-art-in-dissolved-monasteries.html
- April 03, 2017

FATHER ISSUES FOR HAMLET & FRANCISCO
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/01/shakespeares-hamlet-has-father-issues.html
- April 10, 2017

TOP SIX REASONS Shakespeare probably named sentinel Francisco after Francis of Assisi
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/04/top-six-reasons-shakespeare-probably.html
- April 17, 2017

Four Approaches to Francisco & Bernardo in Hamlet
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/04/four-approaches-to-names-of-sentinels.html
- April 24, 2017

MELANCHOLY: LOST DELIGHT IN HAMLET & FRANCIS OF ASSISI
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/07/melancholy-lost-delight-hamlet-francis.html
- July 17, 2017

How Geographical Memory May Have Encouraged the Naming of Two Characters in Hamlet
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/07/how-geographical-memory-may-have.html
- July 24, 2017

SHAKESPEARE'S HAMLET FINDS A FATHER IN PROVIDENCE (not RI)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/11/shakespeares-hamlet-finds-father-in.html
- November 20, 2017

WHAT DO FRANCISCO & BERNARDO HAVE TO DO WITH SHAKESPEARE & THE BIBLE?
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/12/what-do-francisco-bernardo-have-to-do.html
- December 03, 2017

BERNARDO TALES: LAERTES & HAMLET RECONCILE, as do BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX & PETER ABELARD
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/12/bernardo-abelard-hamlet-laertes-reconcile.html
- December 04, 2017

CORRUPTED REFORMERS: WHY SOMEONE NAMED AFTER BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX MIGHT BE FIRST TO SPEAK IN SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/01/corrupted-reformers-why-someone-named.html
- January 01, 2018

SCOURGE AND MINISTER: BERNARD AND FRANCIS
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/03/scourge-minister-bernard-francis.html
- March 26, 2018
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.

Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html

I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider subscribing.
To find the subscribe button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can subscribe to posts and comments by filling out the contact form.