How Geographical Memory May Have Encouraged the Naming of Two Characters in Hamlet

I’ve said that Francisco and Bernardo in Hamlet were probably named after Francis of Assisi and Bernard of Clairvaux, saints associated with Franciscan and Cistercian monasteries in England, because of correlations between the lives of the saints and the plot and themes of Hamlet.

That these were also the names of two Pazzi Conspiracy assassins * may have been convenient (anti-Catholic) cover, to avoid suspicion from the censors.

Consider the proximity of Franciscan and Cistercian monasteries within 20 miles of Stratford Upon Avon, and others in (present-day) London, or on the way:

Franciscan:

Coventry Greyfriars, 19 mi NE
Oxford Greyfriars (en route to London)
In/near London:
Aldgate Abbey
Greenwich Greyfriars
Newgate Greyfriars
Richmond Greyfriars
Abbey of the Minoresses

Cistercian:

Stoneleigh Abbey, 14 mi NE
Bordesley Abbey, 16 mi NW
Coombe Abbey, 23 mi NE
In/near London:
Eastminster Abbey
Stratford Langthorne Abbey

Also, we might note that Henry Carey, 1st Lord Hunsdon, the patron of Shakespeare's playing company, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, had been educated at a Cistercian monastery through the patronage of his aunt, Anne Boleyn. St. Bernard would have been held in high esteem by the Cistercians, as he reformed and in a sense re-founded the order. Henry Carey's mother Mary Boleyn had been mistress to Henry VIII, but St. Bernard had a connection to an earlier King Henry I of England (Henry Beauclerc): During a period when there were too competing claimants to the papacy, Bernard convinced Henry I to support Pope Innocent II instead of Antipope Anacletus II. This may be significant because in that case, Bernard and Henry I helped avoid schism, but a later Henry (VIII) would be accused by Rome of causing schism by breaking from Rome.

Bernard was famous for preaching in favor of a crusade that eventually failed; many years later, Francis was famous for meeting with the Sultan of Egypt during a crusade. In that sense, in Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" speech, Bernard might be associated with taking up "arms against a sea of troubles" via crusade; Francis might be associated with pacifism and suffering the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." It is remarkable that two saints who are so different in some key ways are both considered Christian saints, and this tension may also be reflected in Hamlet's speech.

John Forest was a Franciscan who was confessor to the first wife of Henry VIII, and who was burned at the stake for opposing the annulment his king sought for his marriage.

[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 yet among other Roman Catholic saints, some who fell from favor in England due to suspicions about fantastic stories of miracles, Bernard was still held in high esteem by Reformation figures like Martin Luther and John Jewell, who cited Bernard in their writings and homilies.

The Franciscan and Cistercian monasteries, those who lived there, and stories about them, would not be erased from memory merely by decree, with buildings sold, reused, or dismantled. Something of their legacy and memory would persist in the body of the communities they served.

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NOTE: * C. ELLIOT BROWNE WROTE IN 1876 that the names of the first two characters on stage in Hamlet may allude to assassins in the Pazzi conspiracy. See Hamlet: Edited by Horace Howard Furness, Volume 4, page 241, via Google Books, and also at archive.org (both, free).
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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
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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.
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Thanks for reading!
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