WHY BERNARDO & FRANCISCO ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE IN SHAKESPEARE'S HAMLET

Names of the sentries in Hamlet may seem unimportant. They might have been named Tom and Harry for all some care.

But if they were named after Saints Francis of Assisi and Bernard of Clairvaux, their names matter. Both saints founded monastic movements present in England before Henry VIII dissolved them and sold off the land. Protesting Cistercian & Franciscan monks, priests, and abbots ("fathers") were executed after Henry's divorce and break with Rome.

Francis of Assisi's biographers said his heart ached for the sick and poor; so "honest" Francisco has to be the one who ends his watch with heart-sickness, and then Hamlet is later heart-sick before the duel at the end of the play. It would make less sense if that sentinel were named Bernardo.

Bernard of Clairvaux preached the second crusade, a kind of revenge for earlier setbacks in the Holy Land. Its failure haunted him; he blamed this failure on the Crusaders' sins. So it is appropriate that Bernardo blames the troubles in Denmark on the dead king having killed Old Fortinbras, and that Bernardo accompanies Horatio (twice) and Hamlet (once) to meet the ghost who seeks revenge, and whose prideful killing of old Fortinbras still haunts Denmark with impending war. It would make less sense if that sentinel were named after Francis.


[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.]

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

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

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

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