Crispin and Crispianus

[steepholm]

How did Henry V happen to know that 25th October was St Crispin's day?

Crispin and Crispinian have never been major saints, but they did have a personal connection to Shakespeare, for they are (among other things) the patron saints of glovemakers, which was of course the profession of Shakespeare's father. As a good Catholic, no doubt John Shakespeare kept the feast. 25th October was important to Will as the feast of Crispin long before he knew it as the date of Agincourt.

"This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered."

Is it fanciful to hear in these lines a little batsqueak of recusant defiance? A sly filial tribute?

This speculation brought to you courtesy of 3am insomnia.

Comments

[calimac]

Might some priest in Henry's entourage have carried a saints' calendar? I know the Spanish explorers who covered what's now the western US did that. Every time they discovered something, they'd look up in the calendar to see what saint's day it was and name it after the saint, which is why that area is now littered with names beginning with "San" and "Santa".

[steepholm]

I'm sure they would have had access to the information, had they wanted it. I suppose what really interested/puzzled me was why Shakespeare would have Henry make such a big deal about such a relative obscure feast.