[MR] Hamelt Precurser? (fwd)

[Craig Levin]

Rosine:

> Today is the feast day of Judith and Salome (9th cent.)  J & S were recluses
> at Altaich (Bavaria). Their vita reports that Salome was an English princess
> and Judith her aunt who left England to find her kinswoman.  Farmer suggests
> that Salome might be identified as Edburga, daughter of Offa of Mercia.  She
> was the wife of Beorhtric of Wessex but murdered several nobles and, by
> accident, her husband---who drank out of a poisoned glass by mischance.  She
> was exiled and took up a wandering life on the Continent.
> 
> Any chance that Shakespeare knew the story of this saint? I think he was
> born too late to have got a Catholic education - but the story may have been
> known to Englishmen as "history". What do you think?

Hard to say yes or no. On the one hand, whoever was teaching him
at Stratford had done an amazing job of pounding the clasics into
his head, among other things. On the other hand, it looks like he
got his English history from the chronicles by Holinshed. AFAIK,
Holinshed follows Geoffrey of Monmouth in his early history of
the kingdom, which means that it isn't very likely that any
stories of real people would be found. :-\

Pedro
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Craig Levin				Librarians Rule: Oook!