Friday, December 04, 2015

Wait, William The Conqueror Really Did Come First?

Many of the geeks out there have heard the old story about Richard Burbage (playing Richard III at the time) arranging a late night encounter with a female fan, only to have Shakespeare get there first and deliver the famous line, "William the Conqueror came before Richard III!"

I always assumed it was just an apocryphal story.  So I was surprised to see the story circulating this week, because apparently we've got a diary from 1602 that is the source of the story.

Really?  Things like this don't just pop up, so naturally I figured that this is a known document.  I wasn't too pleased with this "on display to the public for the first time ever" stuff.


The Diary of John Manningham  Page 39.  You're welcome.  I still figure it's an urban legend, but at least now I know that it comes from a source at the time and wasn't created a few hundred years after both men were dead.  Today I learned!


1 comment:

willshome said...

Yep. Knew that, but like you, think it’s too good a joke to need to be true. It’s like saying “Nigel Farage walks into a pub...”