Sources
Greene's primary source for his play was an anonymous sixteenth-century prose romance titled The Famous History of Friar Bacon (c. 1555?). The earliest extant printed edition of this work dates from 1627, long after both FBFB and Greene's 1592 death; manuscript versions, and perhaps one or more earlier printed editions, underlie the 1627 text. The relationship between FBFB and other plays of its era, some of which may have served as sources, has been noted above. FBFB also has a complex set of commonalities with the earlier Medieval drama of the morality play.
"Friar Bacon" is based on the historical Roger Bacon, the thirteenth-century polymath who suffered a popular reputation as a magician. The second friar of the title is another historical figure, Bacon's contemporary Thomas Bungay. Thomas Bungay (Thomas de Bungeye) was a member of the Order of Friars Minor, educated at Oxford (1270-1272) and at Cambridge (1282-1283) and wrote a commentary on Aristotle's De Caelo.
In addition to Roger Bacon, the tale of the brazen head was connected with several other prominent figures of the later Middle Ages, including Robert Grosseteste and Gerbert of Aurillac. In one account, Albertus Magnus formed the brazen head, only to have it broken by Thomas Aquinas.
Read more about this topic: Friar Bacon And Friar Bungay
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