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
Famous quotes containing the word sources:
“My profession brought me in contact with various minds. Earnest, serious discussion on the condition of woman enlivened my business room; failures of banks, no dividends from railroads, defalcations of all kinds, public and private, widows and orphans and unmarried women beggared by the dishonesty, or the mismanagement of men, were fruitful sources of conversation; confidence in man as a protector was evidently losing ground, and women were beginning to see that they must protect themselves.”
—Harriot K. Hunt (1805–1875)
“The American grips himself, at the very sources of his consciousness, in a grip of care: and then, to so much of the rest of life, is indifferent. Whereas, the European hasn’t got so much care in him, so he cares much more for life and living.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The sources of poetry are in the spirit seeking completeness.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)