Similarly, to the origin of lord Biron - a character in a Shakespearean play Love's Labour's Lost - both following sources name ‘A Duc de Longueville’ (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/shakespeare/lllost1.html) or ‘the Due de Longueville’ (http://hudsonshakespeare.org/Shakespeare%20Library/Character%20Directory/CD_LLL.htm) as the sole candidate for the model of lord Longaville, the character. Both agree that he was also a general of (or an aide to) Henri de Bourbon and latter adds he was ‘a well-known figure in the Wars of Religion’ (ibid). Meanwhile, the latter further argues on the possible model for another lord, Dumain, as following:
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| The Due de Longueville |
‘The Due de Mayenne, well known in Shakespeare’s London for his role in the French Wars of Religion, is usually thought to have provided the name Dumaine. Unlike the originals of Longaville and Berowne, he was not an aide to the historical King of Navarre (Henri de Bourbon); rather, he was a principal enemy of the insurgent monarch, but this inconsistency would probably not have bothered either the playwright or his audience. An alternative, the less notable General D’Aumont, who was an aide to the King of Navarre at the time, has been proposed’ (ibid).
On the contrary, another source that deals with historical documents relating to Anthony Bacon, brother to the famous writer Francis, gives a different story, which says ‘The names of the three Lords are taken directly from the passport of Anthony when he was living in the Navarre territory (1583-92). The names are signed Dumain, Longaville, Biron(Berowne)’ (http://www.sirbacon.org/links/anthony_bacon.htm).
For reading the text in full: http://wrex2009.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/three-character-lords-in-loves-labours-lost/
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