William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings
Lord Chamberlain of the Household | |
---|---|
In office 1461–1483 Vacant 1470–1471 | |
Monarch | Edward IV |
Preceded by | The Earl of Salisbury |
Succeeded by | The Viscount Lovell |
Personal details | |
Born | c.1430 |
Died | June 1483 Tower of London |
Spouse | Katherine Neville |
Children | Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings Sir William Hastings Sir Richard Hastings George Hastings Anne Hastings, Countess of Shrewsbury Elizabeth Hastings |
Parent(s) | Sir Leonard Hastings Alice Camoys |
William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings
Biography
William Hastings, born about 1430–1431, was the eldest son of Sir Leonard Hastings (c. 1396 – 20 October 1455), and his wife Alice Camoys, daughter of
Hastings succeeded his father in service to the House of York and through this service became close to his distant cousin the future Edward IV, whom he was to serve loyally all his life. He was High Sheriff of Warwickshire and High Sheriff of Leicestershire in 1455.He fought alongside Edward at the
In 1474, he was awarded royal
His importance in these years is recorded in a number of sources, and was recognised by the greatest peer in the realm,
Despite this matrimonial relationship with the Nevilles, when Warwick drove
His service, loyalty and ability, along with the fall of his Neville in-laws, made Hastings even more important during the second half of Edward IV's reign. He continued to serve as Chamberlain, and was awarded the position of
Death
After the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, the Dowager Queen appointed family members to key positions and rushed to expedite the coronation of her young son
Affairs changed dramatically on 13 June 1483 during a council meeting at the
The summary execution of the popular Hastings was controversial among contemporaries and has been interpreted differently by historians and other authors. The traditional account, harking back to authors of the Tudor period, including William Shakespeare, considered the conspiracy charge invented and merely a convenient excuse to remove Lord Hastings, who was known for his loyalty to the dead King Edward IV and his heirs, as while he remained alive he would have been too formidable an obstacle to Richard's own plans to seize the throne.[21] Others have been more open to the possibility that such a conspiracy did in fact exist and that Richard may have reacted to secure his own position.[22] Clements R. Markham argues that Hastings was executed one week after his arrest on 20 June 1483, and after a trial.[23] Several witnesses were present, hence a treason trial could have been conducted at an ad hoc Court of Chivalry convened by Richard as High Constable of England.[24]
Despite the accusation of treason, no
In literature
He is portrayed in two of Shakespeare's plays: Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III.
In
Family
Hastings married, before 6 February 1462,
- Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, who married Mary Hungerford.[26][27]
- Sir William Hastings.[16]
- Sir Richard Hastings, who married, and had two daughters and coheirs, Elizabeth Hastings, who married John Beaumont of Gracedieu, Leicestershire, Master of the Rolls, and Mary Hastings, who married Thomas Saunders of Harringworth, Northamptonshire.[16][28]
- George Hastings.[16]
- Anne Hastings, who married her father's ward, George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury.[16]
- Elizabeth Hastings.[16]
Notes
- Thomas de Camoys, 1st Baron Camoys, and his first wife, Elizabeth Louches, the daughter and heiress of William Louches.[1][2]Sir Leonard Hastings had three other sons and three daughters:[2][3][4]
- Richard de Welles, 7th Baron Welles, by his first wife, Joan Willoughby, only daughter of Robert Willoughby, 6th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, and secondly Joan Romondbye (d. 20 March 1505), widow of Richard Pigot, (died c. 15 April 1483), Serjeant-at-law.[5][6][7][8][9]
- Sir Ralph Hastings (d.1495) of Harrowden, Northamptonshire, who married Amy Tattershall, daughter and heiress of John Tattershall, esquire, of Woolwich, Kent, and Wanstead, Essex, by whom he had six daughters.[5][10]
- Thomas Hastings.
- Elizabeth Hastings (c.1450 – 1508), who married, before 1465, Sir John Donne (1450–1503) of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, third son of Griffith Donne of Kidwelly by Janet, daughter of Sir John Scudamore, and by him had two sons, Sir Edward Donne (c.1482 – 1552) and Sir Griffith Donne (c.1487 – 1543), and two daughters, Anne Donne (c.1471 – c. 1507), who was the first wife of Sir William Rede of Boarstall, Buckinghamshire, and Margaret Donne (born c.1480), who married Edward Trussell (c.1478 – 16 June 1499) of Elmesthorpe, and was the mother of Elizabeth Trussell (1496–1527), wife of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford.[11]
- Anne Hastings, who married Thomas Ferrers, esquire.[5]
- Joan Hastings, who married John Brokesby, esquire.[5]
References
- ^ a b Richardson I 2011, pp. 398–9.
- ^ a b c Richardson II 2011, pp. 369–71.
- ^ Richardson IV 2011, pp. 306–7.
- ^ Acheson 1992, p. 234.
- ^ a b c d Richardson II 2011, p. 369.
- ^ Richardson IV 2011, pp. 307–8.
- ^ Burke 1831, p. 562.
- ^ Cokayne 1959, p. 447.
- ^ Cokayne 1959, p. 668.
- ^ Nicolas 1836, p. 421.
- ^ Richardson II 2011, p. 370.
- ASIN B0000CIHG7.
- ISBN 978-0708313510.
- ISBN 978-1598842517.
- ^ a b Horrox 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f g Richardson II 2011, p. 371.
- ^ a b Nicolas 1826, pp. 368–75.
- ^ Kendall, p. 248.
- ISBN 978-0-9576840-6-5.
- ISBN 0-520-04589-0.
- ^ For instance, Alison Weir, The Princes in the Tower, London: Random House, 1992.
- ^ For instance, Paul Murray Kendall, Richard III.
- ^ Clements R. Markham Richard III, pp. 214–216.
- ISBN 978-0-9576840-4-1.
- ^ a b Cokayne 1926, p. 373.
- ^ Richardson II 2011, pp. 371–2.
- ^ Cokayne 1926, p. 374.
- ^ Nicolas 1826, p. 373.
Sources
- Acheson, Eric (1992). A Gentry Community; Leicestershire in the Fifteenth Century, c.1422-c.1485. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521524988. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- Burke, John (1831). A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland and Scotland, Extinct, Dormant and in Abeyance. London: Henry Colburn. p. 562. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- Cokayne, George Edward (1926). The Complete Peerage, edited by Vicary Gibbs. Vol. VI. London: St. Catherine Press.
- Cokayne, George Edward (1959). The Complete Peerage, edited by Geoffrey H. White. Vol. XII, Part II. London: St. Catherine Press.
- Horrox, Rosemary (2004). "Hastings, William, first Baron Hastings (c.1430–1483)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12588. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Nicolas, Nicholas Harris (1826). Testamenta Vetusta. Vol. I. London: Nicholas and Son. pp. 368–75. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- Nicolas, Nicholas Harris (1836). Testamenta Vetusta. Vol. II. London: Nicholas and Son. p. 421. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. I (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1-4499-6637-9.)
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. IV (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1-4609-9270-8.)
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Further reading
- Brondarbit, Alexander. Political Power-Brokers and the Yorkist State, 1461-1485 (Woodbridge, 2020)
- Carpenter, Christine. The Wars of the Roses (Cambridge, 1997)
- Craig, John (1953). The Mint: A History of the London Mint from A.D. 287 to 1948. ASIN B0000CIHG7.
- Dunham, William Huse. Lord Hastings' indentured retainers, 1461–1483 (New Haven, 1955)
- Hancock, Peter A. – Richard III and the Murder in the Tower (2009)
- Horrox, Rosemary. Richard III : a study of service (Cambridge, 1989)
- Kendall, Paul Murray, Richard III, London, Allen & Unwin (1955)
- Ross, Charles. Edward IV (Berkeley, 1974)
- Ross, Charles. Richard III (1981)
- Seward, Desmond. A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses (Robinson, 1995)
- Wolffe, B.P. (1 October 1974). "When and why did Hastings lose his head?". JSTOR 566401.