The Right Honourable The Lord Hastings KG
Arms of William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, KG
Lord Chamberlain of the Household
In office 1461–1483 Vacant1470–1471
Monarch	Edward IV
Preceded by	The Earl of Salisbury
Succeeded by	The Viscount Lovell
Personal details
Born	c.1430
Died	13 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 (c. 1431 – 13 June 1483)^[1] was an English nobleman. A loyal follower of theHouse of York during theWars of the Roses, he became a close friend and one of the most important courtiers of KingEdward IV, whom he served asLord Chamberlain. At the time of Edward's death he was one of the most powerful and richest men in England. He was executed following accusations of treason by Edward's brother and ultimate successor,Richard III. The date of his death is disputed; early histories give 13 June, which is the traditional date.

William Hastings, born about 1430–1431, was the eldest son of Sir Leonard Hastings, and his wife Alice Camoys, daughter ofThomas de Camoys, 1st Baron Camoys.^[2][3][a]Hastings succeeded his father in service to theHouse of York and through this service became close to his distant cousin the futureEdward IV, whom he was to serve loyally all his life. He wasHigh Sheriff of Warwickshire andHigh Sheriff of Leicestershire in 1455.

He fought alongside Edward at theBattle of Mortimer's Cross inHerefordshire in theWars of the Roses, and was present at the proclamation of Edward as king in London on 4 March 1461, and then when the new king secured his crown at theBattle of Towton shortly thereafter. He was knighted on the field of battle. With the establishment of the Yorkist regime, Hastings became one of the key figures in the realm, most importantly asMaster of the Mint andLord Chamberlain, an office he held for the duration of the reign, and which made him one of the most important means of access to the king. He was also createdBaron Hastings, a title reinforced by grants of land and office, primarily in Leicestershire andNorthamptonshire. In 1462, he was invested as aKnight of the Garter. Hastings' tenure as Master of the Mint occurred during theGreat Bullion Famine and theGreat Slump in England.^[13][14][15]

In 1474, he was awarded royallicence to crenellate at three of his landholdings in Leicestershire; atAshby-de-la-Zouch,Kirby Muxloe, and atBagworth. He built extensively at Ashby, mostly making additions to the pre-existing manor house built by the de la Zouch family in the thirteenth century. His greatest achievement at Ashby was the Hastings Tower. AtKirby Muxloe Castle he began an intricate fortified house of red brick, one of the first of its kind in the county. Thanks toEnglish Heritage, the castles at Ashby and Kirby can still be seen, but nothing survives to indicate any construction at Bagworth.

His importance in these years is recorded in a number of sources, and was recognised by the greatest peer in the realm,Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. In 1462, Warwick arranged for Hastings to marry his widowed sister,Katherine Neville. (Katherine's first husband,Lord Bonville, had been killed atSt Albans in 1461, and their infant daughter,Cecily, succeeded to the Bonville titles and estates.)^[16][17][18]

Despite this matrimonial relationship with the Nevilles, when Warwick droveEdward IV into exile in 1470, Hastings went with Edward, and accompanied the king back the following spring. Hastings raised troops for Edward in theEnglish Midlands and served as one of the leading captains of the Yorkist forces at bothBarnet andTewkesbury.

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 ofChamberlain of the Exchequer in 1471, which he held until 1483. He was also appointedLieutenant of Calais, which made him an important player in foreign affairs, and given authority over an increasingly large section of the English Midlands. At court, he was involved in two lengthy feuds with members of QueenElizabeth Woodville's family, most notably with her sonThomas Grey, first Marquess of Dorset. A mistress of both Grey and Hastings wasJane Shore; Grey's wife was the wealthy heiressCecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington, who also happened to be Hastings' stepdaughter. Shore was instrumental in bringing about the alliance between Hastings and the Woodvilles, which was formed whileRichard, Duke of Gloucester, was Protector, before he took the throne as King Richard III. She was accused of carrying messages between Hastings and Edward IV's widow,Elizabeth Woodville. It was because of her role in this alliance that Shore was charged with conspiracy, along with Hastings and the Woodvilles, against the Protector's government.^[19]

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 sonEdward V as king, circumventingRichard, Duke of Gloucester, whom the late king had appointedLord Protector. Hastings, who had long been friendly with Richard and hostile to the Woodvilles, was a key figure in checking the Dowager Queen's manoeuvres. While keeping the Woodvilles in check in London, Hastings kept Richard closely informed of their proceedings and asked him to hasten to London. Richard met up with the young king and his party as pre-arranged, who was on his way to London, with his Woodville relatives. Hastings then supported Richard's formal installation as Lord Protector and collaborated closely with him in theroyal council.

Affairs changed dramatically on 13 June 1483 during a council meeting at theTower of London: according to contemporaries, Richard, supported by theDuke of Buckingham, accused Hastings and two other council members of having committedhigh treason by conspiring against his life with the Woodvilles. The contemporary (1483) account ofDominic Mancini records Richard's claim that those who were arrested "had come with concealed weapons so that they could be the first to unleash a violent attack"; this was later confirmed in a public proclamation.^[20] While the other alleged conspirators were imprisoned, Hastings was beheaded. The timing of his execution is disputed, althoughCharles Ross, in his biography of Richard III, argued for the traditional date of 13 June.^[21] This date is confirmed by the inquisitionspost mortem for Richard's reign.^[1]

Despite the accusation of treason, noattainder was issued against Lord Hastings which again suggests a trial by the Court of Chivalry which had no power to attaint. Hence, his wife and sons were allowed to inherit his lands and properties. Hastings was buried in the north aisle ofSt George's Chapel, Windsor, next to his friend King Edward IV.^[22]

He is portrayed in two ofShakespeare's plays:Henry VI, Part 3 andRichard III.

InLaurence Olivier's film version ofRichard III (1955), Lord Hastings is played by actorAlec Clunes.

InAl Pacino'sdocumentaryLooking for Richard, Lord Hastings is played by actorKevin Conway.

Hastings married, before 6 February 1462,^[22]Katherine Neville, sister ofRichard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known as "Warwick the Kingmaker," and widow ofWilliam Bonville, 6th Baron Harington, slain at theBattle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, by whom he had had four sons and two daughters:^[16][17][18]

• Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, who marriedMary Hungerford.^[23][24]
• Sir William Hastings.^[17]
• 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 ofHarringworth, Northamptonshire.^[17][25]
• George Hastings.^[17]
• Anne Hastings, who married her father'sward,George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury.^[17]
• Elizabeth Hastings,who married Sir John Beaumont, Master of the Rolls.^[17]

• Acheson, Eric (1992).A Gentry Community; Leicestershire in the Fifteenth Century, c.1422-c.1485. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 9780521524988. Retrieved6 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. Retrieved6 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)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12588. (Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)
• Nicolas, Nicholas Harris (1826).Testamenta Vetusta. Vol. I. London: Nicholas and Son. pp. 368–75. Retrieved6 October 2013.
• Nicolas, Nicholas Harris (1836).Testamenta Vetusta. Vol. II. London: Nicholas and Son. p. 421. Retrieved7 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.).Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. II (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.ISBN 978-1-4499-6638-6.{{cite book}}: 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWilliam Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings.

• 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.Cambridge, England:Cambridge University Press. pp. 88–95.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?".The English Historical Review.89 (353):835–844.doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXXIX.CCCLIII.835.JSTOR 566401.

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