Hastings, William Hastings, 1st Lord

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Hastings, William Hastings, 1st Lord (c.1430–83). Hastings was the lifelong confidant of Edward IV, and, according to contemporary gossip, shared both the adversities and mistresses of his master. The son of a Yorkist retainer, he came into prominence at the beginning of the reign as chamberlain of the household. He recruited on Edward's behalf a well-documented body of indentured retainers in the north midlands. In the last years of the reign he was one of the half-dozen powerful men on whom the king relied. Unquestionably loyal to the dynasty, he gave his total support to the young Edward V in the early summer of 1483. Because of his antipathy towards the Woodvilles, he was prepared initially to support Richard of Gloucester in his bid for power. But he himself became a victim when he was suddenly seized and executed on 13 June. The manner of his death has secured for him a reputation for unimpeachable probity, but he too was a courtier in pursuit of his own ends.

Anthony James Pollard

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Hastings, William Hastings, 1st Lord

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