A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses by Desmond Seward

Author:Desmond Seward
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781472107763
Publisher: Robinson

THE PRIME OF

EDWARD IV, 1471–83

26

WILLIAM HASTINGS,

LIEUTENANT OF CALAIS, 1471

WILLIAM HASTINGS

The Lord Hastings had become an even greater power in the land. No one had contributed more to the restoration of Edward IV. He had played a vital role in detaching Clarence from Warwick, he had brought his 3,000 troops to the King’s aid at just the right moment, and he had led the right wing at Barnet and Tewkesbury. He was rewarded in full measure. Among his most important new offices were those of Constable of Nottingham Castle and Lieutenant of Calais. Even the Duke of Clarence rewarded him, with the stewardship of the honour of Tutbury and a string of Duchy of Lancaster manors in Staffordshire and Derbyshire; when the King ‘resumed’ (i.e. took back) the honour two years later, he reappointed William as steward for life. The Midland gentry flocked to his affinity.

William’s family shared in his good fortune. His brothers Ralph and Richard Hastings, together with his nephews John and Henry Ferrers, and his brother-in-law John Donne, were knighted on the battlefield at Tewkesbury. ‘Rauf’ (as he called himself) was appointed Captain of Guisnes, one of the castles that guarded the marches of Calais, while Richard would eventually be summoned to Parliament as ‘Lord Hastings of Welles’ – by right of his wife Baroness Welles, who was Margaret Beaufort’s stepniece.1

William had become a very rich man indeed. Besides the income from his wide estates, that from offices and pensions in England alone has been estimated at between £600 and £700 a year. This was supplemented by profits from grants and wardships of which no details survive. In addition, Charles of Burgundy was paying him a pension of £1,000, ostensibly in appreciation of his heroic conduct during the Readeption, though also, presumably, to further Burgundian interests at the English court. (We know from Commynes that William always remained a staunch friend of Burgundy, deeply hostile to France.)

In Lord Hastings’ capacity as chamberlain, it was his pleasant duty to supervise the entertainment of Louis de Gruuthuse, the Burgundian nobleman who had been so kind to King Edward during his exile, when he visited the English court as an honoured guest in the autumn of 1472. Bluemantle Pursuivant, who accompanied Gruuthuse, has left us a detailed account of the visit, in particular of his stay at Windsor.

When the Seigneur de Gruuthuse and his son arrived at the castle, they were met by William, who brought them to King Edward and the Queen, before taking them to three richly hung chambers where they and their gentlemen were to sleep. That evening, with Edward they watched the Queen’s ladies dance in her bedchamber – the King dancing with his six-year-old daughter Elizabeth. After mass next morning, Edward gave Gruuthuse a gold cup set with a piece of unicorn’s horn. He was presented to the Prince of Wales (not yet two) by the Prince’s chamberlain. Later the Gruuthuses and the King went shooting with crossbows and then, having dined at about 10 a.m., buck-hunting with hounds.

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