Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
Encyclopedia
Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon
Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, KG was the eldest son of George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon, the ex-mistress of Henry VIII....
and Catherine Pole.
Ancestry
His great-grandfather was Lord William HastingsWilliam Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings
William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings KG was an English nobleman. A follower of the House of York, he became a close friend and the most important courtier of King Edward IV, whom he served as Lord Chamberlain...
esteemed friend and ally of Edward IV and who was beheaded in 1483 at the direction of Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
. His paternal grandparents were George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon
George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon
George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, the son of Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings and Mary Hungerford. George Hastings was created the first Earl of Huntingdon by Henry VIII of England on 3 November 1529. On the same day his son Francis gained a seat at the...
, and Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon. His maternal grandparents were Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu
Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu
Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu , the only holder of the title Baron Montagu under its 1514 creation, was most famous as one of the peers in the trial of Anne Boleyn.-Life:...
, and Jane Neville, a daughter of George Nevill, 4th Baron Bergavenny
George Nevill, 4th Baron Bergavenny
Sir George Nevill, 4th and de jure 2nd Baron Bergavenny was an English nobleman.George was the son of Edward Nevill, 3rd Baron Bergavenny and Elizabeth de Beauchamp, Lady of Abergavenny. He was knighted by Edward IV on 9 May 1471, after fighting for the King at the Battle of Tewkesbury...
, and Margaret Fenne.
Anne Stafford was a daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG played a major role in Richard III of England's rise and fall. He is also one of the primary suspects in the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower...
, and Catherine Woodville. Henry Pole was a son of Sir Richard Pole
Sir Richard Pole
Sir Richard Pole, KG was a Welsh supporter of King Henry VII created Knight of the Garter and married to Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, a member of the Plantagenet dynasty, to reinforce the Tudor alliance between the houses of Lancaster and York.-Family:A descendant of an ancient Welsh...
and Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury
Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury was an English peeress, one of two women in sixteenth-century England to be a peeress in her own right with no titled husband, the daughter of George of Clarence, the brother of King Edward IV and King Richard III...
. Margaret was the only daughter of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Warwick, KG was the third son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the...
, and Isabella Neville, Duchess of Clarence. Both Buckingham and Clarence were descendants of the House of Plantagenet
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
, were close relatives to various monarchs of England and entertained hopes for the throne during their lifetimes.
Early life
He was born in Ashby-de-la-ZouchAshby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, — Zouch being pronounced "Zoosh" — often shortened to Ashby, is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, within the National Forest. It is twinned with Pithiviers in north-central France....
, Leicestershire, and was educated at first by private tutors at his family manor. He later joined the future Edward VI of England
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
as his classmate in being tutored under Richard Cox
Richard Cox (bishop)
Richard Cox was an English clergyman, who was Dean of Westminster and Bishop of Ely.-Biography:Cox was born of obscure parentage at Whaddon, Buckinghamshire, in 1499 or 1500....
, John Cheke
John Cheke
Sir John Cheke was an English classical scholar and statesman, notable as the first Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge University....
and Jean Belmain
Jean Belmain
Jean Belmain, also John Belmain was a French Huguenot scholar who served as a French-language teacher to future English monarchs King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth I at the court of their father, Henry VIII....
. They provided both youths with an education based in the principles of Humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
.
His father was a political ally of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...
, and to further their alliance the two elder politicians arranged the marriage of their children. On 21 May 1553, Henry was wed to Katherine Dudley
Katherine Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon
Katherine Hastings , Countess of Huntingdon was an English noblewoman. She was the youngest surviving daughter of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and his wife Jane Guildford, and a sister of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth I's favourite...
, daughter of Northumberland by Jane Guildford
Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland
Jane Dudley , Duchess of Northumberland was an English noblewoman, the wife of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and mother of Guildford Dudley and Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. Having grown up with her future husband, who was her father's ward, she married at about age 16. They had...
. Edward VI was dying and his appointed heir was his cousin Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
, Northumberland's daughter-in-law. Jane's reign lasted only from 10–19 July 1553 until her cousin Mary I of England
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
prevailed. Due to his marital alliance with her, Henry was incarcerated in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. Mary attempted to reconcile with the Hastings family and soon they were free again and by oath loyal to her.
Henry entered the household of his great-uncle Cardinal Reginald Pole and followed him in his visits of Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, Flanders and the monasteries of Smithfield, London
Smithfield, London
Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
. The two men also escorted the later Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
from the Seventeen Provinces
Seventeen Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces were a personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century, roughly covering the current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a good part of the North of France , and a small part of Western Germany.The Seventeen Provinces were originally held by...
to the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
for his marriage to Mary. Despite his personal loyalty to Mary and his great-uncle, Hastings practised Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
and showed little financial restraint in supporting his puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
beliefs. Among those notables who benefited from his family's friendship and patronage were John Brinsley the elder, Arthur Hildersham, Thomas Cartwright, Lawrence Humphrey
Lawrence Humphrey
Lawrence Humphrey was an English theologian, who was president of Magdalen College, Oxford, and dean successively of Gloucester and Winchester.-Biography:...
, Thomas Sampson
Thomas Sampson
Thomas Sampson was an English Puritan theologian. A Marian exile, he was one of the Geneva Bible translators. On his return to England, he had trouble with conformity to the Anglican practices...
, Anthony Gilby
Anthony Gilby
Anthony Gilby was an English clergyman, known as a radical Puritan and Geneva Bible translator.He was born in Lincolnshire, and was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1535.-Early life:...
, John King
John King (bishop)
John King was an English churchman, patron of the Church of Pertenhall in Bedfordshire....
, and William Chaderton
William Chaderton
William Chaderton was an English academic and bishop. He also served as Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity.He was born in Moston, Lancashire, what is now a part of the city of Manchester. He matriculated at Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1555, and graduated M.A...
.
Political career
He had been loyal to Edward VI, Jane and Mary I during their respective reigns and his father remained an influential politician. When Mary I died childless and was succeeded by her younger half-sister Elizabeth I in 1558, the new queen also counted on the reliable Hastings family among her supporters. He was named a Knight of the BathOrder of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
by the new queen regnant
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
.
His father died on 25 January 1560 and Henry became the third Earl of Huntingdon. At the time few members of the Tudor dynasty
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
remained alive and several descendants of the previous English royal house of Plantagenet were seen as possible heirs to the throne. Huntingdon was among these possible heirs and won a certain amount of support, especially from the Protestants and the enemies of another claimant Mary, Queen of Scots. However, Elizabeth now had reasons to distrust him and as a result several honours were kept out of his reach.
However, he was still useful to her. He was named a Knight of the Garter in 1570, alongside William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester
William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester
William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester, KG was born before 1526 to Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester and his second wife Elizabeth Browne....
. In 1572 he was appointed president of the Council of the North
Council of the North
The Council of the North was an administrative body originally set up in 1484 by king Richard III of England, the third and last Yorkist monarch to hold the Crown of England; its intention was to improve government control and economic prosperity, to benefit the entire area of Northern England...
, and during the troubled period between the flight of Mary, Queen of Scots, to England in 1568 and the defeat of the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
twenty years later he was frequently employed in the north of England. It was doubtless felt that the earl's own title to the crown was a pledge that he would show scant sympathy with the advocates of Mary's claim. He assisted George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal was a 16th century English statesman.-Life:...
, to remove the Scottish queen from Wingfield Manor
Wingfield Manor
Wingfield Manor is a deserted and ruined manor house some 4 miles from the town of Alfreton in the English county of Derbyshire...
to Tutbury
Tutbury
Tutbury is a large village and civil parish of about 3,000 residents in the English county of Staffordshire.It is surrounded by the agricultural countryside of both Staffordshire and Derbyshire. The site has been inhabited for over 3000 years, with Iron Age defensive ditches encircling the main...
, and for a short time in 1569 he was one of her custodians. He was later one of the Peers at her trial in 1586.
Huntingdon was responsible for the compilation of an elaborate history of the Hastings family, a manuscript copy of which is now in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Having died without heir his earldom passed to his brother, George
George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon
Sir George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon was an English nobleman.He was a son of Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and Catherine Pole. He was a younger brother of Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and older brother of Francis Hastings...
.