c. 1431–1483
William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings was a historical figure associated with 1st Baron Hastings and Lord Chamberlain. The record associates William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings with Kingdom of England. William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings belonged to the Hastings family.
Hastings supported Edward IV through exile, restoration and the political crises of the 1470s. As chamberlain he controlled access to the king and accumulated offices and estates, while remaining hostile to the queen’s Woodville relatives. After Edward’s death he initially cooperated with Richard, Duke of Gloucester, but was abruptly accused of conspiracy and executed without trial during the council meeting of 13 June 1483.
In Anne Easter Smith’s Royal Mistress, Elizabeth Lambert, later remembered as Jane Shore, moves from a London merchant family into an unhappy marriage and then into the intimate world of Edward IV’s court. Her warmth and intelligence attract the king and his chamberlain William Hastings, giving her access to power without secure rank or protection. Edward’s death ends the political order on which her position depends. Further fictional perspectives on William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings can be found in Anne Easter Smith’s A Rose for the Crown.
