13
Jun

13 JUNE 1483

   Posted by: Michael   in Events in History

Execution of William, 1st Baron Hastings.   He was not attainted and his widow Katherine was placed under Richard’s protection.  With Hastings were arrested John Morton, Bishop of Ely, Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York, and Thomas Lord Stanley.  The reasons  and circumstances for his sudden execution remain controversial.  Peter Hancock’s theory that it was because Richard discovered that Hastings knew about the precontract between Edward IV and Eleanor Talbot, but had kept it secret from him, is certainly interesting.

Bibliography:

Peter A Hancock, Richard III and the Murder in the Tower.  The History Press, Stroud, 2009.  ISBN 978 0 7524 5148 0 (hardback)

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One comment

Leslie McCawley
 1 

This is one execution I feel very ambivalent about. There was so much to say for William, such as his steadfast loyalty to Edward over the years. To be executed without any due process seems utterly wrong, and shocking.

June 14th, 2014 at 20:18
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