Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (''née'' Lady Anne Stafford) (c. 1483–1544) was an English noble. She was the daughter of
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG (4 September 1455 – 2 November 1483) was an English nobleman known as the namesake of Buckingham's rebellion, a failed but significant collection of uprisings in England and parts of Wales again ...
, and
Lady Catherine Woodville. She was first the wife of Sir Walter Herbert and then
George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon
George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, KB (148824 March 1544) was an English nobleman.
Family
George Hastings, born in 1488 at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was the son of Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, and Mary Hungerford, daughter and heiress o ...
, and served in the household of
King Henry VIII's daughter, the future
Queen Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
.
Life
Born around 1483, Lady Anne Stafford was the daughter of
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG (4 September 1455 – 2 November 1483) was an English nobleman known as the namesake of Buckingham's rebellion, a failed but significant collection of uprisings in England and parts of Wales again ...
, and
Catherine Woodville Catherine was a sister of
Elizabeth Woodville, Consort of
Edward IV, making Anne a first cousin of
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which mark ...
. Anne had two brothers,
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, and
Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire
Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire (c. 1479 – 6 April 1523) was an English peer.
Family
Henry Stafford, born c.1479, was the younger of two sons of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Catherine Woodville, the daughter of R ...
; and a sister,
Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex
Elizabeth Stafford (c. 1479 – 11 May 1532) was an English noblewoman.
Family
Elizabeth Stafford was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Catherine Woodville, the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, by ...
.
In 1483,
Richard III executed her father for treason, following his part in the uprisings which became known as
Buckingham's rebellion
Buckingham's rebellion was a failed but significant uprising, or collection of uprisings, of October 1483 in England and parts of Wales against Richard III of England.
To the extent that these local risings had a central coordination, the plo ...
. Anne's mother remarried in 1485 to
Jasper Tudor
Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford (November 143121/26 December 1495), was the uncle of King Henry VII of England and a leading architect of his nephew's successful accession to the throne in 1485. He was from the noble Tudor family of Penmynydd i ...
, later Duke of Bedford.
In 1503, Anne married Sir Walter Herbert. After Herbert died in 1507, Anne gave control of her
jointure
Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...
, which included
Raglan Castle
Raglan Castle ( cy, Castell Rhaglan) is a late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th centuries, when the succ ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, to her brother, Edward. Anne went to live in her brother's household at
Thornbury, Gloucestershire, until her second marriage to
George Hastings in 1509.
In 1510, Anne was the subject of a sex scandal. Her brother had heard rumours that Anne was having an affair with
Sir William Compton, who was close to
Henry VIII; she may also have been among Henry's mistresses. On one occasion, Stafford found Compton in Anne's room. Compton was forced to take the
sacrament to prove that he had not committed
adultery
Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
. Hastings sent Anne to live in a
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...
away from the royal court. There is no evidence that Anne and Compton committed adultery. Nor that she was Henry VIII's mistress, aside from illogical notion that Compton met her to hand her a message from the King, which he could easily have handed to her in less scandalous way. However, in 1523 Compton took the unusual step of bequeathing land to Anne in his will, and directing his executors to include her in the prayers for his kin for which he had made provision in his will.
Despite this scandal, Anne and Hastings apparently enjoyed a close, loving relationship. This was evidenced by a letter written to Anne by Hastings in 1525 which has been described as 'one of the most affectionate and charming letters of the period'.
Marriages and children
Anne Stafford married firstly, in 1503, Sir Walter Herbert (d. 16 September 1507),
[.] an illegitimate son of
William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. The marriage was childless.
She married secondly, in December 1509,
George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon
George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, KB (148824 March 1544) was an English nobleman.
Family
George Hastings, born in 1488 at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was the son of Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, and Mary Hungerford, daughter and heiress o ...
. They had five sons and three daughters:
*
Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon
Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, KG (151420 June 1561) was the eldest son of George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon, the ex-mistress of Henry VIII.
His maternal first cousins included Hen ...
, who married Katherine Pole (d. 23 September 1576), elder daughter of
Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu
Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu (also written Montague or Montacute; circa 1492 – January 1539), was an English nobleman, the only holder of the title Baron Montagu under its 1514 creation, and one of the relatives whom King Henry VIII of ...
, and by her had six sons, including
Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, KG, KB (c. 153514 December 1595) was an English Puritan nobleman. Educated alongside the future Edward VI, he was briefly imprisoned by Mary I, and later considered by some as a potential successor to E ...
, and
George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon
George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon (1540 – 30 December 1604) was an English nobleman.
He was a son of Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and Catherine Pole, daughter of Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu and Jane Neville. He was a you ...
, and five daughters, including Frances, wife of
Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton
Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton (14 July 1544 – 10 December 1589), was an English peer and Member of Parliament.
Compton was the posthumous son of Peter Compton of Compton Wynyates and his wife Anne, daughter of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shre ...
.
*Sir Thomas Hastings, who married, before October 1553, Winifred Pole (d. 22 February 1602), daughter of
Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu
Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu (also written Montague or Montacute; circa 1492 – January 1539), was an English nobleman, the only holder of the title Baron Montagu under its 1514 creation, and one of the relatives whom King Henry VIII of ...
, and Jane Neville, daughter of
George Neville, 4th Baron Bergavenny. There were no issue of the marriage. After Sir Thomas Hastings' death, Winifred Pole married Sir Thomas Barrington (d.1581).
*
Edward Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings of Loughborough
Edward Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings of Loughborough, KG PC (c. 1521 in Loughborough, Leicestershire – 1572) was an English peer, the fourth son of George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon. He married Joane Harrington daughter of John Harring ...
.
*Henry Hastings.
*William Hastings.
*Lady Dorothy Hastings, who married Sir Richard Devereux (d.1548), second son of
Walter Devereux, 1st Viscount Hereford
Walter Devereux, 10th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, created 1st Viscount Hereford, KG (1488 – 17 September 1558) was an English courtier and parliamentarian.
Baron Ferrers
Walter was the son and heir of John Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers a ...
, and Mary Grey, the daughter of
Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset
Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby, (145520 September 1501) was an English nobleman, courtier and the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville and her first husband Sir John Grey of Groby. Her secon ...
. The eldest son of
Walter Devereux, 1st Viscount Hereford
Walter Devereux, 10th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, created 1st Viscount Hereford, KG (1488 – 17 September 1558) was an English courtier and parliamentarian.
Baron Ferrers
Walter was the son and heir of John Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers a ...
, predeceased him, as did his second son, Sir Richard Devereux (d.1548). However Sir Richard Devereux and Dorothy Hastings had a son,
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG (16 September 1541 – 22 September 1576), was an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantations of Ireland, most notably the Rathlin Is ...
, who was his grandfather's heir.
*Lady Mary Hastings, who married Thomas Berkeley, 6th Baron Berkeley.
*Lady Katherine Hastings.
Fictional portrayals
*Anne is the protagonist of ''At the King's Pleasure'' by
Kate Emerson
Kathy Lynn Emerson is an American writer of historical and mystery novels and non-fiction. She also uses the pseudonyms Kaitlyn Dunnett and Kate Emerson.
Emerson writes historical mysteries as Kathy Lynn Emerson, historical fiction set in royal ...
.
*In two 2007 episodes of the
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
television series, ''
The Tudors
''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...
'', Anne, portrayed by
Anna Brewster
Anna Brewster is an English actress and model.
Early life
Anna Brewster is from Moseley, Birmingham. She attended St Bernard's RC School, Kings Heath Junior School and Queensbridge School in Moseley before studying for her A levels at Solih ...
, is presented as the 3rd Duke of Buckingham's daughter (she was his sister), and is involved not with Henry VIII but with a fictionalized version of the King's future brother-in-law,
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, (22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was brother-in-law to King Henry VIII.
Biography
Charles Brandon was the second ...
. Several episodes later, a "Mistress Hastings" portrayed by
Rachel Kavanagh is shown as dying of the same sweating sickness that killed
William Compton. It is uncertain if both characters are an amalgamation of historical Anne Stafford.
In the second season of the Starz TV show The Spanish Princess she is played by actress Tessa Bonham Jones.
*Anne is a character in the
Philippa Gregory novel, ''
The Constant Princess
''The Constant Princess'' is a historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory, published in 2005. The novel depicts a highly fictionalized version of the life of Catherine of Aragon and her rise to power in England.
Plot summary
Catalina of Ara ...
''.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntingdon, Anne Stafford, Countess of
1480s births
1544 deaths
Daughters of British dukes
English countesses
Mistresses of Henry VIII
16th-century English women
16th-century English nobility
15th-century English women
15th-century English people
Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon
Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (''née'' Lady Anne Stafford) (c. 1483–1544) was an English noble. She was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Catherine Woodville. She was first the wife of Sir Walter Herbe ...
Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon
Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (''née'' Lady Anne Stafford) (c. 1483–1544) was an English noble. She was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Catherine Woodville. She was first the wife of Sir Walter Herbe ...
Woodville family