Brass of the month March 2005

The Kinsmen of Sir Hugh de Hastings (d. 1347) and the Elsing Brass

With regard to the well known monumental brass of Sir Hugh de Hastings (d. 1347) in the church of Elsing, Norfolk, Norman F. Cantor wrote in part,

' Sir Hugh in his tomb is flanked by a group of eight weepers, headed by King Edward III and including companions in arms and members of the Order of the Garter such as Ralph, Earl of Stafford, and relatives such as Roger, Lord Grey of Ruthin. According to Binski, the tomb expresses "a form of corporate identity, embedded in shared military honor and badges of allegiance." ' [1]

A prior SGM ( thread had resolved the confusion evidenced by Professor Cantor, and others [2], concerning the alleged lack of relationships between Sir Hugh and the weepers on his monument, save one: King Edward III [3].

At the time I wrote the subject post in September last year, I had already forgotten a previous thread concerning Sir Hugh and his kinship to King Edward III from September 2004, in which it was shown that they were in fact 4th cousins 1x removed [4].

It is therefore more accurate to say, concerning the weepers represented on the monument of Sir Hugh de Hastings at Elsing, that

" Hastings selected eight of his old comrades-in-arms from the French wars for this purpose, ALL of whom were related to him. "

NOTES

[1] Norman F. Cantor, In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made (Chapter 6: Women and Men of Property).

[2] Monumental Brass Society, Brass of the Month, March 2005: Elsing, Norfolk. The author of this entry wrote in part,

" The weepers represented on medieval monuments are commonly members of the deceased person's family. Hastings, however, selected eight of his old comrades-in-arms from the French wars for this purpose, some of whom, though, were related to him. "

[3] J. Ravilious, <Hawise (____) Basset: A conjectured identification>, SGM, 10 September 2005. The charts included in that post, reflecting the known relationships of Sir Hugh, and the then-conjectured relationship to Sir Ralph de Stafford (later 1st Earl of Stafford) is repeated below for clarity's sake.

Weeper Name ID in Relationship

Chart below

King Edward III * [not noted/beyond 5th degree]

* NOW shown as 4th cousin 1x removed *

Thomas Beauchamp, (A) 1st cousin 1x removed

Earl of Warwick

Hugh le Despenser, (B) 1st cousin

Lord Despenser

Sir John Grey of (C) nephew

Ruthin

Henry, Earl of (D) 1st cousin

Lancaster

Lawrence Hastings, (E) nephew

Earl of Pembroke

Ralph de Stafford, (F) [conjectured] 2nd cousin

Lord Stafford

Almeric de St. Amand, (G) 1st cousin

Lord St. Amand

William de Beauchamp = Maud FitzJohn Hugh le = Aline

E of Warwick | Despenser | Basset

_________________|_______ ___________|_ _ _ _ _ _

| <1> | <2> | |

Guy Patrick = Isabel = Hugh le Hawise

E of Warwick de | | Despenser (Despenser ?)

| Chaworth | | ex. 1326 = Ralph Basset

____| _____________| |_______________________ |

| | | | | |

| | <1> <2> | | | |

THOMAS Maud Isabel = Sir John = Isabel Hugh Margaret Margaret

E OF = Henry de | de | Despenser = John Basset

WARWICK E of Valence | Hastings | ex 1326 de St. = Edmund

(A) Lancs. ________|___ | | Amand Stafford

__________| | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

HENRY Elizabeth John de HUGH HUGH AMAURI RALPH

E OF = Sir Roger Hastings DE (B) (ALMERIC) STAFFORD

LANCS de Grey | HASTINGS (G) (F)

(D) | |

| |

SIR JOHN LAURENCE DE

GREY (C) HASTINGS

(E)

[4] J. Ravilious, <CP Correction: Sir Hugh de Hastings, kinsman of

Edward III of England >, SGM, 2 Sept 2004.

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