despised by all, and disliked even by his master. The climax came in November 1853, when he was publicly horse-whipped by the count of Isenburg-Wächtersbach, the elector’s son-in-law. The count was pronounced insane; but Hassenpflug was conscious of the method in his madness, and tendered his resignation. This was, however, not accepted; and it was not till the 16th of October 1855 that he was finally relieved of his offices. He retired to Marburg, where he died on the 15th of October 1862. He lived just long enough to hear of the restoration of the Hesse constitution of 1831 (June 21, 1862), which it had been his life’s mission to destroy. Of his publications the most important is Actenstücke, die landständischen Anklagen wider den Kurfürstlichen hessischen Staatsminister Hassenpflug. Ein Beitrag zur Zeitgeschichte und zum neueren deutschen Staatsrechte, anonym. (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1836). He was twice married, his first wife being the sister of the brothers Grimm. His son Karl Hassenpflug (1824–1890) was a distinguished sculptor.
See the biography by Wippermann in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, with authorities.
HASTINAPUR, an ancient city of British India, in the Meerut
district of the United Provinces, lying on the bank of a former
bed of the Ganges, 22 m. N.E. of Meerut. It formed the capital
of the great Pandava kingdom, celebrated in the Mahābhārata,
and probably one of the earliest Aryan settlements outside the
Punjab. Tradition points to a group of shapeless mounds as
the residence of the Lunar princes of the house of Bharata whose
deeds are commemorated in the great national epic. After the
conclusion of the famous war which forms the central episode
of that poem, Hastinapur remained for some time the metropolis
of the descendants of Parikshit, but the town was finally swept
away by a flood of the Ganges, and the capital was transferred
to Kausambi.
HASTINGS, a famous English family. John, Baron Hastings
(c. 1262–c. 1313), was a son of Sir Henry de Hastings (d. 1268),
who was summoned to parliament as a baron by Simon de
Montfort in 1264. Having joined Montfort’s party Sir Henry
led the Londoners at the battle of Lewes and was taken prisoner
at Evesham. After his release he continued his opposition
to Henry III.; he was among those who resisted the king at
Kenilworth, and after the issue of the Dictum de Kenilworth
he commanded the remnants of the baronial party when they
made their last stand in the isle of Ely, submitting to Henry in
July 1267. His younger son, Edmund, was specially noted for
his military services in Scotland during the reign of Edward I.
John Hastings married Isabella (d. 1305), daughter of William
de Valence, earl of Pembroke, a half-brother of Henry III.,
and fought in Scotland and in Wales. Through his mother,
Joanna de Cantilupe, he inherited the extensive lordship of
Abergavenny, hence he is sometimes referred to as lord of
Bergavenny, and in 1295 he was summoned to parliament as
a baron. Before this date, however, he had come somewhat
prominently to the front. His paternal grandmother, Ada,
was a younger daughter of David, earl of Huntingdon, and a
niece of the Scottish king, William the Lion; and in 1290 when
Margaret, the maid of Norway, died, Hastings came forward
as a claimant for the vacant throne. Although unsuccessful
in the matter he did not swerve from his loyalty to Edward I.
He fought constantly either in France or in Scotland; he led
the bishop of Durham’s men at the celebrated siege of Carlaverock
castle in 1300; and with his brother Edmund he signed the
letter which in 1301 the English barons sent to Pope Boniface
VIII. repudiating papal interference in the affairs of Scotland;
on two occasions he represented the king in Aquitaine. Hastings
died in 1312 or 1313. His second wife was Isabella, daughter
of the elder Hugh le Despenser. Hastings, who was one of the
most wealthy and powerful nobles of his time, stood high in the
regard of the king and is lauded by the chroniclers.
His eldest son John (d. 1325), who succeeded to the barony, was the father of Laurence Hastings, who was created earl of Pembroke in 1339, the earls of Pembroke retaining the barony of Hastings until 1389. A younger son by a second marriage, Sir Hugh Hastings (c. 1307–1347), saw a good deal of military service in France; his portrait and also that of his wife may still be seen on the east window of Elsing church, which contains a beautiful brass to his memory.
On the death of John, the third and last earl of Pembroke of the Hastings family, in 1389, Sir Hugh’s son John had, according to a decision of the House of Lords in 1840, a title to the barony of Hastings, but he did not prosecute his claim and he died without sons in 1393. However his grand-nephew and heir, Hugh (d. 1396), claimed the barony, which was also claimed by Reginald, Lord Grey of Ruthyn. Like the earls of Pembroke, Grey was descended through his grandmother, Elizabeth Hastings, from John, Lord Hastings, by his first wife; Hugh, on the other hand, was descended from John’s second wife. After Hugh’s death his brother, Sir Edward Hastings (c. 1382–1438), claimed the barony, and the case as to who should bear the arms of the Hastings family came before the court of chivalry. In 1410 it was decided in favour of Grey, who thereupon assumed the arms. Both disputants still claimed the barony, but the view seems to have prevailed that it had fallen into abeyance in 1389. Sir Edward was imprisoned for refusing to pay his rival’s costs, and he was probably still in prison when he died in January 1438. After his death the Hastings family, which became extinct during the 16th century, tacitly abandoned the claim to the barony. Then in 1840 the title was revived in favour of Sir Jacob Astley, Bart. (1797–1859), who derived his claim from a daughter of Sir Hugh Hastings who died in 1540. Sir Jacob’s descendant, Albert Edward (b. 1882), became 21st Baron Hastings in 1904.
A distant relative of the same family was William, Baron Hastings (c. 1430–1483), a son of Sir Leonard Hastings (d. 1455). He became attached to Edward IV., whom he served before his accession to the throne, and after this event he became master of the mint, chamberlain of the royal household and one of the king’s most trusted advisers. Having been made a baron in 1461, he married Catherine, daughter of Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury, and was frequently sent on diplomatic errands to Burgundy and elsewhere. He was faithful to Edward IV. during the king’s exile in the winter of 1470–1471, and after his return he fought for him at Barnet and at Tewkesbury; he has been accused of taking part in the murder of Henry VI.’s son, prince Edward, after the latter battle. Hastings succeeded his sovereign in the favour of Jane Shore. He was made captain of Calais in 1471, and was with Edward IV. when he met Louis XI. of France at Picquigny in 1475, on which occasion he received gifts from Louis and from Charles the Bold of Burgundy. After Edward IV.’s death Hastings behaved in a somewhat undecided manner. He disliked the queen, Elizabeth Woodville, but he refused to ally himself with Richard, duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III. Suddenly Richard decided to get rid of him, and during a meeting of the council on the 13th of June 1483 he was seized and at once put to death. This dramatic incident is related by Sir Thomas More in his History of Richard III., and has been worked by Shakespeare into his play Richard III. Hastings is highly praised by his friend Philippe de Commines, and also by More. He left a son, Edward (d. 1508), the father of George, Baron Hastings (c. 1488–1545), who was created earl of Huntingdon (q.v.) in 1529.
When Francis, 10th earl of Huntingdon, died in October 1789, the barony of Hastings passed to his sister Elizabeth (1731–1808), wife of John Rawdon, earl of Moira, and from her it came to her son Francis Rawdon-Hastings (see below), who was created marquess of Hastings in 1817.
HASTINGS, FRANCIS RAWDON-HASTINGS, 1st Marquess of (1754–1826), British soldier and governor-general of India,
born on the 9th of December 1754, was the son of Sir John
Rawdon of Moira in the county of Down, 4th baronet, who was
created Baron Rawdon of Moira, and afterwards earl of Moira,
in the Irish peerage. His mother was the Lady Elizabeth
Hastings, daughter of Theophilus, 9th earl of Huntingdon.
Lord Rawdon, as he was then called, was educated at Harrow
and Oxford, and joined the army in 1771 as ensign in the 15th
foot. His life henceforth was entirely spent in the service of his
country, and may be divided into four periods: from 1775 to
