# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hastings, Laurence

​HASTINGS, LAURENCE, first Earl of Pembroke (1318?–1348), son of John, third baron Hastings by writ and ninth by tenure [see under Hasting, John, second baron], and Juliana, granddaughter of Thomas de Leyburne, was probably born in the latter part of 1318, since he was six years old when he succeeded his father as Baron Hastings and Bergavenny in 1325. Soon after Trinity Sunday, 29 May 1328, he was married at Hereford to Agnes, third daughter of Roger Mortimer, earl of March (Baker, p. 42; Murimuth, p. 57). In 1339 he served with Edward III in Flanders (Hemingburgh, ii. 347), and on 13 Oct. he was created Earl Palatine of Pembroke as representative of his great-uncle, Aymer de Valence (d. 1324) [q. v.]; neither he nor his successors were styled Palatine in their later summonses (Selden, Titles of Honour, 3rd edit. pp. 644–5). His first summons to parliament was dated 16 Nov. 1339; in 1340 he was summoned to the Scottish war for the defence of Stirling (Rot. Scotiæ, i. 601), and in the same year served in the fleet at the battle of Sluys on 24 June (Froissart, ii. 37). He accompanied the king in his Scottish expedition in 1341, and was present when Edward paid his famous visit to the Countess of Salisbury (ib. ii. 342; Report on Dignity of a Peer, iv. 536–7). In 1342 he was present at a tournament at Dunstable on 11 Feb., and in March accompanied the expedition to Brittany, where he remained till the following year. In July 1342 a warrant was issued for the payment of wages to him and to sixty men-at-arms and a hundred archers (Fœdera, vol. ii. pt. iv. p. 132). According to Murimuth (Appendix, p. 232) he was one of the Knights of the Round Table in January 1344; he was not, however, included in the regular foundation of the order of the Garter. Pembroke took a prominent part in the French campaigns of Henry, earl of Derby (afterwards Duke of Lancaster), whom he accompanied to Gascony in June 1345 (Fœdera, vol. iii. pt. i. p. 142). He was present at the siege of Bergerac in July, and marched with Derby to Auberoche; he was then sent to take command at Bergerac, where he was when the French laid siege to Auberoche. Derby marched to the relief of the town and summoned Pembroke to join him, but Pembroke's coming was delayed, and he did not reach Auberoche till 22 Oct., the day after the battle. He was much hurt that Derby had not awaited his coming, and plainly expressed his feelings (Froissart, ii. 67 sqq.) During the winter he was present at the capture of Aguillon, La Réole, and other towns, and when the French threatened Aguillon in March 1346, Pembroke was one of the principal captains sent to defend it. The siege lasted from the end of March till early in August (Luce, iii. xxxiii); when on one occasion Sir Walter Manny was hard pressed during a sally, Pembroke led a party to his rescue. Pembroke returned with Lancaster to England in December, when they were in great danger from a severe storm (Knighton, 2592). He then went to take part in the siege of Calais, and in June 1347 was appointed with the Earl of Northampton to command a fleet which was to prevent the introduction of provisions into the town; on the 25th they won a complete victory, and dispersed the French near Crotoy (Avesbury, pp. 384–6). This was Pembroke's last exploit, and he died 30 Aug. 1348, leaving a son John, second earl of Pembroke [q. v.] ​His widow married John de Hakelut, and dying 25 July 1369 was buried in the church of the Minoresses without Aldgate. His mother, who died in 1350, gave the manor of Dene to the monastery of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, on condition that prayers were offered for her son's soul (Thorn ap. Scriptt. Decem, 2138). Pembroke is figured in the fine brass of his half-uncle, Sir Hugh Hastings [q. v.], at Elsing, Norfolk. There is a full-sized reproduction of Pembroke's portrait in Carter's ‘Specimens of Ancient Sculpture and Painting’ (plates after p. [38]; Doyle engraves it as a portrait of John, the second earl).
[Froissart's Chroniques, ed. Luce; Murimuth's and Avesbury's Chronicles in the Rolls Ser.; Geoffrey le Baker, ed. Thompson; Report on Dignity of a Peer, iii. 441 and vol. iv.; Rymer's Fœdera, Record ed.; Dugdale's Baronage, i. 576; Doyle's Official Baronage, iii. 11; Courthope's Historic Peerage, p. 239.]
C. L. K.