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 Elizabeth I. He hotly opposed the scheme to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Duke of Norfolk, and was entrusted by Elizabeth to see that the Scottish queen did not escape at the time of the threatened uprising in 1569. He served as President of the Council of the North from 1572 until his death in 1595. Early life Education Hastings was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, the eldest son of Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, and Catherine Pole in 1535 or 1536. Through his mother, he was descended from George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, who was a brother of King Edward IV. This gave him some claim to the throne. Hastings was educated at first by private tutors at his family manor. A year or so senior to Edward VI, Hastings joined the young prince at his studies at the king's invitation. He was tutored under Richard Cox, John Cheke and Jean Belmain. They provided both youths with an education based on the principles of Humanism. In 1548 he spent a brief period at Queens' College, Cambridge, profoundly influenced by the evangelical Protestantism he encountered at court and at the university. Marriage and imprisonment in the Tower of London His father was a political ally of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and to further their alliance the two elder politicians arranged the marriage of their children. On 21 May 1553, Henry was wed to Katherine Dudley, daughter of Northumberland by Jane Guildford. In 1553, Edward VI was dying and his appointed heir was his cousin Lady Jane Grey, Northumberland's daughter-in-law. Jane's reign lasted only from 10 to 19 July 1553 until her cousin Mary I of England prevailed. Due to his marital alliance, Henry backed Northumberland in his attempt to divert the succession in favour of Lady Jane Grey in July 1553, and on Mary Tudor's triumph he found himself incarcerated in the Tower of London. Mary attempted to reconcile with the Hastings family and soon they were free again and by oath loyal to her. Henry entered the household of his great-uncle Cardinal Reginald Pole and followed him in his visits to Calais, Flanders and