Sir Ralph Stafford (c. 1367 – July 1385) was a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

of the royal household of King

Richard II of England Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father die ...

. He was murdered in 1385 by the king's half-brother, John Holland. One modern historian has suggested that Ralph was the closest friend the young King Richard II had at

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

; they were the same age and Ralph appears to have been "a bright and promising"

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

Biography

Ralph was the eldest son and heir of

Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

, and

Philippa de Beauchamp Philippa de Stafford, Countess of Stafford (before 1344 – 6 April 1386), was a late medieval English noblewoman and the daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG, and Katherine Mortimer. Her maternal grandfather was the power ...

, daughter of

Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG (c. 14 February 131313 November 1369), sometimes styled as Lord Warwick, was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. His reputation as a military leader was so for ...

. As a youth he grew up in the

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

of Queen

Anne of Bohemia Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and ...

. One of the king's household knights, he accompanied the royal army on the 1385 invasion of Scotland. In July, he was murdered between

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and Bishopsthorpe by Richard II's half-brother, John Holland. It is possible that Holland was acting in revenge for death of one of his

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...

s, whom, it has been suggested had themselves been killed by an

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

in Ralph's own

retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', it ...

; it may even be that a scuffle had taken place and caused the deaths of two of the earl's more "intemperate" members of his

. Holland may have killed Ralph in a case of mistaken identity whilst trying to find the archer, not realising who Ralph was; although it could also have occurred after an exchange of insults. This affair, wrote the

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Carol Rawcliffe, "threatened to disrupt the entire campaign" and drew much commentary from political observers of the time. Ralph Stafford had never married, and died childless, so the

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

passed to his younger brother,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

. The king, incensed with rage at Ralph's death had promised not to pardon Holland; Richard broke this promise, however in February 1386. Ralph's father, "embittered" at the king's failure to impose justice on the killer, embarked the same year on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and died on the return journey in 1386.Rawcliffe 1978, 11. Ralph Stafford was interred in

King's Langley Priory King's Langley Priory was a Dominican priory in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, England. It was located adjacent to the Kings Langley Royal Palace, residence of the Plantagenet English kings. History Langley was founded in 1308 by Edward II in ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. The king, it has been said, lost one of the most important colleagues he had ever had; Ralph Stafford was "not only a close friend... ut alsoa potential ally and courtier magnate".

References

{{Reflist 1360s births 1385 deaths 14th-century English people Medieval English knights Stafford family Heirs apparent who never acceded Year of birth uncertain