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- Sir Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford (24 September 1301 - 31 August 1372) was an English nobleman and notable soldier during the Hundred Years War against France.
He was the son of Edmund de Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, by his spouse Margaret Bassett.
Contents [hide]
1 Life
2 Marriages and children
3 Ancestry
4 References
[edit]Life
Having lost his father at the age of seven, Ralph grew up in the midlands with his mother's relatives, including her second husband Thomas Pipe. He had his first experience of royal service, along with his brothers and stepfather, when he joined the retinue of Ralph, 2nd Lord Bassett.[1]
Stafford was made a Knight banneret in 1327 and was fighting the Scots shortly afterwards. He supported the plot to free Edward III from the control of Roger Mortimer, which earned the king's gratitude. By the summer of 1332, he was a commissioner of the peace in Staffordshire and had served abroad on royal business, accompanying Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester. He was also still fighting the Scots, commanding archers at the Battle of Dupplin Moor on 11 Aug 1332 and on three further Scottish campaigns[1].
He was first summoned to Parliament by writ as Lord Stafford on 29 November 1336 and continued to attend until 1350.
His military career continued, accompanying King Edward to France in 1338 as an advisor and being present at the naval battle of Sluys on 24 June 1340. He also fought at the relief of Brest and the siege of Morlaix. He was captured at Vannes but was exchanged in time to negotiate a truce at Malestroit.
On 6 January 1341, he was made Steward of the Royal Household but resigned that post on 29 March 1345 having assumed the office of Seneschal of Aquitaine, an English possession in France, where he stayed for about a year. Further battles included the battle of Auberoche, the siege of Aiguillon, from where he escaped prior to its lifting, a raid on Barfleur and the English victory at the Battle of Crecy, on 26 August 1346. He became one of the twenty-six founding members of the Order of the Garter in 1348[1].
In November 1347, his wife's father died; they were able to take possession of his estates without paying the king's homage, an indication of the relationship between them. Ralph was now a very wealthily man, from his estates and from the many prizes from the French war[1].
Edward III created a number of new peerage titles to honour his war captains and to mark his jubilee year. Ralph was created the 1st Earl of Stafford on 5 March 1350, with an annuity of 1000 marks. He now replaced Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster as the king's lieutenant in Gascony, he committed to serve with 200 men at his expense with the expectation of this being doubled in March 1353 at the king's expense. The campaigns provided several captives that were ransomed, but were ultimately unsuccessful, leading to the appointment of Edward, Prince of Wales to command[1].
Even at the age of sixty, Stafford continued to command troops and act as a royal envoy, both in France and in Ireland in 1361, accompanying Lionel of Antwerp to try and restore English control.
[edit]Marriages and children
Lord Stafford married firstly, before 1326, Katherine, daughter of Sir John de Hastang, Knt., of Chebsey, Staffordshire, and they had two daughters:
Margaret, married Sir John of Bramshall (or Wickham) de Stafford, Knt.
Joan, married Sir Nicholas de Beke, Knt.
He later sensationally abducted Margaret de Audley (1318-1347), daughter of Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester and Margaret de Clare, who was worth at least £2314/year, more than ten times his own estates. Her parents filed a complaint to the King, but King Edward III of England supported Stafford. He appeased Hugh and Margaret by creating Hugh Earl of Gloucester. Margaret de Audley and Stafford married before 6 July 1336 and they subsequently had three sons and four daughters, of whom[2]:
Ralph Stafford, married Maud Grosmont, daughter of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Isabel de Beaumont in 1344. Died 1347[1].
Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, born circa 1336 in Staffordshire, England
Beatrice, (d. 1415), married, firstly, in 1350, Maurice fitz Maurice Fitzgerald, 2nd Earl of Desmond (d. June1358); secondly, Thomas de Ros, 5th Baron de Ros of Helmsley; thirdly Sir Richard Burley, Knt.
Katherine, (1348 - 1361), married Sir John de Sutton, Knt., Baron of Dudley, Staffs.
Elizabeth, (d. 1375), married, firstly Fulk le Strange; secondly, John de Ferrers, 3rd Baron Ferrers of Chartley; thirdly Reynolf Cobham, Baron Cobham.
Joan, (d. 1397), married, firstly, John Charleton, 3rd Baron Cherleton; secondly Gilbert Talbot, 3rd Baron Talbot.
He died on 31 August 1372 at Tonbridge Castle, Kent, England, where he was buried next to his second wife and her parents[1].
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Stafford,_1st_Earl_of_Stafford
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1301 - 1372 (70 years)
