Ralph Stafford (died 1385)

Sir Ralph Stafford (c. 1367 – July 1385)[1] was a knight of the royal household of King Richard II of England.

[1] This affair, wrote the historian Carol Rawcliffe, "threatened to disrupt the entire campaign" and drew much commentary from political observers of the time.

[7] Ralph Stafford had never married, and died childless, so the earldom passed to his younger brother, Thomas.

[6] Ralph's father, "embittered" at the king's failure to impose justice on the killer, embarked the same year on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and died on the return journey in 1386.

[4] 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... [but also] a potential ally and courtier magnate".