Ralph de Luffa

Ralph de Luffa
Bishop of Chichester
Memorial within Chichester Cathedral
Appointed	before 6 January 1091
Term ended	14 December 1123
Predecessor	Godfrey
Successor	Seffrid
Orders
Consecration	6 January 1091 by Thomas of Bayeux
Personal details
Died	14 December 1123

Ralph de Luffa (or Ralph Luffa (died 1123) was an English bishop of Chichester, from 1091 to 1123. He built extensively on his cathedral as well as being praised by contemporary writers as an exemplary bishop. He took little part in the Investiture Crisis which took place in England during his episcopate. Although at one point he refused to allow his diocese to be taxed by King Henry I of England, Luffa remained on good terms with the two kings of England he served.

Luffa was consecrated on 6 January 1091 by Thomas, the Archbishop of York. He was consecrated at York as the See of Canterbury was vacant at the time. Luffa had previously been a chaplain for King William II of England, nicknamed "Rufus", and was also the king's friend. This information comes from the medieval writer Orderic Vitalis, but there is no other confirmation that he was a royal servant. He also served Rufus as a judge, and the historian Norman Cantor calls him a justiciar for Rufus, but the historian Francis West, who studied the justiciar's office, notes that his one of appearance as a royal judge concerns his diocese, and that Luffa probably was mentioned only because he was expected to enforce the decision.

During the crisis between the king and Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury in 1095 and 1096, Luffa managed to support Anselm while retaining the king's respect. Under King Henry I, William's younger brother and successor, Luffa took little part in the Investiture Crisis in England. In 1106, Luffa did sign a letter to Anselm written by William Giffard Bishop of Winchester-elect that begged the archbishop to return to England from his exile.

Luffa gained King Henry's respect because Luffa was the lone bishop to resist Henry's financial extortion from the clergy. As part of this dispute, Luffa ordered that all church services be discontinued and the church doors in his diocese be blocked with thorns. It was during Luffa's tenure of the see that the first disputes between the bishop and Battle Abbey started, although they were not large. During Luffa's episcopate, he and the abbey disputed over the right of the bishop to be entertained by the abbey and the requirement that the abbot attend the diocesan councils. The dispute only reached its climax during the episcopate of Hilary of Chichester, who was Bishop of Chichester from 1147 to 1169. Luffa also supported Anselm's attempts to assert Canterbury's primacy over the Archbishop of York in 1108 and 1109.