Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford

Ralph de Stafford(Dokeseye)
Earl of Stafford Baron Stafford
Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, KG, illustration from the Bruges Garter Book, c. 1430
Spouse(s)	Katherine de Hastang Margaret de Audley (1336–1347)
Issue Margaret Stafford Joan Stafford Ralph de Stafford Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford Katherine Stafford Elizabeth Stafford Beatrice Stafford Joan Stafford
Noble family	Stafford
Father	Edmund de Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford
Mother	Margaret Bassett
Born	24 Sept 1301
Died	31 Aug 1372 (aged 70-71)
Buried	Tonbridge Priory, Kent

Ralph de Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, KG (24 September 1301 – 31 August 1372) was an English nobleman and notable soldier during the Hundred Years War against France.

Ralph was born on 24 September 1301, the son of Edmund de Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford and Margaret Basset. 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 Basset.

Stafford was made a Knight banneret in 1327 and was fighting the Scots shortly afterwards. He supported the plot to free Edward III of England 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.

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 and the fifth Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1348.