Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex

Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex
Arms of Sir Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex, KG
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Stafford Margaret Stanley Mary Arundell
Issue Henry Radcliffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex Sir Humphrey Radcliffe George Radcliffe Jane Radcliffe Anne Radcliffe son who died in infancy Sir John Radcliffe
Father	John Radcliffe, 6th Baron FitzWalter
Mother	Margaret Whetehill
Born	c. 1483
Died	27 November 1542 Chelsea, London
Buried	Buried at Boreham, Essex

Robert Radcliffe (also Radclyffe, Ratcliffe, Ratcliff, etc.), 10th Baron Fitzwalter and 1st Earl of Sussex, Chamberlain of the Exchequer, Lord Great Chamberlain, KG KB PC (c. 1483 – 27 November 1542), was a prominent courtier and soldier during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII.

Robert Radcliffe, born about 1483, was the only son of John Radcliffe (1452-1496), 9th Baron FitzWalter, and Margaret Whetehill, widow of Thomas Walden, gentleman, and daughter of Robert Whetehill, esquire, by his wife, Joan. Radcliffe had five sisters, Mary, the wife of Sir Edward Darrell; Bridget; Ursula; Jane, a nun; and Anne, wife of Sir Walter Hobart.

In October 1495 Robert Radcliffe's father was attainted of high treason for confederacy with the pretender, Perkin Warbeck, by which all his honours were forfeited. His life was spared, and he was imprisoned at Guisnes. After he unsuccessfully attempted to escape, he was beheaded at Calais about 24 November 1496. Radcliffe's mother was living on 6 July 1518. The date of her death is unknown.

In his youth Radcliffe was in the service of King Henry VII and his then elder son and heir, Arthur, Prince of Wales, and was present at Arthur's marriage to Catherine of Aragon on 14 November 1501.

Radcliffe's father's attainder was reversed by letters patent dated 3 November 1505, and later by Act of Parliament in 1509, by which Radcliffe became Baron FitzWalter. On 23 June 1509 he was made a Knight of the Bath, and on the following day officiated as Lord Sewer at the coronation of King Henry VIII. In 1515 he was at Westminster Abbey when Wolsey received his cardinal's hat.