Sir Ralph Stafford (c. 1367 – July 1385)[1] was a knight of the royal household of King Richard II of England. He was murdered in 1385 by the king's half-brother, John Holland. One modern historian has suggested that Ralph was the closest friend the young King Richard II had at court; they were the same age and Ralph appears to have been "a bright and promising" courtier.[1]
Ralph was the eldest son and heir of Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, and Philippa de Beauchamp, daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick.[2] As a youth he grew up in the household of Queen Anne of Bohemia.[3] One of the king's household knights, he accompanied the royal army on the 1385 invasion of Scotland. In July, he was murdered between York and Bishopsthorpe by Richard II's half-brother, John Holland.[4] It is possible that Holland was acting in revenge for death of one of his squires, whom, it has been suggested had themselves been killed by an archer in Ralph's own retinue;[5] it may even be that a scuffle had taken place and caused the deaths of two of the earl's more "intemperate" members of his retinue.[1] Holland may have killed Ralph in a case of mistaken identity whilst trying to find the archer, not realising who Ralph was;[6] although it could also have occurred after an exchange of insults.[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.[4] The king, incensed with rage at Ralph's death[3] had promised not to pardon Holland; Richard broke this promise, however[5] in February 1386.[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.[8] Ralph Stafford was interred in King's Langley Priory, Hertfordshire.[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".[1]