Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford
Encyclopedia
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(1336 – 16 October 1386) was the eldest son of Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford
Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford
Ralph de Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, KG was an English nobleman and notable soldier during the Hundred Years War against France.-Early life and family:...
and Margaret de Audley
Margaret de Audley
Margaret de Audley, suo jure 2nd Baroness Audley and Countess of Stafford was an English noblewoman. She was the only daughter of Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester by his wife Lady Margaret de Clare...
.
Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford succeeded to the title of 3rd Lord Audley circa 1358. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Earl of Stafford on 31 August 1372.
Early life
Hugh de Stafford was the second son of Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of StaffordRalph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford
Ralph de Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, KG was an English nobleman and notable soldier during the Hundred Years War against France.-Early life and family:...
and Margaret de Audley
Margaret de Audley
Margaret de Audley, suo jure 2nd Baroness Audley and Countess of Stafford was an English noblewoman. She was the only daughter of Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester by his wife Lady Margaret de Clare...
. His elder brother, Ralph, was intended to inherit the title and had been married to Maud Grosmont
Maud, Countess of Leicester
Maud of Lancaster , also known as Matilda, Countess of Hainault, was a 14th century English noblewoman who married into the Bavarian royal family....
, daughter of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 4th Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, KG , also Earl of Derby, was a member of the English nobility in the 14th century, and a prominent English diplomat, politician, and soldier...
and Isabel de Beaumont
Isabel de Beaumont
Isabel de Beaumont, Duchess of Lancaster, of the House of Brienne was an English noblewoman, being the youngest daughter and child of Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan and Alice Comyn.- Family :...
in 1344, with the expectation that he would expand the Stafford estates by inheriting had the Lancastrian duchy. However, Ralph died early in 1347 and Hugh became heir.
Hugh joined his father in the French campaigns in 1359, being part of the retinue of Edward, Prince of Wales
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
, spending time in Gascony and northern Spain.
Political career
He spent many years in military service, before returning to England and being summoned to Parliament in 1371 as Lord Stafford and later as Earl Stafford. He was a member of a number of royal commissions, such as ones on Scottish affairs and on coastal defence. He was on the committee of nobles who conferred regularly with the CommonsHouse of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
, being deemed suitable by that House to be part of the new 'continual council' of state. He did not always make the best decisions though and was admonished by his peers for censuring the John Philipot, the London MP and merchant who had mobilised a fleet to defend merchant shipping.
Marriage and children
On or before 1 March 1350 Hugh de Stafford married Philippa de BeauchampPhilippa de Beauchamp
Philippa de Beauchamp was the daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick and Katherine Mortimer.On or before 1 March 1350 she married Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, son of Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford and Margaret Audley, Baroness Audley.Philippa and Hugh had seven...
daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War...
and Katherine Mortimer. They had seven children.
- Sir Ralph de Stafford (born about 1354–1385). Ralph was killed by King Richard II'sRichard II of EnglandRichard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
half-brother, Sir John HollandJohn Holland, 1st Duke of ExeterJohn Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter KG , also 1st Earl of Huntingdon, was an English nobleman, primarily remembered for helping cause the downfall of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester and then for conspiring against Henry IV.He was the third son of Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent and Joan...
in a feud during an expedition against the Scots in May 1385, over a retainer's death by one of Ralph's archers. - Margaret de StaffordMargaret de StaffordMargaret de Stafford was the second daughter of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford and Philippa de Beauchamp...
, (b. abt. 1364–9 June 1396), married Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. - Thomas de Stafford, 3rd Earl of Stafford (b. abt. 1368 – 4 July 1392). Inherited at age of 18. Married Anne PlantagenetAnne of GloucesterAnne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford was the eldest daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de Bohun.-Family:...
, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de BohunEleanor de BohunEleanor de Bohun was the elder daughter and co-heiress with her sister Mary de Bohun, of their father Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford. Her mother was Lady Joan Fitzalan, daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster.-Marriage:In 1376 she...
. No issue, the marriage was reportedly never consummated. - William Stafford, 4th Earl of Stafford (21 September 1375–6 April 1395). Inherited from his brother at the age of 14. He was a ward of the Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester. He died at 19, no issue.
- Katherine de StaffordKatherine de StaffordKatherine de Stafford, Countess of Suffolk was a daughter of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford and his wife Philippa de Beauchamp...
(b. abt. 1376–8 April 1419), married Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of SuffolkMichael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of SuffolkMichael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk was an English nobleman who supported Henry IV against Richard II. He died during the Siege of Harfleur in 1415.... - Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of StaffordEdmund Stafford, 5th Earl of StaffordEdmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford and 6th Baron Audley, KB, KG was the son of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford and Philippa de Beauchamp....
(2 March 1377–22 July 1403), inherited title from his brother at the age of 17. He married Anne of GloucesterAnne of GloucesterAnne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford was the eldest daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de Bohun.-Family:...
, the widow of his elder brother Thomas. The two were father to Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of BuckinghamHumphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of BuckinghamHumphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG , an English nobleman, great grandson of King Edward III on his mother's side, was best known as a military commander in the Hundred Years' War and in the Wars of the Roses....
. - Joan de Stafford (1378–1 October 1442), married Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of SurreyThomas Holland, 1st Duke of SurreyThomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, 3rd Earl of Kent, 4th Baron Holland, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.-Early life and family:...
. No issue.
Hugh's wife Phillippa died 6 April 1386 and it was probably this combined with the death of his son that pushed him to undertake a series of pilgrimages. He went first to Walsingham and then sailed for Jerusalem. He only got to Rhodes, where he died in the hospital the knights of St John in Oct. His bones were returned to Stone
Stone, Staffordshire
Stone is an old market town in Staffordshire, England, situated about seven miles north of Stafford, and around seven miles south of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It is the second town, after Stafford itself, in the Borough of Stafford, and has long been of importance from the point of view of...
Priory, Staffs, for burial next to his wife.
Ancestry
Sources
- Richard Glanville-Brown, correspondence, Richard Glanville-Brown (RR 2, Milton, Ontario, Canada), August 17, 2005.
- G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant. new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XII/2, page 547.
- Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. 106th edition, 2 vols., Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999
- thepeerage.com Accessed November 25, 2007