Hugh de Stafford ★

1340s–1360s

Born around 1342 in Staffordshire, second son of Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, and Margaret de Audley, and heir to the earldom after his elder brother died in 1347. Married Philippa de Beauchamp on or before 1 March 1350. Campaigned in France in 1359 with the Black Prince.

1370s–1380s

Became 2nd Earl of Stafford on 31 August 1372 and sat on royal commissions and the king's continual council. After Philippa died in April 1386 he set out for Jerusalem, and died on the way at Rhodes on 16 October 1386. Buried at Stone Priory, Staffordshire.

Family Background

Hugh de Stafford was born around 1342 in Staffordshire, second son of Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, and Margaret de Audley. He became heir to the earldom when his elder brother Ralph died in early 1347, and inherited the title of 3rd Lord Audley around 1358. He married Philippa de Beauchamp, daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, on or before March 1, 1350, and the couple had at least eight children.

Military Service

Hugh campaigned in France in 1359 in the retinue of Edward, the Black Prince, serving in Gascony and northern Spain before inheriting the earldom of Stafford on August 31, 1372.

Political and Administrative Role

Summoned to Parliament first as Lord Stafford and later as Earl Stafford, Hugh sat on royal commissions concerning Scottish affairs and coastal defense and served on a "continual council" of state that regularly conferred with the House of Commons — though his judgment was questioned in 1378 when his peers admonished him for censuring the merchant-MP John Philipot over a privately financed defensive fleet.

Pilgrimage and Death

After his wife Philippa's death on April 6, 1386, Hugh undertook pilgrimages to Walsingham and set out for Jerusalem, but died along the way on October 16, 1386, at the hospital of the Knights of St. John in Rhodes. He was buried at Stone Priory in Staffordshire.