Edmund Stafford

This article is about the bishop of Exeter. For other uses, see Edmund Stafford (disambiguation).

Edmund Stafford
Bishop of Exeter
Detail from alabaster effigy of Edmund Stafford in Exeter Cathedral
Appointed	15 January 1395
Term ended	3 September 1419
Predecessor	Thomas Brantingham
Successor	John Catterick
Orders
Consecration	20 June 1395
Personal details
Born	1344
Died	3 September 1419
Buried	Exeter Cathedral
Denomination	Catholic
Previous post(s)	Dean of York

Monument to Edmund Stafford, Bishop of Exeter, in the Lady Chapel of Exeter Cathedral, Devon

Edmund Stafford (1344 – 3 September 1419) was Bishop of Exeter from 1395 to his death in 1419.

Origins

He was the second son of Sir Richard Stafford of Clifton by his wife Isabel Vernon, a daughter of Sir Richard Vernon of Haddon Hall in Derbyshire.

Career

Stafford attended Oxford University, graduating BA in 1363; in the same year he was appointed a canon of Lichfield. He obtained a BCL in 1369 and a DL in 1385, the same year he became dean of York. He also held the Rectorship of Clifton Campville, his family lands. Whilst dean of York, he was named keeper of the Privy Seal on 4 May 1389, keeping that role until February 1396. Later that year, he was appointed Lord Chancellor of England, holding it until 1399 when, on the accession of Henry IV, he was replaced. Two years later he again took up the role, appointed as part of a reaction against Henry's dependence on Lancastrians. He was replaced by Henry Beaufort in February 1403. Edmund continued to serve the King, trying petitions in Parliaments in 1404 and 1406 and being appointed one of the King's councillors in the parliament of 1406.

Stafford was nominated to the see of Exeter on 15 January 1395 and consecrated on 20 June 1395. Visits to his diocese were few when he was on government office; he did visit extensively in the time between appointments as Chancellor and after 1403 he became more involved, with extensive vistas in 1404, 1411 and 1414.

Death and burial

Stafford died on 3 September 1419 and was buried in the Lady Chapel of Exeter Cathedral, where survives his elaborate monument with recumbent alabaster effigy. His family lands and the barony passed to Thomas Stafford. His executors are named in 1421.

References

• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.