Ralph Stratford
# Ralph Stratford

Ralph Stratford (c. 1300–1354), also known as Ralph Hatton of Stratford, was a medieval Bishop of London.

## Early life

Born in Stratford-on-Avon at the beginning of the fourteenth century, Stratford's parents may have been Thomas Hatton (of Warwickshire) and a sister of the bishops John de Stratford and Robert Stratford. He is also related, through them, to Henry de Stratford, Sir Andrew de Stratford and the Archdeacon Thomas de Stratford. He attended Oxford University and was regent MA in 1329.

## Career

Stratford's career was closely defined by and linked with his uncles John and Robert. He was elected 26 January 1340 and consecrated on 12 March 1340. In 1350 the king nominated him for the cardinalate.

## Death

Stratford died at Stepney, on 7 or 17 April 1354, and on 28 April his uncle Robert Stratford, bishop of Chichester, granted forty days' indulgence to those who prayed for his soul. He was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

## Citations

* ↑ Bedford, WK Riland. "The Blazon of Episcopacy" 1858
* ↑ Blomefield and Parkin An essay towards a topographical history of the county of Norfolk pp. 390
* 1 2 3 Roy Martin Haines, ‘Stratford , Ralph (c.1300–1354)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 28 May 2014
* ↑ Haines, Roy Martin (1986). Archbishop John Stratford, Political Revolutionary and Champion of the Liberties of the English Church, c.1275/80-1348. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. ISBN 0888440766.
* ↑ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 258
