Henry VI enthroned. The leading figure at far left holding a mace/staff/baton with a purse (containing the Great Seal) attached to his waist appears to be the Lord Chancellor, those items being the symbols of his office. Possibly John Stafford (d.1452), Lord Chancellor (1432-1450) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1443-1452). Detail from "Talbot Shrewsbury Book", 1444-45
John Stafford (died 25 May 1452) was a medieval English prelate and statesman who served as
Lord Chancellor (1432–1450) and as
Archbishop of Canterbury (1443–1452).
On 18 December 1424
Pope Martin V made him
Bishop of Bath and Wells, and he was consecrated on 27 May 1425.[6]Pope Eugene IV made him Archbishop of Canterbury in May 1443, a position he held until his death on 25 May 1452.[7] He steered an even course between parties as a moderate man and useful official.
Rogers, William Henry Hamilton, Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West, Exeter, 1890, Chapter 5, "With the Silver Hand", Stafford of Suthwyke, Archbishop and Earl[1] (Detailed discussion of the Bishop's origins).
^Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 95
^Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 106
^Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 87
^Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 228
^Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 233
References
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN0-521-56350-X.