page_title: Richard Stapledon
section_title: Monument in Exeter Cathedral
hierarchical_section_title: Richard Stapledon / Monument in Exeter Cathedral
caption_attribution_description: English: Sir Richard de Stapledon (d.1326) of Annery in the parish of Monkleigh, Devon, monument in Exeter Cathedral, Devon
context_page_description: Sir Richard de Stapledon of Annery in the parish of Monkleigh, North Devon, England, was a judge and the elder brother of Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter. His effigy and monument survive in Exeter Cathedral.
context_section_description: Sir Richard was also buried in Exeter Cathedral, near his brother the bishop, against the north wall across the north ambulatory from the bishop's tomb. His tomb is marked by an elaborate monument comprising a recessed ogee shaped niche set into the wall, containing his recumbent effigy, in the form of a cross-legged knight, which style supposedly represents crusaders. At the effigy's head stands a small statue of a man and at the feet a horse with an even smaller statue of a man holding its reins. According to Prince (d. 1723) this last group refers to the tradition of the cripple who seised the foreleg of Sir Richard's horse at Cripplegate and thereby threw him off his horse into the hands of the murderous mob. It is however more likely that the figures are "a touching early fourteenth century visual representation of the Knight with his immediate following ... a knight is shown accompanied by his squire, page and horse". The Devon historian Sir William Pole (d. 1635) stated that the arms of Stapledon (Argent, two bends wavy sable) were displayed on the shield of the effigy, but today no trace of colour remains. These arms are however still visible (possibly restored) on the nearby monument to his brother the bishop.
caption: Monument to Sir Richard Stapledon, Exeter Cathedral
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