Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel
Encyclopedia
Lineage
FitzAlan was the eldest son of Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of ArundelEdmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel
Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel was an English nobleman prominent in the conflict between Edward II and his barons. His father, Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel, died in 1302 while Edmund was still a minor. He therefore became a ward of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and married...
(8th Earl of Arundel per Ancestral Roots), and Alice de Warenne
Alice de Warenne
Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel was an English noblewoman and heir apparent to the Earldom of Surrey. In 1305, she married Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel.-Family:...
. His maternal grandparents were William de Warenne and Joan de Vere. William was the only son of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey.
He was born 1306 in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and died 24 January 1376 in Sussex, England.
Alliance with the Despensers
Around 1321, FitzAlan's father allied with King Edward IIEdward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
's favorites, Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester
Hugh le Despenser , sometimes referred to as "the Elder Despenser", was for a time the chief adviser to King Edward II of England....
and his namesake son, and Richard was married to Isabel le Despenser
Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Arundel
Isabel le Despenser was the eldest daughter of Hugh Despenser the Younger and Eleanor de Clare. She was descended from Edward I of England through her mother, while her father is famous for being the favorite of Edward II of England.-Marriage:...
, daughter of Hugh the Younger
Hugh the younger Despenser
Hugh Despenser, 1st Lord Despenser , also referred to as "the younger Despenser", was the son and heir of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester , and Isabella daughter of William, 9th Earl of Warwick.-Titles and possessions:Hugh Despenser the younger was knight of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire,...
. Fortune turned against the Despenser party, and on 17 November 1326, FitzAlan's father was executed, and he did not succeed to his father's estates or titles.
Gradual restoration
However, political conditions had changed by 1330, and over the next few years Richard was gradually able to reacquire the Earldom of ArundelEarl of Arundel
The title Earl of Arundel is the oldest extant Earldom and perhaps the oldest extant title in the Peerage of England. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. It was created in 1138 for the Norman baron Sir William d'Aubigny...
as well as the great estates his father had held in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
and in the Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
.
Beyond this, in 1334 he was made Justiciar of North Wales
Justiciar of North Wales
The Justiciar of North Wales was a legal office concerned with the government of the three counties in north-west Wales created by Edward I of England out of the Kingdom of Gwynedd under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. He was responsible for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merioneth...
(later his term in this office was made for life), High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire
High Sheriff of Caernarvonshire
This is a list of High Sheriffs of Caernarvonshire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...
for life and Governor of Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle is a medieval building in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure...
. He was one of the most trusted supporters of Edward the Black Prince in Wales.
Military service in Scotland
Despite his high offices in Wales, in the following decades Arundel spent much of his time fighting in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
(during the Second Wars of Scottish Independence
Wars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....
) and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(during the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
). In 1337, Arundel was made Joint Commander of the English army in the north, and the next year he was made the sole Commander.
Notable victories
In 1340 he fought at the Battle of SluysBattle of Sluys
The decisive naval Battle of Sluys , also called Battle of l'Ecluse was fought on 24 June 1340 as one of the opening conflicts of the Hundred Years' War...
, and then at the siege of Tournai
Siege of Tournai (1340)
During the Hundred Years' War, after the naval battle at Sluys on 20 June 1340, in which Edward III of England dealt the French a heavy blow, he went on to besiege Tournai. This city in Flanders was loyal to Philip VI of France....
. After a short term as Warden of the Scottish Marches
Scottish Marches
Scottish Marches was the term used for the Anglo-Scottish border during the late medieval and early modern eras—from the late 13th century, with the creation by Edward I of England of the first Lord Warden of the Marches to the early 17th century and the creation of the Middle Shires, promulgated...
, he returned to the continent, where he fought in a number of campaigns, and was appointed Joint Lieutenant of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
in 1340.
Arundel was one of the three principal English commanders at the Battle of Crécy
Battle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War...
. He spent much of the following years on various military campaigns and diplomatic missions.
Great wealth
In 1347 he succeeded to the Earldom of SurreyEarl of Surrey
The Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England, and has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror...
(or Warenne), which even further increased his great wealth. (He did not however use the additional title until after the death of the Dowager Countess of Surrey in 1361.) He made very large loans to King Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
but even so on his death left behind a great sum in hard cash.
Marriages and Children
By his first marriage to Isabel le DespenserIsabel le Despenser, Countess of Arundel
Isabel le Despenser was the eldest daughter of Hugh Despenser the Younger and Eleanor de Clare. She was descended from Edward I of England through her mother, while her father is famous for being the favorite of Edward II of England.-Marriage:...
(living 1356), he had:
- Edmund de Arundel, (who was bastardized by the annulment), married Sybil, daughter of William Montacute, 1st Earl of SalisburyWilliam Montacute, 1st Earl of SalisburyWilliam I Montagu, alias de Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 3rd Baron Montacute, King of Mann was an English nobleman and loyal servant of King Edward III....
. Their daughter, Philippa de Arundel, married Sir Richard Sergeaux, Knt, of Cornwall.
By the second marriage to Eleanor of Lancaster
Eleanor of Lancaster
Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel was the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth.-First marriage and issue:...
, he had 3 sons and 3 surviving daughters:
- RichardRichard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of ArundelRichard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel and 9th Earl of Surrey KG was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.-Lineage:...
, who succeeded him as 11th Earl of Arundel. - John FitzalanJohn FitzAlan, 1st Baron ArundelJohn FitzAlan , 1st Baron Arundel was a Lord Marshal or Marshal of England.- Lineage :He was born in Etchingham, Sussex, England to Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster...
, 1st Baron Maltravers, who was a Marshall of England, and drowned in 1379. - Thomas ArundelThomas ArundelThomas Arundel was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken opponent of the Lollards.-Family background:...
, who became Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group... - JoanJoan FitzalanJoan FitzAlan, Countess of Hereford, Countess of Essex and Countess of Northampton , was the wife of the 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex and 2nd Earl of Northampton. She was the mother of Mary de Bohun, the first wife of Henry of Bolingbroke who later reigned as King Henry IV, and Eleanor...
(1348 - 7 April 1419) who married Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of HerefordHumphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of HerefordHumphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton, KG was an important medieval English noble during the reign of King Edward III of England.- Lineage :...
. - AliceAlice FitzAlan (1350-1416)Alice Holland, Countess of Kent , formerly Lady Alice FitzAlan, was an English noblewoman, a daughter of the 10th Earl of Arundel, and the wife of the 2nd Earl of Kent, the half-brother of King Richard II. She was the maternal grandmother of Anne Mortimer, thus an ancestor of King Edward IV and...
(1350 - 17 March 1416), who married Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of KentThomas Holland, 2nd Earl of KentThomas Holland , 2nd Earl of Kent, 3rd Baron Holand KG was an English nobleman and a councillor of his half-brother, King Richard II of England.-Family and early Life:...
. - Eleanor Fitzalan (1356 - before 1366).
Richard Fitzalan and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster's tombstones are in Chichester Cathedral
Chichester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Chichester Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in Sussex, England...
and famously the subject of the poem "An Arundel Tomb" by Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin
Philip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL is widely regarded as one of the great English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century...
.
Ancestry
See also
- An Arundel TombAn Arundel Tomb"An Arundel Tomb" is a poem by Philip Larkin, published in 1964 in his collection The Whitsun Weddings. It comprises 7 verses of 6 lines each, each rhyming abbcac....