Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel

Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel
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Name	Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel
Birth date	c. 1346
Birth place	Arundel Castle
Death date	24 January 1397
Death place	Salamanca
Title	11th Earl of Arundel

Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel was an English nobleman, soldier, administrator, and magnate of the late fourteenth century who played a prominent part in the politics of the reigns of Edward III of England and Richard II of England. He combined military service in the Hundred Years' War with high office at court and fierce opposition to royal favourites, becoming a leader of the aristocratic opposition that culminated in charges against Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland and disputes with Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk. Arundel's career intersected with key figures and events of the later Middle Ages in England, and his legacy influenced the dynamics between crown and nobility on the eve of the Wars of the Roses.

Early life and family background

Born around 1346 into the FitzAlan family that held Arundel Castle and the earldom established by the House of FitzAlan, he was the son of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster. His maternal connections linked him to the House of Lancaster, including kinship ties to Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster and the wider network of Plantagenet relatives such as Edward III. The FitzAlans were entrenched in the Marches and southern English lordships, their estates interacting with jurisdictions like Sussex, Surrey, and Devon. His upbringing exposed him to the chivalric and courtly culture of Glastonbury Abbey, Westminster Abbey, and royal households where nobles such as John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence were influential. As heir, he received training in chivalry, castellanship at Arundel Castle, and feudal administration under stewards drawn from families like the Mortimers and the Beauforts.

Political and military career

Arundel embarked on a military career in the context of the Hundred Years' War and campaigns in Gascony and Flanders, serving under commanders including Edward, the Black Prince and John of Gaunt. He was summoned to parliaments and royal councils where he interacted with peers such as William Montagu, Earl of Salisbury and Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. His offices included appointment as Admiral of the West, which placed him in the company of naval administrators such as Sir John Hawkwood and maritime magnates operating out of Portsmouth and Winchelsea. Arundel fought in continental expeditions and domestic musters alongside leaders of the Order of the Garter such as Edward de Bohun and Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and he engaged in county governance with sheriffs and justices associated with Chichester and Lewes.

Role in the deposition of Edward II and opposition to Edward IIIs policies

Although the deposition of Edward II of England predated his majority, Arundel’s political stance was shaped by the aftermath of that crisis and the politics of Edward III of England's late reign. He became a prominent critic of royal favourites during the minority and early personal rule of Richard II of England, aligning with magnates who opposed figures like Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland and Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk. Arundel participated in the Wonderful Parliament-era disputes over finance and patronage, his parliamentary activity intersecting with reformers and opponents such as Henry le Despenser and Thomas Mortimer. He played a leading role in the impeachment and exile of de la Pole and in the checks imposed on the royal household by peers including Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury (a collateral relation) and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. His stance brought him into conflict with the king’s inner circle, contributing to the factionalism that produced episodes like the Merciless Parliament and later reprisals by Richard II of England.

Titles, lands, and administration

As Earl of Arundel he held extensive estates and baronial rights centered on Arundel Castle, with manors across Sussex and holdings in Surrey, Kent, and Devon. His demesne administration employed stewards and bailiffs drawn from gentry families such as the Raleighs and FitzHughs, while his jurisdictional privileges included wardships and advowsons contested with ecclesiastical institutions like Battle Abbey and parish churches under Bishop of Chichester patronage. Arundel’s feudal obligations required military service and castle garrisons, and his income derived from manorial courts, market tolls in boroughs like Arundel and Chichester, and wardship profits regulated by the Chancery and Exchequer. He was active in local commissions of array and peace, cooperating with royal justices such as William Scrope and sheriffs appointed by the Crown.

Marriages and issue

Arundel married twice, alliances that connected him to prominent houses: first to Alice de Warenne (or a member of the Warenne family), linking him to the Earl of Surrey line, and subsequently to Eleanor of Lancaster relations that reinforced ties to the House of Lancaster and kin of Edward III of England. His children included heirs who continued FitzAlan succession and intermarried with peers such as the Howard and Talbot families in later generations, producing descendants who played roles in the House of Lancaster–House of York conflicts. Through marriages and settlements he negotiated dower rights, entailments, and the distribution of manorial incomes, engaging with legal mechanisms administered by Common Pleas and influenced by statute and custom debated in Parliament of England.

Death, legacy, and historical assessment

Arundel died on 24 January 1397, after a career that placed him at the center of royal and aristocratic contention in late medieval England; his death preceded the overthrow of some opponents and the eventual deposition of Richard II of England in favor of Henry IV of England. Historians have assessed him variously as a principled defender of baronial privilege and as a partisan noble whose opposition heightened factional tensions, comparable in some accounts to contemporaries like Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk and Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York. His administrative records and feudal disputes illuminate late fourteenth-century lordship, patronage networks linking Westminster to county gentry, and the interplay of military obligation and political influence that shaped the transition from Plantagenet governance to Lancastrian rule. Arundel’s descendants and marital alliances continued to affect English aristocratic politics into the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Category:14th-century English nobility Category:Earls of Arundel