Eleanor (Plantagenet) de Arundel (abt. 1318 - 1372)

Ancestors

Wife of Richard (FitzAlan) de Arundel — married 5 Feb 1345 in Ditton, Buckinghamshire, England

Descendants

Died 11 Jan 1372 at about age 54 in Arundel Castle, Sussex, England

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Eleanor, often called Eleanor de Lancaster or Eleanor of Lancaster, was the daughter of Henry Plantagenet/of Lancaster^[1][2] and Maud Chaworth.^[3][4][5][6] Eleanor's birth date is uncertain. Wikipedia, citing Burke's Guide to the Royal Family, gives a birth date 11 September 1318^[7] and this date is widely found in trees on the web, but there appears to be no reliable source for it. Medlands gives an uncertain birth date of 1318.^[8] Her parents had interests in England and Wales, and her birthplace is not known.

First Marriage

Before June 1337 Eleanor married John de Beaumont.^{[1][2][3][5][9]} (Wikipedia gives the marriage date as 6 November 1330, with no sourcing, and should not be trusted.^[7]) They had one son:

• Henry,^[1] born in 1339/40 in Brabant, where her mother was attending Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III^[3][5][9]

John de Beaumont died during a tournament on 14 April 1342.^[3][5]

Second Marriage

Eleanor became the second wife of Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel^[1][2][10] on 5 February 1344/5 . They married at Ditton, Buckinghamshire in the presence of Edward III. Papal dispensations were issued for the marriage because of their consanguinity.^[4][6] They had five children:

• Richard^[4][6][10]
• John^[4][6]
• Thomas^[4][6]
• Joan, who married Humphrey de Bohun^[4][6]
• Alice, who married Thomas de Holand^[4][6]

Life

In 1339 Eleanor was granted the lands and marriage of John Botetourt during his minority.^[3][5]

In the 1330s Eleanor became one of the attendants on Queen Philippa, Edward III's wife. In 1341 she was awarded an annuity of £100 for her services to Philippa. That year she was also given hunting rights in the royal forests in England.^[3][5]

In December 1343 Eleanor lodged a complaint about disturbances in which she had been robbed and her servants attacked.^[3][5]

In March 1344 attorneys were appointed for her affairs while she went on a pilgrimage to Santiago da Compostella.^[3][5]

In 1345 Eleanor was named as Eleanor, Countess of Arundel in her father's will.^[11]

In 1364 and 1366 Eleanor was granted papal permission to enter monasteries of the Minoresses once a year, accompanied by four honest matrons of forty [or more] years.^[4][6]

Death

Eleanor died at Arundel, Sussex on 11 January 1371/2 and was buried at Lewes Priory, Sussex. Her second husband survived her, dying on 24 January 1375/6.^[4][6][10] In his will he asked to be buried at Lewes Priory near to the tomb of his wife Eleanor of Lancaster, with his tomb no tighter than hers.^[12]

There is also a monument in Chichester Cathedral, Sussex which is probably of Eleanor and her husband. This monument inspired a poem, An Arundel Tomb, by Philip Larkin.^[13]

Writs for Inquisitions Post Mortem were issued on 16 January 1472/3. The resulting IPMs show her holding extensive dower lands, from her first marriage, in Berkshire, Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire.^[14]

Research Notes

Children

Wikipedia's article on Eleanor ascribed another daughter to Eleanor - Mary who married John le Strange,^[7] This derives from an error in Cokayne's Complete Peerage.^[15] Medieval Lands says that the Mary who married John le Strange was daughter of Richard FitzAlan's first marriage, to Isabel le Despenser.^[16] Mary was sister of Eleanor's second husband.^[17] Medieval Lands also says that Richard FitzAlan had a second daughter called Mary, from his marriage to Eleanor, but gives no details and no sourcing.^[16]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} John Fetherston (ed.). The Visitation of the County of Leicester, 1619, Harleian Society, 1870, p. 169, Internet Archive
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Charles Best Norcliffe (ed.). The Visitation of Yorkshire in the Years 1563 and 1564, Harleian Society, 1881, p. 19, Internet Archive
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. I, pp. 157-158, BEAUMONT 6
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8} Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, Vol. II, pp. 185-190, FITZALAN 6
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. I, pp. 309-310, BEAUMONT 8
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8} Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. II, pp. 606-610, FITZALAN 11
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Wikipedia: Eleanor of Lancaster
8. ↑ Charles Cawley. Entry for Eleanor of Lancaster in "Medieval Lands" database, accessed 26 July 2022
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, raised edition, Vol. II, St Catherine's Press, 1912, pp. 60-61, Internet Archive
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, Vol. I, St Catherine's Press, 1910, pp. 242-244, Internet Archive
11. ↑ Alfred Gibbons. Early Lincoln Wills, James Williamson, 1888, pp. 17-18, Google Books
12. ↑ Nicholas Harris Nicolas. Testamenta Vetusta, Vol. I, Nichols and Son, 1826, Archive
13. ↑ Wikipedia:An Arundel Tomb
14. ↑ A. E. Stamp, J. B. W. Chapman, M. C. B. Dawes and D. B. Wardle, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, File 232', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 13, Edward III (London, 1954), pp. 214-226, British History Online, accessed 26 July 2022
15. ↑ G E Cokayne, Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. XII, part 2, St Catherine's Press, 1916, p. 344, viewable on Familysearch
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, entry for Richard FitzAlan, accessed 26 July 2022
17. ↑ Some corrections and additions to the Complete Peerage: Volume 1: Arundel, web, accessed 26 July 2022

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by C Given-Wilson for 'Fitzalan, Richard, third earl of Arundel and eighth earl of Surrey', brunt and online 2004, revised online 2013
• Fowler, Kenneth. King's Lieutenant: Henry of Grosmont, First Duke of Lancaster, 1310-61, Harper Collins, 1969

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 26 July 2022.

Eleanor Plantagenet appears in trails badged by the Magna Carta Project between Magna Carta Surety Barons Hugh le Bigod and Roger le Bigod and the following Gateway Ancestors:

• Alsop Gateways (Timothy, Elizabeth and George): project-approved/badged in 2015. See the trails HERE.
• Mary Bourchier: badged in 2019. See the trail HERE.
• Edward Bromfield (MCA I:331-333 BROMFIELD): badged July 2021. See trail HERE.
• Coytemore Gateways (Elizabeth and Thomas): badged in 2015. See the trails HERE.
• Manwaring Gateways (Oliver and Mary): badged, re-reviewed in February 2024. See the trails HERE.
• Alexander Spotswood: badged in 2015 and needs re-review. See the trail HERE.

Eleanor also appears in unbadged trails (needing work) to the following Gateway:

• Blakiston Gateways (Nehemiah and George): portions need development. See trails HERE.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".