John FitzAlan (abt. 1348 - 1379)

Born about 1348 in West Betchworth, Dorking, Surrey, England

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor (Mautravers) FitzAlan — married 17 Feb 1359 in England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 15 Dec 1379 at about age 31 in Irish Sea

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Biography

John de Arundel^[1]

Origins

John de Arundel (aka FitzAlan), Knt., was the younger son of Richard de Arundel, Knt., 10th Earl of Arundel, 9th Earl of Surrey, and his second wife Eleanor,^[2] daughter of Henry of Lancaster, Earl of Lancaster and Leicestershire and grandson of King Henry III of England.^[1][3] His date of birth is unknown and is estimated to be about 1348.

Marriage and Children

John married Eleanor Mautravers^[4] on 17 February 1358/9.^[1][2] She was the daughter of Sir John Mautravers and Gwenthlian _____,^[2] and co-heiress of her brother John, Lord Maltravers in 1350.^[1] They had five sons and two daughters:

• John, Knt., 2nd Lord Arundel, heir,^[4] born 30 November 1364, was never summoned to parliament.^[2] He married before 1385 to Elizabeth Despencer and had three sons.^[1] He died testate on 14 August 1390^[1] and was buried at Missenden Abbey.^[2]
• William, created K.G. ca. 1395,^[4] married Agnes ____ and had no issue. He left a will dated 1 August 1400.^[1]
• Edward,^[1]
• Henry,^[1]
• Richard, Knt., married before 1407 to Alice ____, widow of Roger Burley, and had four children. He died testate on 3 June 1419.^[1]
• Joan, married first to William de Bryan and second to William Echingham.^[1]
• Margaret, married William Roos^[1] by license dated 9 October 1394 at Sterborough, Surrey and they had nine children. Margaret died testate on 3 July 1438.^[5]

Military and Career

John was summoned to Parliament as Johanni de Arundell by writ dated 4 August 1377^[1] to 20 October 1379, during which time he became Lord Arundel.^[2] He was Marshal of England in 1377, when he was about age thirty,^[4] and also 9 April 1378.^[2] In 1377, he was granted £100 per annum and retained by the king for life; the grant being doubled in 1379.^[4]

In 1377, he stopped a French attack on Southampton, before they were able to lay siege to the town, and drove the enemy back to their ships.^[4] Later that year, he commanded a naval expedition to assist the Duke of Brittany and defeated the French fleet off the coast of Cornwall.^[1][2][4] In 1378, he defended Cherbourg, Normandy and commanded another expedition to Brittany to aid John de Montfort.^[4]

In the fall of 1379, while his expedition was awaiting calmer winds before setting sail to Brittany, they sheltered in a local convent. It appears that John de Arundel let his sailors run amok while they were staying onshore as a commission was issued to John and the other commanders on 26 October 1379 to ask about the crimes committed on the expedition, including the rape of nuns and thefts from the church. When the fleet finally set sail, against the advice of the shipmaster, they were overtaken by a storm. The sailors tried to lighten the ships load by throwing looted items (and 60 women!) overboard, but the ship wrecked on some rocks. John was caught in quicksand and drowned.^[4]

Death and Burial

Sir John de Arundel, 1st Lord Arundel, died testate on 15 December 1379 in the Irish Sea and was buried at Lewes Priory, Sussex.^[1][2] His will was dated 26 November 1379.^[2]

Eleanor married second on 9 August 1380, as his second wife, Sir Reynold Cobham, 2nd Lord Cobham of Sterborough, and together they had one son. The couple divorced in 1384 due to consanguinity but were allowed to remarry with dispensation.^[1] The dispensation was issued 9 September 1384.^[2] Eleanor died testate on 12 January 1404/5 and was buried with her first husband.^[1] Her will was written at Lytchett Matravers on 26 September 1404 and proved 16 January 1404/5 at Maidstone.^[2]

Research Notes

Disputed son - it is not disputed that John de Arundel and his wife Eleanor Mautravers had a son named Henry. What is disputed is that his son Henry is this one: Henry Fitzlangley

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16} Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011), vol. I, page 30, ARUNDEL 8.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11} Cokayne, G. E. The Complete Peerage. (London: St Catherine's Press, 1910), online at Archive.org, Vol. I, pages 259-260.
3. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011), vol. II, page 189, FITZ ALAN 6.ii.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8} Barber, Richard. "Arundel [Fitzalan], Sir John (c. 1348–1379), soldier" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 28, 2006. Oxford University Press, accessed 25 Nov 2019 w/subscription at OxfordDNB.com.
5. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011), vol. III, page 455, ROOS 7.

• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011). See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013). See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry.

See also:

• Richardson, Douglas. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 3 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011), vol. I, page 109, ARUNDEL 10. Online at GoogleBooks.
• Lewis, Marlyn. Sir John FitzAlan, entry in Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors and Cousins database (accessed 6 Dec 2019). citing Royal Ancestry vol. I p. 149; vol. II p. 269, 608; vol. IV p. 83-84, 156-157, 215-216, 496; Plantagenet Ancestry p. 41, 319 and others.
• Burke, Sir Bernard. A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (London: n.p., 1883). Online at Archive.org, page 201, FitzAlan, Earls of Arundel, Barons Maltravers.
• Wikipedia: John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel
• Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, 7th ed., 1999. Online at Ancestry.com, page 31, Line 21 #32.
• Watney, Vernon James. The Wallop Family and Their Ancestry. (Oxford, England: John Johnson, 1928), online at FamilySearch, Vol. 2, page 320.
• Roberts, Gary Boyd. The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants. (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004), online at Ancestry.com page 377: Henry III to Mary Gye Maverick.
• Faris, David. Plantagenet Ancestry of 17th Century Colonists, 2nd ed. (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999), pages 36-37 (not available online).
• Mosley, C. Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th ed., 1999, n.p., page 209 (not available online).
• The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Arundel [Fitzalan, Sir John (c. 1348–1379) Richard Barber]
• Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4. London: The Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII, p 125, Echingham.

Acknowledgements

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Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed and approved for the Magna Carta Project by Thiessen-117 8 December 2019.

John FitzAlan is a descendant of Magna Carta surety barons Hugh le Bigod, Roger le Bigod, Robert de Vere and Saher de Quincy. His profile is in trails badged by the Magna Carta project to the following Gateway Ancestors:

• Alsop Gateways (Timothy, Elizabeth and George): badged 2015 and re-reviewed July 2022. See trail HERE.
• Edward Bromfield (MCA I:331-333 BROMFIELD): badged July 2021. See trail HERE.
• Nelson Gateways (John and Margaret) (MCA III:225-230 NELSON). See the trails HERE.

John also appears in unbadged trails (needing work) from Vere and Quincy to the following Gateways:

• Blakiston Gateways (Nehemiah and George): needs development. See the trail HERE.

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