John Fitzalan, 1st Baron Arundel (c. 1348 – 1379), also known as Sir John Arundel, was an English soldier.

Lineage

He was born in Etchingham, Sussex, England to Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel (c. 1313 – 1376), and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster (1318–1372), daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, and widow of John Beaumont, 2nd Baron Beaumont. His brother was Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. His sister was Joan Fitzalan, Countess of Hereford.

High office

thumbnail|right|Betchworth Castle

John was appointed Lord Marshal of England by Richard II in 1377, and summoned to the House of Lords on 4 August 1377, by writ directed Johanni de Arundell. He served as Lord Marshal until 1379.

On 26 July 1379 he was given licence to crenellate (i.e., permission to fortify) a stone castle on the site of an 11th-century earthwork fortress in Surrey. Over the years since then the structure was rebuilt and remodelled and its remains are now known as Betchworth Castle.

Being in command of a naval expedition in aid to the Duke of Brittany, he defeated the French fleet off the coast of Cornwall.

Death at sea

Commanding a force with the purpose of bringing relief to the Duke of Brittany, Sir John was compelled to wait for stronger winds. During this wait he decided to take refuge in a nunnery, where his men "took no notice of the sanctity of the place and... violently assaulted and raped" those they found inside. Further to this Sir John "allowed his men to ransack the countryside as they liked and to impoverish the people".

  • John FitzAlan, 2nd Baron Arundel (3 November 1364 – 14 August 1390), who married Elizabeth le Despenser.
  • Richard FitzAlan (c. 1366 – 3 June 1419). His daughter Joan married Thomas Willoughby of Parham, a grandson of Alayne FitzAlan, daughter of Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel.
  • Sir William Arundel (c. 1369 – 1400). He was a Knight of the Garter.
  • Margaret (1372 – 7 July 1439) married William Ros, 6th Baron Ros of Hamlake and had descendants

Ancestry

Notes

References

  • 'The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham, 1376-1422', ed. & trans. J. Taylor, W. Childs & L. Watkiss
  • Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines 9–33, 21–31, 21–32, 59–34, 212–34