thumb|243px|Arms of Sir John FitzAlan, 7th Earl of Arundel, KG - 1 and 4, gules a lion rampant or (FitzAlan); 2 and 3, sable, a fret or (Maltravers)
John Fitzalan, 7th Earl of Arundel, 4th Baron Maltravers KG (14 February 140812 June 1435) was an English nobleman and military commander during the later phases of the Hundred Years' War. His father, John Fitzalan, 3rd Baron Maltravers, fought a long battle to lay claim to the Arundel earldom, a battle that was not finally resolved until after the father's death, when John Fitzalan the son was finally confirmed in the title in 1433.
Already before this, in 1430, Fitzalan had departed for France, where he held a series of important command positions. He served under John, Duke of Bedford, the uncle of the eight-year-old King Henry VI. Fitzalan was involved in recovering fortresses in the Île-de-France region, and in suppressing local rebellions. His military career ended, however, at the Battle of Gerbevoy in 1435. Refusing to retreat in the face of superior forces, Arundel was shot in the foot and captured. His leg was later amputated, and he died shortly afterwards from the injury. His final resting place was a matter of dispute until the mid-nineteenth century, when his tomb at Arundel Castle was revealed to contain a skeleton missing one leg.
Arundel was considered a great soldier by his contemporaries. He had been a successful commander in France, in a period of decline for the English, and his death was a great loss to his country. He was succeeded by his son Humphrey, who did not live to adulthood. The title of Earl of Arundel then went to John's younger brother, William.
Family background
John Fitzalan was born at Lytchett Matravers in Dorset on 14 February 1408. He was the son of John Fitzalan, 3rd Baron Maltravers (1385–1421) and Eleanor (d. 1455), daughter of Sir John Berkeley of Beverstone, Gloucestershire. John Fitzalan the elder, through his great-great-grandfather Richard FitzAlan, 4th Earl of Arundel, made a claim on the earldom of Arundel after the death of Thomas Fitzalan, 5th Earl of Arundel, in 1415. The claim was disputed, however, by Thomas's three sisters and their families, foremost among these Elizabeth FitzAlan, who had married Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk. When he died in 1421, the dispute continued under his son, and it was not until 1433 that the younger John FitzAlan finally had his title confirmed in parliament, despite the Mowbrays disputing his claim. On 23 April 1430, the younger Fitzalan departed for France in the company of the Earl of Huntingdon. There he soon made a name for himself as a soldier, under the command of the king's uncle, John, Duke of Bedford. taking back Saint-Célerin, Sillé-le-Guillaume, where there was a short skirmish. The Armagnacs arrived, and demanded the return of the hostages in the castle; Arundel feigned to agree and departed. As soon as the Armagnacs rode off Arundel returned and took the castle by assault. and by 1434 Beaumont-le-Vicomte. In December 1433, Bedford again appointed him commander in Upper Normandy, as well as captain of Pont-de-l'Arche. That Spring he was joined in Paris by John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury with nearly 1000 reinforcements from England. Later in May he was replaced as lieutenant of Upper Normandy by Talbot, and instead received a command between the Seine and Loire rivers. This effectively meant that the two shared the command of Normandy, with Talbot east of the Seine and Arundel to the west. But they combined operations capturing Beaumont-sur-Oise, and then Creil, which was finally taken on 20 June 1434. In the summer Arundel captured the Mantes-Chartres regional fortresses; it appeared for a time at least the Armagnacs no longer posed a threat to Paris.
On 8 September, Arundel was also made Duke of Touraine – an area held by the French. The grant was made as a reward for his good service, but also in the hope that he would campaign in the area. In October he was made captain of Saint-Lô, where he had to deal with a rebellion in the Bessin area. The Duke of Alençon was trying to exploit the revolt to take control of Avranches, but Arundel managed to prevent the French advance and ended the rebellion. With 800 men, Arundel was sent to recover Rue, where he learnt that La Hire was fortifying Gerberoy, only 37 miles east of Rouen. Talbot had previously cleared out the Picardy,, but when Arundel arrived he discovered to his surprise La Hire and Jean Poton de Xaintrailles had already occupied the fortress. He was forced to give battle or besiege.
Death and aftermath
thumb|John FitzAlan's free-standing [[cadaver tomb was opened in 1857, to reveal a skeleton missing one leg.]]
On the night of 31 May/1 June 1435, Arundel was at Mantes-la-Jolie in the Île-de-France, when he was ordered to relocate north to Gournay-sur-Epte (now Gournay-en-Bray). When he was informed that the French had taken over the nearby fortress at Gerberoy, he moved quickly to attack it. The English met with a large French force at Gerberoy. Many withdrew to Gournay in panic, but Arundel remained to fight. Heavily wounded, he was taken to Beauvais as a captive of the French. According to the French historian Thomas Basin, Arundel was humiliated by his defeat and refused to receive medical treatment for the damage to his foot. The leg was eventually amputated, but Arundel's life could not be saved; he died of his injuries on 12 June 1435, depriving the English of one of their youngest, most able and dedicated military leaders. Arundel was replaced in his command by Lord Scales.
There was long uncertainty about what had happened to the earl's body. The French chronicler Jehan de Waurin claimed that Arundel had simply been buried in Beauvais. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, the chaplain of the Duke of Norfolk came upon the will of Arundel's squire, Fulk Eyton, when he died later in 1454. Eyton maintained therein that he had secured the earl's body and brought it back to England, for which he had been rewarded with a payment of 1400 Marks. The body was disinterred, brought back to England, and then entombed in the Fitzalan Chapel of Arundel Castle, as Arundel had expressly wished for in his own will. On 16 November 1857, the tomb in the Arundel chapel carrying the earl's effigy was opened. In it was found a skeleton measuring over six feet, with a missing leg.
Arundel's military career coincided with a period of general decline for the English in France. He had been an unusually successful campaigner. His death was lamented in England and celebrated in France.