The Quadrangle, Arundel Castle.
He was succeeded in the earldom and estates by his son, John, who dying two years afterwards, was succeeded by his son, Richard, then only five years of age. That nobleman greatly improved the Castle of Arundel, and is thus described in “the Siege of Caerlaverock:”—
“Richard, the Earl of Arundel,
A well-beloved and handsome knight,
In crimson surcoat marked, and well
With gold and rampant lion dight.”
In 1302 King Edward I. was the guest of the earl, at Arundel, and at that time created Arundel a borough, and granted the earl certain privileges, of taxes, &c., for the purpose of fortifying it. He was succeeded by his son, Edmund Fitzalan, who, being taken prisoner by Mortimer, was beheaded at Hereford. He was succeeded by his son, Richard Fitzalan, to whom Arundel Castle, which had, on the execution of the last earl, been giving to the Earl of Kent, was restored, as were also the baronies of Fitzalan, Clun, and Oswestry. He led an active and useful life, and distinguished himself at Crescy, Vannes, Thouars, and other places, and founded a chantry of six priests at Arundel. He was succeeded by his son, Richard, in his titles and estates; he died on the scaffold, in Cheapside, in 1397, the king, Richard II., being present at the execution. Ten days afterwards, “it being bruited abroad for a miracle that his head should be grown to his bodye againe,” the king sent, secretly, by night, “certaine nobilitye to see his bodie taken up, that he might be certified of the truth, which done, and perceiving that it was a fable,” he had the grave closed up again. Through this attainder Arundel reverted to the crown, and was given to the Duke of Exeter.
The earl was succeeded by his son, Thomas Fitzalan, who was, by Henry IV., restored both in blood and in all his possessions and titles. He held, among other important offices, those of Warden of the Cinque Ports, Constable of Dover Castle, and Lord High Treasurer of England. He married, in the presence of the king and queen, Beatrix, daughter of John, King of Portugal, but died without issue, when the Arundel estate passed, by entail, to his cousin, Sir John Fitzalan (or Arundel, as he called himself), Lord Maltravers. His son, John, succeeded him as Baron Maltravers and Earl of Arundel, and was created Duke of Touraine, but being wounded before Beavois, was carried prisoner to that place, where he died, and was succeeded by his son, Humphrey, who died a minor. The title and estates then passed to the brother of Earl John, William Fitzalan, who, in his turn, was succeeded by his son, Thomas, who again was succeeded by his son, William, who died in 1543. This nobleman was succeeded in his titles and estates by his son, Henry Fitzalan, who in the four reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, led a most eventful life, holding many important offices, and acquitted himself nobly in all. He left issue, two daughters (his only son having died a minor in his father’s lifetime), Joan, married to Lord Lumley, and Mary, married to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. But the latter lady having died after giving birth to a son, Philip Howard, and the other, Lady Lumley, having been married twenty years without issue, the earl entailed the estates, &c., on Lord and Lady Lumley for their lives, and then to Philip Howard, the son of his sister Mary. Thus ended the Fitzalan family, and from that time the titles and estates have belonged to the ducal family of Howard.
