John FitzAlan, 6th Earl of Arundel

John FitzAlan (1223–1267), Lord of Oswestry and Clun, and de jure Earl of Arundel, was a Breton-English nobleman and Marcher Lord with lands in the Welsh Marches.

Family

The son and heir of John Fitzalan, Lord of Oswestry and Clun, from Shropshire. His mother was Isabel, and she was the daughter of William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel by his wife, Mabel of Chester. John obtained possession of his paternal estates on 26 May 1244, aged 21 years.

After the death of his mother's brother Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel, and without direct heirs, he inherited jure matris the castle and honour of Arundel in 1243, which, according to the admission of 1433, he was held to have become de jure Earl of Arundel.^[1]

Welsh Conflicts

In 1257 the Welsh Lord Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, in the southern realm of the Kingdom of Powys, sought the aid of the Lord of Oswestry against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. John Fitzalan was a surviving member of the English force that was defeated at the hands of the Welsh at Cymerau in Carmarthenshire.

In 1258 he was one of the key English military commanders in the Welsh Marches and was summoned yet again in 1260 for further conflict against the Welsh.

As Earl of Arundel, John vacillated in the conflicts between Henry III and the Barons. He fought on the King's side at the Battle of Lewes in 1264, where he was taken prisoner.

By 1278 to 1282 his sons were engaged in Welsh border hostilities, attacking the lands of Llywelyn.

Marriage

He married Maud de Verdon, daughter of Theobald le Botiller (Boteler) by his wife Rohesia de Verdon (alias Rohese), by whom he had progeny including:

• John FitzAlan, 7th Earl of Arundel, eldest son and heir.
• Joan FitzAlan (c.1267-after 6 October 1316), wife of Sir Richard of Cornwall (d.1296), an illegitimate son of Richard of England, 1st Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans (1209-1272) (the second son of King John (1199-1216)) by his mistress Joan de Bath (alias de Valletort).

References

1. "The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom : extant, extinct, or dormant". Archive.org. pp. Volume 1, 239–40, as corrected by Vol. 14, p. 38. Retrieved 2013-05-10.

• Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700, Lines: 70A-29, 149-29.