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FITZ ALAN John
Birth:          ABT 1347 England
Death:          16 Dec 1379 Irish Sea
Cause of Death: drowned

Notes
ancestry.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_FitzAlan,_1st_Baron_Arundel
John FitzAlan (D' Arundel), 1st Baron Arundel (c. 1348 – 16 December 1379) was a 
Lord Marshal or Marshal of England.
Lineage[edit]

He was born in Etchingham, Sussex, England to Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel 
and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster (Eleanor Plantagenet). His brother was 
Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. His sister was Joan Fitzalan, Countess of 
Hereford.

High office[edit]

John was appointed Lord Marshal of England by Richard II of England 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[1][2] 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.

Naval victory[edit]

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[edit]

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"[3] those they found inside. Further to this Sir John 
"allowed his men to ransack the countryside as they liked and to impoverish the 
people".[3] When the force eventually set out to sea, carrying with them goods stolen 
from a nearby church and under a pronouncement of excommunication from the 
wronged priests, the expedition was caught in a storm. Thomas Walsingham reports 
that during the panic of the storm, Sir John murdered those of his men who refused to 
make for shore for fear of being shipwrecked upon the rocks. Subsequently, after 
safely arriving on an island off the Irish coast, Sir John and his boat captain were 
swept back into the sea and drowned.[3]

According to Thomas Walsingham's story, FitzAlan's men profaned a convent at or 
near Southampton, and abducted many of its occupants. The fleet was then pursued 
by a violent tempest, when the wretched nuns who had been carried off were thrown 
overboard to lighten the ships. The vessels were, however, wrecked on the Irish 
coast, near Scariff according to some authorities, but at Cape Clear Island according 
to others. Sir John Arundell, together with his esquires, and other men of high birth, 
were drowned, and twenty-five ships were lost with most of their crews. Froissart's 
account of the event differs essentially from Walsingham's, in the omission of the story 
of the desecration of the convent.

Burial[edit]

He was buried in Lewes, Sussex.

He was also an ancestor of the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Marriage and children[edit]

On 17 February 1358, FitzAlan married Eleanor Maltravers (Mautravers) (1345 – 10 
January 1404/1406), daughter of John Maltravers and Gwenthin. They had at least 
five children (some references list more):
Joan FitzAlan (D' Arundel) (c. 1360 – 1 September 1404. She married first William de 
Brien (no issue) and secondly Sir William de Echingham.[4]
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, 
8th (or 9th) Earl of Arundel.
Sir William Arundel (c. 1369 – 1400). He was a Knight of the Garter.
Margaret (1372-7 July 1439) married William de Ros, 6th Baron de Ros of Hamlake 
and had descendants

Parents
FITZ ALAN Richard "Cropped Hat" (ABT 1313 - 24 Jan 1376)
PLANTAGENET Eleanor (ABT 1311 - 11 Jan 1372)

Siblings
FITZ ALAN Richard II (1346 - 21 Sep 1397)
FITZ ALAN John (ABT 1347 - 16 Dec 1379)
FITZ ALAN Alice (ABT 1348 - 17 Mar 1416)

Marriage To MALTRAVERS Eleanor (ABT 1345 - 12 Jan 1405) m. 17 Feb 1358 Notes Parents MALTRAVERS John VII (ABT 1317 - 22 Jan 1349) TALBOT Gwenthlian (Welthiana) (ABT 1327 - BEF Oct 1375) Children by MALTRAVERS Eleanor ABT 1345 - 12 Jan 1405
FITZ ALAN John (30 Nov 1364 - 14 Aug 1390) FITZ ALAN Ranulph (ABT 1365 - )
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