Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel
Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel (
May 1,
1285 –
November 17,
1326) was an
English nobleman prominent in the contention between
Edward II and his barons and second de facto Earl of the FitzAlan line. He was born
1 May 1285 in the Castle of Marlborough. He was the son of
Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel and
Alisia de Saluzzo (also known as Alice), daughter of
Thomas I,
marquis of Saluzzo in Italy. He succeeded to his father's estates and titles in 1302. He was summoned to Parliament,
9 November 1306, as
Earl of Arundel, and took part in the Scottish wars of that year.
Arundel bore the royal robes at Edward II's coronation, but he soon fell out with the king's favorite
Piers Gaveston. In 1310 he was one of the Lords Ordainer, and he was one of the 5 earls who allied in 1312 to oust de Gaveston. Arundel resisted reconciling with the King after de Gaveston's death, and in 1314 he along with some other earls refused to help the king's Scottish campaign, which contributed in part to the English defeat at
Bannockburn.
A few years later Arundel allied with king Edward's new favorites,
Hugh le Despenser and his son of the same name, and had his son and heir Richard married to a daughter of the younger Hugh le Despenser. He reluctantly consented to the Despenser's banishment in 1321, and joined the king's efforts to restore them in 1321. Over the following years Arundel was one of the king's principal supporters, and after the capture of
Roger Mortimer in 1322 he received a large part of the forfeited Mortimer estates. He also held the two great offices governing Wales, becoming justice of Wales in 1322 and warden of the Welsh marches in 1325.
After Mortimer's escape from prison and invasion of England in 1326, amongst the barons only Arundel and his brother-in-law Warenne remained loyal to the king. Their defensive efforts were ineffective, and Arundel was captured and executed at the behest of
Queen Isabella.
Arundel married
Alice Warenne, sister and eventual heiress of
John de Warenne, 8th
Earl of Surrey or Warenne and daughter of
William de Warenne and
Joan de Vere. Alice was living in 1330 but died before
23 May 1338. His estates and titles were forfeited when was executed, but they were eventually restored to his eldest son
Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel.
