Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour

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Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour (c. 1560 – 7 November 1639) was an English nobleman. He was the second son of Sir Mathew Arundell of Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, and of Margaret, daughter of Sir Henry Willoughby.

In 1579 he was personally recommended by Queen Elizabeth to the emperor Rudolph II.

In 1585, he married Mary Wriothesley, daughter of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton. They had three children:

Thomas Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Wardour (c. 1586–1643), who succeeded him
William Arundell, married Mary Browne and had issue
Elizabeth Mary Arundell, married Sir John Philpot in 1606

Though a Roman Catholic, in 1588, he contributed £100 to fund the repulsion of the Spanish Armada. He greatly distinguished himself while serving with the imperial troops against the Turks in Hungary, and at the siege of Gran on August 13th 1595, he captured the enemy's banner with his own hand.

He was created a count of the Holy Roman Empire by Rudolph II in December 1595, and returned to England after suffering shipwreck and barely preserving his life in January 1596. His assumption of the foreign title created great jealousy among the English peers, who were wont to give little courtesy to foreign nobles, and he thereby incurred the resentment of his father, who objected to his superior rank and promptly disinherited him.

The queen, moreover, was seriously displeased, declared that "as chaste wives should have no glances but for their own spouses, so should faithful subjects keep their eyes at home and not gaze upon foreign crowns", and committed him to the Fleet immediately on his arrival, while she addressed a long letter of remonstrance on the subject to the emperor.

Thomas Arundell remained under arrest till April, when he was liberated after an examination. That very month, April 1597, however, he was again confined, but declared innocent of any charge save that of practicing to contrive the justification of his vain title with ministers beyond the seas.

On 4 May 1605, he was created Baron Arundell of Wardour. He again fell briefly under suspicion at the time of the Gunpowder Plot.

On July 1, 1608, he married Anne Phillipson. They had seven children:

Frances Arundell, married John Talbot, 10th Earl of Shrewsbury
Mary Arundell, married Sir John Somerset, natural son of Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester
Matthew Arundell (1609–1620)
Catherine Arundell (b. bef. 1612), married Ralph Eure, son of William Eure, 4th Baron Eure on November 1, 1627
Anne Arundell (c. 1616–July 23, 1649), married Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, for whom Anne Arundel County is named
Margaret Arundell (b. 1620), married John Fortescue, Baronet
Clara Arundell (b. 1620), married Humphrey Weld