| Alice of Saluzzo | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Arundel | |
| Spouse(s) | Richard Fitzalan, 8th Earl of Arundel |
| Issue | |
| Edmund Fitzalan, 9th Earl of Arundel John Fitzalan Alice Fitzalan Margaret Fitzalan |
|
| Noble family | di Saluzzo |
| Father | Thomas I of Saluzzo |
| Mother | Luigia di Ceva |
| Born | Unknown Saluzzo, Piedmont, Italy |
| Died | 25 September 1292 |
| Burial | Haughmond Abbey, Shropshire, England |
Alice of Saluzzo, Countess of Arundel (died 25 September 1292),[1] also known as Alesia di Saluzzo, was an Italian-born noblewoman and an English countess. She was a daughter of Thomas I of Saluzzo, and the wife of Sir Richard Fitzalan, 8th Earl of Arundel. Alice was one of the first Italian women to marry into an English noble family. She assumed the title of Countess of Arundel in 1289.
Alice was born on an unknown date in Saluzzo, today in the Province of Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy. She was the second eldest daughter of Thomas I, 4th Margrave of Saluzzo, and Luigia di Ceva (died 22 August 1291/1293), daughter of Giorgio, Marquis of Ceva[2] and Menzia d'Este.[3] Alice had fifteen siblings. Her father was a very wealthy and cultured nobleman under whose rule, Saluzzo achieved a prosperity, freedom, and greatness it had never known previously.
Sometime before 1285, Alice married Richard Fitzalan, feudal Lord of Clun and Oswestry in the Welsh Marches, the son of John Fitzalan, 7th Earl of Arundel and Isabella Mortimer. Richard would succeed to the title of Earl of Arundel in 1289, thus making Alice the 8th Countess of Arundel. Along with her aunt, Alasia of Saluzzo who married Edmund de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln in 1247, Alice was one of the first Italian women to marry into an English noble family. Her marriage had been arranged by the late King Henry III's widowed Queen consort Eleanor of Provence.
Richard and Alice's principal residence was Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire, but Richard also held Arundel Castle in Sussex and the castles of Clun and Oswestry in Shropshire. Alice's husband was knighted by King Edward I in 1289, and fought in the Welsh Wars (1288–1294), and later in the Scottish Wars.
The marriage produced four children:[4]
Alice died on 25 September 1292 and was buried in Haughmond Abbey, Shropshire. Her husband Richard died in 1302 and was buried alongside Alice. In 1341, provision was made for twelve candles to be burned beside their tombs.[5] The Abbey is now a ruin as the result of a fire during the English Civil War.
Her many descendants included the Dukes of Norfolk, Anne Boleyn, Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales.