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.
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The son and heir of John Fitzalan, Lord of Oswestry and Clun, in Shropshire, and Isabel, daughter of William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel by his wife, Mabel of Chester, he obtained possession of his paternal estates on 26 May 1244, aged 21 years.
After the death without direct heirs of his mother's brother Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel, 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]
In 1257 the Welsh Lord of Gwenwynwyn, in the southern realm of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys, sought the aid of the Lord of Oswestry against Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and John Fitzalan was a member of the English force that was defeated at the hands of the Welsh at Cymerau in Carmarthenshire, which he survived.
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.
Arundel vacillated in the conflicts between Henry III and the Barons, and fought on the King's side at the Battle of Lewes in 1264, where he was taken prisoner.
By 1278 to 1282 his own sons were also engaged in Welsh border hostilities, attacking the lands of Llywelyn the son of Gruffydd ap Madog.
He married Maud de Verdon, daughter of Theobald le Botiller (Boteler) and Rohese or Rohesia de Verdon. His son and successor was:
He also had a daughter by Maud named Joan FitzAlan (c.1267-after 6 October 1316), who married Sir Richard de Cornwall, an illegitimate son of Richard of England, 1st Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans. Their descendants include the Howard, Dukes of Norfolk.[2]
| Peerage of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hugh d'Aubigny |
Earl of Arundel 1264–1267 |
Succeeded by John FitzAlan |