John FitzAlan (nobleman, 1223)

John FitzAlan , Lord of Clun and Oswestry, de iure 6th Earl of Arundel (also John FitzAlan II ) (* 1223 - † November 1267 ), was an English nobleman. As a powerful Marcher Lord , he played a major role during the Second War of the Barons .

Origin and heritage

John FitzAlan came from the FitzAlan family , which had been one of the most important noble families of the Welsh Marches since the mid-12th century . He was a son of John FitzAlan († 1240) and his first wife Isabel. After his father's death in 1240, FitzAlan inherited his feudal baronies of Oswestry , Clun and Shrawardine in Shropshire . However, since he was still a minor, his possessions were initially administered by John Lestrange . His mother was a sister of Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel , who died childless in 1243. As a result, FitzAlan, through his mother, inherited a quarter of d'Aubigny's estates, including Arundel Castle in Sussex . After FitzAlan came of age, he received Arundel and his father's possessions in Shropshire in May 1244 for a fee of £ 1000. De jure was him also the title of Earl of Arundel to be opened with the him the chronicler William Rishanger marked the end of the 13th century, FitzAlan itself, however, never led this title, but was in 1258 as Lord of Arundel or 1266 as John Fitzalan de Arundel referred .

Life

Marcher Lord and service to the king

In 1253 FitzAlan accompanied King Heinrich III. during his expedition to Gascony , where the king had to put down an uprising against his rule. To raise the cost of this campaign, FitzAlan had to pledge 1253 lands for 500 marks in July . Upon his return, FitzAlan was embroiled in numerous disputes in the Welsh Marches. In 1255 and 1256, Fulk Fitzwarine , lord of Whittington Castle , north of Oswestry, complained that FitzAlan's followers had attacked his possessions.

As a powerful Marcher Lord, the king appointed him captain of the Welsh Marches north of Montgomery in August 1257 . In March 1258 he was to move to Chester with his vassals in order to take part in a planned campaign by the king against Lord Llywelyn ap Gruffydd . However, this campaign was not carried out from April 1258 because of the nobility rebellion against the king. In 1259, FitzAlan was one of the king's eight negotiators who were to negotiate truce violations with a Welsh embassy at the ford of Montgomery over the Severn . In 1262 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd complained that FitzAlan, along with Roger Mortimer and John Lestrange , had raided areas in Powys Fadog in North Wales.

Role in the war of the barons

Dissatisfied with the king's failures in the fight against the Welsh, FitzAlan, along with his son John FitzAlan III and numerous other Marcher Lords, belonged to the nobility opposition to the king from the end of 1258. As late as 1258, FitzAlan's vassals from Clun attacked Bishop's Castle , a large estate belonging to Bishop Peter D'Aigueblanche of Hereford, a hated diplomat of the king, near Lydbury North in Shropshire. Along with Roger de Clifford , Humphrey V de Bohun and Hamo le Strange , FitzAlan and his son captured d'Aigueblanche in Hereford Cathedral in June 1263 . On July 12th FitzAlan occupied the estate of Bishops Castle, which his heirs did not return to the Bishop of Hereford until 1269. In late autumn 1263, however, the heir to the throne, Lord Eduard FitzAlan, was able to pull back on the king's side. In December he was named one of the five people responsible for keeping the peace in Shropshire and Staffordshire . This made him the opponent of the sheriff, who had been appointed by the government of barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester . In January 1264, FitzAlan, the Mise of Amiens , swore to adhere to the arbitration ruling of the French king, which was intended to settle the dispute between Montfort and the king. When Montfort took up arms in the spring of 1264 and the barons started an open war against the king, FitzAlan continued to be one of the king's supporters. In April 1264, he defended Rochester Castle against a siege by Montfort and the Earl of Gloucester together with the Earl of Warenne . In May 1264 he was captured at the Battle of Lewes , but was released a little later. After this victory over the king, Montfort took over the government again. When open fighting threatened to break out again in the spring of 1265, in April 1265 the government required FitzAlan either to hand over Arundel Castle or to hold his son hostage. In August 1265, Montfort and his supporters were indeed decisively defeated by the supporters of the king. However, the harsh sanctions imposed by the king's supporters on the defeated rebels led to the struggle continuing. On April 18, 1266, Fitzalan should therefore restore the authority of the king together with the sheriff in Sussex and in January 1267 he was charged with uncovering conspiracies against the rule of the king in Sussex.

FitzAlan died in November 1267, a few months after the Barons' War finally ended in June 1267. According to his last will, he was to be buried at Haughmond Abbey in Shropshire.

Family and offspring

FitzAlan had married Maud (also Matilda), a daughter of Theobald le Botiller and his second wife Rohese de Verdun . With her he had at least one son who became his heir:

• John Fitzalan (1245-1272 / 3).

His widow married Richard de Amundeville († 1283) for the second time.

Web links

• Frederick soup: Fitzalan, John (II) (1223-1267). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
• John FitzAlan on thepeerage.com , accessed August 4, 2016.
• Cracroft's Peerage Arundel, Earl of (E, c.1139)