Edmund Fitzalan (1327-1382)
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Sir Edmund Fitzalan | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1327/9 |
| Noble family | FitzAlan |
| Spouse | Sybil de Montacute |
| Issue | 3 |
| Father | Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel |
| Mother | Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Arundel |
Sir Edmund FitzAlan (c. 1327/9 – died before 12 February 1382[1]) was an English nobleman and the son of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Arundel. He was the heir to the earldom of Arundel until he was declared illegitimate by the annulment of his parents' marriage in 1344.[2] He was sometimes known as Edmund de Arundel.
FitzAlan was born about 1327 or 1329 and was the only son of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Arundel.[2] Lawrence claims that he had two sisters called Phillipa and Isabel.[3]
His parents had been married in 1321,[4] to cement an alliance between their fathers, Edmund FitzAlan, 2nd Earl of Arundel and Hugh le Despenser, 2nd Baron le Despenser, the favourite of Edward II of England.[5] The King paid for the cloth to be held over the heads of the couple as they knelt at the altar.[6] At the time of their marriage, Isabel was eight and Richard was seven.[2] In 1331 his father became Earl of Arundel.[2]
FitzAlan's mother was the eldest daughter of Hugh le Despenser, 2nd Baron le Despenser and Eleanor de Clare, suo jure 6th Lady of Glamorgan, whose mother was the eldest daughter of Joan of Acre, Princess of England. This made Edmund a great-great-grandson of King Edward I and his first consort, Eleanor of Castile.[citation needed]
Parents annulment
On 4 December 1344, FitzAlan's father Richard petitioned the pope for an annulment of his marriage to Isabel.[2] King Edward III supported the petition,[2] which was on the grounds that they had never freely consented to marry, that they both had renounced their vows at puberty, but they had been "forced by blows to cohabit, so that a son was born". The annulment was granted by Pope Clement VI and Edmund was declared illegitimate and disinherited.[7]
After the annulment, Isabel retired to five manors in Essex that were given to her by her ex-husband. Richard, following receiving a papal dispensation, married Isabel's widowed first cousin Eleanor of Lancaster, with whom he had apparently been having an affair.[8] Richard and Eleanor had five children who survived into adulthood.
In 1347, FitzAlan protested to the pope about his treatment and that the annulment of his parents marriage had been surreptitiously obtained, but without success.[8]
