John Fitzalan, 7th Earl of Arundel, 4th Baron Maltravers KG (14 February 1408 – 12 June 1435), was an English nobleman and military commander during the later phases of the Hundred Years' War. His father, John Fitzalan, 3rd Baron Maltravers, fought a long battle to lay claim to the Arundel earldom, a battle that was not finally resolved until after the father's death, when John Fitzalan the son was finally confirmed in the title in 1433.
Already before this, in 1430, Fitzalan had departed for France, where he held a series of important command positions. He served under John, Duke of Bedford, the uncle of the eight-year-old King Henry VI. Fitzalan was involved in recovering fortresses in the Île-de-France region, and in suppressing local rebellions. His military career ended, however, at the Battle of Gerbevoy in 1435. Refusing to retreat in the face of superior forces, Arundel was shot in the foot and captured. His leg was later amputated, and he died shortly afterwards from the injury. His final resting place was a matter of dispute until the mid-nineteenth century, when his tomb at Arundel Castle was revealed to contain a skeleton missing one leg.
Arundel was considered a great soldier by his contemporaries. He had been a successful commander in France, in a period of decline for the English, and his death was a great loss to his country. He was succeeded by his son Humphrey, who did not live to adulthood. The title of Earl of Arundel then went to John's younger brother, William.
John Fitzalan was born at Lytchett Matravers in Dorset on 14 February 1408. He was the son of John Fitzalan, 3rd Baron Maltravers (1385–1421) and Eleanor (d. 1455), daughter of Sir John Berkeley of Beverstone, Gloucestershire. John Fitzalan the elder, through his great-great-grandfather Richard FitzAlan, 4th Earl of Arundel, made a claim on the earldom of Arundel after the death of Thomas Fitzalan, 5th Earl of Arundel, in 1415. The claim was disputed, however, by Thomas's three sisters and their families, foremost among these Elizabeth FitzAlan, who had married Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk. It is debatable whether Maltravers ever held the title of Earl of Arundel; he was summoned to parliament under this title once, in 1416, but never again. When he died in 1421, the dispute continued under his son, and it was not until 1433 that the younger John FitzAlan finally had his title confirmed in parliament, despite the Mowbrays disputing his claim. Four years earlier, in July 1429, he had received his late father's estates and title.
As a child, John Fitzalan was contracted to marry Constance, who was the daughter of John Cornwall, Baron Fanhope, and through her mother Elizabeth granddaughter of John of Gaunt. The two may or may not have married, but Constance was dead by 1429, when John married Maud, daughter of Robert Lovell.
FitzAlan was knighted in 1426 along with the four-year-old King Henry VI, where he was referred to as "Dominus de Maultravers" ("Lord Maltravers"). In the summer of 1429, he was summoned to parliament, this time styled "Johanni Arundell' Chivaler", meaning he was now Lord Arundel.
In 1430, however, in an indenture for service with the king in France, he was styled Earl of Arundel, a title he also used himself. When he was finally officially recognised in his title of Earl of Arundel in 1433, this was based on the recognition that the title went with the possession of Arundel Castle. In reality though, the grant was just as much a reward for the military services he had by that point rendered in France.
John Fitzalan the father had been a prominent soldier in the Hundred Years' War under King Henry V, and the son followed in his father's footsteps. On 23 April 1430, the younger Fitzalan departed for France in the company of the Earl of Huntingdon. There he soon made a name for himself as a soldier, under the command of the king's uncle, John, Duke of Bedford. In June, he took part in the Siege of Compiègne, where Joan of Arc had recently been captured. Later, he raised the siege of Anglure with the help of the Burgundians. On 17 December 1431, he was present when Henry VI was crowned King of France in Paris, where he distinguished himself at the accompanying tournament. FitzAlan's military success led to several important appointments of command; in November 1431, he was made lieutenant of the Rouen garrison, and shortly after also captain of Vernon. In January 1432 he was appointed captain of Verneuil. On the night of 3 February he was taken by surprise while in bed at the Great Tower of Rouen Castle, when a band of French soldiers from nearby Ricarville managed to take the castle. Arundel was hoisted down the walls in a basket, and made his escape. The assailants could not hold the castle, because Marshall Boussac refused to garrison the town; Guillaume de Ricarville was forced to surrender twelve days later. In April 1432, FitzAlan was rewarded for his actions so far by initiation into the Order of the Garter. In a separate action from Rouen Arundel was sent to rescue Saint Lo. from an attack by the duke of Alençon's army, after the town's captain Raoul Tesson had been appointed to replace Suffolk, who was captured at the Battle of Jargeau. The French retreated to the fastness of Mont St Michel, from where they continued to raid Anglo-Norman towns, like Granville in 1433.
From early 1432 onwards, Fitzalan held several regional commands in northern France. One of his tasks was recovering fortresses in the Île-de-France region, at which he was mostly successful. At Lagny-sur-Marne he blew up the bridge to prevent the citizens from reaching the castle, but still failed to take the fortification. In December he was appointed to a regional command in Upper Normandy, but had to defend the town of Sées from a siege. On 10 March 1433, he issued a pardon to the inhabitants when the town was retaken from the Armagnacs.
In July Arundel was instead made lieutenant-general of Lower Normandy. The earl continued his work of recovering lost fortresses that belonged to Ambroise de Loré, Bonsmoulins was taken easily, but Loré's family had occupied Saint-Céneri. After three months of culverin bombardment, the walls were breached and most of the garrison killed. The remainder were allowed to march out unharmed.
In the County of Alençon, a young, tall and courageous earl led the campaign that probably took place in 1433, taking back Saint-Célerin, Sillé-le-Guillaume, where there was a short skirmish. The Armagnacs arrived, and demanded the return of the hostages in the castle; Arundel feigned to agree and departed. As soon as the Armagnacs rode off Arundel returned and took the castle by assault. and by 1434 Beaumont-le-Vicomte. In December 1433, Bedford again appointed him commander in Upper Normandy, as well as captain of Pont-de-l'Arche.
By now the Earl of Arundel might have returned briefly to England in May 1434, when he was in the process of gathering troops for an English expedition to France. But John, Duke of Bedford was forced to raise loans for the soldiers' pay in the Maine campaign. That Spring he was joined in Paris by John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury with nearly 1000 reinforcements from England. Later in May he was replaced as lieutenant of Upper Normandy by Talbot, and instead received a command between the Seine and Loire rivers. This effectively meant that the two shared the command of Normandy, with Talbot east of the Seine and Arundel to the west. But they combined operations capturing Beaumont-sur-Oise, and then Creil, which was finally taken on 20 June 1434. In the summer Arundel captured the Mantes-Chartres regional fortresses; it appeared for a time at least the Armagnacs no longer posed a threat to Paris.
On 8 September, Arundel was also made Duke of Touraine – an area held by the French. The grant was made as a reward for his good service, but also in the hope that he would campaign in the area. In October he was made captain of Saint-Lô, where he had to deal with a rebellion in the Bessin area. The Duke of Alençon was trying to exploit the revolt to take control of Avranches, but Arundel managed to prevent the French advance and ended the rebellion.