Biography of Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel 1285-1326

On 2nd December 1307 King Edward II of England (age 23) held a tournament to celebrate Piers Gaveston's (age 23) recent wedding. Gaveston took the opportunity to humiliate the older nobility including [his brother-in-law] John Warenne 7th Earl of Surrey (age 21), Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 31) and Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel (age 22) further increasing his unpopularity.

On 9th June 1312 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 28), under the protection of Aymer de Valence 2nd Earl Pembroke (age 37), stayed at The Rectory, Deddington whilst en route south. Aymer de Valence 2nd Earl Pembroke left Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall there whilst he left to visit his wife. The following morning Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl Warwick (age 40), with Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel (age 27), Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 36) and John Botetort 1st Baron Botetort (age 47) arrested Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall and took him to Warwick Castle [Map].

Around 15th June 1312 Piers Gaveston 1st Earl Cornwall (age 28) was tried at Warwick Castle [Map] by Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl Warwick (age 40), Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 36), Thomas Plantagenet 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster, Earl of Salisbury and Lincoln (age 34) and Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel (age 27). He was condemned to death.

On 17th November 1326 Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel (age 41) was beheaded at Hereford [Map]. Earl Arundel forfeit. According to the Llandaff Chronicle he was executed by a "worthless wretch" ("villissimi ribaldi") with a blunt sword requiring twenty-two strokes although I have been unable to find a copy of the Chronicle to confirm this story. He was initially buried at the Franciscan Church, Hereford, subsequently reburied at his family's traditional place of burial Haughmond Abbey [Map].

Lanercost Chronicle. [17th November 1326]. After a short interval the Earl of Arundel (age 41) was captured likewise. He had married the daughter of Sir Hugh the younger¹, and had been, with Hugh, one of the king's counsellors. He was condemned to death in secret, as it were, and afterwards beheaded. Meanwhile all who were captives and prisoners in England on account of their adherence to the oft-mentioned Earl of Lancaster were released, and the exiles were recalled, and their lands and heritages, whereof they had been disinherited, were restored to them in full; wherefore they joined the party of the queen and her son eagerly and gladly.

Note. This is a mistake. Edmund Fitzalan 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel married [his wife] Alice Warenne Countess Arundel daughter of William Warenne. It was Edmund' son [his son] Richard (age 20) who had married [his daughter-in-law] Isabel (age 14), daughter of Hugh "Younger" Despencer 1st Baron Despencer (age 40).

. [17th November 1326]. Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger (age 40), Robert de Baldock, and Simon of Reading were brought to the Queen, who was at Hereford. However, before their arrival, the Earl of Arundel (age 41), John Daniel, and Thomas de Micheldever were beheaded in Hereford through the agency of Lord Roger Mortimer (age 39), who harbored a deep hatred for them and whose advice the Queen followed in all matters.

Dominum vero Hugonem Dispenser filium, Robertum de Baldok, et Simonem de Redynges ad reginam, que fuit Herefordiæ, conduxerunt. Sed ante eorum adventum fuerunt decollati Herefordiæ comes de Arundel, Johannes Daniel, et Thomas de Michedeure, per procurationem domini Rogeri de Mortuo mari, qui perfecto odio oderat illos et cujus consilium regina per omnia sequebatur.

Chronicle of Henry Knighton. 17th November 1326. Shortly thereafter, Lord Edmund, Earl of Arundel (age 41), was captured by Lord John de Charlton in Shropshire and brought to Hereford, where the queen had assembled with the nobles of the realm. Because he had given his son in marriage to the daughter of Hugh Despenser, and because he had been secretly part of the king's council and, as was said, had worked harm against the queen during her absence, and had also been involved in procuring the death of the noble Earl Thomas of Lancaster—together with Lord Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who had died suddenly while abroad— the said Edmund was sentenced to death. He was drawn and hanged on the 17th of November (fifteen days before the Kalends of December), along with his squire, named John Daniel, who had led him astray with his counsel in many things.

Cito post captus est dominus Edmundus comes de Arundell per dominum Johannem de Charleton in Schropshyre, et ductus est apud Herford ubi regina cum magnatibus regni convenerant. Et quia dederat filium suum hæredem filiæ Hugonis Dispensatoris et secretus erat in consilio et malum procuraverat reginæ ut dicebatur in sua absentia, et etiam procuraverat mortem nobilis comitis Lancastriæ Thomæ, cum domino Omero de Valenciis comite de Penbroc qui subito moriebatur in transmarinis agens. Et sic dictus Edmundus morti adductus est, distractus et suspensus, xv. kalendarum Decembris cum armigero suo nomine Johanne Danyel, qui ipsum consilio suo in multis seduxerat.

The Brut. [17th November 1326]. And þis Symond, for encheson þat he despisede þe Quene Isabel, he was draw and hongede on a stage made in mydes þe forsaide Sir Hughes galwes. And þe same day, a litil fro þens, was Sir Iohn [Edmund] of Arundel (age 41) biheuede; for he was on of Sir Hugh þe Spensers conseilers. And anone after wa[s] Sir Hug[h] þe Spenser draw & hongede, & biheuedede at Bristow, and after hongede aȝeyn bi þe Armes bi ij strong ropes; and þe iiij day after, he was hew al to peces; & hundes eten him. And for þat enchesoun þat þe Kyng hade ȝeuen him þe Erldom of Winchestre, his heede was lad þider, and put oppon a spere; and þe false Baldok was sent to London, & þere he deide in prisone amonges þeues, for men dede him no more reuerence þan me wolde do vnto an hunde: and so deide the traitours of Engeland, blissede be Almyghty.