page_title: John Fitzalan, 7th Earl of Arundel
section_title: Service in France
hierarchical_section_title: John Fitzalan, 7th Earl of Arundel / Service in France
caption_attribution_description: English: High Resolution Image of Arundel Castle, UK, on a Sunny October Afternoon. Photo by Gregg M. EricksonThis is a photo of listed building number 1027926.
context_page_description: John Fitzalan, 7th Earl of Arundel, 4th Baron Maltravers KG 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.
context_section_description: 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 Armangnacs.
  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 Armangnacs 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 Talbot with nearly 1000 reinforcements from England.  Later in May he was replaced as lieutenant of Upper Normandy by John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, 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 Mant
caption: Arundel Castle was the main residence of the FitzAlan family, but John FitzAlan spent most of the years from 1430 until his death in France.
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