Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 19.djvu/108

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Fitzalan
102
Fitzalan

the policy of the archbishop. Arundel next accompanied Henry in August into Wales, where he is said to have successfully defended Haverfordwest against Owain and his French allies under Montmorency (Hall, p. 25, ed. 1809). But in the autumn he was engaged in negotiating a marriage with Beatrix, bastard daughter of John I, king of Portugal, by Agnes Perez, and sister therefore of the Duke of Braganza. John's wife was a half-sister of Henry IV, and English assistance had enabled him to secure his country's freedom against Castile. The projected marriage was but part of the close alliance between the two countries, and Henry IV actively interested himself in its success. As Arundel's means were much straitened by the devastation of his Welsh estates, the king advanced the large sums necessary to bring the bride 'with magnificence and glory' to England. On 26 Nov. the marriage was celebrated at London in the presence of the king and queen (Ann. Hen. IV, p. 417; Walsingham, ii. 272 ; Collectanea Topog. et Geneal. i. 80-90).

In 1406 Arundel was present at the famous parliament of that year, and supported the act of succession then passed (Rot. Parl. iii. 576, 582). In May 1409 he was again ordered to remain on his North Welsh estates to encounter Owen (Fœdera, viii. 588), and in November was ordered to continue the war, notwithstanding the truce made by his officers, which the Welsh persisted in not observing (ib. viii. 611).

In 1410 Arundel's ally, Thomas Beaufort, became chancellor, and the frequency of the appearance of his name in the proceedings of the council shows that he took, in consequence, a more active part in affairs of state. The old differences with his uncle, now driven from power, continued, and in one letter Arundel complained to the archbishop that he had been misrepresented (Proceedings of Privy Council, ii. 117-18). The triumph of the Beauforts involved England in a Burgundian foreign policy, and when in 1411 an English expedition was sent to help Philip of Burgundy against the Armagnacs, Arundel, the Earl of Kyme, and Sir J. Oldcastle were appointed its commanders. He was one of the commissioners appointed to negotiate the marriage of the Prince of Wales with a sister of the Duke of Burgundy (ib. ii. 20). He was well received by Burgundy, whom he accompanied on his march to Paris, arriving there on 23 Oct. On 9 Nov. he fought a sharp and successful engagement with the Orleanists, which resulted in the capture of St. Cloud (Walsingham, ii. 286 ; Jean le Fèvre, Chronique, i. 36-43 ; Pierre de Fenin, Mémoires, pp. 22-23, both in Soc. de l'Histoire de France ; cf. Martin, Histoire de France, v. 521). The result was the retirement of the Armagnacs beyond the Loire. The English, having been bought out of their scruples against selling their prisoners to be tortured to death by their allies, returned home with large rewards soon afterwards. The fall of the Beauforts and the return of Archbishop Arundel to power kept Earl Thomas in retirement until Henry IV's death. Before this date he had become a knight of the Garter (Ashmolre, Order of the Garter, p. 710).

The day after his accession Henry V turned Archbishop Arundel out of the chancery and made the Earl of Arundel treasurer in place of Lord le Scrope. Arundel was also appointed on the same day constable of Dover Castle and warden of the Cinque ports. In 1415 the commons petitioned against his aggressions and violence in Sussex (Rot. Parl. iv. 78), and an Italian merchant complained of his unjust imprisonment and the seizure of his effects by him (ib. iv. 90). He was also engaged in a quarrel with Lord Furnival about some rights of common in Shropshire, which ultimately necessitated the king's intervention (Gesta Hen. V, pref. p. xxviii, Engl. Hist. Soc.) From such petty difficulties he was removed by his summons to accompany Henry on his great invasion, of France. He took a leading part in the siege of Harfleur, but was one of the many who were compelled to return home sick of the dysentery and fever that devastated the victorious army. On 10 Oct. he made his will ; on 13 Oct. he died. He was buried in a magnificent tomb in the midst of the choir of the collegiate chapel that his father had founded at Arundel. There is a vignette of the tomb in Tierney, p. 622.

Earl Thomas was in character hot, impulsive, and brave. He was a good soldier, and faithful to his friends ; but he showed a vindictive thirst for revenge on the enemies of his house, and a recklessness which subordinated personal to political aims. He left no children, so that the bulk of his estates was divided among his three surviving sisters, while the castle and lordship of Arundel passed to his second cousin, John V Fitzalan (1387-1421), grandson of Sir John Arundel, marshal of England, and of his wife, Eleanor Maltravers [see John VI Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel]. The earldom of Surrey fell into abeyance on Thomas's death.

[Annales Ric. II et Hen. IV, ed. Riley (Rolls Ser.) ; Eulogium Historiarum (Rolls Ser.) ; Walsingham's Hist. Angl. and Ypodigma Neustriæ (Rolls Ser.); Otterbourne's Chronicle, ed. Hearne;