FitzAlan (name)
| FitzAlan | |
|---|---|
| Family name | |
| Meaning | patronymic, son of Alan fitz Flaad |
| Region of origin | England |
| Related names | Fitz-Alan, Fitzalan, Fitzallen, Fitz Alan |
FitzAlan is an English surname ultimately of Norman origin. The family shared common ancestry with the Scots royal Stewarts. They were descendants of the Breton knight Alan fitz Flaad (d. 1120), grandson of the Seneschal of the Bishop of Dol. The FitzAlans held the earldom of Arundel during the period 1267 - 1580.
Variants include Fitz-Alan, Fitzalan, Fitzallen, Fitz Alan, as well as the locational variants Arundel and Arundell because of the earldom.
People with the surname FitzAlan include:
Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk (1815–1860), the 13th Earl of Arundel of the Fourth Creation (1580) revived use of the Fitzalan surname, in the hyphenated form "Fitzalan-Howard". Edmund FitzAlan-Howard (1855–1947), son of the 14th Duke of Norfolk, in addition was raised to the Peerage as "Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent" in 1921 when he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Lady Marcia Fitzalan-Howard (b. 1953), daughter of the 17th Duke of Norfolk, uses the stage name Marsha Fitzalan as an actress.
Alan's role was formerly obscure because of the political implications of examining the origins of the Stewart dynasty. Holinshed, deriving his information from the work of Hector Boece, asserted that Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, was the ancestor of the Stewarts. Distorting the role of Banquo, who is presented by Holinshed as Macbeth's chief accomplice in regicide,William Shakespeare presented him flatteringly in Macbeth as a martyred ancestor of James VI of Scotland and I of England. These legends, accepted as history, became part of the foundation narrative of the Stewarts and forced later writers to trace the Stewart ancestry through Fleance, Banquo's son. David Symson, the Historiographer Royal of Scotland, in a work dedicated to Queen Anne, followed the chroniclers in having Fleance marry a daughter of the Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, and then introduced Walter as his son and Alan fitz Walter, 2nd High Steward of Scotland as his grandson. However, this greatly distorted the chronology, forcing Sym to transpose Alan fitz Walter, actually born around 1140, to about 1073. This created a gap in the record, which was filled by multiplying the Alans and Walters in the Stewart line.
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