Thomas Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel

Thomas Fitzalan, 6th Earl of Arundel and 10th Earl of Surrey KG (13 October 1381 – 13 October 1415) was an English nobleman, one of the principals of the deposition of Richard II, and a major figure during the reign of Henry IV.

He was the only surviving son of 5th earl of the second creation and his first wife, Elizabeth de Bohun. When he was 16 his father was executed (1397) and his lands and titles forfeited. Fitzalan was a royal ward of King Richard's half-brother John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, along with a large part of the Arundel estates. Holland greatly mistreated him, a matter FitzAlan would cruelly repay many years later.

Eventually Fitzalan escaped from his guardian and joined his uncle Thomas Arundel, the deposed Archbishop of Canterbury, in exile. The two eventually joined with another exile, the King's cousin Henry Bolingbroke.

Fitzalan followed Henry in his return to England in July 1399, and in the following events which led to the deposition of King Richard II and Henry's crowning as King Henry IV. He functioned as butler at the coronation, and shortly afterward the new King restored him to his titles and estates. These included two notable Earldoms; those of Earl of Arundel and Earl of Surrey, and large estates in the Welsh Marches.

Early the next year a group of Barons who had been close to the deposed King Richard II revolted—known as the Epiphany Rising—amongst them Fitzalan' former guardian John Holland. The latter was captured by followers of Fitzalan's aunt Joan, Countess of Hereford, and at Fitzalan' behest was soon executed (some claim he was tortured first).

The next few years Fitzalan was much occupied by events in the Welsh marches, where he had to help deal with the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr which ran in full from 1400 to maybe 1412 but gained a great deal of early momentum until 1405. After the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 he was appointed to defend the Marches from further attacks along its full length and then focused on defeating Glyndwr in the northern March adjacent to North Wales.

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