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FitzAlan

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FitzAlan
Origin
Meaningpatronymic, son ofAlan fitz Flaad
Region of originBrittany
Other names
Variant form(s)Fitz-Alan, Fitzalan, Fitzallen, Fitz Alan
Coat of Arms of the FitzAlan family

FitzAlanis an Englishpatronymic surnameofAnglo-Normanorigin, descending from the Breton knightAlan fitz Flaad(died 1120), who accompanied kingHenry Ito England on his succession. He was grandson of the Seneschal of theBishop of Dol.The FitzAlan family shared a common patrilineal ancestry with theHouse of Stuart.

The FitzAlans held theEarldom of Arundelfrom 1267 to 1580.

Variants of this surname include Fitz-Alan, Fitzalan, Fitzallen, and Fitz Alan. The noble family of bearing this surname would eventually abandon their patronymic in favor of atoponymic surname,Arundel or Arundell, a reference to their title in thePeerage of England,but use of the FitzAlan surname is often retained in the historical literature.

Family members[edit]

Notable people with the surname FitzAlan include:[1]

Further information:Earl of Arundel,FitzAlan-Howard,andDuke of Norfolk § Family tree

Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk(1815–1860), the 13th Earl of Arundel of the Fourth Creation (1580), revived the use of the Fitzalan surname in thehyphenatedform "Fitzalan-Howard". Edmund FitzAlan-Howard(1855–1947), son of the 14th Duke of Norfolk was raised up to the Peerage as "Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent" in 1921 when he was appointedLord Lieutenant of Ireland. Lady Marcia Fitzalan-Howard(born 1953), daughter of the 17th Duke of Norfolk, uses the stage nameMarsha Fitzalanas an actress.

Origins[edit]

This section istranscludedfromAlan fitz Flaad.(edit|history)

The controversy over Stewart ancestry[edit]

Dol cathedral today. The present building was begun about a century after the time of Alan Fitz Flaad.
Mont St Michel, the isolated Breton monastery, on the Norman border, which Henry held against his brothers,William RufusandRobert Curthose,in 1091

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 ofHector Boece,asserted thatBanquo,ThaneofLochaber,was the ancestor of the Stewarts.[3]Distorting the role of Banquo, who is presented by Holinshed as Macbeth's chief accomplice in regicide,[4]William Shakespearepresented him flatteringly inMacbethas a martyred ancestor ofJames 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 throughFleance,Banquo's son. David Symson, theHistoriographer Royal of Scotland,in a work dedicated toQueen Anne,followed the chroniclers in having Fleance marry a daughter of the Welsh rulerGruffydd ap Llywelyn,[5]and then introducedWalteras his son[6]andAlan fitz Walter, 2nd High Steward of Scotlandas his grandson.[7]However, this greatly distorted the chronology, forcing Symson 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.

David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes,in hisAnnals of Scotland,published in the 1770s, went some way to establish a convincing chronology for Walter Fitz Alan, who, he asserted, belonged to the reign ofDavid I of Scotland(1124–53) and his successor,Malcolm IV.Moreover, he was the first of the Stewarts: there were none in the reign ofMalcolm III(1058–93), as Symson had been forced to maintain.[8]He went on to demolish the legendary background to the Stewarts, which he described as "flattering and ignorant fictions". He showed that there was a need to distinguish the various Alans who were connected with the Stewart line, something he was unembarrassed to be unable to do:

Some of my readers may demand, "Who then was Alan the father of Walter, Stewart of Scotland in the reign of Malcolm IV?"... In the reign of David I, before the middle of the twelfth century, the family of the Stewarts was opulent and powerful. It may, therefore, have subsisted for many ages previous to that time; but when, and what was its commencement, we cannot determine.[9]

Andrew Stuart,a notable Scottish MP, accepted Dalrymple's critical work on the legendary ancestors, although he included among these acrusaderAlan who was subsequently to emerge as genuine.[10]He sought to establish a definite chronological framework, placing Walter Fitz Alan's death in 1177.

Not until the first decade of the 19th century didGeorge Chalmersdefinitely prove that Walter Fitz Alan, an acknowledged link in the Stewart ancestry, came fromShropshireand was actually the son of Alan Fitz Flaad. This finally established Alan Fitz Flaad's existence and importance and confirmed the kinship between the Stewarts and the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel.[11]Even then, the legendary background took almost a century to fade. In 1858,Robert William Eyton,the distinguished historian of Shropshire, while clarifying Alan Fitz Flaad's connection with the county and details of his marriage, still tried to maintain a link with the legendary Banquo,[12]and even surmised that Flaad was actually Fleance.[13]

After an anonymous work of 1874 drew attention to a strong connection between Alan Fitz Flaad andBrittany,and confirmed Flaad's relationship to Alan theSeneschal,[14]J. Horace Rounddefinitively established and publicized Alan Fitz Flaad's true Breton origins in 1901 in a collection of genealogical essays. Alan's father, Flaad (rendered in numerous ways, including Flaald and Flathald), was a son (or possibly a brother) of Alain,dapiferto theAncient Diocese of Dol,[15]with its see at Dol-de-Bretagne, who had taken part in theFirst Crusadein 1097.[16]"Alan Dapifer" is found as a witness in 1086 to a charter relating to Mezuoit, a cell near Dol of theAbbey of Saint-Florent de Saumur.The area of Dol is nearMont-Saint-Micheland has figured in the history of theDuchy of Brittanysince at least the rule ofNominoe.Round's genealogy was confirmed in 1904 bySir James Balfour Paul,thenLord Lyon King of Arms,who, in a definitive work,The Scots Peerage,stated that "the Stewarts or Stuarts are of Breton origin, descended from a family which held the office of Seneschal or Steward of Dol."[17]He then reinstated Alan Fitz Flaad to his place in the ancestry of the Scottish royal family and gave a summary of what was known of his career.

Alan fitz Flaad: family tree[edit]

Round provided a family tree[18]to embody his essential findings, which is adapted below.

Family of Alan fitz Flaad
Alan,
Dapifer Dolensis
(Seneschal or Steward of Dol)
Alan,
Dapifer Dolensis,
Took part in First Crusade, 1097.		Flaad
Occurs atMonmouth,1101/2		Rhiwallon
Monk of St Florent.
Alan Fitz Flaad,
Founder ofSporle Priory
Jordan Fitz Alan,
Dapiferin Brittany,
Benefactor ofSele Priory.		William Fitz Alan,
Lord ofOswestry
Founder/benefactor ofHaughmond Abbey,
Died 1160		Walter Fitz Alan
Dapifer Regis Scotiae,
Founder ofPaisley Abbey,
Died 1177
Alan Fitz Jordan,
Dapifer Dolensis.		William Fitz Alan II,
Lord of Oswestry andClun		Alan the Steward
Senescallus Regis Scotiae


Family Tree[edit]

This section istranscludedfromHouse of Stuart.(edit|history)



family tree of FitzAlan family, earls of Arundel

Armorial[edit]

See also:Category: FitzAlan arms

Figure Name of Noble and blazon
John FitzAlan(died 1267), 6th Earl of Arundel

Gules, lion rampant or

Richard FitzAlan(1306–1376 atArundel CastleinSussex), 10th Earl of Arundel

Quarterly: 1st and 4th: gules, lion passant or; 2nd and 3rd, chequy azure and or(Warenne).[19]

John FitzAlan(1365–1391), Lord Maltravers

Quarterly: 1st and 4th, gules, a lion rampant or; 2nd and 3rd: fretty sable and or

Thomas FitzAlan(died 1524), 10th Earl of Arundel

Quarterly: 1st and 4th, gules a lion rampant or, 2nd and 3rd: sable a fret or.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Noted Relations: FITZALAN Family".Retrieved2008-03-20.
  2. ^G E Cokayne, et al., The Complete Peerage (London 1910–1958, 3rd of 14 vols.)
  3. ^Holinshed, Volume 5, p. 265
  4. ^Holinshed, Volume 5, p. 269
  5. ^Sym, pp. 16–7
  6. ^Sym, p.18
  7. ^Sym, pp. 22–3
  8. ^Dalrymple, p. 57
  9. ^Dalrymple, p. 53-4
  10. ^Stuart, p. 1-2
  11. ^Chalmers, Volume 2, p. 572-3
  12. ^Eyton, Volume 7, p. 215-6
  13. ^Eyton, Volume 7, p. 227
  14. ^The Norman People, p. 408
  15. ^Round (1901), p. 120
  16. ^Round (1901), p. 122
  17. ^Paul, p. 9
  18. ^Round (1901), p. 129
  19. ^[1]Source: Folio 56 ofArmorial de Gelre
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