Earl of Arundel

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For the Counts of Arundell of the Holy Roman Empire, see Baron Arundell of Wardour.

The title Earl of Arundel is the oldest extant Earldom and perhaps the oldest extant title in the Peerage of England. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used (along with the Earldom of Surrey) by his Heir Apparent as a courtesy title. It was created in 1138 for the Norman baron Sir William d'Aubigny. Until the mid-13th century, the Earls were also frequently known as Earl of Sussex, until this title fell into disuse. At about the same time, the Earldom fell to the originally Breton FitzAlan family, a younger branch of which went on to become the Stuart family which later ruled Scotland.

A tradition arose that the holder of Arundel Castle should automatically be Earl of Arundel, and this was formally confirmed by King Henry VI. However, this was not always consistently followed. Some of the Lords of Arundel were never addressed as Earl during their lifetime, but nevertheless are counted and numbered as earls here. Other sources may not include some of the earls listed below, and may consider the earldom to have been created more than once.

The last FitzAlan holder of the Earldom, the 14th Earl, was implicated in the Ridolfi Plot to place Mary, Queen of Scots, of the House of Stewart, on the English Throne. This led to Lord Arundel being placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life. This same Earl received, after Queen Mary's execution, the rosary and prayer book which she carried to her execution. It is amongst the Arundel relics which the Dukes of Norfolk hold today.

In his 1834 book on the Earls of Arundel, M. A. Tierney (Chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk) maintains that the first incarnation of the Earldom was with the House of Montgomery. Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury was one of William the Conqueror's top generals, and William bestowed on him, amongst several hundred other manors, the property at Arundel, with the charge to fortify it with a castle. Montgomery is believed to have built the motte that survives to this day, and is thought to have built a wooden keep on it, overlooking the river Arun. Montgomery and two of his sons are counted by many as being the first incarnation of the Earldom, but are often not counted amongst the Earls.

On the death of the 14th Earl in 1580, the title fell to Philip Howard, eldest son of the attainted 4th Duke of Norfolk by his wife, the only daughter of the last FitzAlan Earl. Like his father, the new Earl was soon attainted for plotting against Queen Elizabeth I, and the title was only restored following the accession of King James I. The 4th Earl was restored to the Dukedom of Norfolk in 1660, and the title has descended with that Dukedom ever since.