Alice FitzAlan, Countess Of Kent
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Lady Alice Holland, Countess of Kent (c. 1350 – 17 March 1416), LG, formerly Alice FitzAlan, was an English noblewoman, a daughter of the 10th Earl of Arundel, and the wife of the 2nd Earl of Kent, the half-brother of King
Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...
. As the maternal grandmother of
Anne de Mortimer Anne de Mortimer (27 December 1388 – 22 September 1411) was a medieval English noblewoman who became an ancestor to the royal House of York, one of the parties in the fifteenth-century dynastic Wars of the Roses. It was her line of descent w ...
, she was an ancestor of kings
Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
and
Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...
, as well as King Henry VII and the
Tudor dynasty The House of Tudor ( ) was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois. The Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Eng ...
through her daughter
Margaret Holland Margaret Holland (1385 – 30 December 1439) was a medieval English noblewoman and a member of the powerful Holland family. Through her marriages she became Countess of Somerset and Duchess of Clarence. She was "at the very centre of royal pow ...
. She was also the maternal grandmother of
Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots Joan Beaufort ( 1404 – 15 July 1445) was Queen of Scots from 1424 to 1437 as the spouse of King James I. During part of the minority of her son James II (from 1437 to 1439), she served as the regent of Scotland, the first dowager Queen of ...
. She was appointed a
Lady of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, it is outranked in precedence only by the decorations of the Victoria Cr ...
in 1388.


Family

Alice FitzAlan was born circa 1350 at
Arundel Castle Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established by Roger de Montgomery in the 11th century. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and earl ...
in Sussex, England, the second daughter of the 10th Earl of Arundel, and
Eleanor of Lancaster Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel (sometimes called Eleanor Plantagenet; 11 September 1318 – 11 January 1372) was the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth. First marriage and issue Eleanor married, first, ...
. She had six siblings who included Richard Fitzalan, later 11th Earl of Arundel, and
Joan FitzAlan Joan FitzAlan, Countess of Hereford, Countess of Essex and Countess of Northampton (1347 – 7 April 1419) was the wife of the 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex and 2nd Earl of Northampton. She was the mother of Mary de Bohun, the first ...
, later Countess of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton. She also had three half-siblings from her parents' previous marriages. Her paternal grandparents were the 9th Earl of Arundel and
Alice de Warenne Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel (15 June 1287 – 23 May 1338) was an English noblewoman and heir apparent to the Earldom of Surrey. In 1305, she married Edmund FitzAlan, 2nd Earl of Arundel. Family Alice, the only daughter of William d ...
, and her maternal grandparents were the 3rd Earl of Lancaster and
Maud Chaworth Maud de Chaworth (2 February 1282 – 3 December 1322) was an English noblewoman and wealthy heiress. She was the only child of Patrick de Chaworth. Sometime before 2 March 1297, she married Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, by whom she had seven c ...
.


Marriage and issue

In 1354, at the age of four, Alice was betrothed to her father's
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
Edmund Mortimer who would in 1360 become the 3rd
Earl of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times, respectively, in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derives from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales (Welsh Marches) or Scotland (S ...
. The marriage, however, did not take place. Alice married instead on 10 April 1364, 2nd Earl of Kent, one of the half-brothers of the future King Richard II by his mother
Joan of Kent Joan, Countess of Kent suo jure ( – August 1385),Barber, R.  (2004, 23 September). Joan, suo jure countess of Kent, and princess of Wales and of Aquitaine alled the Fair Maid of Kent(c. 1328–1385). ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biog ...
's first marriage to Thomas Lord Holland. She received from her father a marriage portion of 4,000 marks. Upon her marriage, she was styled Lady Holland. She did not, however, become Countess of Kent until 1381, when her husband succeeded his father as
Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (135025 April 1397) was an English nobleman and a councillor of his half-brother, King Richard II of England. Family and early life Thomas Holland was born in Upholland, Lancashire, in 1350. He was the eldest ...
. Lord Holland was appointed captain of the English forces in
Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...
in 1366, and in 1375, he was made a
Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...
. Two years later in 1377, his half-brother Richard succeeded to the throne of England, as King Richard II. Alice's husband would become one of the young King's chief counsellors and exert a strong influence over his brother which led to the enrichment of Thomas and Alice. Alice was appointed a Lady of the Garter, an order of
chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of ...
, in 1388. Together Thomas and Alice had ten children: *
Alianore Holland Alianore Holland, Countess of March (also spelt Eleanor; 13 October 1370 – October 1405) was the eldest daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, and the wife of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, heir presumptive to her uncle, King Ric ...
(13 October 1370 – October 1405), married, firstly,
Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, 6th Earl of Ulster (11 April 137420 July 1398) was an English nobleman. He was considered the heir presumptive to King Richard II, his mother's first cousin, which made him a great-grandson of King Edward ...
, by whom she had issue, including Anne Mortimer and
Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, 7th Earl of Ulster (6 November 139118 January 1425), was an English nobleman and a potential claimant to the throne of England. A great-great-grandson of King Edward III of England, he was heir presumptive to ...
; she married, secondly,
Edward Charleton, 5th Baron Cherleton Edward Charlton (also Cherleton or Charleton), 5th Baron Charlton (1370–1421), 5th and last Lord Charlton of Powys, was the younger son of John Charlton, the third baron, and his wife, Joan, daughter of Lord Stafford. During the lifetime of ...
, by whom she had two daughters. * Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey and 3rd Earl of Kent (1374 – 7 January 1400), married Lady Joan Stafford, a daughter of
Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, 3rd Baron Stafford, 3rd Baron Audley, KG (c. 1342 – 16 October 1386) was an English nobleman. Early life Hugh de Stafford was born around 1342, the second and youngest son of Ralph de Stafford, 1st E ...
and
Philippa de Beauchamp Philippa de Stafford, Countess of Stafford (before 1344 – 6 April 1386), was a late medieval English noblewoman and the daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG, and Katherine Mortimer. Her maternal grandfather was the pow ...
, but the marriage was childless. * John Holland (died young) * Richard Holland (died young) * Elizabeth Holland (died 4 January 1423), married Sir John Neville, Lord Neville by whom she had issue. *
Joan Holland Joan Holland (ca. 1380–12 April 1434) was the third daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, and Alice FitzAlan. She married four times. Her first husband was a duke, and the following three were barons. All of her marriages were m ...
(1380 – 12 April 1434), married, firstly, as his second wife,
Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (5 June 1341 – 1 August 1402) was the fifth son (fourth surviving) of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Like many medieval English princes, Edmund gained his nickname from his birthplace: ...
; married, secondly, William Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby de Eresby; married, thirdly, Henry le Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham, her fourth husband was Sir
Henry Bromflete Sir Henry Bromflete (died 1469) was an English landowner, courtier, soldier, administrator and diplomat from Yorkshire who married the Duke of York's widow and was created Baron Vessy but left no son to continue the title. Origins Born before ...
, Baron Vessy. All her marriages were childless. *
Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent, 5th Baron Holand, KG (6 January 1383 15 September 1408) was the Earl of Kent from 1400 to 1408. He was the 106th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1403. Edmund was born in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, the secon ...
(6 January 1384 – 15 September 1408), married Lucia Visconti (1372 – 14 April 1424), but the marriage was childless. He fathered an illegitimate daughter,
Eleanor de Holland James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley, 2nd Baron Tuchet (c. 1398 – 23 September 1459) of Heighley Castle, Heleigh Castle was an English peer. James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley, son of Elizabeth Stafford and her husband John Tuchet, 4th Baron Audley, wa ...
(born 1406), by his mistress
Constance of York Constance of York, Countess of Gloucester ( 1375 – 28 November 1416) was the only daughter of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and his wife Isabella of Castile. Family Constance was born in about 1375, the only daughter of Edmund of Lan ...
. *
Margaret Holland Margaret Holland (1385 – 30 December 1439) was a medieval English noblewoman and a member of the powerful Holland family. Through her marriages she became Countess of Somerset and Duchess of Clarence. She was "at the very centre of royal pow ...
(1385 – 30 December 1439), married, firstly,
John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (c. 1373 – 16 March 1410), known as the Marquess of Somerset and Marquess of Dorset from 1397–99, was an English nobleman and politician. Beaufort was the second son of John of Gaunt (1340–1399; ...
, by whom she had issue including
John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, 3rd Earl of Somerset (25 March 1404 – 27 May 1444) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was a paternal first cousin of King Henry V and the maternal grandfath ...
and
Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland Joan Beaufort ( 1404 – 15 July 1445) was Queen of Scots from 1424 to 1437 as the spouse of King James I. During part of the minority of her son James II (from 1437 to 1439), she served as the regent of Scotland, the first dowager Queen of ...
; she married, secondly,
Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence (c. autumn 1387 – 22 March 1421) was a medieval English prince and soldier, the second son of Henry IV of England, brother of Henry V, and heir to the throne in the event of his brother's death. He acte ...
. * Eleanor Holland (1386 – after 1413), married
Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury, KG (13 June 1388 – 3 November 1428) of Bisham in Berkshire, was an English nobleman and one of the most important English commanders during the Hundred Years' War. Origins He was the eldest son of Jo ...
, by whom she had one daughter,
Alice Montacute, 5th Countess of Salisbury Alice Montacute (1407before 9 December 1462) was an English noblewoman and the suo jure 5th Countess of Salisbury, 6th Baroness Monthermer, and 7th and 4th Baroness Montagu, having succeeded to the titles in 1428. Her husband, Richard Neville ...
. * Bridget Holland (died before 1416), a nun at
Barking Abbey The Abbey of St Mary and St Ethelburga, founded in the 7th-century and commonly known as Barking Abbey, is a former Roman Catholic, royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as havi ...
.


Later years

Alice's husband died on 25 April 1397. In 1399, King Richard was deposed, and the throne was usurped by Henry IV, the son-in-law of her elder sister, Joan. In January 1400, Alice's eldest son Thomas, who had succeeded his father as the 3rd Earl of Kent, was captured at
Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...
and
beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...
without a trial by a mob of angry citizens as a consequence of having been one of the chief conspirators in the
Epiphany Rising The Epiphany Rising was a failed rebellion against King Henry IV of England in early January 1400. Background Richard II rewarded those who had supported him against Gloucester and the Lords Appellant with a plethora of new titles. Upon the usu ...
. The rebels had hoped to seize and murder King Henry, and immediately restore King Richard to the throne. Less than three years earlier, her brother Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel and a Lord Appellant, had been executed for his opposition to King Richard. Alice herself died on 17 March 1416 at the age of sixty-six. She is buried at
Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Bath and Wells and the mother church of the diocese of Bath and Wells. There are daily Church of England services in ...
.


Descendants

Alice had many illustrious descendants which included English kings
Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
,
Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...
(and his consort Queen
Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...
) and Henry VII, from the latter of whom descended the Tudor monarchs. Alice was also an ancestress of Scottish king
James II of Scotland James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland, he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six, following the assassination of his fathe ...
and his successors, which included
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...
and
James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 unti ...
. Her other notable descendants include the last queen consort of
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
,
Catherine Parr Catherine Parr ( – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until Henry's death on 28 January 1547. Catherine was the final queen consort o ...
;
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury (22 November 1428 – 14 April 1471), known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, landowner of the House of Neville fortune and military c ...
—known in history as ''Warwick the Kingmaker'';
Cecily Bonville Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington, 2nd Baroness Bonville (30 June 1460 – 12 May 1529) was an English peer, who was also Marchioness of Dorset by her first marriage to Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, and Countess of Wiltshire by her s ...
;
John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester KG (8 May 1427 – 18 October 1470), was an English nobleman and scholar who served as Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Constable of England and Lord Deputy of Ireland. He was known as "the Butcher of Englan ...
and the scandalous Anne Bourchier, 7th Baroness Bourchier. Living descendants of Alice FitzAlan include the current
British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...
.


Ancestry


References


External links


Inquisition Post Mortem
#608-631. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Alice Holland, Countess of 1350s births 1416 deaths English countesses Ladies of the Garter Daughters of English earls People from Arundel
Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
15th-century English people 15th-century English women 14th-century English nobility 14th-century English women Wives of knights