Alice of Saluzzo, Countess of Arundel (died 25 September 1292) also known as Alessia di Saluzzo, was a Savoyard noblewoman and an English countess. She was daughter of

Thomas I of Saluzzo Thomas I (1239–1296) was the fourth Marquess of Saluzzo from 1244 to his death. He was the son of Manfred III of Saluzzo, Manfred III and Beatrice of Savoy. He succeeded his father Manfred III of Saluzzo, Manfred III. He was also the grandson ...

, and the wife of Richard Fitzalan, 1st Earl of Arundel. She assumed the title of Countess of Arundel in 1289.

Family

Alice was born on an unknown date in

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the su ...

(present-day

Province of Cuneo The province of Cuneo (; ) is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west, it borders the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes), to the north the ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

); the second-eldest daughter of Thomas I, 4th Margrave of Saluzzo, and Luigia di Ceva, daughter of Giorgio, Marquis of Ceva. Alice had fifteen siblings. Her father was a very wealthy and cultured nobleman under whose rule Saluzzo achieved a prosperity, freedom and greatness it had never known previously. She was niece of Alasia of Saluzzo, who in 1247 had married an English nobleman, Edmund de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract, and was a more distant kinswoman of

Eleanor of Provence Eleanor of Provence ( 1223 – 24/25 June 1291) was a Provence, Provençal noblewoman who became List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of King Henry III of England, Henry III from 1236 until his death in 1272. She served ...

, queen consort of

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

Marriage and issue

Sometime before 1285, Alice married Richard Fitzalan,

feudal lord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or s ...

Clun Clun is a town in south west Shropshire, England, and the Shropshire Hills AONB, Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 2011 United Kingdom census, census recorded 680 people living in the town.Combined populations for the t ...

and

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

in the

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia W ...

, the son of John Fitzalan, 7th Earl of Arundel and

Isabella Mortimer Isabella Mortimer, Lady of Clun and Oswestry (after 1247 – before 1 April 1292''Calendar of Fine Rolls,'' 1272-1307, p. 309) was a noblewoman and a member of an important and powerful Welsh Marcher family. Although often overshadowed in mode ...

. Richard would succeed to the title of Earl of Arundel in 1289, thus making Alice the 8th Countess of Arundel. Her marriage had been arranged by her kinswoman, the widowed queen consort Eleanor. Richard and Alice's principal residence was Marlborough Castle in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, but Richard also held

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 ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and the castles of Clun and Oswestry in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. Her husband was knighted by King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

in 1289, and fought in the Welsh Wars (1288–1294), and later in the Scottish Wars. The marriage produced: *

Edmund FitzAlan, 2nd Earl of Arundel Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1 May 1285 – 17 November 1326) was an Kingdom of England, English nobleman prominent in the conflict between King Edward II and his barons. His father, Richard Fitzalan, 1st Earl of Arundel, died in 1302, ...

(1 May 1285 – 17 November 1326 by execution), married

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 ...

, by whom he had issue. * John FitzAlan, a priest * Alice FitzAlan (died 17 Mar 1416), married Stephen de Segrave, 3rd Lord Segrave, by whom she had issue. * Maud, married Philip Burnell * Margaret FitzAlan, married William le Botiller, by whom she had issue. *

Eleanor FitzAlan Eleanor Fitzalan (c. 1284 – July/August 1328) was an alleged daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 1st Earl of Arundel and his wife Alice of Saluzzo. She became the wife of Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy. Their son was Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Perc ...

, married

Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick (25 March 1273 – October 1314) was a medieval English magnate. He fought under Edward I of England, King Edward I of England in Wales and Scotland and was granted extensive estates in Scotland, wh ...

, by whom she had issue. Alice died on 25 September 1292 and was buried in

Haughmond Abbey Haughmond Abbey ( ) is a ruined, medieval, Augustinians, Augustinian monastery a few miles from Shrewsbury, England. It was probably founded in the early 12th century and was closely associated with the FitzAlan family, who became Earls of Arund ...

, Shropshire. Alice's husband Richard died on 9 March 1302 and was buried alongside her. In 1341, provision was made for twelve candles to be burned beside their tombs. The abbey is now a ruin as the result of a fire during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

References

Sources

** {{DEFAULTSORT:Arundel, Alice of Saluzzo, Countess of 13th-century births Year of birth unknown 1292 deaths People from Saluzzo Countesses in Italy English countesses Aleramici FitzAlan family Burials at Haughmond Abbey 13th-century English nobility 13th-century English women 14th-century Italian nobility 14th-century Italian women