Mary FitzAlan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lady Mary FitzAlan
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| Duchess of Norfolk | |
Traditionally called Mary, Duchess of Norfolk, aged 16, 1556.
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| Born | 1540 |
| Died | 23/25 August 1557 (aged 16-17) Arundel House, The Strand, Middlesex, England |
| Buried | first at St Clement Danes, London and then at Fitzalan Chapel, Arundel |
| Noble family | FitzAlan (by birth) Howard (by marriage) |
| Spouse(s) | Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk |
| Issue | Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel |
| Father | Henry FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel |
| Mother | Lady Katherine Grey |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Mary FitzAlan, Duchess of Norfolk (1540 – 23/25 August 1557) was an English noblewoman, translator of the English language, and wife of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Early life
Mary was born in 1540, being the third and last of the children of Henry FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel by his first wife, Katherine Grey. His older siblings were Jane, born 1537 and Henry, Lord Maltravers, born 1538. His paternal grandparents were William FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Anne Percy. His maternal grandparents were Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and Margaret Wotton. On her mother's side, Mary was a niece of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and first cousin of Lady Jane Grey, executed in 1554 after their alleged involvement in the Wyatt's Rebellion, which was intended to prevent the marriage of Queen Mary I with Philip II of Spain.
As girls, both Mary and her sister Jane received a careful education. Several of her translations from Greek to Latin have been preserved.
In 1556, her brother Henry, Lord Maltravers died, making Mary and Jane co-heiresses to the Earldom of Arundel.
Marriage and issue
In March 1555, she was betrothed to Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk. Mary at the time was fourteen or fifteen while Howard was nineteen. The marriage was arranged by the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, groom's grandfather in 1553-1554 with the aim of uniting the two most prominent Catholic families in England.
Mary became pregnant at the end of 1556, giving birth at Arundel House, Strand, London on June 28, 1557 to what would be her only child:
- Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel, Earl of Surrey (by courtesy) from 1557 to 1572. For remaining loyal to Catholicism, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in April 1585, remaining there until his death from natural causes in October 1595. Shortly after his death he was declared a Catholic martyr, and he was canonised in 1970 as one of the so-called Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. His tomb and shrine are in Arundel Cathedral.
The Duchess suffered serious health complications after the birth of Philip, possibly due to a puerperal infection. She never recovered and died at Arundel House on 23 or 25 August 1557, eight weeks after the birth of her son. After the funeral, she was buried on September 1, 1557 in the Church of St Clement Danes in London. Decades later, based on the provisions of the will of her grandson Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, her remains were moved to the Fitzalan Chapel in Arundel.
Upon the death of her father in 1580, the earldom of Arundel passed to Mary's son Philip, all of his aunt Jane's children having predeceased her, and Jane having predeceased her father Henry.
