Nicholas Harris Nicolas

[Leticia Cluff]

Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas is one of the main sources for Douglas
Richardson's assertion that the surname Fitzalan was replaced by
Arundel in 1302. An old edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, from
the days when such works could include comments about a person's
character, tells us that Nicolas was "a sharp and eager
controversialist" yet "a genial and generous man." Interestingly,
"Financial difficulties compelled Nicolas to leave England, and he
died near Boulogne."

Nicolas was certainly a skilled antiquary, as well as a barrister at
law, and he must have been thoroughly familiar with the history of the
earldom of Arundel, having written a "Report on the Proceedings on the
Claim to the Barony of L'Isle" with its appendix on the Berkeley case
containing observations on baronies by tenure (including the barony of
Fitzalan). Works by the imaginatively named Nicholas Nicolas are
available for consultation at Google Books.

Douglas has often quoted what Nicolas says in a footnote on page 105
of his "Testamenta Vetusta" vol. 1:

"This family presents a singular instance of adopting the name of
their title as the surname of the family, for after the marriage of
John Fitz-Alan, Lord of Clun, with Isabel, the sister and coheir of
Hugh D'Albini, Earl of Arundel, all the descendants called
themselves Arundel instead of Fitz-Alan."

[To facilitate Google Group searches: In Douglas's version of the
quotation, the word "coheir" is written "co-heir" and "themselves" as
"themslves."]

The interesting thing is that on page 233 of the same volume, in a
note on the will of Maud, wife [shouldn't that be widow?] of John late
Earl of Arundel from 1436, Nicolas writes:

"she married, first, John Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel."

This does not square with his earlier statement that ALL the
descendants called themselves Arundel instead of Fitz-Alan. Does the
name Fitz-Alan here come from a primary source, or has it been added
by Nicolas based on his knowledge of the family surname?

Tish

[Renia]

Leticia Cluff wrote:

Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas is one of the main sources for Douglas
Richardson's assertion that the surname Fitzalan was replaced by
Arundel in 1302. An old edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, from
the days when such works could include comments about a person's
character, tells us that Nicolas was "a sharp and eager
controversialist" yet "a genial and generous man." Interestingly,
"Financial difficulties compelled Nicolas to leave England, and he
died near Boulogne."

Nicolas was certainly a skilled antiquary, as well as a barrister at
law, and he must have been thoroughly familiar with the history of the
earldom of Arundel, having written a "Report on the Proceedings on the
Claim to the Barony of L'Isle" with its appendix on the Berkeley case
containing observations on baronies by tenure (including the barony of
Fitzalan). Works by the imaginatively named Nicholas Nicolas are
available for consultation at Google Books.

Douglas has often quoted what Nicolas says in a footnote on page 105
of his "Testamenta Vetusta" vol. 1:

"This family presents a singular instance of adopting the name of
their title as the surname of the family, for after the marriage of
John Fitz-Alan, Lord of Clun, with Isabel, the sister and coheir of
Hugh D'Albini, Earl of Arundel, all the descendants called
themselves Arundel instead of Fitz-Alan."

[To facilitate Google Group searches: In Douglas's version of the
quotation, the word "coheir" is written "co-heir" and "themselves" as
"themslves."]

The interesting thing is that on page 233 of the same volume, in a
note on the will of Maud, wife [shouldn't that be widow?] of John late
Earl of Arundel from 1436, Nicolas writes:

"she married, first, John Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel."

This does not square with his earlier statement that ALL the
descendants called themselves Arundel instead of Fitz-Alan. Does the
name Fitz-Alan here come from a primary source, or has it been added
by Nicolas based on his knowledge of the family surname?

Tish

While rumbling around in the Dictionary of National Biography, I found:

ARUNDEL, THOMAS (1353-1414)
Archbishop of Canterbury, was the third son of Richard Fitzalan, earl of
Arundel, the title of his father being, according to a very common
custom, used as a family surname.

The index to the said DNB gives the following entries, all as Fitzalan:
Bertram (d 1424)
Brian, Lord of Bedale (d 1306)
Edmund, Earl of Arundel (1285-1326)
Henry, 12th Earl of Arundel (1511?-1580)
John II, Lord of Oswestry, Clun and Arundel (1223-1267)
John VI, Earl of Arundel (1408-1435)
Richard I, Earl of Arundel (1267-1302)
Richard II, Earl of Arundel and Warenne (1307?-1376)
Richard III, Earl of Arundel and Surrey (1346-1397)
Thomas, Earl of Arundel and Surrey (1381-1415)
William (d 1160)

Fitzalan alias Arundel, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury (1353-1414)
(See under Arundel)

The index to the said DNB gives the following entries, all as Arundel:
Arundel, earls of (see Albini, Fitzalan, Howard, etc)
Arundel, Thomas (1353-1414)

The index to the said DNB gives the following entries, all as Arundell:
Arundell of Cornwall
Arunedlls of Lanherne (see under Arundell of Cornwall)
Arundells of Trerice (see under Arundell of Cornwall)
Arundells of Tolverne (see under Arundell of Cornwall)
Arundell, Blanche, Lady (1583-1649)
Arundell, Francis Vyvyan Jago (1780-1846)
Arundell, Henry, third Baron Arundell of Wardour (1606?-1694)
Arundell, Humphry (1513-1550)
Arundell, Sir John, of Lanherne (d 1379)
Arundell, John (d 1477)
Arundell, John (d 1504)
Arundell, Sir John, of Trerice (1495-1561)
Arundell, Sir John, of Trerice (1576-1656?)
Arundell, Mary (d 1691)
Arundell, Richard, 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice, (d 1687)
Arundell, Sir Thomas (d 1552)
Arundell, Thomas, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour (1560-1639)