William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel

Who was William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel?

William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel, 6th Baron Maltravers KG.

He was a son of John FitzAlan, 13th Earl of Arundel, and Eleanor Berkeley. His mother was a daughter of John Berkeley and Elizabeth Betteshorne, granddaughter of Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley, and his second wife Catherine Clivedon.

His elder brother John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, died on 12 June 1435. The title passed to John's nephew Humphrey FitzAlan, 15th Earl of Arundel, who was only a six-year-old with no descendants. William thus became the heir presumptive and, when Humphrey died three years later on 24 April 1438, he succeeded to the title.