Lady Joan FitzAlan was born in 1375, at
Arundel Castle, Sussex, England, one of the seven children of
Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel, Earl of Surrey, and his first wife
Elizabeth de Bohun. John died sometime after 1397. On 21 September 1397, Joan's father, the Earl of Arundel, who was also one of the
Lords Appellant, was beheaded on
Tower Hill, London, on charges of high
treason against King
Richard II of England. The Earl had always enjoyed much popularity with the citizens of London. His titles and estates were forfeited to the Crown. In October 1400, the new king
Henry IV who had ascended the throne following Richard's deposition in 1399, restored the titles and estates to Thomas Fitzalan, Joan's brother. He became the 12th Earl of Arundel and Earl of Surrey. Although he married Beatrice, an illegitimate daughter of King
John I of Portugal and Inez Perez Esteves, he died childless on 13 October 1415. The Earldom and castle of Arundel passed to a cousin
John Fitzalan, 13th Earl of Arundel, and the remainder of his inheritance was divided among Joan and her two surviving sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In 1431, Joan was involved in a dispute with Thomas Burdett in the Midlands. ==Marriage and issue==