Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel[a] (1 May 1285 – 17 November 1326) was an English nobleman prominent in the conflict between King Edward II and his barons.

This was to a large extent due to his association with the king's new favourite Hugh Despenser the Younger, whose daughter was married to Arundel's son.

Arundel supported the king in suppressing rebellions by Roger Mortimer and other marcher lords, and eventually also Thomas of Lancaster.

Arundel's son and heir Richard only recovered the title and lands in 1331, after Edward III had taken power from the regency of Isabella and Mortimer.

[3] Richard had been in opposition to the king during the political crisis of 1295, and as a result, he had incurred great debts and had parts of his land confiscated.

[11] Arundel joined the opposition at an early point, and did not attend the Stamford parliament in July 1309, where Gaveston's return was negotiated.

In 1314 Arundel was among the magnates who refused to assist Edward in a campaign against the Scots, contributing to the disastrous English defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn.

Edward's rapprochement towards the earl had in fact started earlier, when on 2 November 1313, the king pardoned Arundel's royal debts.

In 1317 he was appointed Warden of the Marches of Scotland, and in August 1318, he helped negotiate the Treaty of Leake, which temporarily reconciled the king with Thomas of Lancaster.

[28] Isabella and Mortimer landed in England on 24 September 1326, and due to the virulent resentment against the Despenser regime, few came to the king's aid.

[29] Arundel initially escaped the invading force in the company of the king, but was later dispatched to his estates in Shropshire to gather troops.

[12] According to a chronicle account, the use of a blunt sword was ordered, and the executioner needed 22 strokes to sever the earl's head from his body.

[32] Though he was never canonised, a cult emerged around the late earl in the 1390s, associating him with the ninth-century martyr king St Edmund.

[33] Arundel was attainted at his execution; his estates were forfeited to the crown, and large parts of these were appropriated by Isabella and Mortimer.

[34] The castle and honour of Arundel were briefly held by Edward II's half-brother Edmund, Earl of Kent, who was executed on 19 March 1330.

[1] Edmund Fitzalan's son, Richard, failed in an attempted rebellion against the crown in June 1330, and had to flee to France.

This allowed Richard to return and reclaim his inheritance, and on 8 February 1331, he was fully restored to his father's lands, and created Earl of Arundel.