He was called John Arundel (the family had ceased using the surname Fitzalan a century before his birth).

Born in 1458, John was the forth son of William Fitzalan, 9th Earl of Arundel.

In 1486, John Arundel is present with Edward Woodville in Henry Tudor 's entourage[2] as he planned to become King, during his exile in Brittany.

[3] In 1488, against the advice of King Henry Tudor, Sir John Arundel, mounted an expedition with Sir Edward Woodville on the Isle of Wight, to help the Bretons against the French.

But John Arundel was intercepted by royal agents while still on Wight and arrested with his ship and all men of his company, for ignoring the King's order not to fight.