He distinguished himself in battle against the Ottoman Turks in the service of the Emperor Rudolf II, and was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.

His father inherited extensive former monastic lands, and served in a number of administrative capacities, including high sheriff, custos rotulorum, and Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset.

[6] Although a Roman Catholic throughout his life, Arundell demonstrated his loyalty to the Crown in 1588 by subscribing £100 towards the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

[7] According to Akrigg, Arundell was 'gifted and scholarly', but by the time he had reached his 30s had failed to find any outlet for his talents and had 'sunk into a melancholic existence', living a 'studious solitary life' at the Wriothesley estates in Hampshire or in the family apartments at Southampton House in London.

In 1595 Arundell's father agreed to provide him with horses and £1100 to leave England and serve in the Imperial forces against the Turks.

[12] His assumption of a foreign title created jealousy among his fellow peers in England, and was resented by his father, who objected to his superior rank and disinherited him.

The authorities searched his chamber but could prove nothing against him, and released him to his father's custody on the grounds of his wife's failing health.

According to the account written by James Rosier, these were the colonists 'we were to leave in the Country by their agreement with my Lord the Right Honourable Count Arundell'.

According to Akrigg, Arundell figures much more prominently in Rosier's account than Southampton, leading Akrigg to conclude that 'the whole voyage may best be regarded as a first attempt to found an American colony that would be an asylum for English Catholics', and that Arundell, who in 1596 had planned a venture to the East Indies, was the principal impetus behind the Weymouth voyage.

[23] During the 1630s Arundell engaged in 'acrimonious religious disputes' with the Bishop of Durham, and in 1637 attempted to sell Wardour Castle to the King.