Arundell, Thomas, first Baron Arundell of Wardour 1560-1639, was a grandson of Sir John Arundell, the friend of Father Cornelius. When about thirty-five years of age, he was made count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1595 by the Emperor Rudolph II, for his valour in the wars against the Turks in Hungary; on one occasion he captured the enemy's banner with his own hand, whilst forcing the water-tower at Gran or Esztergom. He was a great favourite of Queen Elizabeth, who recommended him to the emperor in an autograph Latin letter, said to be still preserved at Wardour Castle. He was made first Baron Arundell of Wardour by James I in 1605. His eldest son, Thomas, second Baron of Wardour b. 1584, was (according to Clarendon, iv. 125, ed. 1826) amongst the royalists of Cornish extraction who were present at the bloody battle of Lansdowne near Bath on 5 July 1643, where he was wounded. But this statement seems to be erroneous, for his monument in Tisbury Church, Wilts, records that he died at Oxford on 19 May 1643, probably of wounds received in some other engagement during the civil war. Lady Blanche Arundell, whose gallant defence of Wardour Castle against the parliament is a familiar matter of history, was the wife of the second baron.

Sources:
     See ante, sub Arundells of Lanherne.

Contributor: W. H. T. [Walter Hawken Tregellas]

Published: 1885