Life History

Notes

• Some sources report another name of Mary FitzAlan as Isabel.
  
  The Norman names with Fitz are written in various ways, in contemporary and modern sources.  This prefix Fitz is a Germanic word associatedwith the Norman Vikings.  The word/prefix was common in the Norman lineage long after they spoke a form of French as a native language and even into the more modern period when they had given up French for English.  We find the Norman prefix as part of primary name in most modern forms: Fitzgerald, Frtzpatrick, Fitzhugh, and in UK other names persist that are less common in the New World, such as this name Fitzalan.
  
  This was a prefix meaning "son of," like the Irish (and thus Scottish) Mac (Mc) or Welsh Ap, the French De (De Burgh, De Warenne, DeLaine)and Von/Van  (Von Braun, Van Riebeeck) in other Germanic languages.A similar pattern in the Saxon and Scandinavian dialects occurs as the word/suffix "son/sen" on the end of names:  Erickson, Larssen, Jenkinson, Thomson/Thompson (Thomas' son).
  
  The same thing occurs in many cultures, as in the Semitic equivalent found in Arabic Bin and Hebrew Ben.  The latter is found in the name Benjamin (Ben-Yamin), "son of the right hand."
  
  We find the use of "Fitz" commonly in the period before surnames werecommon: Fitz Robert, Fitz Hugh, Fitz Walter, Fitz Bernard.  As members of the family became titled or otherwise notable, descendants beganto use the name Fitz from the father, and it came to be a name own its own right, handed down for family lineage identification.
  
  The name of the Fitzalans is found written as FitzAlan, Fitz Alan, fitzAlan, Fitzalan, and sometimes the l is doubled (FitzAllan) in all the variations.
  
  I have it capitalized for Mary, the way it was in the source where I found it, while I have likewise kept the form in which I found the uncapitalized prefix for her sister Aleyne.

Sources

• 1. Corbet-Le Strange Genealogy
  • http://www.renderplus.com/hartgen/htm/le-strange.htm
• 2. World Family Tree Vol. 28
  • Pedigree #1626
• 3. World Family Tree Vol. 4
  • Pedigree #172
• 4. Le Strange Blackmere -- Worldroots
  • http://worldroots.com/cgi-bin/gasteldb?I10564
• 5. Le Strange Family Genealogy -- TudorPlace
  • Name: http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/STRANGE.htm;