John (Holand) de Holand KG (abt. 1355 - abt. 1400)

Born about 1355 in Upholland, Lancashire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about Jan 1400 at about age 45 in Castle Pleshey, Essex, England

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Biography

John (Holand) de Holand KG is a member of the House of Holland.

John Holand (Holland), K.G.^[1]

John, younger son of Thomas Holand and Joan Plantagenet, was born about 1355 in Upholland, Lancashire, England, and died about January 16 1400 in Castle Pleshey, Essex, England. He was half-brother of King Richard II of England.^[1]

Quote: "Holland had a violent temper, which got him in trouble several times. The most famous incident occurred during Richard II's 1385 expedition to Scotland. An archer in the service of Ralph Stafford, Stafford-321 eldest son of Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, killed one of Holland's esquires. Stafford went to find Holland to apologize, but Holland killed him as soon as he identified himself. ^[2]

On 24 June 1386, John Holand married Elizabeth of Lancaster at or near Plymouth, Devon. She was the divorced wife of John de Hastings, Knt. Her parents were John of Gaunt, K.G., Duke of Aquitaine and Lancaster, Earl of Derby, Lincoln, and Leicester (son of of King Edward III of England), and his 1st wife, Blanche, daughter and co-heiress of Henry, Duke of Lancaster. Born before 21 Feb. 1363, she was their second daughter. Elizabeth was full sister of King Henry IV.^[1]

John and Elizabeth had three sons and two daughters:^[1]

• Richard Holand
• John Holand, Knt., Duke of Exeter
• Edward Holand, Knt. Count of Mortain
• Constance Holand
• Alice Holand, married Richard Vere, K.G., 11th Earl of Oxford

Sir John Holand was degraded from his Dukedom 3 Nov. 1399 and beheaded at Pleshey Castle, Essex on 9 (or 10) Jan. 1399/1400, for treason against his brother-in-law, King Henry IV. He was buried in Collegiate Church at Pleshey, Essex. In the January 1400/1 Parliament he was attainted as Earl of Huntingdon. His widow, Elizabeth, married (3rd) before 12 Dec. 1400 (as his 2nd wife) John Cornwall, K.G.^[1]

His Inquisitions Post Mortem held several years after his death give three different death dates. 7 or 8 January 1400^[3] and 15 January 1400.^[4] His heir was his son John.^[3][4] His eldest son Richard had died in June or September 1400.^[3]

Titles

Earl of Huntingdon

1st Duke of Exeter

Military Exploits

John Holand was appointed Constable of the army which John, Duke of Lancaster, his father-in-law, raised in an attempt to obtain the Crown of Castile, and, by his advice, the Duke abandoned this unsuccessful enterprise. He was created Earl of Huntingdon 2 June 1388, and Duke of Exeter 29 Sept. 1397. He was granted the castle of Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire as a residence in 1388, during pleasure. In 1394 he obtained a papal indult for plenary remission, he going against the Turks and "other enemies of Christ." He accompanied his brother, King Richard II, into Ireland in May 1399, and returned with him the following July. Following the overthrow of King Richard II, he joined in the plot to seize King Henry IV, but took no active part.^[1]

Downfall

Primarily remembered for helping cause the downfall of Thomas of Woodstock and then for conspiring against Henry IV. He was executed for his part in the Epiphany Rising (plotted December 1399-January 1399/1400).^[5]

Having been dispossessed of the Exeter title, earned by service the new sovereign did not consider meritorious, John Holland got in on a plot to kidnap Henry IV during a tournament at Windsor… which devolved, when Henry found out about it, into an abortive rising with a number of executions. Richard FitzAlan’s sister (also Henry IV’s mother-in-law) had the satisfaction of ordering Holland’s beheading at Pleshy Castle, Essex.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. II, page 533
2. ↑ Goodman, Anthony (1971). The Loyal Conspiracy:The Lords Appellant under Richard II. University of Miami Press. As cited by Wikipedia
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} King's College London, 2014. | Mapping the Medieval Countryside [online]. Available at http://www.inquisitionspostmortem.ac.uk/view/inquisition/20-597/604 [Accessed: 21/11/2020] Inquisitions Post Mortem for John earl of Huntingdon and Richard his son 1414 & 1417
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} J. L. Kirby, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry IV, Entries 1150-1195', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 18, Henry IV (London, 1987), pp. 398-413. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol18/pp398-413 [accessed 20 November 2020].
5. ↑ January 16, 1400, Executed Today and Wikipedia: John Holland; see also Wikipedia's article on the Epiphany Rising
6. ↑ January 16, 1400, Executed Today

• Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), Vol II, p 533; Vol III, pp 427, 497; Vol V, page 373

See also:

• Beltz, George. Memorials of the Order of the Garter (William Pickering, London, 1841) Page 279-84
• The Complete Peerage, pp 245-246
• John Holand (died 1400), Medieval Lands, compiled by Charles Cawley

Acknowledgements