John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, 1st Earl of Huntingdon ( 1352 – 16 January 1400) of
Dartington Hall in Devon, was a half-brother of King
Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...
(1377–1399), to whom he remained strongly loyal. He is primarily remembered for being suspected of assisting in the downfall of King Richard's uncle
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester (7 January 13558 or 9 September 1397) was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.
Early life
Thomas was born on 7 January 1355 at Woodstock Pal ...
(1355–1397) (youngest son of King Edward III) and then for conspiring against King Richard's first cousin and eventual deposer, Henry Bolingbroke, later King
Henry IV (1399–1413).
Origins
John was the third son of
Thomas Holland by his wife
Joan of Kent
Joan, Countess of Kent suo jure ( – August 1385),Barber, R. (2004, 23 September). Joan, suo jure countess of Kent, and princess of Wales and of Aquitaine alled the Fair Maid of Kent(c. 1328–1385). ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biog ...
, "The Fair Maid of Kent". Joan was daughter of
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (5 August 130119 March 1330), whose seat was Arundel Castle in Sussex, was the sixth and youngest son of King Edward I of England, and the second son of his second wife Margaret of France, Queen of England ...
, a son of King
Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
(1272–1307), and Thomas would be made
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In fiction, the Earl of Kent is also known as a prominent supporting character in William Shakespeare's tragedy K ...
, in what is considered a new creation, as husband of Joan, in whom the former Earldom was vested as eventual heiress of Edmund of Woodstock. Joan later married
Edward the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, succeeded to the throne instead. Edward n ...
, the eldest son and heir apparent of her first cousin King
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
, by whom she had a son, King
Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...
, who was thus a half-brother of John Holland.
Political career

Early in King Richard's reign, Holland was made a
Knight of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...
(1381). He was also part of the escort that accompanied the queen-to-be,
Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen consort of England, Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the daughter of Charles IV, Holy ...
, on her trip to England.
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
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. An archer in the service of
Ralph Stafford, 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. King Richard thereupon ordered the forfeiture of Holland's lands. The mother of both Holland and Richard II, Joan of Kent, died shortly afterwards, it was said of grief at the quarrel between her sons.
Early in 1386 Holland reconciled with the Staffords, and had his property restored. Later in 1386 he married
Elizabeth of Lancaster, a daughter of
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399), was an English royal prince, military leader and statesman. He was the fourth son (third surviving) of King Edward III of England, and the father of King Henry IV. Because ...
(younger brother of the Black Prince), by his wife
Blanche of Lancaster. He and Elizabeth then went on Gaunt's expedition to Spain, where Holland was appointed constable of the English army. After his return to England, on 2 June 1388 Holland was created
Earl of Huntingdon, by
Act of Parliament. In 1389 he was appointed
Lord Great Chamberlain
The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal but above the Lord High Constable of England, Lord High Constable. The office of Lo ...
for life,
Admiral of the Fleet
An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral.
It is also a generic ter ...
in the Western Seas, and constable of
Tintagel Castle
Tintagel Castle () is a England in the Middle Ages, medieval fortification located on the peninsula of Tintagel Island adjacent to the village of Tintagel (Trevena), North Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The site was possibly occupied in the Ro ...
in Cornwall. During this time he also received large grants of land from King Richard.
Over the next few years he held a number of additional offices: Constable of
Conway Castle (1394); Governor of
Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle is a stone keep medieval fortress located in the city of Carlisle near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. First built during the reign of William II in 1092 and rebuilt in stone under Henry I in 1122, the castle is over 930 yea ...
(1395);
Warden
A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint.
''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...
(1398), later Constable-General, of the
West Marches towards Scotland. His military service was interrupted by a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
in 1394.
In 1397 Holland had marched with King Richard to arrest the latter's uncle
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester (7 January 13558 or 9 September 1397) was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.
Early life
Thomas was born on 7 January 1355 at Woodstock Pal ...
, and
Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel, and later seized and held
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established by Roger de Montgomery in the 11th century. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and earl ...
at the king's request. As a reward, on 29 September 1397 he was created
Duke of Exeter
The title Duke of Exeter was created several times in England in the later Middle Ages. Exeter is the main town of Devon. It was first created for John Holland, the half-brother of King Richard II in 1397. That title was rescinded upon Henry I ...
.
In 1399 he accompanied King Richard on his expedition to Ireland. Following their return the king sent him to try to negotiate with his own first cousin and Holland's brother-in-law
Henry Bolingbroke, son of John of Gaunt. After Bolingbroke deposed Richard in 1399 and took the throne as King
Henry IV (1399–1413), he called to account those who had been involved in the arrest and downfall of his uncle Thomas of Woodstock, and confiscated all rewards and titles received by them from King Richard. Thus Holland was stripped of his dukedom, becoming again merely Earl of Huntingdon.
Early in 1400 Holland entered into a conspiracy, known as the
Epiphany Rising, with his nephew
Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, and with
Thomas le Despencer, 1st Earl of Gloucester, and others. Their aim was to assassinate King Henry and his sons, and to return Richard, then in prison, to the throne. The plot failed and Holland fled, but was caught, near
Pleshey Castle in
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, and executed on 16 January 1400. Among those who witnessed the execution was Arundel's son,
Thomas Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel
Thomas Fitzalan, 5th Earl of Arundel, 10th Earl of Surrey (13 October 1381 – 13 October 1415) was an English nobleman, one of the principals of the deposition of Richard II, and a major figure during the reign of Henry IV.
Lineage
He was ...
.
Holland's lands and titles were forfeited, but eventually they were restored to his second son
John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter.
Marriage and issue
In 1386, John married
Elizabeth of Lancaster, a daughter of
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399), was an English royal prince, military leader and statesman. He was the fourth son (third surviving) of King Edward III of England, and the father of King Henry IV. Because ...
(younger brother of the Black Prince) by his wife
Blanche of Lancaster, by whom he had children including:
Sons
* Richard Holland (died 3 September 1400), eldest son and heir, who survived his father only 7 months
*
John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon (1395–1447), second son, to whom was restored his father's dukedom in 1426. In the interim, the title had been bestowed upon
Thomas Beaufort, who died childless in 1426.
*Sir Edward Holland (c. 1399 – after 1413)
Daughters
*Constance Holland (1387–1437), married first
Thomas Mowbray, 4th Earl of Norfolk, married second
Sir John Grey,
KG
*Elizabeth Holland (c. 1389 – 1449)
*Alice Holland (c. 1392 – c. 1406), married
Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford
Death
He was executed on 16 January 1400, following the failure of the
Epiphany Rising conspiracy against King Henry IV.
His body was buried at the collegiate church in
Pleshey. His tomb remained until the late 16th century, when, along with many other tombs in the church, it was broken up for use as building material. Only a fragment remained within the church by the start of the 17th century.
[''Ancient Fvnerall Monvments with in the Vnited Monarchie of Great Britaine'', 1632, John Weever, pp 637]
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Exeter, John Holland, 1st Duke of
1350s births
1400 deaths
14th-century English Navy personnel
101
English admirals
Executed English nobility
Knights of the Garter
Lord Great Chamberlains
People executed under the Lancastrians
People executed under the Plantagenets by decapitation
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
Earls of Huntingdon
Younger sons of earls
Peers created by Richard II
Edward the Black Prince
People from South Hams (district)