Thomas Holland

The early Hollands – or Holands

Feb 5, 2024

buildings, genealogy

annulment, barons Holland, Borehamwood, Cheshire, Cheshire risings, County of St. Pol, Duchy of Brittany, Edward II, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, Hale, Henry II, Henry VI, Hollands, House of Lancaster, House of York, Ireland family, Joan of Kent, Lancashire, Lancashire Assizes, Lovells, Matthew Holland, maud de la zouche, Mitford sisters, Mortimers, murder, Parliament, Robert Holand, secret marriage, Sir John Egerton, Thomas Holland, Thomas of Lancaster, Thurstan Holland, Upholland, Wigan

Upholland is a village in Lancashire, about 4 miles from Wigan and these days only just outside Greater Manchester. It was formerly the HQ of the Lancashire gentry family of Holland. (Up until the 15th Century, it was often, if not invariably, spelt ‘Holand’, but I will stick with the modern spelling for consistency.) The…
The appointment of women to the Garter. (Medieval era).

Jan 10, 2023

heraldry, law

Alice Arundel, Blanche Brandeston, Catherine de Roet, Constance of York, Edmund of Langley, Henry IV, Henry VIII, Joan Holland, John of Gaunt, Knights of the Garter, Ladies of the Garter, Mary Bohun, Mortimers, Philippa de Mohun, Richard II, Sir Andrew Hake, Thomas Despenser, Thomas Holland

I have been trying to make sense of the method by which women were appointed to the Garter in the middle ages, and have concluded there was no system. Of course, as with the knights, who were nominally ‘elected’ by the other knights, it all came down to royal favour. But with the knights, there…
Joan/Joanne/Joanna Holland, Duchess of York

Nov 13, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, sources

Alianore Countess of March, Alice Fitzalan, Anne of Bohemia, Catherine de Roet, Duchess of Lancaster, Edmund of Langley, executions, Fitzhugh family, Froissart, Henry IV, Henry Scrope Baron Masham, Henry V, Isabella de Valois, Joan Holland, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Order of the Garter, Philippa de Bryan, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Sandal Castle, Sir Henry Bromflete, Southampton plot, stepchildren, Thomas Holland, Wales, widowhood

Joan Holland was born about 1380, one of the many children of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and his wife Alice Arundel (aka Fitzalan) and the second-eldest daughter. It seems to have been Kent’s policy to marry his daughters into every family that could conceivably inherit the throne. Accordingly, towards the end of…
A pinch of salt reflected in A Distant Mirror….

Sep 29, 2021

anniversaries, Book Reviews, genealogy

A Distant Mirror, Barbara Tuchman, Duke of Surrey, Earl of Kent, Edward I, errata, Joan of Acre, Lancashire, Thomas Holland, titles

Here is a heartfelt lament. Some books are always widely lauded, and rightly so, but what happens when one finds a blooper within the hallowed pages? In this instance I speak of A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century, by Barbara Tuchman. It’s packed full of detail, and a great read…until that one blooper leaps…
What really happened with Princess Cecily’s first two marriages….?

Aug 24, 2021

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Princes”, Alexander Stewart Duke of Albany, annulments, Barons Scrope of Bolton, Battle of Bosworth, Bishop of Durham, british History Online, Cicely Plantagenet, Complete Peerage, consanguinity, dispensations, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward III, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Essex, Gaynesparc, Hatfield, Isle of Wight, James III, James IV, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Kent, John Scrope of Bolton, Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, Lionel Baron Welles, Margaret Beauchamp, pardons, plots, Ralph Scrope, Richard Fox, Richard III, royal marriages, Scotland, Scottish campaign 1482, Scropes of Masham, Sharon Champion, Thomas Holland, Thomas Kymbe, Tony Riches, Tower of London, Viscount Welles

The following extract is from Not So Fortunate As Fair’: The Life of Princess Cecily Plantagenet by Sharon Champion:- “….At the age of five, she [Cecily] was betrothed to James, the infant son and heir of James III of Scotland. John 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton was sent as commissioner to negotiate a contract of…
Was the Black Prince a control freak where his wife was concerned….?

Oct 10, 2020

anniversaries, Book Reviews, genealogy, law, religion

annulments, bigamy, biographies, Earl of Salisbury, Edward the Black Prince, Joan of Kent, John of Gaunt, Penny Lawne, Phillippa of Hainault, royal marriages, Thomas Holland

Before I start, I must apologise for the decidedly uncontemporary illustrations. They are an indulgence, I fear. The one above, of the Prince of Wales (known to posterity as the Black Prince) in armour at an army camp, his hands clasped behind his back, seems to me to probably capture him exactly as he was…all…
Plantagenet Ireland and Poynings’ Law

Oct 22, 2019

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion

“Lambert Simnel”, anecdotes, Anglesey, Art MacMurrough, Beaumaris, Charles I, coronations, Crown in Ireland Act, Drogheda Castle, Dublin Cathedral, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Ormond, Earls of Ulster, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Rutland, Edward Bruce, Edward II, Edward of Warwick, English Privy Seal Letters, executions, finance, France, George I, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Ireland, Irish Parliament, James VI/I, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, justiciar of Ireland, Leinster, Lieutenant of Ireland, London, Ludford Bridge, Nigel Saul, numismatics, O’Neills, Parliament, Poynings’ Law, Ralph Griffiths, repeal, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Scotland, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sir Edward Poynings, Sir William de la Pole, Spain, St. James’ Park, Stoke Field, Thomas Despenser, Thomas Holland, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, turnips, Ulster, Ulster plantation, Wales, War of the Three Kingdoms

It is fair to say that most medieval English kings had little interest in Ireland except as a source of revenue. (The same was probably true about England and Wales but it seems too cynical to say it, and at least they did live there.) Prior to the Bruce invasion, Ireland yielded between £5000 and…
Richard III wasn’t the only dog to be given a bad name….

Jan 16, 2019

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

“Tudor” propaganda, Beverly, bull-running, carnivals, Elizabeth of Lancaster, Epiphany Rising, executions, Henry IV, Joan of Kent, John, John Holland, More, Richard II, Richard III, sanctuary, Scottish border, Shakespeare, Sir Ralph Stafford, St. Brice’s Day, Stamford, Stamford Greyfriars, Thomas Holland, usurpation

We all know how Richard III’s reputation has been besmirched over the centuries. He was turned into a monster because the likes of More and Shakespeare pandered to the Tudors’ need to justify their seizure of the throne. Thus he became a creature of misshapen body and mind, capable of putting his own child nephews…
Was Richard of Conisburgh illegitimate?

Mar 19, 2017

genealogy, Science

Constance of York, DNA evidence, Earls of March, Edmund Duke of York, Edward of Norwich, executions, Henry V, Isabel of Castile, Lord Scrope of Bolton, Mortimers, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Sir Thomas Grey, Southampton plot, T.B. Pugh, Thomas Holland, Y-chromosome

Was Richard of Conisburgh Illegitimate?
The Holand Dukes rose against Richard III? Wrong!….

Nov 4, 2016

travel

Anne of Exeter, Anne St. Leger, Champernownes, Dartington Hall, Henry Holland Duke of Exeter, Henry IV, Hollands, Ian Emery, John Holland, Richard II, Richard III, Sir Thomas St. Leger, Thomas Holland

For those of you who do not know, I am very fond of Dartington Hall. I read all I can about it, and its history, originally because of an intention to write about its creator, the first Holand Duke of Exeter, but now because I just plain love the place as well. These Holand Dukes…