Robert DE HOLLAND II ¹⁸⁵²

   FamilySearch ID: L4BB-391
Find A Grave ID: 99215120

  General Notes:

Sir Robert de Holland, Lord Holland (c. 1270\endash 1328): Baron, Rebel, and Victim

The career of Sir Robert de Holland, born probably around 1270, was one of rapid ascent and a precipitous decline in the tumultuous reign of Edward II. He was a son of Sir Robert de Holland of Upholland, Lancashire, and Elizabeth, daughter of William de Samlesbury, and the grandson of Thurstan. Holland was already knighted by 1305. He married Maud (Matilda) de la Zouche (b. c. 1290, d. 31 May 1349), the daughter and co-heir of Alan, Lord Zouch of Ashby, and Eleanor de Segrave. The couple was contracted to marry in or before 1305/6 and wed in 1308 when Maud was approximately twenty-four. Maud was the great-granddaughter of King Henry II by Rosamond de Clifford. On her father's death around 1313, Maud brought him significant manors in Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and Hertfordshire. Robert and Maud had a total of nine children, including four known sons\emdash Robert (the heir), Thomas, Otho, and Alan\emdash and at least three daughters: Margaret, Matilda, and Jennett.

Holland was a favorite official and secretary of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, who became his chief agent in Lancashire. Holland's rise was swift, starting in 1307, the first year of Edward II's reign, when he rode in a tournament in the fields of Stepney outside London, where he bore for arms "azure, semé of fleurs de lys, a lion rampant guardant, argent". On 20 December 1307, he was appointed in a matter concerning the Knight Templars. That same year, he obtained further territorial grants from the Crown and received leave to fortify (kernellare) his mansions at Holland, Bagsworth in Leicestershire, and Melbourne in Derbyshire, where he started Melbourne Castle. Holland was appointed Chief Justice of Chester with charge of the royal castles of Chester, Rhudlaw, and Flint. He served multiple terms as Justice at Chester up to 1320, and was appointed Governor of Beeston Castle (1311) and Liverpool Castle (1315). He was first summoned to Parliament as 'Roberto de Holland, Baron Holland' from 1314 to 1321.

Holland's immense fortune and his favored treatment by Lancaster created powerful local rivalries, leading to the Banastre Rebellion (1315). Rival knights, including Adam Banastre, Henry de Lea, and William de Bradshagh (Bradshaw), protested the Earl's authority by attacking the homes of his supporters and several castles, including Liverpool Castle. The Holland faction ultimately defeated the rebels near Preston, after which Holland assisted the Sheriff of Lancashire in the hunt for fugitives. Holland's political survival was tenuous: he participated in the military operations in 1312 that led to the execution of Piers Gaveston on Blacklow Hill and was pardoned for his role in Gaveston's death in October 1313.

The political strife reached a climax with Lancaster's 1322 rebellion against the Despensers. On 4 March 1322, Holland was initially ordered to join the King to defend against Lancaster's rebellion. Twelve days later (March 16), however, Holland betrayed the King and fought alongside Lancaster at the Battle of Boroughbridge. Holland's failure to arrive with the required forces earlier contributed to Lancaster's defeat and capture at Boroughbridge. Sir Robert de Holland surrendered to the King on March 17, 1322. Although Lancaster was executed, Holland was spared, but he was attainted. His manors were immediately taken into the King's hands and all his estates were confiscated. He was subsequently accused of having joined other rebels in raids on the estates of Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester, over the next few years. He was imprisoned in Warwick Castle before being moved in 1326 to Northampton Castle, from which he escaped.

Following Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer's overthrow of Edward II, Holland was pardoned for his escape from Northampton at the request of Henry de Beaumont, and his lands were officially restored to him on 24 December 1327. However, old rivalries resurfaced: in June 1328, Holland's enemies from the Banastre Rebellion attempted to have him outlawed for the deaths of Banastre and his followers, thirteen years earlier. Holland appealed against this, but was killed in October 1328. On October 7, 1328, he was seized and murdered in Boreham Wood near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Thomas Wither is named by some as the murderer and is claimed to have been a supporter of the new Earl of Lancaster, Henry, but may have been a supporter of Banastre as well. Holland was beheaded, his head sent to the Earl of Lancaster at Waltham Cross, and his body buried at the Church of the Grey Friars in Preston, Lancashire. The inaccuracies of some accounts of Holland suggest his rivals may have smeared him deliberately. The Inquisitions Post Mortem (IPMs) conducted in October 1328 found he held lands in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and London. His heir was his son Robert, aged 17 years and more. The manor of Hale was assigned as part of the dower of his widow Maud, who was seised of it until her death in 1349.

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Robert de Holland, 1st Baron Holland was an English nobleman, born in Lancashire. He was a son of Sir Robert de Holland and Elizabeth, daughter of William de Samlesbury.
He was a favorite of Thomas Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and had been knighted by 1305. He served him by suppressing the 1315 rising of Adam Banastre, Henry de Lea, and William de Bradshagh (Bradshaw) who banded together and launched an attack on the Liverpool Castle. The manors of Thornton and Bagworth was acquired by him in 1313. From 1314 to 1321 he was called to Parliament. After that his part in the Battle of Boroughbridge was deemed cowardly and led to his disfavor. Although King Edward III of England would later pardon him, the partisans of the Earl of Lancaster considered him a traitor and had him executed.
His execution occurred in 1328 by beheading in Essex, his body was sent to Lancashire to be buried.
About 1308 he married Maud la Zouche, daughter of Lord Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby and Eleanor de Segrave.
Robert and Maude had thirteen children:
Joane Holland (c. 1305 - 1340). Married John Radcliffe.
Margery Holland (born c. 1308).
Robert Holland (c. 1312 - 16 March 1372/1373).
Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent (c. 1314 - 26 December 1360).
Otho Holland (c. 1316 - 3 September 1359).
John Holland (born c. 1318).
Maud Holland (born c. 1319). Married Thomas Swinnerton.
Alan Holland (c. 1320 - 1339).
Elizabeth Holland (born c. 1320).
Margaret Holland (c. 1322 - 1349).
Jane Holland (born c. 1326).
Eleanor Holland (c. 1327 - 1341).
Elizabeth Holland (born c. 1328). Married Henry FitzRoger

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Title of Nobility: 1st Baron Holand, 1314–1328,,. ²⁰⁶⁸

2. Title of Nobility: Lord Holand, on 29 July 1314,. ²⁰⁶⁸

Robert married Maud LA ZOUCHE, daughter of Alan DE LA ZOUCHE and Eleanor DE SEGRAVE, in 1308.²⁰⁶⁸ (Maud LA ZOUCHE was born in 1289 in Ashby de la Zouch, North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire, England,¹⁸⁵² died on 31 May 1349 in Brackley, South Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, England ¹⁸⁵² and was buried in June 1349 in Brackley, South Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, England ¹⁸⁵².)