Thomas Holland | |
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Earl of Kent Baron Holand |
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coat of arms of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent
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Earl of Kent | |
Predecessor | Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent |
Spouse(s) | Alice FitzAlan |
Issue
Alianore Holland
Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey Joan Holland John Holland Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent Margaret Holland Elizabeth Holland Eleanor Holland Bridget Holland |
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Father | Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent |
Mother | Joan of Kent |
Born | 1350 or 1354 Upholland, Lancashire, England |
Died | April 25, 1397 Arundel Castle, Sussex, England |
(aged around 47)
Buried | Bourne Abbey, Lincolnshire |
Thomas Holland (also known as de Holland), 2nd Earl of Kent, 3rd Baron Holand KG (1350/1354 – 25 April 1397) was an English nobleman and a councillor of his half-brother, King Richard II of England.
Thomas Holland (or de Holand) was born in Upholand, Lancashire, in 1350 or 1354 (sources differ on his birth year). He was the eldest surviving son of Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent, and Joan "The Fair Maid of Kent". His mother was a daughter of , and Margaret Wake. Edmund was in turn a son of Edward I of England and his second Queen consort Marguerite of France, and thus a younger half-brother of Edward II of England.
His father died in 1360, and later that year, on 28 December, Thomas became Baron Holand. His mother was still Countess of Kent in her own right, and in 1361 she married Edward, the Black Prince, the son of King Edward III.
At sixteen, in 1366, Holland was appointed captain of the English forces in Aquitaine. Over the next decade he fought in various campaigns, including the Battle of Nájera, under the command of his stepfather Edward, the Black Prince. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1375.
Richard II became king in 1377, and soon Holland acquired great influence over his younger half-brother, which he used for his own enrichment. In 1381, he succeeded as Earl of Kent.
Prior to his death, Holland was appointed Governor of Carisbrooke Castle. Holland died at Arundel Castle, Sussex, England on 25 April 1397.