Thomas Holland (or de Holand) was born in Upholand, Lancashire in 1350 or 1354 (sources differ on his birth year). Holland died at Arundel Castle, Sussex, England on 25 April 1397

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 Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent 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.

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 actually succeeded as Earl of Kent.

Holland married Alice FitzAlan (daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel) on 10 April 1364. They had 10 children, 8 surviving.

Through the marriages of his daughters, he became the ancestor of many of the prominent figures in the Wars of the Roses, including Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Warwick the Kingmaker. He was also an ancestor of queen consort Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII.

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Holland,_2nd_Earl_of_Kent
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46668476
• http://www.geneall.net/U/per_page.php?id=48707
• http://www.genealogy4u.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I615&tree=william_conq
• http://thepeerage.com/p10292.htm#i102917
• http://www3.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal03303