Editing Margaret Holland, Duchess of Clarence

{{Short description|English noblewoman (1385–1439}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox noble
| name = Margaret Holland
| image = Arms of Margaret Holland, Countess of Somerset.svg
| alt = 
| caption = 
| title = [[Duke of Somerset|Countess of Somerset]]<br>[[Duchess of Clarence]]
| successor = 
| birth_date = 1385
| birth_place = 
| death_date = 30 December 1439 (aged 54){{sfn|Connor|2007|p=388|ps=, per [[John Stone's Chronicle|John Stone's ''Chronicle'']]}}
| death_place = [[Bermondsey Abbey]], [[London]], England
| burial_date = 
| burial_place = [[Canterbury Cathedral]], [[Kent]], England
| spouse = [[John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset]] (m. 1397, died 1410)<br/>[[Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence]] (m. 1411, died 1421)
| spouse-type = Spouse
| issue = {{ubl|[[Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset]]|[[Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots]]|[[John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset]]|[[Thomas Beaufort, Count of Perche]]|[[Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset]]|[[Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Devon]]}}
| issue-link = 
| issue-pipe = 
| noble family = [[Holland family]]
| house-type = Dynasty
| father = [[Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent]]
| mother = [[Alice Holland, Countess of Kent|Alice FitzAlan]]
}}

'''Margaret Holland''' (1385 – 30 December 1439) was a medieval English noblewoman and a member of the powerful [[Holland family]]. Through her marriages she became Countess of Somerset and Duchess of Clarence. She was "at the very centre of royal power and prestige" throughout her lifetime.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barker |first=Jessica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAk7EAAAQBAJ&q=margaret+holland |title=Stone Fidelity: Marriage and Emotion in Medieval Tomb Sculpture |date=2020 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-78327-271-6 |pages=178 |language=en}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Margaret was a daughter of [[Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent]], who was the son of [[Joan of Kent|Joan]] "the Fair Maid of Kent" (granddaughter of [[Edward I of England]], wife of [[Edward the Black Prince]] and mother of [[Richard II of England]]). Margaret's mother was [[Alice Holland, Countess of Kent|Alice FitzAlan]], daughter of [[Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel]] and [[Eleanor of Lancaster]].

== Marriages and issue ==
Margaret married [[John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset]], son of [[John of Gaunt]] and his mistress [[Katherine Swynford]]. They had six children:<ref>[[Charles Mosley (genealogist)|Charles Mosley]], editor, ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', 106th edition, 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, page 220.</ref>
* [[Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset]] (1401–1418).
* [[Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots|Joan Beaufort]] (d. 1445), who married [[James I of Scotland]] and Sir [[James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn]].
* [[John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset]] (1404–1444), who married [[Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso|Margaret Beauchamp]].
* [[Thomas Beaufort, Count of Perche]] (c. 1405–1431). Died at the Siege of [[Louviers]].
* [[Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset]] (c. 1406–1455) who married [[Eleanor Beauchamp]], daughter of [[Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick]], by his first wife [[Elizabeth Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick|Elizabeth de Berkeley]].
* [[Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Devon|Margaret Beaufort]] (c. 1408–1449), who married [[Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon]].

In 1399, she was invested as a Lady of the [[Order of the Garter]] (LG).<ref name="weir">[[Alison Weir]], ''Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy'' (London, UK: The Bodley Head, 1999), pg 102, 103.</ref>

After her husband John Beaufort died in 1410, she married his half-nephew [[Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence]] (1387–1421), the son of King [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]]. They had no children, although Thomas was stepfather to her six children from her first marriage, who were his first cousins.<ref name="weir"/>

== Later life and Death ==
In 1419 she travelled to [[Normandy]] with her sons to be with her husband there, leaving her daughters in the care of the Prioress of Dartford.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Licence |first=Amy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vx78AwAAQBAJ&dq=margaret+holland+duchess+of+clarence&pg=PT102 |title=Cecily Neville: Mother of Kings |date=2014-04-15 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-4456-2132-6 |language=en}}</ref> Her husband died on 22 March 1421 fighting at the [[Battle of Baugé]], [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]], France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neillands |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Neillands |url=https://archive.org/details/hundredyearswar0000neil |title=The Hundred Years War |date=1990 |publisher=London; New York : Routledge |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-415-00148-9}}</ref> She was an executrix of his will alongside executors John Colvylle of Neuton, Cambridgeshire, knight, and Henry Merston of Westminster, clerk.<ref>Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40 / 677; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no677/aCP40no677fronts/IMG_0116.htm; second entry, as defendants.</ref>

In 1430 a book about the life of [[St. Jerome]] was made for her by Symon Wynter of [[Syon Abbey]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Connolly |first1=Margaret |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOxplpXfAhYC&q=margaret+holland+duchess+of+clarence |title=Design and Distribution of Late Medieval Manuscripts in England |last2=Mooney |first2=Linne R. |date=2008 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=978-1-903153-24-6 |pages=265 |language=en}}</ref>

Margaret retired to St. Saviour's Abbey, Bermondsey, London, where she died on 30 December 1439.<ref name="weir"/>

Margaret and both her husbands are buried together in a carved alabaster tomb in [[Canterbury Cathedral]] that she commissioned.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barker |first=Jessica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAk7EAAAQBAJ&q=margaret+holland |title=Stone Fidelity: Marriage and Emotion in Medieval Tomb Sculpture |date=2020 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-78327-271-6 |pages=22 |language=en}}</ref> The monument shows her lying in repose between her two husbands, which is extremely rare.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barker |first=Jessica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAk7EAAAQBAJ&q=margaret+holland |title=Stone Fidelity: Marriage and Emotion in Medieval Tomb Sculpture |date=2020 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-78327-271-6 |pages=173 |language=en}}</ref> Her husbands had been buried in the Trinity Chapel and were exhumed to be reburied alongside Margaret.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodman |first=Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGwIEQAAQBAJ&q=margaret+holland+duchess+of+clarence |title=The Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral |date=2023-01-27 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-81741-6 |pages=255 |language=en}}</ref>

==Descendants==
Through her son John, the 1st [[Duke of Somerset]], and his wife [[Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso|Margaret Beauchamp]], Lady Margaret is an ancestress to the [[House of Tudor|Tudor monarchs]].<ref name="weir"/>

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Margaret Holland'''
|2= 2. [[Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent]]{{sfn|Stansfield|1987|p=310}}
|3= 3. [[Alice Holland, Countess of Kent|Alice FitzAlan]]{{sfn|Stansfield|1987|p=310}}
|4= 4. [[Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent]]{{sfn|Stansfield|1987|p=310}}
|5= 5. [[Joan, 4th Countess of Kent]]{{sfn|Stansfield|1987|p=310}}
|6= 6. [[Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel]]{{sfn|Richardson II|pp=185–187}}
|7= 7. [[Eleanor of Lancaster]]{{sfn|Richardson II|pp=185–187}}
|8= 8. [[Robert de Holland, 1st Baron Holand]]{{sfn|Stansfield|1987|p=310}}
|9= 9. Maud la Zouche{{sfn|Richardson II|pp=392–394, 485–486}}
|10= 10. [[Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent]]{{sfn|Stansfield|1987|p=312}}
|11= 11. [[Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell]]{{sfn|Stansfield|1987|p=312}}
|12= 12. [[Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel]]{{sfn|Richardson II|pp=178–179}}
|13= 13. [[Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel|Alice de Warenne]]{{sfn|Richardson II|pp=178–179}}
|14= 14. [[Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster]]{{sfn|Richardson II|pp=526–527}}
|15= 15. [[Maud Chaworth]]{{sfn|Richardson II|pp=526–527}}
}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite journal |last=Connor |date=2007 |first=Meriel |title=The Political Allegiances of Christ Church Priory 1400–1472: the Evidence of John Stone's Chronicle |journal=[[Kent Archaeological Society|Archaeologia Cantiana]] |volume=127 |pages=383–406 |url=https://kentarchaeology.org.uk/node/12770 }} {{open access}}
* {{cite book |last=Richardson |year=2011 |first=D. |title=Magna Carta Ancestry |volume=II |edition=2nd |editor-last=Everingham |editor-first=Kimball G. |place=Salt Lake City |isbn=978-1-4499-6638-6 |url={{googlebooks|8JcbV309c5UC|pg=RA1-PA178|plainurl=yes}} |author-link=Douglas Richardson |ref={{sfnref|Richardson II}}}}
* {{cite ODNB |last=Shaw |date=2009 |first=R.L.J. |title=Holland [married name Beaufort], Margaret, duchess of Clarence |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/98133}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Stansfield |date=1987 |first=M.M.N. |title=The Hollands, Dukes of Exeter, Earls of Kent and Huntingdon, 1352–1475 |type=PhD |publisher=[[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]] |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ff873c44-1488-4918-8ccd-586a7ff94caf/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=602323386.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926005304/https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ff873c44-1488-4918-8ccd-586a7ff94caf/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=602323386.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2018-09-26}}

==External links==
* [http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p114.htm#i3416 Margaret Holland profile], our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com. Accessed 23 November 2022.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarence, Margaret Holland, Duchess of}}
[[Category:1385 births]]
[[Category:1439 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century English women]]
[[Category:14th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:15th-century English women]]
[[Category:15th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:Beaufort family|Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Somerset]]
[[Category:English countesses]]
[[Category:English duchesses by marriage]]
[[Category:Holland family|Margaret]]
[[Category:Wives of knights]]
[[Category:Ladies of the Garter]]