Duke of Exeter

Coat of arms of the duke first award

Coat of arms of the Duke second award

Coat of arms of the Dukes third award

Duke of Exeter was a hereditary British title in the Peerage of England .

Awards

The title was awarded several times in late medieval England when Exeter was the capital of Devon .

The title was first bestowed on September 29, 1397 for John Holland, 1st Earl of Huntingdon , half-brother of King Richard II . The Duke had already been raised to Earl of Huntingdon on June 2, 1387 . The Duketitel was stripped from him on November 3, 1399, on the occasion of the overthrow of King Richard II. In January 1400 he was executed for conspiracy against the new King Henry IV and his title of earl was revoked.

On November 18, 1416, the title was awarded a second time as Life Peerage for Thomas Beaufort, 1st Earl of Dorset , an uncle of King Henry V again. This had already been raised on July 5, 1411 to Earl of Dorset . The titles expired when the duke died on December 30, 1426. Since he left no heirs, his earldom also expired.

The son of the Duke's first award, John Holland , was able to win back the royal favor. In 1417 the paternal title Earl of Huntington was restored to him, on January 6, 1443 he was given the title Duke of Exeter again. His son, Henry Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter , was ostracized and stripped of his title in 1461 for supporting the House of Lancaster . The 2nd Duke died in 1475 without an heir, so that a restoration for his descendants was no longer an option. Since then, the title has not been awarded again.