Sir Thomas Holland and his brother, Sir Otho Holland, fought side by side in the Hundred Years' War, against the French. They were both daring commanders of the English army, and both saw intense action at the battles of Caen and Crécy. The brothers later left duty in France and returned home to England, where they became two of the founding knights of the Order of the Garter, which remains England's highest order of chivalry. Thomas married Joan of Kent, daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, and granddaughter of king Edward I. Thomas was summoned to Parliament in 1354, thus becoming Baron Holland, of a second creation distinct from that held by his father. Otho died childless in 1359, and Thomas died the next year, but not before being made Earl of Kent in right of his wife, who was Countess of Kent in her own right. Thomas and Joan had two sons who were prominent members of the nobility. Their eldest son, Thomas, inherited the earldom, while John first became Earl of Huntingdon and then Duke of Exeter.