Roland I was born around 1215 into the "gens" Rátót as the son of Dominic I, who served as Master of the treasury from 1238 to 1240. He was killed in the Battle of Mohi in 1241. The ancestors of the kindred were two Norman knights (Oliver and Rathold) from Caserta, Naples, who settled down in Hungary around 1097 during the reign of Coloman, King of Hungary. Roland's earliest known ancestor was his great-grandfather Leustach I Rátót, Voivode of Transylvania in the second half of the 12th century. Roland had three brothers, Stephen, the forefather of the Pásztói, Tari and Kakas de Kaza noble families. The Putnoki family came from Oliver I. Leustach II was the father of Palatine Roland II Rátót and also the ancestor of the Jolsvai, Serkei and Feledi branches. Their only unidentified sister married Maurice II Pok whom the influential baron Nicholas Pok originated.