1. Robert Knolles's methods earned him infamy as a freebooter and a ravager: the ruined gables of burned buildings came to be known as "Knollys' mitres".
12 Facts About Robert Knolles
1. 2.
Robert Knolles's father was possibly Richard, a yeoman from Cheshire.
3.
Robert Knolles first appears as the captain of several castles throughout Brittany in the mid-14th century, including Fougeray, Gravelle and Chateaublanc.
4.
Robert Knolles was one of the English champions at the Combat of the Thirty in 1351, where he was captured.
5.
Robert Knolles then contributed himself and 800 men to the 1356 chevauchee of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster through Normandy, a diversionary campaign to draw King John II of France north and thus leave the Black Prince free to embark on the famous Poitiers campaign.
6.
Robert Knolles joined the Black Prince at the Battle of Najera of 1367.
7.
Robert Knolles then turned towards Gascony and began capturing and fortifying castles and churches in the region between the rivers Loir and Loire.
8.
When it became known that French armies under the command of Bertrand du Guesclin were closing in on them, Robert Knolles proposed to retreat into Brittany but most of the army refused.
9.
In 1372 Robert Knolles was found by the King's Council to bear the major responsibility for this disaster.
10.
Robert Knolles was stripped of the lands that had been given him as his fee for raising the army and fined 10,000 marks.
11.
Robert Knolles named Thomas Knollys as one of the executors of his estate in 1389.
12.
Robert Knolles founded Trinity Hospital, Pontefract and helped to suppress the Peasants' Revolt.