KNOLLES (or KNOLLYS), SIR ROBERT (c. 1325– 1407), English soldier, belonged to a Cheshire family. In 1346 he served in Brittany, and he was one of the English survivors who were taken prisoners by the French after the famous "combat of the thirty" in March 1351. He was soon released and took ad vantage of the civil war in Brittany to win fame and wealth. In 1356 he transferred his operations to Normandy, when he served under the allied standards of England and of Charles II. of Navarre. He led the "great company" in their work of devastation along the valley of the Loire, winning a terrible reputation by his ravages. After the treaty of Bretigny in 1360 Knolles returned to Brittany, and took part in the struggle for the possession of the duchy between John of Montfort (Duke John IV.) and Charles of Blois, gaining great fame by his conduct in the fight at Auray (September 1364). In 1367 he fought in Spain with the Black Prince and in 1369 in Aquitaine. In 1370 he headed an expedition which invaded France and marched on Paris, but a mutiny broke up the army, and he was forced to take refuge in his Breton castle of Derval. In 1363 Knolles again assisted John of
Montfort in Brittany, where he acted as John's representative; later he led a force into Aquitaine, and was one of the leaders of the fleet sent against the Spaniards in 1377. In 1380 he served in France under Thomas of Woodstock, afterwards duke of Glou cester, distinguishing himself at the siege of Nantes; and in 1381 he went with Richard II. to meet Wat Tyler at Smithfield. He died at Sculthorpe in Norfolk on Aug. 15, 1407. Sir Robert built a college and an almshouse at Pontefract ; he restored the churches of Sculthorpe and Harpley ; and he helped to found an English hospital in Rome. Knolles won an immense reputation by his skill and valour in the field, and ranks as one of the foremost captains of his age. French writers call him Canolles, or Canole.