la Zouche

The la Zouches descend from Alan la Zouche, originally Alain de Porhoet, a Breton nobleman who settled in England under Henry II and married the heiress of Ashby in Leicestershire, which took the family's name as Ashby-de-la-Zouch. His grandson Alan was killed in a brawl with the Earl of Surrey's men in Westminster Hall.

A barony of la Zouche of Ashby was created in 1299, though it soon fell into abeyance. The Harringworth branch, barons from 1308, carried the name through the later Middle Ages; its seventh baron was attainted for supporting Richard III in 1485 and later restored.

William of the Leicestershire line became Lord Treasurer and Archbishop of York in 1342. As Warden of the Marches he led a division of the English army that defeated the Scots at Neville's Cross in 1346 and captured David II.