John was a son of Philips III van Duivenvoorde (?-c. 1308) and Elisabeth van Vianen. Philips got the fief Polanen in
Monster, South Holland in 1295. This was made inheritable by sons and daughters. John had a sister Kerstine and a bastard brother
Willem van Duvenvoorde.
Lord of Polanen Upon the death of his father, John I became Lord of
Polanen Castle. In his early years, John got help from his uncle Diederik van der Wale. In 1311 John got possession of a windmill in Monster. In the early 1320s he got possession of
tithes in Monster,
Delft,
Maasland, and
Schipluiden. The help of his half-brother helped John a lot. In 1326, he got the lordships of Krimpen aan de Merwede,
Krimpen aan den IJssel,
Ouderkerk, and
Zuidbroek in pawn.
Lord of Heemskerk In 1327 John bought
Oud Haerlem Castle and the lordships () of Heemskerk and Castricum. The price was only 100 pounds. In 1328 John took part in the
Battle of Cassel. He was probably knighted on that occasion. In 1329 he was mentioned as such, when he got a castle in
De Lier and the promise that he could succeed to the lordship of Geertruidenberg and the office of castellan of
Geertruidenberg Castle if his half brother would die without legal issue. John was
bailiff of some areas for considerable time. In 1331 he was bailiff of
Woerden, in 1331 and 1336 of
Rijnland, and in 1339 he became bailiff of
Kennemerland and
West Friesland. John and his wife had a tombstone in the choir of the church of Monster. The text on this stone was mentioned in a book. In print, the year MCCCXLII was rendered as MCCCXVII. == Marriage and issue ==