Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford

Coat of arms of Robert de Vere

Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford (* after 1164; † before October 15, 1221 ) was an English magnate . He belonged to the aristocratic opposition that forced King John Ohneland to recognize the Magna Carta in 1215 .

Origin and dynastic marriage

Robert came from the Anglo-Norman de Vere family , whose ancestral home was in Hedingham , Essex . He was the third surviving son of Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford and his third wife Agnes of Essex (1161– around 1206).

Little is known about Robert's life before 1207, except that before his father's death in 1194 he confirmed several donations to monasteries. Before the end of September 1207, Robert had married Isabel de Nonant , the widow of Henry de Nonant . His wife was a sister of Walter de Bolebec, so she was an aunt of Isabel de Bolebec, the wife of his brother Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford . She had inherited the holdings of the Bolebec family, centered in Whitchurch , Buckinghamshire , but having died childless in 1206 or 1207, the de Vere family lost their claim to this rich inheritance. Through Robert's marriage to Isabel de Nonant, who together with her sister became the new heiresses of the Bolebec family, the relatively poorly wealthy de Vere family were able to keep at least half of the Bolebec family's inheritance.

His eldest brother Aubrey died in October 1214 with no heirs, and since his second oldest brother Ralph had also died without any male heirs, Robert became the heir to the de Vere family's estates.

Member of the aristocratic opposition

In April 1215 at the latest, de Vere joined the aristocratic opposition to King Johann Ohneland in Stamford . This step proves the unpopularity and also the incapacity of King John when, naturally, loyal supporters like de Vere turned away from him. His brother Aubrey had been one of the king's closest and most trusted followers. The reason for de Veres' change of sides was probably the high fee of 1000 marks that the king demanded from him for the assumption of his inheritance and which was excessive for the relatively modest property of the de Veres. In addition, de Vere was annoyed that the king did not confirm the title of Earl of Oxford and the office of Court Chamberlain , to which he had a hereditary right. De Vere was now openly among the nobles expressing dissatisfaction with the king and quickly became a key figure for the other East Anglian rebels . Shortly after the forced recognition of the Magna Carta , the king tried to get de Vere back on his side. He confirmed him as Earl of Oxford on June 23, but this step was too late. Robert had been elected one of the 25 barons who were to oversee the king's compliance with the provisions of the Magna Carta, and despite being excommunicated as a rebel by Pope Innocent III. also in the subsequent war of the barons on the side of the rebels. At the end of March 1216, after a three-day siege, the king captured Hedingham Castle and offered Robert safe conduct so that he could submit. Robert refused this offer, however, and supported the French Prince Ludwig , to whom the rebels had offered the English throne. It was only after the defeat of the French and the rebels and the Peace of Lambeth that de Vere also submitted to the new King Henry III in October 1217 . and got his lands back for it.

Later life and death

Until 1220, de Vere served as a traveling royal judge. In 1221 he presided over the Regis Curia . He had the patronage of Hatfield Broad Oak Priory in Essex, Tilty Abbey and Osney Abbey in Oxfordshire and the Order of St. John in England. He died shortly before October 25, 1221 and was buried in the Benedictine Priory of Hatfield Broad Oak and not in Earls Colne Priory , the traditional burial place of his family. His funeral monument, made at the beginning of the 14th century, was moved to the parish church of Hatfield after the Reformation in the 16th century.

From his marriage to Isabel, Robert had a son who became his heir:

• Hugh de Vere (around 1210–1263)

After his death, his widow took over the guardianship of his underage son.

Web links

• Nigel Saul: Magna Carta 800th: Robert de Vere
• RaGena C. DeAragon: Vere, Robert de, third earl of Oxford (d. 1221). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cracroft's Peerage: Oxford, Earl of (E, 1142-1703). Retrieved December 3, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Cracroft's Peerage: Oxford, Earl of (E, 1142-1703). Retrieved December 3, 2015 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Aubrey de Vere	Earl of Oxford 1214-1221	Hugh de Vere