The House of de Vere were an English aristocratic family who derived their surname from Ver (department Manche, canton Gavray), in

Lower Normandy Lower Normandy (french: Basse-Normandie, ; nrf, Basse-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Lower and Upper Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. Geography The region included three departme ...

, France. The family's Norman founder in England, Aubrey (Albericus) de Vere, appears in

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

(1086) as the holder of a large

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

, and

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

. His son and heir Aubrey II became

Lord Great Chamberlain The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable. The Lord Great Chamberlain has charge over the Palace of Westminster (tho ...

of England, an hereditary office, in 1133. His grandson Aubrey III became

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703 ...

in the reign of King Stephen, but while his earldom had been granted by the

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

and eventually recognised by Stephen, it was not until January 1156 that it was formally recognised by Henry II and he began to receive the third penny of justice (one-third of the revenue of the

shire court A Shire court, or moot was an Anglo-Saxon legal institution, used to maintain law and order at a local level, and perform various administrative functions, including the collection of taxes for the central government. The system originated in Wess ...

) from Oxfordshire. For many centuries the family was headed by the

until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. Among the offices the family held besides that of Lord Great Chamberlain was the forestership of Essex, and they founded the Essex religious houses of Colne Priory, Hatfield Broad Oak Priory, and

Castle Hedingham Priory Hedingham Priory was a Benedictine nunnery in Castle Hedingham, Essex, founded in or before 1190 by Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, perhaps in partnership with his third wife, Agnes of Essex. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. James, ...

. Macaulay described the family as "the longest and most illustrious line of nobles that England has seen," and

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

's poem ''

Lady Clara Vere de Vere "Lady Clara Vere de Vere" is an English poem written by Alfred Tennyson, part of his collected ''Poems'' published in 1842. The poem is about a lady in a family of aristocrats, and includes numerous references to nobility, such as to earls or co ...

'' made the name synonymous with ancient blood.

Notable family members

Aubrey de Vere I Aubrey (Albericus) de Vere (died circa 1112-1113) was a tenant-in-chief in England of William the Conqueror in 1086, as well as a tenant of Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances and of Count Alan, lord of Richmond. A much later source named h ...

(died c. 1112), a

tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opp ...

in England of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

Aubrey de Vere II Aubrey de Vere (''c.'' 1085 – May 1141) — also known as "Alberic sde Ver" and "Albericus ''regis camerarius''" (the king's chamberlain)— was the second of that name in England after the Norman Conquest, being the eldest surviving son of A ...

(c. 1080–1141), Lord Great Chamberlain of England *

Aubrey de Vere III Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford ( – 26 December 1194) was an English noble involved in the succession conflict between King Stephen and Empress Matilda in the mid-twelfth century. He was the son of Aubrey de Vere, Lord Great Chamberlain ...

(c. 1115–1194), first Earl of Oxford * Rohese de Vere, Countess of Essex (c. 1110–1169 or after), founder of

Chicksands Priory Chicksands Priory is a former monastic house at Chicksands in Bedfordshire. History The Gilbertine priory of Chicksands was founded about 1152 by Rohese, Countess of Essex, and her second husband Payn de Beauchamp, Baron of Bedford. Payn and R ...

, Bedfordshire *

William de Vere William de Vere (died 1198) was Bishop of Hereford and an Augustinian canon. Biography The son of Aubrey de Vere II and Adeliza of Clare, probably the fourth of five sons,Barrow "Vere, William de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' and b ...

(1120–1198), Bishop of Hereford and author of a saint's life * Guy of Valence (fl. 1230s), supposed by Robert Steele, probably mistakenly, to have been a de Vere *

Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, KG (16 January 1362 – 22 November 1392) was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England. He was the ninth Earl of Oxford and the first and only Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin. H ...

(1362–1392), ninth Earl of Oxford and a favourite of

King Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father d ...

Bridget de Vere Bridget Norris (née de Vere), Countess of Berkshire (6 April 1584 – December 1630/March 1631) was an English noblewoman, the daughter of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Bridget was brought up by her maternal grandfather, the powerful sta ...

(1584–1630/31), Countess of Berkshire *

Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans (c. 1679–15 January 1742), born Lady Diana de Vere, was a British courtier. She was Mistress of the Robes to Caroline, Princess of Wales from 1714 to 1717. She was one of the Hampton Court Beauties o ...

(née Lady Diana de Vere, c. 1679–1742), courtier and

Mistress of the Robes The mistress of the robes was the senior lady in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. Formerly responsible for the queen consort's/regnant's clothes and jewellery (as the name implies), the post had the responsibility for arranging the rota ...

to Caroline, Princess of Wales *

Frances Howard, Countess of Surrey Frances Howard, Countess of Surrey ( de Vere; c. 1517 – 30 June 1577) was the daughter of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Trussell. She married firstly, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, ...

(née de Vere, c. 1517–1577) *

Susan de Vere, Countess of Montgomery Susan Herbert (née de Vere), Countess of Montgomery (26 May 1587 – 1629), was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the queen consort of England, Anne of Denmark. She was the youngest daughter of Elizabethan court ...

(1587– 1628/29) *

Francis Vere Sir Francis Vere (1560/6128 August 1609) was a prominent English soldier serving under Queen Elizabeth I fighting mainly in the Low Countries during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War. He was a sergeant major-general ...

(1560–1609), an English soldier, famed for his military career in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565 – 2 May 1635) (also ''Horatio Vere'' or ''Horatio de Vere'') was an English military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, a brother of Francis Vere. He was sent to the Pa ...

(1565–1635), a military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War *

Mary de Vere Mary de Vere (''circa'' 1554-''circa'' 24 June 1624) was a 16th-century English noblewoman who lived a life of extraordinary wealth and privilege. The daughter of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, and his second wife Margery Golding, she marrie ...

(died c. 1624), a noblewoman Twenty males headed the family as

from 1141 to 1703: *

Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford ( – 26 December 1194) was an English noble involved in the succession conflict between King Stephen and Empress Matilda in the mid-twelfth century. He was the son of Aubrey de Vere, Lord Great Chamberlain ...

(c. 1115–1194) *

Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford (c. 1163 – 1214), hereditary Master Chamberlain of England,. served in military campaigns under Richard I of England, King Richard and John, King of England, King John. He was succeeded in the earldom by his ...

(c. 1164–1214) *

Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford __NOTOC__ Robert de Vere (after c. 1165 – before 25 October 1221), hereditary Master Chamberlain of England, was the son of Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, and Agnes of Essex. He succeeded his brother as the third Earl of Oxford, and ...

(c. 1173–1221), one of the 25 barons of the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by t ...

Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford (c. 1207 – December 1263) was the only son and heir of Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Isabel de Bolebec, daughter and eventually sole heiress of Hugh de Bolebec. Early life Hugh de Vere was born a ...

(c. 1208–1263) * Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford (1240–1296) (forfeit 1265, restored soon afterwards) * Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford (1257–1331) * John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford (1312–1360) *

Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford (c. 1336 – September 1371) was the second son of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford, and Maud de Badlesmere. He was predeceased by his elder brother, Sir John Vere of Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, who married Eli ...

(1337–1371) *

Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, KG (16 January 1362 – 22 November 1392) was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England. He was the ninth Earl of Oxford and the first and only Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin. H ...

(1362–1392) (forfeit 1388) *

Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford (c. 1338 – 23 April 1400) was the third son of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford and Maud de Badlesmere, daughter of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Lord Badlesmere. Aubrey de Vere had three brothers, Jo ...

(1340–1400) (restored 1393) *

Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford KG (15 August 1385 – 15 February 1417) was the son and heir of Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford. He took part in the trial of Richard, Earl of Cambridge, and Lord Scrope for their part in the Southampto ...

(1385–1417) *

John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (23 April 1408 – 26 February 1462), was the son of Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford (1385? – 15 February 1417), and his second wife, Alice Sergeaux (1386–1452). A Lancastrian loyalist during the latt ...

(1408–1462) *

John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford (8 September 1442 – 10 March 1513), the second son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Howard, a first cousin of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (2nd creation), was one of the principal ...

(1442–1513) (forfeit 1475, restored 1485) commander of the army of Henry Tudor at the

Battle of Bosworth Field The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Augu ...

* John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford (1499–1526) *

John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain KG PC (c. 1482 – 21 March 1540). was an English peer and courtier. Career John de Vere, born about 1482, was the son of John de Vere and Alice Kilrington (alias Colbroke), and the gr ...

(1482–1540) *

John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford (1516 – 3 August 1562) was born to John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford and Elizabeth Trussell, daughter of Edward Trussell. He was styled Lord Bolebec 1526 to 1540 before he succeeded to his father's title. ...

(1516–1562) *

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604) was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron o ...

(1550–1604), patron of the arts, a poet and playwright *

Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portuga ...

(1593–1625) *

Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford (b. after 23 August 1575 – 7 August 1632) was a British soldier, and the penultimate Earl of Oxford. Life Robert was the son of Hugh de Vere (a great-grandson of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford) and Elea ...

(1575–1632) *

Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford Aubrey is traditionally a male English given name. The name is from the French derivation Aubry of the Germanic given name Alberic / Old High German given name Alberich, which consists of the elements ALF "elf" and RIK "king", from Proto-Germa ...

(1627–1703) (dormant 1703)

Genealogy

This summary genealogical tree shows how the house of de Vere is related:

Coats of Arms

Arms of notable members of the de Vere family: File:Arms of de Vere.svg, Arms of de Vere, Earls of Oxford File:Coat of arms of Robert de Vere, heir to the earldom of Oxford.png, Arms de Vere, Earls of Oxford File:K-037-Coat of Arms-VERE-Hugh de Vere ("Huë de Ver").png, Arms of Hugh de Vere ("Huë de Ver") File:Coat of Arms of Sir Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford, KG.png, Coat of Arms of Sir Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford, 1st Duke of Ireland, KG File:Coat of arms of Sir Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, KG.png, Coat of arms of Sir Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, KG File:Coat of arms of Sir John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford.png, Coat of arms of Sir John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford File:Coat of arms of Sir John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, KG.png, Arms of Sir John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, KG Arms of the Duke of St.Albans.svg, Arms of Beauclerk (Stuart), dukes of Saint-Albans, heirs to the de Vere lands

References

External links

* *{{Wikisource-inline, list= *{{Cite DNB , wstitle=Vere, Family of , short=x , noicon=x

Notable family members

Genealogy

Coats of Arms

See also

References

External links