Rohese de Vere, Countess of Essex (c. 1110 – 1170 or after) was a noblewoman in England in the Anglo-Norman and Angevin periods. Married twice, she and her second husband founded the

Gilbertine The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely English religious order and came to an end in the 16th century at the ...

monastery of

Chicksands Chicksands is a village in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England, and part of the civil parish of Campton and Chicksands, whose population in 2007 was estimated to be 2,510. By the 2011 census the figure was accurately placed ...

in Bedfordshire.

Life

A daughter of

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 Aub ...

and Adeliza de Clare, Rohese married twice. Her first husband, Geoffrey de Mandeville II, became

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

in 1140 and Rohese thereafter was styled countess. Earl Geoffrey rebelled against King

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

late in 1143. Rohese's whereabouts during his rebellion are unknown; their eldest son seems to have been sent to

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

, a stronghold of the supporters of 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 ...

, while their second son may have been sent to the court of the count of Flanders. When Earl Geoffrey died an

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

rebel in 1144, his widow remarried swiftly. Her second husband, Payn de Beauchamp, lord of Bedford, had opposed King Stephen in the 1130s. The couple founded a double monastery at

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

, for

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s and canons of the

Gilbertine Order The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Gilbert of Sempringham, Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely England, English religious order and came to an ...

. They had one son, Simon de Beauchamp II. Countess Rohese was widowed a second time in 1155 or early 1156 and gained the guardianship of her minor son. When he was near his majority, Countess Rohese and Simon converted St. Paul's, Bedford, from a house of canons secular to one of regular canons and moved them to Newnham, Bedfordshire. According to the ''Walden Chronicle,'' when the countess's eldest son, Geoffrey de Mandeville III, earl of Essex, died in 1166, his men decided to take his body for burial at Walden Priory in Essex, founded by his father. Countess Rohese was at Chicksands Priory when a member of the entourage escorting the earl's body arrived to inform her of her son's death. He suggested that she send knights to seize the earl's body for burial at Chicksands. The countess rejected that suggestion, but when she later attended her son's funeral at Walden, she seized altar goods and other objects that her son had donated to Walden and gave them instead to Chicksands. The countess almost certainly spent the remainder of her life at Chicksands Priory. She witnessed a charter of her son Earl William in 1170, the last evidence of her life which can be dated, and when she died she was buried in the Chicksands chapter house and honored as the priory's foundress. Rohese, countess of Essex, is sometimes confused with another, contemporary 'Countess Rohese,' who was the wife of

Gilbert de Gant Gilbert de Gant (Giselbert de Gand, Ghent, Gaunt) (c. 1040 – 1095) was the son of Ralph, Lord of Aalst near Ghent, and Gisele of Luxembourg, the sister-in-law of Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders. Gilbert de Gant was a kinsman of Matilda of Fl ...

Earl of Lincoln Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England, most recently in 1572. The title was borne by the Duke of Newcastle, Dukes of Newcastle-under-Lyne from 1768 to 1988, until the dukedom became extinct. Earl ...

. The two women were first cousins through their mothers.

Children

* Geoffrey III, 2nd Earl of Essex (d. October 1166) *

William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex (1st Creation) (died 14 November 1189) was a loyal councillor of Henry II and Richard I of England. William was the second son of Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex and Rohese de Vere, Countess of ...

(d. 1189) * Robert de Mandeville (d. before 1189) * Simon de Beauchamp, lord of Bedford (d. 1206) While Earl Geoffrey's eldest son Ernulf de Mandeville is sometimes listed as the child of Countess Rohese, there is strong evidence that Ernulf was the earl's illegitimate son, born before Geoffrey's marriage to Rohese.Hollister, C. Warren (2004). "Mandeville, Geoffrey de, first earl of Essex (d. 1144)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17927.

Sources

* Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom by G. E. Cokayne, vol. X:Appendix J:116

References

{{Reflist Essex, Vere, Rohese de 1110s births 12th-century deaths 12th-century English people Countess, de Vere Rohese 12th-century English women