House of de Vere

The House of de Vere were an English aristocratic family who derived their surname from Ver (department Manche, canton Gavray), in Lower Normandy, France.[1] The family's Norman founder in England, Aubrey (Albericus) de Vere, appears in Domesday Book (1086) as the holder of a large fief in Essex, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and Suffolk. His son and heir Aubrey II became Lord Great Chamberlain of England, an hereditary office, in 1133. His grandson Aubrey III became Earl of Oxford in the reign of King Stephen, but while his earldom had been granted by the Empress Matilda 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) from Oxfordshire.[2]

de Vere family coat of arms with a mullet in the first quarter of the shield
The family's coat of arms on a sign in the village of Earls Colne, Essex

For many centuries the family was headed by the Earl of Oxford 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.[3] Macaulay described the family as "the longest and most illustrious line of nobles that England has seen,"[4] and Tennyson's poem Lady Clara Vere de Vere made the name synonymous with ancient blood.[5]

Notable family members

Twenty males headed the family as Earl of Oxford from 1141 to 1703:

Genealogy

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

Family tree
Aubrey de Vere
1st Earl

(d. 1194)
Aubrey de Vere
2nd Earl

(d. 1214)
Robert de Vere
3rd Earl

(d. 1221)
Hugh de Vere
4th Earl

(d. 1263)
Robert de Vere
5th Earl

(d. 1296)
Robert de Vere
6th Earl

(1257–1331)
Alfonso de Vere
(d. 1328)
John de Vere
7th Earl

(1312–1360)
Thomas de Vere
8th Earl

(d. 1371)
Aubrey de Vere
10th Earl

(1338–1400)
Robert de Vere
9th Earl

(1362–1392)
Richard de Vere
11th Earl

(1385–1417)
John de Vere
12th Earl

(1408–1462)
Robert de Vere
John de Vere
13th Earl

(1442–1513)
George de VereJohn de Vere
John de Vere
14th Earl

(1499–1526)
John de Vere
15th Earl

(d. 1540)
John de Vere
16th Earl

(1516–1562)
Aubrey de Vere
(b. 1519)
Edward de Vere
17th Earl

(1550–1604)
Hugh de Vere
Henry de Vere
18th Earl

(1593–1625)
Robert de Vere
19th Earl

(1575–1632)
Aubrey de Vere
20th Earl

(1627–1703)

Coats of Arms

Arms of notable members of the de Vere family:

See also

References

  1. L. C. Loyd, The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families (Leeds: 1951), 110.
  2. R. W. Eyton, Court, Household, and Itinerary of King Henry II (London: 1878), 16.
  3. G. E. C. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage v. X
  4. Macaulay, Baron Thomas Babbington (1857). Histories of England. 2. p. 126.
  5.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Round, John Horace (1911). "Vere". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 1019.
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