View source for John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford

{{Short description|English noble (1312–1360)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox noble
| name = John de Vere
| title = 7th Earl of Oxford
| image = The keep, Hedingham Castle in winter.jpg
| caption = [[Hedingham Castle]], Essex, seat of the Earls of Oxford
| spouse = [[Maud de Badlesmere]]
| issue = John de Vere<br>[[Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford]]<br>[[Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford]]<br>Robert de Vere<br>[[Margaret de Vere]]<br>Maud de Vere<br>[[Elizabeth de Vere]]
| noble family = [[House of de Vere|de Vere]]
| father = Alphonse de Vere
| mother = Joan Foliot
| birth_date = c. 12 March 1312
| birth_place =
| death_date = 23 or 24 January 1360
| death_place = [[Rheims]], France
}}
'''John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford''' (c. 12 March 1312 – 24 January 1360) was the nephew and heir of [[Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford]] who succeeded as [[Earl of Oxford]] in 1331, after his uncle died without issue.
John de Vere was a trusted captain of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] in the king's wars in Scotland and France, and took part in both the [[Battle of Crécy]] and the [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Battle of Poitiers]]. He died campaigning in France in 1360. Throughout his career, he was closely associated with [[William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton]], who was his brother-in-law.
==Family background and marriage==
John de Vere was the only son of Alphonse de Vere, and Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Foliot. Alphonse was the third son of [[Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford]] and apparently died shortly before 20 December 1328, when a writ was issued for inquisitions post mortem into the land that he held direct from the King. These hearings established that Alphonse's next heir was his son John, then aged 15 years and more. The manors concerned were Aston Sandford, Buckinghamshire, Westwick by St Albans and Great Hormead, Hertfordshire, as well as property at Beaumont and Althorne in Essex.<ref>Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1st series, Vol. 7, No. 116</ref>
Alphonse was a brother of [[Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford]].<ref name="DNB">{{Cite ODNB |last=Tuck |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Tuck |title=Vere, John de, seventh earl of Oxford (1312–1360) |date=September 2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28212 |access-date=2008-07-15}}</ref> When the 6th Earl's son died without issue in 1329, he obtained licence from the king to [[Fee tail|entail]] his estates on his nephew, John.<ref>{{cite book|first=May|last=McKisack|author-link=May McKisack|title=The Fourteenth Century: 1307–1399|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=1959|pages=260|isbn=0-19-821712-9}}</ref> It was in this way that John de Vere, when his uncle died 17 April 1331, became Earl of Oxford. He had made homage and received livery by 17 May.<ref>{{cite book|first=Maurice|last=Powicke|author2=E.B. Fryde|author-link=F. M. Powicke|title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]]|location=London|year=1961|pages=442}}</ref>
In 1336 John married [[Maud de Badlesmere]], who was the second of the four daughters of [[Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere]], of [[Badlesmere, Kent|Badlesmere]] in [[Kent]] and [[Margaret de Clare, Lady Badlesmere|Margaret de Clare]]. Maud was a co-heiress of her brother [[Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere]]. When Giles died in 1338, this brought a significant part of the Badlesmere inheritance into de Vere's hands. The marriage also forged a strong bond with [[William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton|William Bohun, Earl of Northampton]], who had married Badlesmere's third daughter, [[Elizabeth de Badlesmere]], and thus became Oxford's brother-in-law.<ref name="DNB"/><ref>{{Cite ODNB |last=Ormrod |first=W.M |title=Bohun, William de, first earl of Northampton (c.1312–1360) |date=September 2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2778 |access-date=2008-07-15}}</ref> The two campaigned together, sat on the same commissions and died the same year.<ref name="DNB"/>
==Career==
De Vere's military career began with service on Edward III's Scottish campaigns, in the 1330s [[Second War of Scottish Independence]]. He took part in the [[Roxburgh]] campaign of 1334–5, and in the summer campaign of 1335.<ref name="DNB"/> Later in the decade, England's military efforts turned towards France, with the beginning of the [[Hundred Years' War]].<ref name="EIII">{{cite book|first=W.M|last=Ormrod|title=The Reign of Edward III|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|year=1990|pages=[https://archive.org/details/beowolflikeness00swea/page/113 113–4]|isbn=0-300-04876-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/beowolflikeness00swea/page/113}}</ref>
Fearing a French invasion of England, Oxford was made responsible for the defence of [[London]] and the [[Essex]] coast.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=463}} In the spring of 1340, de Vere and [[Thomas Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick]] were summoned to reinforce the [[William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Earl of Salisbury]] in [[Flanders]] with two hundred men to counter a French invasion of the [[Low Countries]]. Despite the urgency of the order, Oxford and Warwick did not arrive until April and then with barely two dozen men.{{sfn|Sumption|1990|p=551}}
While serving in the Low Countries, Oxford was therefore out of the country during Edward's disputes with Archbishop [[John de Stratford]]. Oxford was not forced to take sides in the conflict, and has been described as a "political neutral".<ref name="EIII"/>
After a period in England, de Vere returned to the continent in 1342, where he served with Northampton, who had been made lieutenant of [[Brittany]]. They both took part in the [[Battle of Morlaix]] that year. The next year the two earls were sent to Scotland to relieve [[Lochmaben]] Castle, and in 1345 they were again campaigning in Brittany. Tradition has it that, returning to England, their ships were forced ashore by bad weather, and the party was robbed of their possessions by the locals.<ref name="DNB"/>
In the summer of 1346 de Vere was campaigning with the king in [[Normandy]], and took part in the [[Battle of Crécy]]. According to the chronicler [[Jean Froissart|Froissart]], de Vere was fighting with the [[Edward the Black Prince|Black Prince]], and was among the captains who sent a request to Edward III for reinforcements when the king famously answered 'Let the boy win his spurs'. Oxford was also at the [[Siege of Calais (1346)|siege of Calais]], but reportedly fell ill in 1348, and did not take part in any major campaigning until 1355.<ref name="DNB"/>
In 1355, he was again in the company of the Black Prince as an advisor and commander,{{sfn|Sumption|1999|p=227}} and took part in the prince's great raid in [[Languedoc]]. Alongside the earls of [[Robert Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk|Suffolk]] and [[William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury|Salisbury]], Oxford commanded a large force of one thousand men that marched up the [[Dordogne]] valley and invaded the great viscounty of [[Turenne, Corrèze|Turenne]]. Oxford's men captured numerous towns and castles in Turenne, garrisoning them to launch raids into the surrounding provinces until they were bought out in the fall of 1357.{{sfn|Sumption|1999|p=331}}
On 19 September 1356, at the [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Battle of Poitiers]], Oxford was in command of the [[Tactical formation|vanguard]] together with the Earl of Warwick. While Warwick's men bore the brunt of the French attack, de Vere led a group of archers along the riverbed until they were able to flank the French [[cavalry]], firing upon the poorly protected rumps of their horses. Oxford's attack inflicted significant damage and did much to secure the English victory.<ref name="DNB"/>{{sfn|Sumption|1999|p=415}}
His last campaign was Edward III's [[Rheims]] campaign in 1359–60. Here he died, probably during the raid into [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]], on 23 or 24 January 1360. He was buried in the de Vere family's burial place [[Colne Priory]] in Essex.<ref name="DNB"/>
==Descendants and assessment==
Maud de Vere died in 1366. The couple had four sons and three daughters.<ref>{{Harvnb|Richardson IV|2011|p=267}}.</ref> The eldest son, John, married Elizabeth Courtenay, daughter of [[Hugh de Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon|Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon]], but died before his father, in 1350.<ref>{{Harvnb|Richardson IV|2011|p=268}}.</ref> (After the death of her husband, Elizabeth married Sir Andrew Luttrell of Chilton (in [[Thorverton]]), [[Devon]].) Another son, Robert, also died in his father's lifetime. The eldest remaining son was then [[Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford|Thomas]], born about 1336 or 1337, who succeeded his father in 1360. Thomas's son [[Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland|Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford]] succeeded at his father's death, but with Robert's forfeiture in 1392, the earldom was given to Robert's uncle [[Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford|Aubrey]] – the seventh earl's fourth son. The eldest daughter, [[Margaret de Vere|Margaret]], married three times, while of the second, Matilda, little is known.<ref>Margaret's three husbands were, in order, Henry, [[Baron Beaumont]] (d. 1369), [[Sir Nicholas de Loveyne]] of [[Penshurst]], [[Kent]], (d. 1375), and [[John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux]] (d. 1393); Tuck (2004).</ref> The third daughter, Elizabeth, married [[Hugh Courtenay (KG)|Sir Hugh Courtenay]], eldest son and heir of [[Hugh de Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Richardson IV|2011|p=270}}; {{Harvnb|Richardson I|2011|p=542}}.</ref>
John de Vere, in the family tradition of the "fighting de Veres",<ref name="EoO">{{cite web|url=http://www.earlofoxford.com/eo02.htm |title=EO7 - John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford (1313–1360) |last=Brazil |first=Robert |year=2003 |publisher=earlofoxford.com |access-date=2008-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703181449/http://www.earlofoxford.com/eo02.htm |archive-date= 3 July 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> was active in almost all major military engagements in the years from 1340 to 1360.<ref>McKisack (1959), p. 256.</ref> On the Roxburgh campaign he brought a retinue of twenty-eight [[Man-at-arms|men-at-arms]] and twelve mounted [[archery|archers]].<ref name="DNB"/> In Brittany in 1342, the retinue had grown to forty men-at-arms, one [[Knight banneret|banneret]], nine [[knight]]s, twenty-nine [[esquire]]s, and thirty mounted archers.<ref name="EoO"/> His retinue was of diverse composition, and also included foreign [[Mercenary|mercenaries]].<ref>A "John de Ispaynea" is recorded as part of his retinue in 1336: {{cite book|first=Andrew|last=Ayton|title=Knights and Warhorses|publisher=The Boydell Press|location=Woodbridge|year=1994|pages=187|isbn=0-85115-568-5}}</ref> At one point, in the Battle of Poitiers, [[John Hawkwood]], who was later to make his fortune as a ''[[Condottieri|condottiero]]'' in Italy, also served with de Vere.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Caferro|title=John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore|year=2006|pages=39–42|isbn=978-0-8018-8323-1}}</ref> Yet in spite of this, de Vere never distinguished himself, particularly as a military commander. Neither did he receive a great amount of royal patronage, and was never made a member of the [[Order of the Garter]]. This was largely a consequence of the de Vere family's relatively modest resources among the English peerage. As an example can be mentioned that in late 1340, £349 were owed to Oxford in [[arrears]] for his services, yet at the same time, the king owed Northampton two debts of £782 and £1237.<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Prestwich|author-link=Michael Prestwich|title=Plantagenet England 1225–1360|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2007|pages=330|isbn=978-0-19-922687-0}}</ref> This obstacle of resources and status John de Vere was unable to overcome either by marriage or warfare.<ref name="DNB"/>
==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==References==
*{{Cite book |title = The Complete Peerage, edited by H.A. Doubleday
|last = Cokayne
|first = George Edward
|publisher = St. Catherine Press
|location = London
|year = 1916
|volume = IV
}}
*{{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=Douglas |title=Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families |editor-first=Kimball G. |editor-last=Everingham |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |year=2011 |edition=2nd |volume=I |isbn=978-1449966379 |ref = {{sfnref|Richardson I|2011}} }}
*{{Cite book |title = Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham
|last = Richardson
|first = Douglas
|location = Salt Lake City
|year = 2011
|edition = 2nd
|volume = IV
|ref = {{sfnref|Richardson IV|2011}}
}} {{ISBN|1460992709}} {{better source needed|date=April 2013}} {{Self-published source|date=April 2013}}
*{{Cite book |title = The Hundred Years War 1: Trial by Battle
|last = Sumption
|first = Jonathan
|location = London
| year = 1990
|publisher = Faber & Faber
|isbn = 0-571-13895-0
|author-link=Jonathan Sumption
}}
*{{Cite book |title = The Hundred Years War 2: Trial by Fire
|last = Sumption
|first = Jonathan
|location = London
| year = 1999
|publisher = Faber & Faber
|isbn = 0-571-13896-9
}}
==De Vere family tree==
{{Tree chart/start}}
{{Tree chart | | |Rb5|||Rb5=[[Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford|Robert, 5th Earl]]<br />(c. 1240–1296)}}
{{Tree chart ||,|-|^|-|.||}}
{{Tree chart |Rb6| |Al| | | | | |GB|Rb6=[[Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford|Robert, 6th earl]]<br />(1257–1331)|Al=Alfonso<br />(† 1328)|GB=[[Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere|Bartholomew de Badlesmere]]<br />(1275–1322)}}
{{Tree chart ||||||!||||| |,|-|^|-|.| | | }}
{{Tree chart |||||J7|~|y|~|MB| |EB|~|WB|J7='''John, 7th earl'''<br />(1312–1360)|MB=Maud<br />(† 1366)|EB=[[Elizabeth de Badlesmere|Elizabeth]]<br />(† 1356)|WB=[[William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton|William de Bohun]]<br />(c.1312–1360)}}
{{Tree chart |||||,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.|}}
{{Tree chart ||||Jo| |Rb| |T8| |Au||Jo=John<br />(† c. 1350)|Rb=Robert<br />(† bf. 1360)|T8=[[Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford|Thomas, 8th earl]]<br />(c. 1336-1371)|Au=[[Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford|Aubrey, 10th earl]]<br />(1338x40–1400)||}}
{{Tree chart |||||||||||||!||||!|}}
{{Tree chart ||||||||||||Rb9| |Ri11||Rb9=[[Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland|Robert, 9th earl]]<br />(1362–1392)|Ri11=[[Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford|Richard, 11th earl]]<br />(1385–1417)||}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-reg|en}}
{{succession box | title=[[Earl of Oxford]] | before=[[Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford|Robert de Vere]] | after=[[Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford|Thomas de Vere]] | years=1331–1360}}
{{S-end}}
{{Good article}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford, John de Vere, 7th Earl of}}
[[Category:1312 births]]
[[Category:1360 deaths]]
[[Category:Earls of Oxford|John de Vere, 7th Earl]]
[[Category:People of the Hundred Years' War]]
[[Category:People of the Wars of Scottish Independence]]
[[Category:De Vere family|John]]
[[Category:Knights banneret of England]]
[[Category:14th-century English nobility]]