1.
Coat of arms
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A coat of arms is an heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to a person, family, state. The ancient Romans used similar insignia on their shields, but these identified military units rather than individuals, the first evidence of medieval coats of arms has been attributed to the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry in which some of the combatants carry shields painted with crosses. However, that heraldic interpretation remains controversial, coats of arms came into general use by feudal lords and knights in battle in the 12th century. By the 13th century, arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a flag or emblem for families in the social classes of Europe. Exactly who had a right to use arms, by law or social convention, in the German-speaking regions both the aristocracy and burghers used arms, while in most of the rest of Europe they were limited to the aristocracy. The use of spread to the clergy, to towns as civic identifiers. Flags developed from coats of arms, and the arts of vexillology, the coats of arms granted to commercial companies are a major source of the modern logo. Despite no widespread regulation, heraldry has remained consistent across Europe, some nations, like England and Scotland, still maintain the same heraldic authorities which have traditionally granted and regulated arms for centuries and continue to do so in the present day. In England, for example, the granting of arms is and has controlled by the College of Arms. Unlike seals and other emblems, heraldic achievements have a formal description called a blazon. Many societies exist that also aid in the design and registration of personal arms, in the heraldic traditions of England and Scotland, an individual, rather than a family, had a coat of arms. In those traditions coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to son, wives, undifferenced arms are used only by one person at any given time. Other descendants of the bearer could bear the ancestral arms only with some difference. One such charge is the label, which in British usage is now always the mark of an apparent or an heir presumptive. Because of their importance in identification, particularly in seals on legal documents and this has been carried out by heralds and the study of coats of arms is therefore called heraldry. In time, the use of arms spread from military entities to educational institutes, the author Helen Stuart argues that some coats of arms were a form of corporate logo
2.
De Vere family
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The De Vere family were an English aristocratic family which have derived their surname from Ver, in Lower Normandy, France. The familys Norman founder in England, Aubrey de Vere, appears in Domesday Book as the holder of a fief in Essex, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire. His son and heir Aubrey II became master chamberlain of England, for many centuries the family was headed by the Earl of Oxford until the death of the 20th earl in 1703
3.
Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford
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Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford KG PC was a Royalist during the English Civil War. He was the son of Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford and he remained in Holland, but returned to England in 1651 an ardent royalist. He was involved in a succession of plots, for which he was imprisoned in the Tower for allegedly plotting against Cromwell, on release he joined Sir George Booths rising in 1659 against Richard Cromwells regime. He went with five other peers to petition The Hague for the return of King Charles II in early May 1660, hoping but failing to become Lord Chamberlain, he was offered the Colonelcy of The Blues. As a great favourite of royal mistress Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland he courted the Earl of Bristols daughter, the Earl of Bristols daughter married the Earl of Sunderland, a Secretary of State, but he lobbied the King on Oxfords behalf. Oxford was made Lord Lieutenant of Essex and a Knight of the Garter, Oxfords dashing image was as one of the last Cavaliers, louche, immoral, but temperate and moderate. Tall, distinguished, and good-looking, he looked slightly disdainful, censorious Whigs like Samuel Pepys deplored seeing Oxford wearing his Garter regalia in public. And there was a rumour that he married an actress in secret, despite being a Cavalier, he adhered to Protestant principles permitting Quakers and Puritans to join the regiment. He was a friend of Monmouth, a great soldier, Oxford raised a Regiment of Horse from 1684 onwards, just as the Life Guards were being withdrawn from Dunkirk. They were properly the Royal Regiment of Horse, but known by the colour of the uniforms as Oxfords Blues, Royalist volunteers added strength to this Protestant regiment. It was Charles IIs policy to expand the army beyond the kernel that he inherited, Oxford gained the disapproval at court of the favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, who had declared undying enmity. Wrote Prince Cosmo of Tuscany on a visit to London in 1668, Oxford was present at the first Army Board on 5 August 1670, chaired by the Duke of York. On 5 July 1685 Sir Francis Compton was promoted to command the regiment, Oxford wanted the post for himself but was prevented from taking it by the King. Oxford was responsible for kitting out his regiment, and ordering a standard blue uniform from a woollen draper, Mr Munnocks of The Strand, Middlesex, in February 1688 he told King James I will stand by Your Majesty against all enemies to the last drop of my blood. But this is a matter of conscience and I cannot comply, Oxford was Lord Lieutenant of Essex, responsible for raising troops in the county, but refused James IIs order to appoint Roman Catholics to public offices. He was deprived of his offices, months later he took the side of William of Orange against James II in the Glorious Revolution. He was restored to his titles and the colonelcy of The Blues, the Secretary at War, William Blathwayt, wrote asking for details of all officers removed by absolutism. He died in 1703 sine prole mascula, making the title extinct and his daughter Lady Diana de Vere married Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St Albans
4.
Lord Great Chamberlain
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In the United Kingdom, the Lord Great Chamberlain is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable. The Lord Great Chamberlain has charge over the Palace of Westminster, on formal state occasions, he wears a distinctive scarlet court uniform and bears a gold key and a white stave as the insignia of his office. The position is a one, held since 1780 in gross. At any one time, a person actually exercises the office of Lord Great Chamberlain. For instance, the Marquesses of Cholmondeley hold one-half of the office, the office of Lord Great Chamberlain is distinct from the non-hereditary office of Lord Chamberlain of the Household, a position in the monarchs household. This office arose in the 14th century as a deputy of the Lord Great Chamberlain to fulfil the duties in the Royal Household. The office was held by Robert Malet, a son of one of the leading companions of William the Conqueror. In 1133, however, King Henry I declared Malets estates and titles forfeit, thereafter, the Earls of Oxford held the title almost continuously until 1526, with a few intermissions due to the forfeiture of some Earls for treason. In 1526, however, the fourteenth Earl of Oxford died, the earldom was inherited by a more distant heir-male, his second cousin. The Sovereign then decreed that the office belonged to The Crown, the Sovereign appointed the fifteenth Earl to the office, but the appointment was deemed for life and was not heritable. The familys association with the office was interrupted in 1540, when the earl died and Thomas Cromwell. Later, Queen Mary I ruled that the Earls of Oxford were indeed entitled to the office of Lord Great Chamberlain on an hereditary basis. The House of Lords eventually ruled that the office belonged to the male, Robert Bertie, 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. The office remained vested in the Earls of Lindsey, who later became Dukes of Ancaster, in 1779, however, the fourth Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven died, leaving two sisters as female heirs, and an uncle as an heir male. The uncle became the fifth and last Duke, but the House of Lords ruled that the two sisters were jointly Lord Great Chamberlain and could appoint a Deputy to fulfil the functions of the office, the younger sister later married the first Marquess of Cholmondeley. The office of Lord Great Chamberlain, however, was divided between Priscilla and her younger sister Georgiana, priscillas share was eventually split between two of her granddaughters, and has been split several more times since then. By contrast, Georgianas share has been inherited by a male heir each time, that individual has in each case been the Marquess of Cholmondeley. The fractions show the share in the office, and the date they held it
5.
Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford
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Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford KB was an English aristocrat, courtier and soldier. He was born on 24 February 1593 at Newington, Middlesex and he succeeded his father as earl on 24 June 1604. He is said to have been educated at Oxford University and he was admitted a member of the Inner Temple in November 1604, and was created M. A. of Oxford on 30 August 1605. He was made a knight of the Bath on 3 June 1610, in his youth he had a reputation for debauchery. On his mother’s death, early in 1613, he inherited a share of her fortune, from Brussels he made his way through France to Italy. While Oxford was still abroad, he was involved vicariously in a family drama. This failed matchmaking laid the seeds of a quarrel between Buckingham and Oxford, though the Villiers marriage for Frances went ahead in September 1617. Oxford returned to England in October 1618, on 22 May 1619 he was admitted to the hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain. In July 1621 an incautious expression of dissatisfaction with the Spanish match led to a few weeks imprisonment in the Tower of London, in December 1621 he was nominated by Buckingham to command the Assurance, a vessel that was commissioned to guard the Channel. He captured a Dutch Indiaman, which he had to restore, Oxford was said to have stated that he ‘hoped the time would come when justice would be free, and not pass only through Buckinghams hands’. For this statement Oxford was sent to the Tower, and King James ordered his attorney-general to prosecute him in the Star Chamber, Oxford was kept a close prisoner for twenty months, despite repeated efforts by his friends to gain his release. He was finally freed on 30 December 1623 at the behest of Prince Charles and Buckingham himself, immediately afterwards Oxford married Lady Diana Cecil, daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter and Elizabeth Drury, a beauty who brought him a fortune of £30,000. Francis Bacon in his disgrace asked favours in a letter which he addressed to the Earl in the month of his marriage. Oxford declined a reconciliation with Buckingham, in June 1624 he went to the Low Countries as colonel of a volunteer regiment of foot that was raised for the service of the Elector Palatine. He was present in June at the assault on Ter-heiden, in connection with the operations to relieve Breda. He was buried in Westminster Abbey on 25 July 1625 and he left no issue, and was succeeded by a second cousin, Robert de Vere. An elegy to him was written by the poet Abraham Holland and published after Abraham Hollands death by his brother, the Curious Case of Lady Purbeck, A Scandal of the XVIIth Century. Vere, Henry de, eighteenth earl of Oxford, attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Lee, Sidney
6.
Castle Hedingham
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It developed around Hedingham Castle, the ancestral seat of the de Veres, Earls of Oxford. The first earl, Aubrey de Vere III, finished the building of the keep and established a Benedictine nunnery, Castle Hedingham Priory. Hugh de Vere, fourth earl of Oxford, purchased the right to hold a market in the town of the crown in the mid-13th century and he also founded a hospital just outside the gates of the castle around 1250. The villages main attractions are the well preserved Norman Hedingham Castle, the church of St. Nicholas is late Norman and Gothic, building having commenced around 1180. The fine double hammerbeam roof is attributed to Thomas Loveday, who was responsible for work on St Johns College, Cambridge and its Romanesque wheel window and cemetery cross are remnants of the Norman church. The village was served by Sible and Castle Hedingham railway station which was opened by Colne Valley & Halstead Railway Company in 1867. The station closed in 1964 and was dismantled and rebuilt in 1974 on a new site to the north west of the village by the Colne Valley Railway Preservation Society, Castle Hedingham Pottery was an art pottery studio run by Edward Bingham at Castle Hedingham from about 1864 until 1901. Hedingham School A brief history of the village
7.
Hedingham Castle
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Hedingham Castle, in the village of Castle Hedingham, Essex, is the best preserved Norman keep in England. The manor of Hedingham was awarded to Aubrey de Vere I by William the Conqueror by 1086, the castle was constructed by the de Veres in the late 11th to early 12th century and the keep in the 1130s and 1140s. The stone keep survives in a good state of preservation and is open to the public. The keep is square, the east and west sides are 53 ft long. It stands more than 70 ft tall, and it commands the countryside around it from its position atop the ringwork. The walls are about 11 ft thick at the base and average 10 ft at the top and they are constructed from flint rubble bound with lime mortar, but, very unusually for an Essex castle, are faced with ashlar stone transported from a quarry in Barnack, Northamptonshire. The keep has four floors, including the Great or Banqueting Hall with an arch extending two stories and a fireplace. The top floor may have been added around the 15th century and this is a recent theory, however, and many older sources have noted the similar plans of Hedingham Castle and Rochester Castle, which was begun about 1126 and has four floors and four turrets. Two of the four corner turrets are missing, and it seems likely that their demise was a result of an attempt to demolish the building for materials rather than through military action. A chapel was located to the south of the keep within the inner bailey. A red-brick bridge of four spans connects the inner bailey to the outer bailey lying to the north-east and it was built in late 15th or early 16th century has been restored several times. A Queen Anne style red-brick mansion was built in the bailey by Sir William Ashhurst between his purchase of the property in 1693 and his death in 1719. Hedingham Castle may occupy the site of a castle believed to have been built in the late 11th or early 12th century by Aubrey de Vere I. Hedingham was one of the largest manors among those acquired by Aubrey I, the Domesday Book records that he held the manor of Hedingham by 1086, and he ordered that vineyards be planted. It became the head of the Vere barony, Aubrey II and Aubrey III are candidates for initiating the construction of a major stone tower at Hedingham, possibly to reflect the enhanced status of the family. In 1133 Aubrey II, son and heir of the first Aubrey, was created master chamberlain of England by Henry I, in 1141, his son and heir Aubrey was granted an earldom by Empress Matilda. By that time he had been Count of Guines for several years by right of his wifes inheritance of that continental territory, Matilda, wife of King Stephen, died at Castle Hedingham on 3 May 1152. The castle was besieged twice, in 1216 and 1217, during the dispute between King John, rebel barons, and the French prince, the castle was held by the de Vere family until 1625
8.
Empress Matilda
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Empress Matilda, also known as the Empress Maude, was the claimant 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 a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband into Italy in 1116, was crowned in St. Peters Basilica. Matilda and Henry had no children, and when Henry died in 1125, meanwhile, Matildas younger brother, William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster of 1120, leaving England facing a potential succession crisis. On Henry Vs death, Matilda was recalled to Normandy by her father, Henry died in 1135 but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the Norman barons and were unable to pursue their claims. The throne was taken by Matildas cousin Stephen of Blois. Stephen took steps to solidify his new regime, but faced threats both from neighbouring powers and from opponents within his kingdom. Matildas forces captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, as a result of this retreat, Matilda was never formally declared Queen of England, and was instead titled the Lady of the English. Robert was captured following the Rout of Winchester in 1141, Matilda became trapped in Oxford Castle by Stephens forces that winter, and was forced to escape across the frozen River Isis at night to avoid capture. The war degenerated into a stalemate, with Matilda controlling much of the south-west of England, and Stephen the south-east, large parts of the rest of the country were in the hands of local, independent barons. Matilda returned to Normandy, now in the hands of her husband, in 1148, leaving her eldest son to continue the campaign in England, he eventually succeeded to the throne as Henry II in 1154. She settled her court near Rouen and for the rest of her life concerned herself with the administration of Normandy, particularly in the early years of her sons reign, she provided political advice and attempted to mediate during the Becket controversy. She worked extensively with the Church, founding Cistercian monasteries, and was known for her piety and she was buried under the high altar at Bec Abbey after her death in 1167. Matilda was born to Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy, Henry was the youngest son of William the Conqueror, who had invaded England in 1066, creating an empire stretching into Wales. The invasion had created an Anglo-Norman elite, many with estates spread across both sides of the English Channel. These barons typically had close links to the kingdom of France and her mother Matilda was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland, a member of the West Saxon royal family, and a descendant of Alfred the Great. For Henry, marrying Matilda of Scotland had given his reign increased legitimacy, Matilda had a younger, legitimate brother, William Adelin, and her fathers relationships with numerous mistresses resulted in around 22 illegitimate siblings. Little is known about Matildas earliest life, but she stayed with her mother, was taught to read
9.
Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford
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Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford, hereditary Master Chamberlain of England, served in military campaigns under King Richard and King John. He was succeeded in the earldom by his brother, Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford. Aubrey de Vere, the eldest son and heir of Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, by his wife, Agnes of Essex. He had three brothers, Ralph, Robert and Henry, and a sister, Alice and his brother Ralph predeceased him, and his brother Robert succeeded him as 3rd Earl in 1214. The first notice of Aubrey de Vere is as a young boy witnessing his fathers charters for Colne Priory, in 1194 Vere was with King Richard I in France, and succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father on 26 December of the same year. In 1195 he was assessed to pay 500 marks towards the ransom of King Richard, in 1197 Oxford was again with King Richard in Normandy when a dispute was litigated between Abbot Samson of Bury St Edmunds and some fifty tenants of the Abbey, including the earl of Oxford. Ultimately most of the came to the Kings court in London. Earl Aubrey, the last to hold out, finally capitulated when the abbot seized, the title had already confirmed to his father by Matildas son, King Henry II and Aubrey III had been acknowledged earl of Oxford by Richard I and John. This payment five years after John took the throne is thus unusual, in March 1208 Pope Innocent III placed England under an interdict. At the time of the interdict Oxford is said to have regarded as one of the Kings evil counsellors. In the summer of 1209 he was among the courtiers who met the Popes agents in Dover to try to prevent King Johns excommunication and their mission failed, Pope Innocent excommunicated the King in November of that year. In what may have been his last military service, the earl of Oxford was with King Johns forces during a campaign in Ireland from June to August 1210. Among other appointments, Oxford was Keeper of the manor of Havering in 1208, Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire from 1208 to 1213, on 20 June 1213 he had the Kings greyhounds in his charge. Oxford died in 1214, in or before the month of October and he was succeeded by his younger brother, Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford, later one of the guarantors of Magna Carta. His first wife was the heiress Isabel de Bolebec, whose marriage his father had purchased in 1184 and she died in 1206 or 1207. His second wife, Alice, is said to have been a daughter of Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk and thus his first cousin. After Oxfords death his brother and successor, Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford, established Alices dower by lot and she never remarried and outlived her husband by several decades. Earl Aubrey had no surviving issue by either of his wives, the earl left an illegitimate son, Roger de Vere, who was apparently acknowledged and provided for by his father
10.
Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford
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Robert de Vere, hereditary Master Chamberlain of England, was son of Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, and Agnes of Essex. He succeeded his brother as the third Earl of Oxford, and was one of the guarantors of Magna Carta. Robert de Vere was the surviving son of Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford. The date of his birth is not known, but he was born after 1164. Almost nothing is known of his life until 1207, when he married Isabel de Bolebec, the widow of Henry de Nonant of Totnes, Devon. In 1206-7 Isabel and her sister Constance were co-heiresses of their niece, another Isabel de Bolebec and they divided the barony of Whitchurch. The fact that aunt and niece had identical names, Isabel de Bolbec, when Roberts brother, Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford, died in the latter half of 1214, Robert succeeded to his title and estates and the hereditary office of Master Chamberlain of England. The dower of Earl Aubreys second wife, Alice, had not been formalized, in 1215 Oxford settled his sister-in-laws dower by lot, the earl drawing two knights fees for every one drawn by Alice. This is the only instance of dower being settled in this manner. Oxford joined the barons who met at Stamford and forced King John to issue Magna Carta at Runnymede on 15 June 1215. The earl was elected one of the barons who were to guarantee the Kings adherence to its terms. Together with other Magna Carta barons, he was excommunicated as a rebel by Pope Innocent III on 16 December 1215, Oxford took up arms against King John, but pledged loyalty to him after the King had taken Castle Hedingham in March 1216. Later in the year, however, he did homage to Prince Louis at Rochester. Louis entered London and was proclaimed King, on 14 June 1216, he captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of England. In the midst of crisis, King John died, prompting many of the barons to desert Louis in favor of Johns nine-year-old son. In 1217 Prince Louis retook Castle Hedingham and restored it to Oxford, although he did homage to Henry, he was not fully restored in his offices and lands until February 1218. Earl Robert served as a justice in 1220-21, and died before 21 October 1221. Robert de Vere and Isabel de Bolebec had a son, Hugh de Vere, the Complete Peerage, edited by H. A
11.
Magna Carta
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Magna Carta Libertatum, commonly called Magna Carta, is a charter agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. Neither side stood behind their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, at the end of the 16th century there was an upsurge in interest in Magna Carta. Lawyers and historians at the believed that there was an ancient English constitution, going back to the days of the Anglo-Saxons. Both James I and his son Charles I attempted to suppress the discussion of Magna Carta, until the issue was curtailed by the English Civil War of the 1640s and the execution of Charles. The political myth of Magna Carta and its protection of ancient personal liberties persisted after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 until well into the 19th century. In the 21st century, four exemplifications of the original 1215 charter remain in existence, held by the British Library, there are also a handful of the subsequent charters in public and private ownership, including copies of the 1297 charter in both the United States and Australia. The original charters were written on parchment sheets using quill pens, in heavily abbreviated medieval Latin, each was sealed with the royal great seal, very few of the seals have survived. The four original 1215 charters were displayed together at the British Library for one day,3 February 2015, to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. Magna Carta originated as an attempt to achieve peace between royalist and rebel factions in 1215, as part of the events leading to the outbreak of the First Barons War. England was ruled by King John, the third of the Angevin kings, although the kingdom had a robust administrative system, the nature of government under the Angevin monarchs was ill-defined and uncertain. Following the defeat of his allies at the Battle of Bouvines, John had to sue for peace, John was already personally unpopular with many of the barons, many of whom owed money to the Crown, and little trust existed between the two sides. John held a council in London in January 1215 to discuss potential reforms, both sides appealed to Pope Innocent III for assistance in the dispute. John also began recruiting mercenary forces from France, although some were sent back to avoid giving the impression that the King was escalating the conflict. Letters backing John arrived from the Pope in April, but by then the rebel barons had organised into a military faction and they congregated at Northampton in May and renounced their feudal ties to John, marching on London, Lincoln, and Exeter. Johns efforts to moderate and conciliatory had been largely successful. The King offered to submit the problem to a committee of arbitration with the Pope as the supreme arbiter, John met the rebel leaders at Runnymede, a water-meadow on the south bank of the River Thames, on 10 June 1215. Here the rebels presented John with their demands for reform. By 15 June, general agreement had been made on a text, and on 19 June and it focused on the rights of free men—in particular the barons
12.
Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland
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Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, and 9th Earl of Oxford KG 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, Robert de Vere was the only son of Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford and Maud de Ufford. He succeeded his father as 9th Earl in 1371, and was created Marquess of Dublin in 1385, the next year he was created Duke of Ireland. He was thus the first marquess, and only the second non-princely duke, King Richards close friendship to de Vere was disagreeable to the political establishment. This displeasure was exacerbated by the elevation to the new title of Duke of Ireland in 1386. His relationship with King Richard was very close and rumored by Thomas Walsingham to be homosexual, Robert, Duke of Ireland, was married to Philippa de Coucy, the Kings first cousin. Robert had an affair with Agnes de Launcekrona, a Czech lady-in-waiting of Richards Queen, in 1387, the couple were separated and eventually divorced, Robert took Launcekrona as his second wife. In 1387, Ireland led Richards forces to defeat at Radcot Bridge outside Oxford and he fled the field and his forces were left leaderless and compelled into ignominious surrender. He was attainted and sentenced to death in absentia by the Merciless Parliament of 1388, fortuitously for him, he had already fled abroad into exile directly after Radcot Bridge. He died in or near Louvain in 1392, three years later, on the anniversary of his death,22 November 1395, Richard II had his embalmed body brought back to England for burial. It was recorded by the chronicler Thomas Walsingham that many magnates did not attend the ceremony because they had not yet digested their hatred of him. The king had the coffin opened to kiss his lost friends hand, after Irelands death, his uncle Sir Aubrey de Vere, was restored to the family titles and estates, becoming 10th Earl of Oxford. The Dukedom of Ireland and Marquessate of Dublin became extinct, magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham
13.
Richard II of England
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Richard II, also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed on 30 September 1399. Richard, a son of Edward, the Black Prince, was born in Bordeaux during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III. Richard was the brother of Edward of Angoulême, upon whose death, Richard. Upon the death of Richards father prior to the death of Edward III, Richard, by primogeniture, with Edward IIIs death the following year, Richard succeeded to the throne at the age of ten. During Richards first years as king, government was in the hands of a series of councils, most of the aristocracy preferred this to a regency led by the kings uncle, John of Gaunt, yet Gaunt remained highly influential. The first major challenge of the reign was the Peasants Revolt in 1381, the young king played a major part in the successful suppression of this crisis. By 1389 Richard had regained control, and for the eight years governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. In 1397, Richard took his revenge on the appellants, many of whom were executed or exiled, the next two years have been described by historians as Richards tyranny. In 1399, after John of Gaunt died, the king disinherited Gaunts son, Henry of Bolingbroke, Henry invaded England in June 1399 with a small force that quickly grew in numbers. Claiming initially that his goal was only to reclaim his patrimony, meeting little resistance, Bolingbroke deposed Richard and had himself crowned as King Henry IV. Richard died in captivity in February 1400, he is thought to have starved to death. Richard was said to have tall, good-looking and intelligent. Less warlike than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years War that Edward III had started, modern historians do not accept this interpretation, while not exonerating Richard from responsibility for his own deposition. While probably not insane, as historians of the 19th and 20th centuries believed, Richard of Bordeaux was the younger son of Edward, the Black Prince, and Joan of Kent. Edward, heir to the throne of England, had distinguished himself as a commander in the early phases of the Hundred Years War. After further military adventures, however, he contracted dysentery in Spain in 1370 and he never fully recovered and had to return to England the next year. Joan of Kent had been at the centre of a dispute between Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, and William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, from which Holland emerged victorious. Less than a year after Hollands death in 1360, Joan married Prince Edward, since she was a granddaughter of King Edward I and a first cousin of King Edward III, the marriage required papal approval
14.
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
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He was the principal commander of King Henry VIIs army at the Battle of Bosworth, and again led Henrys troops to victory at the Battle of Stoke two years later. He became one of the men of the Kings regime. John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, was born on 8 September 1442, the son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, and his wife Elizabeth Howard. The 12th Earl was beheaded on Tower Hill on 26 February 1462 and his son Aubrey had been beheaded on the same scaffold six days earlier. Pursuing a conciliatory policy with Lancastrian families, King Edward allowed John de Vere to succeed his father, in November 1468, however, he was committed to the Tower, and confessed to plotting with the Lancastrians against the King. He was likely released before 7 January 1469, and received a pardon on 5 April of that year. However, by early July 1469 Oxford had joined the discontented Yorkists led by his brother-in-law, the Earl of Warwick, and King Edwards brother and he fled overseas in the following spring to the court of King Henry VIs wife, Margaret of Anjou. In September 1470 he joined Warwick and Clarence in the invasion of England which restored Henry VI to the throne, and on 13 October bore the Sword of State before Henry in a procession to St Pauls. He was appointed Lord High Constable of England, and as such on 15 October tried and condemned for treason the same Earl of Worcester who had in 1462 condemned Oxfords own father and brother. In March 1471, he prevented Edward IVs army from landing in Norfolk, however this early success in the battle turned to disaster when Oxfords forces began pillaging. Whereupon Oxford and his men cried Treasoune, after this defeat Oxford escaped to Scotland with 40 men, accompanied by his two brothers, George and Thomas Vere, and the Viscount Beaumont. From there he went to France, where he collected ships, although he was not attainted after leaving England in 1471, his lands were confiscated, and his wife, Margaret, is said to have been subjected to great financial hardship. On 28 May 1473, Oxford attempted a landing at St Osyth in Essex. On 30 September 1473, he seized St Michaels Mount in Cornwall, after most of his men had deserted and he had been wounded in the face with an arrow, Oxford was eventually compelled to surrender on 15 February 1474, along with his two brothers and Beaumont. Oxford was imprisoned at Hammes Castle near Calais, and was attainted early in 1475, at this time his mother, the 12th Earls widow, was forced to surrender her property to the Duke of Gloucester. In 1478 Oxford scaled the walls of Hammes and leapt into the moat and it is said that Richmond was ravished with joy incredible at this event. Oxford immediately returned to Hammes to bring the garrison there to join Richmond, to celebrate the Tudor victory at Bosworth, Oxford commissioned the building of the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Lavenham. According to Gunn, Oxford was immediately recognized as one of the men of Henry VIIs regime
15.
Wars of the Roses
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The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, however, there was fighting before and after this period between the houses. With the Duke of Yorks passing, the transferred to his heir, Edward. His son reigned for 86 days as Edward V, but Parliament then decided that Edward and his brother Richard were illegitimate and offered the crown to Edward IVs younger brother, the two young princes disappeared within the confines of the Tower of London. The final victory went to a claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, after assuming the throne as Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and heir of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two claims. The House of Tudor ruled the Kingdom of England until 1603, with the death of Elizabeth I, granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The name Wars of the Roses refers to the badges associated with the two royal houses, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. Wars of the Roses came into use in the nineteenth century. Badges were not always distinct, at the Battle of Barnet, Edwards sun was very similar to the Earl of Oxfords Vere star, which caused fateful confusion. Another example, Henry Tudors forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon, although the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of York and Lancaster, the corresponding duchies had little to do with these cities. Although minor armed clashes had occurred previously between supporters of York and Lancaster, the first open fighting broke out in 1455 at the First Battle of St Albans, several prominent Lancastrians died at the hands of the Yorkists. Although peace was restored, the Lancastrians were inspired by Margaret of Anjou to contest Yorks influence. Fighting resumed more violently in 1459, York and his supporters were forced to flee the country, but one of his most prominent supporters, the Earl of Warwick, invaded England from Calais and captured Henry VI at the Battle of Northampton. York returned to the country and became Protector of England, but was dissuaded from claiming the throne, Margaret and the remaining Lancastrian nobles gathered their army in the north of England. When York moved north to engage them, he and his second son Edmund were killed at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. The Lancastrian army advanced south and released Henry at the Second Battle of St Albans, but failed to occupy London, Yorks eldest son, Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed King Edward IV. He gathered the Yorkist armies and won a victory at the Battle of Towton in March 1461. After Lancastrian revolts in the north were suppressed in 1464 and Henry was captured once again, Edward fell out with his chief supporter and adviser, the Earl of Warwick after Edwards unpopular and secretly conducted marriage with the widow of a Lancastrian supporter, Elizabeth Woodville. Within a few years, it clear that Edward was favoring his wifes family
16.
Henry VII of England
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Henry VII was King of England from seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, and the first monarch of the House of Tudor. He ruled the Principality of Wales until 29 November 1489 and was Lord of Ireland, Henry won the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle and he cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the civil war and his supportive stance of the islands wool industry and stand off with the Low Countries had long lasting benefits to all the British Isles economy. However, the capriciousness and lack of due process that many would tarnish his legacy and were soon ended upon Henry VIIs death. According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil, simple greed underscored the means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henrys final years, Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on 28 January 1457 to Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. His father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, died three months before his birth, Henrys paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of Henry V. He rose to one of the Squires to the Body to the King after military service at the Battle of Agincourt. Owen is said to have married the widow of Henry V. One of their sons was Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII, Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and formally declared legitimate by Parliament. Henrys main claim to the English throne derived from his mother through the House of Beaufort, Henrys mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III, and his third wife Katherine Swynford. Katherine was Gaunts mistress for about 25 years, when married in 1396, they already had four children. Thus Henrys claim was somewhat tenuous, it was from a woman, in theory, the Portuguese and Castilian royal families had a better claim as descendants of Catherine of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile. Gaunts nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunts children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397, in 1407, Henry IV, who was Gaunts son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings, but also declaring them ineligible for the throne. Henry IVs action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament, but it further weakened Henrys claim. Henry also made political capital out of his Welsh ancestry, for example in attracting military support. He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr and he took it, as well as the standard of St George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. A contemporary writer and Henrys biographer, Bernard André, also much of Henrys Welsh descent
17.
Battle of Bosworth Field
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Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, by his victory became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty and his opponent, Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed in the battle. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, at the request of his brother Edward IV, Richard was acting as Lord Protector for his son Edward V. Richard had Parliament declare Edward V illegitimate and ineligible for the throne, across the English Channel in Brittany, Henry Tudor, a descendant of the greatly diminished House of Lancaster, seized on Richards difficulties so that he could challenge his claim to the throne. Henrys first attempt to invade England was frustrated by a storm in 1483, marching inland, Henry gathered support as he made for London. Richard mustered his troops and intercepted Henrys army south of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire, Thomas, Lord Stanley, and Sir William Stanley brought a force to the battlefield, but held back while they decided which side it would be more advantageous to support. Richard divided his army, which outnumbered Henrys, into three groups, one was assigned to the Duke of Norfolk and another to the Earl of Northumberland. Henry kept most of his force together and placed it under the command of the experienced Earl of Oxford, Richards vanguard, commanded by Norfolk, attacked but struggled against Oxfords men, and some of Norfolks troops fled the field. Northumberland took no action when signalled to assist his king, so Richard gambled everything on a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry, seeing the kings knights separated from his army, the Stanleys intervened, Sir William led his men to Henrys aid, surrounding and killing Richard. After the battle Henry was crowned king below an oak tree in nearby Stoke Golding, Henry hired chroniclers to portray his reign favourably, the Battle of Bosworth was popularised to represent the Tudor dynasty as the start of a new age. From the 15th to the 18th centuries the battle was glamorised as a victory of good over evil, the climax of William Shakespeares play Richard III provides a focal point for critics in later film adaptations. The exact site of the battle is disputed because of the lack of conclusive data, in 1974 the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre was built on a site that has since been challenged by several scholars and historians. In October 2009 a team of researchers, who had performed geological surveys and archaeological digs in the area from 2003, during the 15th century civil war raged across England as the Houses of York and Lancaster fought each other for the English throne. In 1471 the Yorkists defeated their rivals in the battles of Barnet, the Lancastrian King Henry VI and his only son, Edward of Lancaster, died in the aftermath of the Battle of Tewkesbury. Their deaths left the House of Lancaster with no direct claimants to the throne, the Yorkist king, Edward IV, was in complete control of England. He attainted those who refused to submit to his rule, such as Jasper Tudor and his nephew Henry, naming them traitors and confiscating their lands. The Tudors tried to flee to France but strong winds forced them to land in Brittany, then a semi-independent duchy, Henrys mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, uncle of King Richard II and father of King Henry IV. The Beauforts were originally bastards, but Henry IV legitimised them on the condition that their descendants were not eligible to inherit the throne
18.
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
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Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Since the 1920s he has been among the most popular alternative candidates proposed for the authorship of Shakespeares works, De Vere was the only son of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, and Margery Golding. After the death of his father in 1562, he became a ward of Queen Elizabeth and was sent to live in the household of her principal advisor and he married Cecils daughter, Anne, with whom he had five children. De Vere was estranged from her for five years after he refused to acknowledge her first child as his, De Vere was a champion jouster and travelled widely throughout Italy and France. He was among the first to love poetry at the Elizabethan court. De Vere was reconciled to the Queen in 1583, but all opportunities for advancement had been lost, in 1586, the Queen granted De Vere a £1,000 annuity to relieve his financial distress caused by his extravagance and selling off his income-producing lands for ready money. After his wifes death, he married Elizabeth Trentham, one of the Queens maids of honour, with whom he had an heir and he died in 1604, having lost the entirety of his inherited estates. De Vere was born heir to the second oldest earldom in England at the De Vere ancestral home, Hedingham Castle, in Essex and he was the only son of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, and his second wife, Margery Golding. He was probably named to honour Edward VI, from whom he received a gilded christening cup and he had an older half-sister, Katherine, the child of his fathers first marriage to Dorothy Neville, and a younger sister, Mary de Vere. De Vere was styled Viscount Bulbeck and raised in the Protestant reformed faith, like many children of the nobility, he was raised by surrogate parents, in his case in the household of Sir Thomas Smith. At eight he entered Queens College, Cambridge, as an impubes, Thomas Fowle, a former fellow of St Johns College, Cambridge, was paid £10 annually as De Veres tutor. His father died on 3 August 1562, shortly after making his will. Because he held lands from the Crown by knight service, his son became a ward of the Queen and was placed in the household of Sir William Cecil, her secretary of state. While living at the Cecil House, De Veres daily studies consisted of dancing instruction, French, Latin, cosmography, writing exercises, drawing, during his first year at Cecil House, Oxford was briefly tutored by Laurence Nowell, the antiquarian and Anglo-Saxon scholar. In May 1564 Arthur Golding, in his dedication to his Th Abridgement of the Histories of Trogus Pompeius, in 1563 De Veres older half-sister, Katherine, then Baroness Windsor, challenged the legitimacy of the marriage of De Veres parents in the Ecclesiastical court. Some time before October 1563 De Veres mother married Charles Tyrrell, there is no evidence that Cecil ever replied to her request. She died three years later, and was buried beside her first husband at Earls Colne. de Veres stepfather, Charles Tyrrell and his future father-in-law, William Cecil, also received honorary degrees of Master of Arts on the same progresses. There is no evidence De Vere ever received a Bachelor of Arts degree, in February 1567 he was admitted to Grays Inn to study law
19.
William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
20.
Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship
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The Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship contends that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and poems traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare. Though most literary scholars reject all alternative authorship candidates, including Oxford, since the 1920s, the Oxfordian theory has been the most popular alternative Shakespeare authorship theory. The case also relies on perceived parallels of language, idiom, marked passages in Oxfords Bible have also been linked to Biblical allusions in Shakespeares plays. That no plays survive under Oxfords name is important to the Oxfordian theory. Oxfordians interpret certain 16th- and 17th-century literary allusions as indicating that Oxford was one of the more prominent suppressed anonymous and/or pseudonymous writers of the day. Oxfordians believe the reason so many of the late plays show evidence of revision and collaboration is because they were completed by other playwrights after Oxfords death, the theory that the works of Shakespeare were in fact written by someone other than William Shakespeare dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. In 1857, the first book on the topic, The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere Unfolded, Bacon proposed the first group theory of Shakespearian authorship, attributing the works to a committee headed by Francis Bacon and including Walter Raleigh. De Vere is mentioned once in the book, in a list of high-born wits and poets, some commentators have interpreted this to imply that he was part of the group of authors. Throughout the 19th century Bacon was the hidden author. Oxford is not known to have been mentioned again in this context, by the beginning of the twentieth century other candidates, typically aristocrats, were put forward, most notably Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland, and William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby. Oxfords candidacy as sole author was first proposed by J. Thomas Looney in his 1920 book Shakespeare Identified in Edward de Vere, following earlier anti-Stratfordians, Looney argued that the known facts of Shakespeares life did not fit the personality he ascribed to the author of the plays. Shakespeare had a petty acquisitive disposition, he said, while the plays made heroes of free-spending figures and they also portrayed middle and lower-class people negatively, while Shakespearian heroes were typically aristocratic. Looney referred to scholars who found in the evidence that their author was an expert in law, widely read in ancient Latin literature. Looney believed that very early works such as Loves Labours Lost implied that he was already a person of matured powers, in his forties or fifties. Looney considered that Oxfords personality fitted that he deduced from the plays, several characters, including Hamlet and Bertram, were, he believed, self-portraits. Adapting arguments earlier used for Rutland and Derby, Looney fitted events in the plays to episodes in Oxfords life, including his travels to France and Italy, Oxfords death in 1604 was linked to a drop-off in the publication of Shakespeare plays. Looney also introduced the argument that the reference to the poet in the 1609 dedication to Shakespeares sonnets implied that the author was dead at the time of publication. Mainstream scholar Steven W. N. Gibson, and Shakespeare and his Rivals, A Casebook on the Authorship Controversy, by George L. McMichael and Edgar M. Glenn
21.
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
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William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley KG PC was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. Albert Pollard says, From 1558 for forty years the biography of Cecil is almost indistinguishable from that of Elizabeth, Burghley set as the main goal of English policy the creation of a united and Protestant British Isles. His methods were to complete the control of Ireland, and to forge an alliance with Scotland, protection from invasion required a powerful Royal Navy. While he was not fully successful, his successors agreed with his goals, derek Wilson says, Few politicians were more subtle or unscrupulous than William Cecil. He was the founder of the Cecil dynasty which has produced politicians including two Prime Ministers. Cecil was born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, in 1520, the son of Sir Richard Cecil, owner of the Burghley estate, seisyllt is the original Welsh spelling of the anglicised Cecil. There is now no doubt that the family was from the Welsh Marches, the family had connections with Dore Abbey. However, the move to Stamford provides information concerning the Lord Treasurers grandfather, David, he, according to Burghleys enemies, David somehow secured the favour of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, to whom he seems to have been Yeoman of the Guard. He was Sergeant-of-Arms to Henry VIII in 1526, Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1532, and his eldest son, Richard, Yeoman of the Wardrobe, married Jane, daughter of William Heckington of Bourne, and was father of three daughters and the future Lord Burghley. William, the son, was put to school first at The Kings School, Grantham, and then Stamford School. The precaution proved useless and four months later Cecil committed one of the rare acts of his life in marrying Mary Cheke. The only child of this marriage, Thomas, the future Earl of Exeter, was born in May 1542, and in February 1543 Cecils first wife died. William Cecils early career was spent in the service of the Duke of Somerset, who was Lord Protector during the years of the reign of his nephew. Cecil accompanied Somerset on his Pinkie campaign of 1547, being one of the two Judges of the Marshalsea and he also seems to have acted as private secretary to the Protector, and was in some danger at the time of the Protectors fall in October 1549. The lords opposed to Somerset ordered his detention on 10 October, Cecil ingratiated himself with Warwick, and after less than three months he was out of the Tower. On 5 September 1550 Cecil was sworn in as one of King Edwards two secretaries of state, in April 1551, Cecil became chancellor of the Order of the Garter. But service under Warwick carried some risk, and decades later in his diary, to protect the Protestant government from the accession of a Catholic queen, Northumberland forced King Edwards lawyers to create an instrument setting aside the Third Succession Act on 15 June 1553. Cecil resisted for a while, in a letter to his wife, he wrote, Seeing great perils threatened upon us by the likeness of the time, but at Edwards royal command he signed it
22.
Elizabeth I of England
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Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeths birth. Annes marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, edwards will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Marys reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels, in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, one of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England and it was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir to continue the Tudor line. She never did, despite numerous courtships, as she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity. A cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, in government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was video et taceo, in religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, by the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain. Englands defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated Elizabeth with one of the greatest military victories in English history, Elizabeths reign is known as the Elizabethan era. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Such was the case with Elizabeths rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, after the short reigns of Elizabeths half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace and was named after both her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard and she was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother was Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn, at birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the throne of England. She was baptised on 10 September, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Marquess of Exeter, the Duchess of Norfolk, Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragons death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession, eleven days after Anne Boleyns execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Prince Edward, in 1537
23.
Heir apparent
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An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. An heir presumptive, by contrast, is someone who is first in line to inherit a title, today these terms most commonly describe heirs to hereditary titles, particularly monarchies. They are also used metaphorically to indicate an anointed successor to any position of power, in France the title was le Dauphin. See crown prince for more examples and this article primarily describes the term heir apparent in a hereditary system regulated by laws of primogeniture—as opposed to cases where a monarch has a say in naming the heir. An heir presumptive, by contrast, can always be bumped down in the succession by the birth of more closely related in a legal sense to the current title-holder. The clearest example occurs in the case of a title-holder with no children, if at any time he or she were to produce children, they rank ahead of whatever more distant relative had been heir presumptive. Many legal systems assume childbirth is always possible regardless of age or health, in such circumstances a person may be, in a practical sense, the heir apparent but still, legally speaking, heir presumptive. Adelaide was 44 at the time, so pregnancy was even if unlikely. Daughters may inherit titles that descend according to male-preference primogeniture, thus, normally, even an only daughter will not be heir apparent, since at any time a brother might be born who, though younger, would assume that position. Hence, she is an heir presumptive, for example, Queen Elizabeth II was heir presumptive during the reign of her father, King George VI, because at any stage up to his death, George could have fathered a legitimate son. In a system of absolute primogeniture that disregards gender, female heirs apparent occur, several European monarchies that have adopted such systems in the last few decades furnish practical examples. Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is heir apparent to her father, Victoria was not heir apparent from birth, but gained the status in 1980 following a change in the Swedish Act of Succession. Her younger brother Carl Philip was thus heir apparent for a few months, then, as the representative of her fathers line she would assume a place ahead of any more distant relatives. Such a situation has not to date occurred with the English or British throne, several times an heir apparent has died, however, there have been several female heirs apparent to British peerages. In one special case, however, England and Scotland had an heir apparent. William, by contrast, was to reign for life only, thus, although after Marys death William continued to reign, he had no power to beget direct heirs, and Anne became the heir apparent for the remainder of Williams reign. She eventually succeeded him as Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, the position of an heir apparent is normally unshakable, it can be assumed they will inherit. Sometimes, however, extraordinary events—such as the death or the deposition of the parent—intervene
24.
Cadency
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In heraldry, cadency is any systematic way of distinguishing otherwise identical coats of arms belonging to members of the same family. Cadency is necessary in systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at once. Because heraldic designs may be used by sons whilst their father is alive, some form of differencing is required so as not to usurp the fathers arms. Historically arms were only heritable by males and therefore cadency marks have no relevance to daughters, except in the era in Canadian. These differences are formed by adding to the small and inconspicuous marks called brisures, similar to charges. They are placed on the fess-point, or in-chief in the case of the label, brisures are generally exempt from the rule of tincture. One of the best examples of usage from the period is shown on the seven Beauchamp cadets in the stained-glass windows of St Marys Church. In heraldrys early period, uniqueness of arms was obtained by a variety of devices, including change of tincture. See Armorial of Capetians and Armorial of Plantagenet for an illustration of the variety, daughters have no special brisures, and normally use their fathers arms on a lozenge, together with any marks of cadency their father may use. This is because English heraldry has no requirement that womens arms be unique, in England, arms are generally the property of their owner from birth - subject to the use of the appropriate mark of cadency. In other words, it is not necessary to wait for the death of the generation before arms are inherited. The eldest son of an eldest son uses a label of five points, other grandchildren combine the brisure of their father with the relevant brisure of their own, which would in a short number of generations lead to confusion and complexity. However, in practice cadency marks are not much used in England and, even when they are, it is rare to see more than one or, at most, two of them on a coat of arms. Although textbooks on heraldry always agree on the English system of cadency set out above, nor have cadency marks usually been insisted upon by the College of Arms. Cadency marks may be used to identify the arms of brothers, in a said to have been invented by John Writhe, Garter. Small symbols are painted on the shield, usually in a contrasting tincture at the top, … It does not say that such marks must be used. In correspondence published in the Heraldry Societys newsletter, Garter King of Arms Peter Gwynn-Jones firmly rejected a suggestion that cadency marks should be strictly enforced. He said, I have never favoured the system of cadency unless there is a need to mark out distinct branches of a particular family
25.
Battle of Barnet
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The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, on 14 April 1471 near Barnet, then a small Hertfordshire town north of London, Edward led the House of York in a fight against the House of Lancaster, which backed Henry VI for the throne. Leading the Lancastrian army was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, historians regard the battle as one of the most important clashes in the Wars of the Roses, since it brought about a decisive turn in the fortunes of the two houses. Edwards victory was followed by 14 years of Yorkist rule over England, formerly a key figure in the Yorkist cause, Warwick defected to the Lancastrians over disagreements about Edwards nepotism, secret marriage and foreign policy. Leading a Lancastrian army, the earl defeated his former allies, the Yorkist king persuaded his host, Charles the Bold, to help him regain the English throne. Leading an army raised with Burgundian money, Edward launched his invasion of England, under cover of darkness, the Yorkists moved close to the Lancastrians and clashed in a thick fog at dawn. As both armies fought, the Earl of Oxford on the Lancastrian right routed the Yorkists opposite under Lord Hastings, on their return to the battlefield, Oxfords men were erroneously shot at by the Lancastrian centre commanded by Lord Montague. As cries of treason spread through their line, Lancastrian morale was disrupted, while retreating, Warwick was killed by Yorkist soldiers. Warwick had been such a figure in 15th-century English politics that, on his death, no one matched him in terms of power. Three centuries after the Battle of Barnet, an obelisk was raised on the spot where Warwick purportedly died. The Wars of the Roses were a series of conflicts between various English lords and nobles in support of two different royal families. In 1461 the conflict reached a milestone when the House of York supplanted its rival, Edward IV, leader of the Yorkists, seized the throne from the Lancastrian king, Henry VI, who was captured in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. The Lancastrian queen, Margaret of Anjou, and her son, Edward of Lancaster, fled to Scotland, Edward IV crushed the uprisings and pressured the Scottish government to force Margaret out, the House of Lancaster went into exile in France. The Earl grew to disapprove of the Kings rule, however, Warwick had planned for Edward to marry a French princess—Bona of Savoy—to create an alliance between the two countries. At her request, Edward bestowed gifts of land and titles on her relations and arranged marriages to rich, eligible bachelors were paired with the Woodville females, narrowing the marriage prospects for Warwicks daughters. Furthermore, the Earl was offended by two matches involving his kin, the first was the marriage of his aunt, Lady Katherine Neville, over 60 years old, to Elizabeths 20-year-old brother, John Woodville, a pairing considered outside of normal wedlock by many people. The other was his nephews fiancée, the daughter of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, exasperated by these acts, Warwick decided the Woodvilles were a malignant influence on his liege. He felt marginalized, his influence over the king was failing
26.
Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford
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Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford was a 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, master chamberlain, and Alice, in 1136 or 1137 Aubrey de Vere married Beatrice, the daughter of Henry, Constable of Bourbourg, and the granddaughter and heiress of Manasses, Count of Guînes in the Pas de Calais. After the death of Manasses late in 1138, Aubrey travelled to Guînes, did homage to Thierry, Count of Flanders, the marriage, however, may not have been consummated, due to the poor health of Beatrice. Aubrey de Vere succeeded on 15 May 1141, after his father had been slain by a mob in London at a time of war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda over the succession to the crown. King Stephen had been captured at the Battle of Lincoln in February 1141 and his brother-in-law, the Earl of Essex, appears to have negotiated the grant of an earldom to Aubrey in July 1141, which grant was confirmed by Henry fitz Empress in Normandy. In the event, de Vere took the title of Earl of Oxford, Earl Geoffrey made his peace with King Stephen when the king regained his freedom late in 1141 and most likely Aubrey de Vere did as well. In 1143, however, the King arrested Essex and Oxford at St. Albans, both were forced to surrender their castles to the King in order to regain their liberty. The earl of Essex retaliated by rebelling against the king, it appears that Oxford did not actively or openly support his brother-in-law. At some time between 1144 and 1146 the Constable of Bourbourg, arranged a divorce for his daughter Countess Beatrice with Earl Aubreys consent, in or before 1151 Oxford married Euphemia. King Stephen and his wife, Queen Maud, gave the manor of Ickleton, Cambridgeshire, the marriage was short-lived, Euphemia was dead by 1154, leaving no known issue. She was buried at Colne Priory, in 1162 or 1163 Earl Aubrey took as his third wife Agnes, the daughter of Henry of Essex, lord of Rayleigh. At the time of the marriage Agnes was probably aged twelve, soon after their marriage, Aubreys father-in-law was accused of treason and fought a judicial duel. The pope sided with Agnes and declared the valid. By Agnes Oxford eventually had four sons, Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford, Ralph, Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford, and Henry, and a daughter, Alice. In 1184 Oxford obtained the wardship of the person of Isabel de Bolebec, daughter of Walter de Bolebec, in 1190 he paid 500 marks for the right to marry her to his eldest son and heir, Aubrey de Vere, later 2nd Earl of Oxford. Oxford served during the war of 1173–4, helping to repel a force under Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester. He was present on 3 September 1189 at the coronation of King Richard I, Oxford died 26 December 1194, and was buried at Colne Priory. His third wife survived him, and later was buried by his side, Oxford was a benefactor to several religious houses, including Colne Priory, and Hatfield Regis Priory
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Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford
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Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford was the only son and heir of Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Isabel de Bolebec, daughter and eventual sole heiress of Hugh de Bolebec. Hugh de Vere was born about 1208, soon after the marriage of his parents and he was a minor when his father died in autumn 1221. Hughs mother, Isabel de Bolebec, Countess of Oxford, purchased her sons wardship from the crown for 6000 marks, Hugh did homage to King Henry III in October 1231, and was knighted by the King at Gloucester on 22 May 1233. He inherited the office of Master Chamberlain of England which had granted to his great-grandfather Aubrey de Vere II. By right of office, he participated in the coronation of Queen Eleanor in 1236. Earl Hugh was a critic of King Henry from 1246, the earl purchased the right to hold a market at the town on his primary estate, Castle Hedingham in Essex, and founded a chantry there. Hugh de Vere married Hawise de Quincy, daughter of Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester and they had a son and three daughters, Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford. Isabel de Vere, who married firstly, Sir John de Courtenay of Okehampton, Devon, lora de Vere, who married Reynold dArgentine of Melbourn, Cambridgeshire. Margaret de Vere, who married Hugh de Cressy, Hugh de Vere died before 23 December 1263 and was buried at Earls Colne. His widow was living in 1273 and died on 3 February thereafter and she was buried at Earls Colne Priory. The Complete Peerage, edited by H. A, magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham
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Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford
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Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford was the son and heir of Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford. Robert de Vere was born about 1240, the son of Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford. He had three sisters, Isabel, Lora and Margaret and he was among the followers of Simon de Montfort during the Second Barons War, and was with Simons son, Hugh, when Edward I of England attacked Kenilworth Castle prior to the Battle of Evesham. De Veres title and property were forfeited, but restored afterwards by the Dictum of Kenilworth. Before 22 February 1252 he married Alice de Sanford, daughter and his widow, Alice, died at Canfield, Essex on 7 September 1312. They were both buried at Earls Colne, Essex, magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham
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Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford
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Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford was the son and heir of Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford, by his wife Alice de Sanford. Robert the younger part in several of the military campaigns of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III in Wales, Scotland. His coat of arms appears in the 1298 Falkirk Roll at the Battle of Falkirk and he was married to Margaret Mortimer, daughter of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore. He also officiated at the Coronation of Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II and his only son Thomas died before him, and when Robert died in 1331, he was succeeded by his nephew John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford. Magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham
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John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford
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John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford 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 captain of Edward III in the kings wars in Scotland and France. 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. John de Vere was the son of Alphonse de Vere. These hearings established that Alphonses next heir was his son John, then aged 15 years, 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. Alphonse was a brother of Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford, when the 6th Earls son died without issue in 1329, he obtained licence from the king to entail his estates on his nephew, John. It was in way that John de Vere, when his uncle died 17 April 1331. He had made homage and received livery by 17 May, in 1336 John married Maud de Badlesmere, who was the second of the four daughters of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere, of Badlesmere in Kent and 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 Veres hands. The marriage also forged a bond with William Bohun, Earl of Northampton, who had married Badlesmeres third daughter, Elizabeth de Badlesmere. The two campaigned together, sat on the commissions and died the same year. De Veres military career began with service on Edward IIIs Scottish campaigns and he took part in the Roxburgh campaign of 1334–5, and in the summer campaign of 1335. Later in the decade, Englands military efforts turned towards France, in March 1340, de Vere served in Flanders, and was therefore out of the country during Edwards disputes with Archbishop John de Stratford. Oxford was not forced to take sides in the conflict, and has described as a political neutral. After a period in England, de Vere returned to the Continent in 1342, where he served with Northampton and 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 campaigning in Brittany. Tradition has it that, returning to England, their ships were forced ashore by bad weather, in the summer of 1346 de Vere was campaigning with the king in Normandy, and took part in the Battle of Crécy. Oxford was also at the Siege of Calais, but reportedly fell ill in 1348, in 1355 he was again in the company of the Black Prince, and took part in the princes great raid in Languedoc
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Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford
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Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford was the second but first surviving son of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford, and Maud de Badlesmere. Thomas took part in several of the campaigns of Edward III. He married, probably about 24 July 1341, Maud de Ufford, daughter and heir of Sir Ralph de Ufford and Maud of Lancaster, after Thomas’s death, his widow was indicted for involvement in a plot against King Henry IV, but was later pardoned. When Thomas died in 1371, he was succeeded by his son, Robert de Vere. The Complete Peerage, edited by H. A, magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham
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Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford
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Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford 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, John, Thomas, and Robert, and three sisters and his eldest brother, John, married the daughter of Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devon, but died in 1350 in his fathers lifetime. Another brother, Robert, also died in his fathers lifetime, in 1360 Aubrey de Vere was made steward of the royal forest of Havering in Essex. In 1367 was retained to abide for life with the Black Prince and he was knighted, made constable of Wallingford Castle in 1375 and also given the honours of Wallingford and St. Valery, though he gave up Wallingford in 1378 for Hadleigh Castle. Edward III used him as an ambassador in seeking peace with France, in 1381, de Vere became a Chamberlain of the Royal Household and member of the privy council. In 1388 his nephew, Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland and 9th Earl of Oxford was deemed a traitor, however, after Robert’s death in 1392, the king gave Aubrey the title of Earl of Oxford allowing him to take a seat in parliament. Aubrey’s son, Richard became the 11th Earl of Oxford on his death, lee, Sidney, ed. Vere, Aubrey de. Magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham
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Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford
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Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford KG 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 Southampton Plot, the 10th Earl died on 23 April 1400 while Richard was underage. His wardship was granted to his mother, but after her death on 29 April 1401, King Henry IV granted it to his mother-in-law, Joan de Bohun. Oxford had livery of his lands on 21 December 1406 without proof of age, from 1410 onwards Oxford was appointed as a commissioner in Essex on various occasions, and in November 1411 was a Trier of Petitions from overseas in Parliament. In August 1412 Oxford was among those who sailed to Normandy under Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, a few days later Oxford sailed to France with the King, and was one of the commanders at Agincourt on 25 October 1415. In May 1416 Oxford was invested with the Order of the Garter, Oxford died 15 February 1417, aged 31, and was buried at Earls Colne, Essex. His widow, Alice, married Sir Nicholas Thorley, of London, Bobbingworth, Essex and he served in the contingent of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He and his wife, Countess Alice, presented to the churches of Badlesmere, Kent,1421, Aston Sandford, Buckinghamshire,1422, Alice obtained a papal indult for plenary remission in 1426. In November 1426 he and his wife, Alice, were pardoned for having married without royal licence. In 1436 he and John Robessart, Knt. owed 110 marks to Lawrence Downe, Gent. In 1440 he and his wife, Alice, Countess of Oxford, John Passheley, Sir Nicholas Thorley died 5 May 1442. His widow, Alice, Countess of Oxford, died 18 May 1452, by Alice Sergeaux he had three sons, John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, eldest son and heir. By Joan Courtenay he had one son, John Vere, who married Alice Colbroke, the Complete Peerage, edited by H. A. Vere, John de, twelfth earl of Oxford, magnate, pugh, T. B. Henry V and the Southampton Plot of 1415. Magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vere, Richard de, eleventh earl of Oxford, magnate and soldier. Holland, John, first earl of Huntingdon and duke of Exeter, magnate, works related to Aubrey de Vere at Wikisource, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 58
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John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford
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John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, was the son of Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, and his second wife, Alice Sergeaux. A Lancastrian loyalist during the part of his life, he was convicted of high treason. Through their second son, Sir Robert Vere, the 11th Earl and his wife, Philippe, were the great-grandparents of John de Vere, the 12th Earl inherited his title as a minor at his fathers death on 15 February 1417. Custody of his person and lands was granted firstly to the Duke of Exeter until his death in 1426, after the death of her grandfather, Sir John Howard of Wiggenhall, Elizabeth inherited lands in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Although Oxford claimed the marriage had been contracted on Exeters advice, it had not been authorized by licence from the King, Oxford was knighted at Leicester on 26 May 1426, together with 34 others including his brother, Robert, and the four-year-old King Henry VI. On 4 July 1429 he was granted livery of his lands, in 1431 he was appointed to the Privy Council. During the 1430s and 1440s Oxford was involved in politics in East Anglia, being appointed to various commissions in Essex and serving as a Justice of the Peace in Suffolk. In February 1435 he was licensed to travel to the Holy Land, in July 1436 Oxford mustered his retainers at Sandwich, Kent for an expedition to relieve the Siege of Calais by the Duke of Burgundy. On 23 July 1437 he was summoned to attend the funeral of Queen Joan at Canterbury, in June 1439, with Cardinal Henry Beaufort and other envoys, he was appointed a commissioner to treat of peace with France. On 16 May 1441 he sailed from Portsmouth to France with Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, in June 1450 Oxford was among the noblemen appointed to act against Jack Cades Kentish rebels. In the late 1440s Oxford extended his influence in East Anglia to Norfolk. In May 1455 he and the Duke of Norfolk both arrived a day too late to take part in the Battle of St Albans and it was not until 1459 that Oxford committed himself to Margaret of Anjou against the Duke of York. After the Yorkist victory at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460, in November of that year he was exempted, ‘in consideration of his infirmities’, from appearing in person before the King or in Council or Parliament. If he was feigning illness in order to maintain a low profile in the face of the new Yorkist regime under King Edward IV and he was then castrated and thrown, still living into the fire. Then he was buried in the church of the Austin Friars and his eldest son, Aubrey, had been executed six days earlier, and Oxford was therefore succeeded by his second son, John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, mary Vere, a nun at Barking Abbey. Joan Vere, who married Sir William Norreys, and was the grandmother of Gertrude Tyrell. Elizabeth Vere, who married William Bourchier, Vere, John de, twelfth earl of Oxford, magnate
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John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford
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John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford was an English peer and landowner. By inheritance he was Lord Great Chamberlain of England, and in June 1520, at the age of twenty, he attended King Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The young earl was considered a wastrel, in 1523 the king orderered him to moderate his hunting, to eat and drink less, to give up late nights and he died at the age of twenty-six. Sir George Vere had been intended for the priesthood, and in 1459, when he was only sixteen, his father, John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, appointed him to a benefice in Lavenham, Suffolk. Instead of George, his brother, Richard, became a priest, and in 1459 George married, as his first wife, Margaret Talbot. He fought at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471, and was with his brother, John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. Sir George Vere was attainted in Parliament in early 1475, together with his brothers, John, Ross states that Sir George Vere was never officially pardoned, although Richardson states that his attainder was reversed when King Henry VII came to the throne in 1485. Margaret, about whom nothing further is known, dorothy, who married John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer, by whom she had a son, John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer, and a daughter, Margaret Neville. Ursula, who married firstly, George Windsor, eldest son and heir apparent of Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor, and secondly, Sir Edmund Knightley, Sir George Vere died in 1503, leaving a will dated 21 August 1500 which was proved on 3 April 1503. At his fathers death John de Vere, who was then a child of four, in 1513, de Vere inherited the estates and honours of his uncle, John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, who had died at Castle Hedingham on 10 March 1513. On 22 April, he was the chief mourner at his uncles impressive funeral, the marriage settlement was dated 16 November 1511 and the ceremony took place before 1 May 1512. Although the marriage settlement itself does not survive, evidence of its provisions is found in the 13th Earls will. As was his right as king, he offered to de Vere. The King then granted both de Veres future marriage and the fine imposed on him for his rejection of Margaret Courtenay to de Veres father-in-law, Norfolk. The 14th Earl attended Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in June 1520, in 1520, he came of age and was granted livery of his lands on 16 August of that year. In 1522, he was in attendance when King Henry met the Emperor Charles V between Dover and Canterbury and his modern biographer, James Ross, considers the 14th Earl an incompetent wastrel. The 14th Earl died on 14 July 1526, aged twenty-six, no trace of his tomb remains. At his death, his office of Lord Great Chamberlain reverted to the crown, the 14th Earl left no issue and was succeeded by his second cousin, John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford
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John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford
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John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain KG PC was an English peer and courtier. De Vere was an Esquire of the Body at the funeral of Henry VII in 1509 and he attended Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, and at his meeting with the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, at Dover in 1522. On 19 December 1526 Oxford was appointed Lord Great Chamberlain for life and was made a Knight of the Garter on 21 October 1527 and he signed the Lords petition against Cardinal Wolsey on 1 December 1529, and was appointed to the Privy Council before 22 March 1531. In 1531 it was reported from Venice that Oxford was a man of valour and authority …, Oxford bore the crown at Queen Anne Boleyns coronation in April 1533, but later served on the commission which tried the Queen on 15 May 1536. On 15 October 1537 he attended the christening of the future King Edward VI, on 2 and 3 December 1538 Oxford served on the panel of peers at the treason trials of the Marquess of Exeter, and Lord Montagu. Oxford and his son, John, were in the Kings retinue at the reception of Anne of Cleves at Blackheath, Oxford was reputedly the first Protestant earl of Oxford. He patronised a company of players for which he commissioned John Bale to write plays from 1534-1536, as Lord Great Chamberlain and a favourite of Henry VIII, about 1537 he directed Bale to write anti-Catholic propaganda plays for Richard Morisons campaign against the Pope. Oxford died 21 March 1540 at his manor of Colne, Essex and was buried on 12 April at Castle Hedingham, Oxford married firstly, Christian Foderingey, the daughter of Thomas Foderingey of Brockley, Suffolk, by Elizabeth Doreward, daughter of William Doreward of Bocking, Essex. There were no issue of the marriage, Oxford married secondly, Elizabeth Trussell, the daughter of Edward Trussell of Kibblestone, Staffordshire and Margaret Don, the daughter of Sir John Don by Elizabeth Hastings. They had four sons and three daughters, Elizabeth de Vere, who married Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche, and had issue. John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, who married firstly, Dorothy Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, and secondly, Margery Golding, and had issue by both wives. Frances de Vere, who married firstly, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, by whom she was the mother of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and secondly, Thomas Stainings. Aubrey de Vere, who married Margaret Spring, the daughter of Sir John Spring, their grandson, Robert de Vere, Anne de Vere, who married firstly, Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield of Butterwick, Lincolnshire, and secondly, John Brock of Colchester, Essex. Geoffrey de Vere, who married Elizabeth Hardkyn, daughter of Sir John Hardkyn, a Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England. Berry, Lloyd E. ed. John Stubbs’s Gaping Gulf with Letters, the Complete Peerage, edited by Vicary Gibbs. The Complete Peerage, edited by H. A, Vere, John de, sixteenth earl of Oxford. Everingham, Kimball G. ed. Magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, everingham, Kimball G. ed. Magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families
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Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford
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Robert de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxford was a British soldier, and penultimate Earl of Oxford. He was the cousin of Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford. When Henry died some time between 2 and 9 June 1625, Robert emerged as the apparent to the earldom. Roberts claim was by his descent from John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford and he was considered to have an inadequate estate in England, and only after a long debate in the House of Lords in April 1626 did he eventually secure his title. He returned to his home in the Low Countries, where he had made a career for himself as a soldier in the Dutch army and he married Beatrice, or Bauck, daughter of the Dutch nobleman Sierck van Hemmema. In 1632, Robert was killed taking part in the siege of Maastricht. His title passed to his five-year-old son Aubrey, who would in turn become the last in an almost 600-year line of de Vere earls of Oxford
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Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
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Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for the statesman Robert Harley, with remainder, failing heirs male of his body, to those of his grandfather, Sir Robert Harley. He was made Baron Harley, of Wigmore in the County of Hereford, at the time, also in the Peerage of Great Britain. Harley was the eldest son of Sir Edward Harley and the grandson of the aforementioned Sir Robert Harley, Harley claimed the Oxford title because of his relationship through marriage to the de Veres. Despite its form, it was a single peerage, the Harley family traces its origin prior to the Norman conquest of England, and was prominent in Shropshire and Radnorshire. It was so eminent that the House de Harlai family of France descended from the English branch and their titles included Marquis de Champvallon and Compte de Beaumont in the French peerage. The Harley family acquired Brampton Castle in Herefordshire when Sir Robert de Harley, eldest son of Sir Richard de Harley, married Margaret de Brampton. Margaret was the eldest daughter and co-heir of Sir Bryan de Brampton, Lord of Kinlet, Sir Roberts great-grandson Sir John Harley was knighted by Edward IV at the battlefield at Gaston during the Battle of Tewkesbury. In 1481, Sir John was appointed Sheriff of Shropshire, in the 16th century, Thomas Harley of Brampton Castle obtained a grant from King James I, of the honour of Wigmore and Wigmore Castle. He married firstly, Margaret, daughter of Sir Andrew Corbet and his only surviving son, from his first marriage, was Sir Robert Harley, who was Master of the Mint for King Charles I. Sir Robert married firstly Anne, daughter of Charles Barret, of Belhouse, Essex, secondly, to Mary, daughter of Sir Francis Newport and his third wife was Lady Brilliana, a celebrated letter-writer and daughter of Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway. Sir Roberts eldest son was Sir Edward Harley, who was a Member of Parliament for Hereford, Sir Edward married first in 1654, Mary, daughter of Sir William Button of Parkgate, by whom he had several daughters. Lord Oxford and Mortimer was succeeded by his son, Edward, the second Earl. Edwards only son, Henry Cavendish Harley, Lord Harley, died as an infant in 1725, the second Earl was succeeded according to the special remainder by his first cousin, Edward Harley, the third Earl. He was the son of Edward Harley, brother of the first Earl and he was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, the fourth Earl. He notably served as a Lord of the Bedchamber and Lord-Lieutenant of Radnorshire and he was childless and was succeeded by his nephew, Edward, the fifth Earl. He was the son of the Right Reverend John Harley, second son of the third Earl, the fifth Earl was succeeded by his second and only surviving son, Alfred, the sixth Earl. He died childless in 1853 when the titles became extinct, Robert Harley, brother of the third Earl, also represented Leominster in Parliament
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Earl of Oxford and Asquith
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Earl of Oxford and Asquith is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1925 for the Liberal politician H. H. Asquith. He was Home Secretary from 1892 to 1895, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1905 to 1908, Leader of the Liberal Party from 1908 to 1926 and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. Asquith was made Viscount Asquith, of Morley in the West Riding of the County of York, at the same time and this title is used as a courtesy title by the heir apparent to the earldom. Asquith had originally wanted to be created simply Earl of Oxford, the first Earl was succeeded in 1928 by his grandson, his eldest son Raymond Asquith having been killed in World War I. The second Earl was a diplomat and administrator and served as Governor of the Seychelles from 1962 to 1967 and he died in 2011 and was succeeded by his son, the third Earl and current holder of the title. The current Lord Oxford and Asquith is a retired diplomat, several other members of the Asquith family have also gained distinction. Raymond Asquith, eldest son of the first Earl and father of the second, was a barrister, the Hon. Herbert Asquith, second son of the first Earl, was a poet, novelist and lawyer. The Hon. Arthur Melland Asquith, third son of the first Earl, was a Brigadier-General in the Army. The Hon. Cyril Asquith, fourth son of the first Earl, was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was created a peer as Baron Asquith of Bishopstone in 1951. Violet Asquith, better known under her name of Violet Bonham Carter, was a Liberal politician and was created a life peer as Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury in 1964. Her eldest son the Hon. Mark Bonham Carter was a publisher and his daughter is the life peer Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury. The Hon. Raymond Bonham Carter, second son of Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, was a banker, elizabeth Asquith, the only daughter from the second marriage of the first Earl, was a writer. She married the Romanian lawyer, diplomat and writer Prince Antoine Bibesco in 1919, the Hon. Anthony Asquith, only son from the second marriage of the first Earl, became a successful film director. The Hon. Dominic Asquith, second son of the second Earl, is a prominent diplomat, margot Asquith, second wife of the first Earl, a socialite, author and wit, became the Countess of Oxford and Asquith upon her husbands becoming the first Earl. The family seat is Mells Manor, near Mells, Somerset, the heir apparents heir apparent is his son, The Hon. George Hannibal Asquith. Asquith family Earl of Oxford Venetia Stanley
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H. H. Asquith
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He had a central role in the design and passage of major liberal legislation. In August 1914, Asquith took the United Kingdom into the First World War, Asquiths father owned a small business but died when Asquith was seven. Asquith was educated at City of London School and Balliol College and he trained as a barrister and after a slow start to his career achieved great success. In 1886, he was adopted as Liberal candidate for East Fife, in 1892, he was appointed as Home Secretary in Gladstones fourth ministry, remaining in the post until the Liberals lost the 1895 election. In 1908, Asquith succeeded him as minister, with David Lloyd George as chancellor. With their first majority government since the 1880s, the Liberals were determined to advance their agenda, an impediment to this was the unelected House of Lords, dominated by the Conservatives. When Lloyd George proposed, and the House of Commons passed, the Peoples Budget of 1909, meanwhile the South Africa Act 1909 passed. Asquith called an election for January 1910, and the Liberals won, Asquith was less successful in dealing with Irish Home Rule. Repeated crises led to gun running and violence, verging on civil war, bitter rivalries inside and between the three major parties worsened when Asquith was unable to forge the coalition into a harmonious team. It was weakened by his own indecision over strategy, conscription, Lloyd George organised his overthrow and replaced him as Prime Minister in December 1916. Asquith remained as leader of the Liberal Party, but was unable to quell the internal conflict, the party rapidly declined in popularity and was ruined by the 1918 general election. Asquith accepted a peerage in 1925 and died, aged 75 and his roles in creating the modern British welfare state, 1906-1911 have been celebrated, but his weaknesses as a war leader and as a party leader after 1914 have been emphasised by historians. Asquith was born in Morley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the couple also had three daughters, of whom only one survived infancy. The Asquiths were an old Yorkshire family, with a long nonconformist tradition and it was a matter of family pride, shared by Asquith, that an ancestor, Joseph Asquith, was imprisoned for his part in the pro-Roundhead Farnley Wood Plot of 1664. Both Asquiths parents came from families associated with the Yorkshire wool trade, Dixon Asquith inherited the Gillroyd Mill Company, founded by his father. Emilys father, William Willans, ran a successful wool-trading business in Huddersfield, both families were middle-class, Congregationalist, and politically radical. Dixon was a man, cultivated and in his sons words not cut out for a business career. He was described as a man of character who held Bible classes for young men
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Clements Markham
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Sir Clements Robert Markham KCB FRS was an English geographer, explorer, and writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Societys president for a further 12 years. In the latter capacity he was responsible for organising the National Antarctic Expedition of 1901–04. Markham began his career as a Royal Naval cadet and midshipman, later, Markham served as a geographer to the India Office, and was responsible for the collection of cinchona plants from their native Peruvian forests, and their transplantation in India. By this means the Indian government acquired a home source from which quinine could be extracted, Markham also served as geographer to Sir Robert Napiers Abyssinian expeditionary force, and was present in 1868 at the fall of Magdala. The main achievement of Markhams RGS presidency was the revival at the end of the 19th century of British interest in Antarctic exploration, after a 50-year interval. He had strong and determined ideas about how the National Antarctic Expedition should be organised, to do this he overcame hostility and opposition from much of the scientific community. In the years following the expedition he continued to champion Scotts career, all his life Markham was a constant traveller and a prolific writer, his works including histories, travel accounts and biographies. He authored many papers and reports for the RGS, and did editing and translation work for the Hakluyt Society. Among the geographical features bearing his name is Antarcticas Mount Markham, Markham was born on 20 July 1830 at Stillingfleet, Yorkshire, the second son of the Reverend David Markham, then vicar of Stillingfleet. Markhams mother Catherine, née Milner, was the daughter of Sir William Milner, Bt. of Nun Appleton Hall, in 1838 David Markham was appointed rector of Great Horkesley, near Colchester, Essex. A year later Clement began his schooling, first at Cheam, reportedly an apt pupil, he showed particular interest in geology and astronomy, and from an early age he wrote prolifically, an activity which filled much of his spare time. At Westminster, which he found a wonderful and delightful place, he developed a particular interest in boating, in May 1844 Markham was introduced by his aunt, the Countess of Mansfield, to Rear-Admiral Sir George Seymour, a Lord of the Admiralty. The boy made an impression on the admiral, and the meeting led to the offer of a cadetship in the Royal Navy. Accordingly, on 28 June 1844 Markham travelled to Portsmouth to join Seymours flagship HMS Collingwood, Collingwood was being fitted out for an extended voyage to the Pacific Ocean where Seymour was to assume command of the Pacific station. This tour of duty lasted for almost four years, Markhams social connections assured him of a relatively comfortable time, he was frequently invited to dine with the admiral, whose wife and daughters were on board. On 25 June 1846 Markham passed the examination for midshipman, being placed third in a group of ten, the long periods spent in Chilean and Peruvian ports had also enabled him to learn Spanish. Towards the end of the voyage Markham experienced growing doubts about a naval career, he now desired above all to be an explorer
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