Person Page - 1274

     John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford (c. 12 March 1312 – 24 January 1360) was the nephew and heir of Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford. He succeeded as Earl of Oxford in 1331, after his uncle died without issue. John de Vere was a trusted captain of Edward III in the king's wars in Scotland and France, and took part in both the Battle of Crécy and the Battle of Poitiers. 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.

Hedingham Castle in Essex, John de Vere's main residence.[1]John de Vere was the only son of Alfonso de Vere, and Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Foliot. Alfonso was a younger son of Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford, and brother of Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford. When the younger Earl Robert's son died without issue in 1329, the earl obtained licence from the king to entail his estates on his nephew, John.[2] It was in this way that John de Vere, when his uncle died 17 April 1331, became Earl of Oxford. He had made homage and received livery by 17 May.[3]

In 1336 he 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 Vere's hands. The marriage also forged a strong bond with William Bohun, Earl of Northampton, who had married Badlesmere's third daughter, Elizabeth de Badlesmere and thus became Oxford's brother-in-law.[1][4] The two campaigned together, sat on the same commissions and died the same year.[1]¹ 7th Earl of Oxford.

     Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford (c. 1240 – 1296) was the son and heir of Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford. Robert was born c. 1240. He was among the followers of Simon de Montfort during the Second Barons' War, and was with Simon's son, Hugh, when Edward I attacked Kenilworth Castle prior to the Battle of Evesham. de Vere's title and property were forfeited, but restored shortly afterwords by the Dictum of Kenilworth. When he died in 1296, he was succeeded by his son Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford.¹

     Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford (c. 24 June 1257 – 17 April 1331) was the son and heir of Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford, by his wife Alice de Sanford. Robert the younger took part in several of the military campaigns of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III in Wales, Scotland and France. 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, in 1308. 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.¹

     Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford (c. 1336 – September, 1371) was the son and heir of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford. Thomas took part in several of the military campaigns of Edward III. At some point before 1350, he married Maud de Ufford, daughter and heir of Sir Ralph de Ufford and Maud of Lancaster. After Thomas’s death, Maud was indicted for involvement in a plot against King Henry IV, but was later pardoned. When Robert died in 1331, he was succeeded by his son Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford.¹

     Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford (c. 1338 – 15 February 1400) was the second son of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford and Maud de Badlesmere, daughter of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Lord Badlesmere.

In 1360 he was made steward of the royal forest of Havering in Essex. In 1367 was retained to 'abide for life' with the Black Prince, with a substantial allowance. 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, causing Aubrey to lose his post of chamberlain. 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.¹

     11th Earl of Oxford. Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford (c. 1385 – 15 February 1417) was the son and heir of Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford. His father died in 1400, and Richard succeeded on 21 December 1406. He was married twice, first to the daughter of John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, Alice Holland, who died before 1400. His second wife was the daughter of Sir Richard Sergeaux, Alice Sergeaux, who died in 1406. They had two children:

John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford
Robert de Vere, whose grandson, John, became the 15th Earl of Oxford.¹

     2nd Lord Tiptoft. John Tiptoft (or Tibetot), 2nd Baron Tibetot (July 20, 1313 – April 13, 1367), English nobleman, was the son of Pain Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tibetot and Agnes de Ros.

He brought his retinue to fight in Edward III's Flanders campaign of 1338–1340.[1] He was appointed Keeper of Berwick-upon-Tweed on 16 April 1346 and Chancellor of Berwick on 21 May 1346.

He married Margaret de Badlesmere, daughter of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Lord Badlesmere, and had two children:

Robert Tiptoft, 3rd Baron Tibetot (1341–1372)
John Tiptoft, died without issue
He married a second time to Elizabeth Aspall, daughter of Sir Robert Aspall, and had one child:

Sir Pain Tiptoft (d. c. 1413).¹

     2nd Baron Badlesmere.

     3rd Lord Beaumont.

     Th Earl of Hertford and 7th Earl of Gloucester. Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and 7th Earl of Gloucester (2 September 1243, at Christchurch, Hampshire – 7 December 1295) was a powerful English noble. Also known as "Red" Gilbert de Clare, probably because of his hair colour.

Gilbert de Clare was the son of Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford and Gloucester, and of Maud de Lacy, Countess of Lincoln, daughter of John de Lacy and Margaret de Quincy. Gilbert inherited his father's estates in 1262. He took on the titles, including Lord of Glamorgan, from 1263.

Being under age at his father's death, he was made a ward of Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford.

Gilbert's first marriage was to Alice de Lusignan, also known as Alice de Valence, the daughter of Hugh XI of Lusignan and of the family that succeeded the Marshal family to the title of the Earl of Pembroke in the person of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke. They married in 1253, when Gilbert was ten years old. She was of high birth, being a niece of King Henry, but the marriage floundered.

Gilbert and Alice separated in 1267; allegedly, Alice's affections lay with her cousin, Prince Edward. Previous to this, Gilbert and Alice had produced two daughters:

Isabel de Clare (10 March 1262-1333), after a marriage with Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick having been contemplated, or possibly having taken place and then annulled, married Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley
Joan de Clare (1264-after 1302), married (1) Duncan Macduff, 7th Earl of Fife; (2) Gervase Avenel
After his marriage to Alice de Lusignan was annulled in 1285, Gilbert was to be married to Joan of Acre, a daughter of King Edward I of England and his first wife Eleanor of Castile. King Edward sought to bind de Clare, and his assets, more closely to the Crown by this means. By the provisions of the marriage contract, their joint possessions and de Clare's extensive lands could only be inherited by a direct descendant, i.e. close to the Crown, and if the marriage proved childless, the lands would pass to any children Joan may have by further marriage.

On 3 July 1290, the Earl gave a great banquet at Clerkenwell to celebrate his marriage of 30 April 1290 with Joan of Acre (1272 - 23 April 1307). The delay was in getting the Pope to facilitate and agree the arrangement.

Thereafter, Gilbert and Joan are said to have taken the Cross and set out for the Holy Land. In September, he signed the Barons' letter to the Pope, and on 2 November, surrendered to the King, his claim to the advowson of the Bishopric of Llandaff.

Gilbert and Joan had one son: also Gilbert, and three daughters: Eleanor, Margaret and Elizabeth. Gilbert, Earl of Hertford and Gloucester (1291-1314) succeeded to his father's titles and was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn. Eleanor de Clare (1292-1337) married Hugh Despenser the Younger, favourite of her uncle Edward II. Hugh was executed in 1326, and Eleanor married secondly William de la Zouche. Margaret de Clare (1293-1342) married firstly Piers Gaveston (executed in 1312) and then Hugh de Audley. The youngest sister Elizabeth de Clare (1295-1360) married John de Burgh in 1308 at Waltham Abbey, then Theobald of Verdun in 1316, and finally Roger d'Amory in 1317. Each marriage was brief, produced one child (a son by the 1st, daughters by the 2nd and 3rd), and left Elizabeth a widow.¹