Robert de Vere 3rd Earl of Oxford 1165-1221

Around 1162 [his father] Aubrey de Vere 1st Earl of Oxford [aged 47] and [his mother] Agnes Essex Countess of Oxford [aged 11] were married. She by marriage Countess of Oxford. The difference in their ages was 36 years.

After 1165 Robert de Vere 3rd Earl of Oxford was born to Aubrey de Vere 1st Earl of Oxford [aged 50] and Agnes Essex Countess of Oxford [aged 14].

Around 1184 [his brother] Aubrey de Vere 2nd Earl of Oxford [aged 21] and [his sister-in-law] Isabel Bolebec Countess of Oxford were married. She by marriage Countess of Oxford. He the son of [his father] Aubrey de Vere 1st Earl of Oxford [aged 69] and [his mother] Agnes Essex Countess of Oxford [aged 33].

On 26th December 1194 [his father] Aubrey de Vere 1st Earl of Oxford [aged 79] died. His son [his brother] Aubrey [aged 31] succeeded 2nd Earl of Oxford.

In 1207 Robert de Vere 3rd Earl of Oxford [aged 41] and Isabel de Bolebec Countess of Oxford [aged 33] were married. He the son of Aubrey de Vere 1st Earl of Oxford and Agnes Essex Countess of Oxford [aged 56].

Around 1208 [his son] Hugh de Vere 4th Earl of Oxford was born to Robert de Vere 3rd Earl of Oxford [aged 42] and [his wife] Isabel de Bolebec Countess of Oxford [aged 34]. He married in or before 1240 Hawise Quincy Countess Oxford, daughter of Saer Quincy 1st Earl Winchester and Margaret Beaumont Countess Winchester, and had issue.

In 1212 [his mother] Agnes Essex Countess of Oxford [aged 61] died.

In 1214 Aubrey de Vere 2nd Earl of Oxford [aged 51] died at Hatfield Regis aka Broad Oak Priory [Map]. His brother Robert [aged 48] succeeded 3rd Earl of Oxford. Isabel de Bolebec Countess of Oxford [aged 40] by marriage Countess of Oxford.

Chronicum Anglicanum by Ralph Coggeshall. The king therefore, having taken the castle of Earl Robert de Vere [aged 51] at Hedingham [Map]¹, hastened to distribute gifts to his hired soldiers so that he might at once lay siege to London. But when this became known to the Londoners, they opened all the gates of the city, ready to engage the king in battle if he should come within ten leagues of the city. The king, however, learning of their boldness, their numbers, and their skill at arms, withdrew himself from the danger of making trial of them. Yet Savaric de Mauléon, being unexpectedly caught in battle by the Londoners, lost many of his men and was himself so severely struck and wounded that he was almost killed. The men of the north also, regaining their strength, besieged York and, attacking it fiercely, at length, after receiving more than a thousand marks, granted the citizens a truce until the octave of Pentecost. And the Londoners too captured sixty-five pirates who had blockaded the river Thames, having killed or drowned countless others. At that time throughout England plunderings and burnings were being carried out by the king's supporters, while the barons likewise made raids on the lands of their adversaries.

Rex igitur cum cepisset castellum comitis Roberti de Ver apud Hidingheham, festinavit stipendiariis suis donativa distribuere, ut instanter Londonias obsideret. Quod cum innotuisset Londoniensibus, aperuerunt omnes portas civitatis, parati ad congressum cum rege, si ad spatium decem leugarum ad civitatem proximaret. Rex autem, cognita illorum animositate et multitudine ac bellandi strenuitate, experiendi periculo se subtraxit. Savaricus tamen de Malo-leone, ex improviso a Londoniensibus bello exceptus, pluribus suorum amissis, graviter ad mortem usque fere attritus et vulneratus est. Norenses quoque, resumptis viribus, Eboracum obsederunt, et eam acriter oppugnantes, tandem acceptis plus quam mille marcis, treugas usque ad octavas Pentecostes civibus concesserunt. Sed et Londonienses lxv. piratas qui Tamensem fluvium obsederunt, innumeris aliis occisis vel submersis, captivos duxerunt. Fiebant tunc per Angliam a regiis complicibus prædationes et incendia, sed et barones de terris adversariorum rapinas agebant.

Note 1. Hedingham, which the king reached, on his way from Colchester, on Friday, 25th March 1216, and at which he resided until the following Monday.

On 25th October 1221 Robert de Vere 3rd Earl of Oxford [aged 56] died at Hatfield Regis aka Broad Oak Priory [Map]. His son Hugh [aged 13] succeeded 4th Earl of Oxford.

Effigy of Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford. ROBERT, son of [his father] Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford, succeeded his brother Aubrey in the honours and possessions of his family in 1214. He was one of the principal Barons who took up arms against King John, for which he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent the Third. On the accession of Henry the Third [aged 14] he was received into favour, and became a Judge in the King's Courts. He married Isabella [aged 48], the sister and inheritrix of Hugh de Bolebec, by whom he had a son and heir, Hugh. He died in the fifth year of the reign of Henry the Third, and was buried in the chancel of the Priory Church of Hatfield Broad Oak, in Essex. At the dissolution, Weever says, his tomb was removed into the parish church, and thus transcribes his epitaph:

Sire Robert de Veere le premier, Count de Oxenford ie tierz, git ci; Dieu de l'alme si luy plest face merci. Qi pur l'ame priera xl jors de pardonn avera. Pater Noster^a.

This figure lies cross-legged, and is represented in the act of drawing his sword. The loose fit of the hauberk about the right-arm and neck is admirably expressed, and the mails are sculptured with great accuracy. The thighs appear to be covered with a gamboised or quilted defence, which reaches to the knees, the caps of which are defended by octangular pieces of plate-armour. The shield is curiously diapered with fleurs-de-lys and roses. The ground of the held in ancient bearings is often enriched with fanciful ornaments which have no relation whatever to the coat itself. De Vere bore, quarterly Or and Gules, in the first quarter a mullet Argent. This monument, from the costume, appears to have been erected about fifty years after the Earls decease.

Details. Diaper work on the shield enlarged. Band on the hood enlarged.

On 3rd February 1245 [his former wife] Isabel de Bolebec Countess of Oxford [aged 71] died.