Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, 9th Earl of Oxford, Favorite of Richard II, King of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Robert de Vere (in blue with the red hat), sitting on King Richard II’s left; Credit – http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/richard2feast.jpg

Favorite: a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, queen, or another royal person

Born on January 16, 1362, during the reign of King Edward III of England, Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, and 9th Earl of Oxford was the only child of Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford and Maud de Ufford. Robert’s mother was the only child of Sir Ralph de Ufford and Maud of Lancaster, the daughter of Henry, 3rd Duke of Lancaster, grandson of King Henry III of England. Robert’s father served in several military campaigns of Edward III and when he died in 1371, his nine-year-old son succeeded him. Young Robert also succeeded his father as Lord Great Chamberlain, a hereditary office. From 1133 – 1526, the Earls of Oxford held the office almost continuously, with a few exceptions due to the forfeiture of some Earls of Oxford for treason.

Robert and Philippa; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 5, 1376, Robert married Philippa de Coucy, daughter of Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy and Isabella of England, the eldest daughter of King Edward III of England. Their marriage was childless. On June 21, 1377, King Edward III died and he was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson King Richard II. Richard II’s father Edward, Prince of Wales, also known as the Black Prince, had died in 1376. Robert was often at court in his role as Lord Great Chamberlain and as the husband of the king’s first cousin. He quickly became a favorite of the young king and a member of the Privy Council.

Hedingham Castle, the seat of the Earls of Oxford; Credit – By Simondaw, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4375023

In 1384, Richard II created Robert a Knight of the Order of the Garter. During the following two years, Robert received more honors from Richard II. He was created Marquess of Dublin and Duke of Ireland. The creation of both these peerages angered the nobility. Until then, the title of duke was reserved for close relatives of the king (usually sons) and it was the first time a marquess title was created in England.

Robert began an affair with Agnes de Launcekrona, a Lady of the Bedchamber of Richard II’s first wife Anne of Bohemia. In 1387, Robert repudiated and divorced his wife Philippa, and then promptly married Agnes. This was considered a major scandal because Philippa was the first cousin of the King of England. Philippa’s powerful royal uncles, the sons of Edward III, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; Edmund of Langley, Duke of York; and Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, were beyond furious. Even Robert’s mother Maud de Ufford took Philippa’s side over her son’s. She cursed Robert for his actions and took Philippa into her household. Agnes never held the titles of Countess of Oxford or Duchess of Ireland, as Philippa continued to use those titles after the divorce. In 1389, Pope Urban VI declared Robert’s divorce to Philippa invalid, making his second marriage invalid.

In 1386, Parliament blamed Richard II’s advisers, including Robert de Vere, for the military failures and accused them of misusing funds intended for the war. Parliament authorized a commission of nobles known as the Lords Appellant to take over the management of the kingdom and act as Richard II’s regents. There were originally three Lords Appellant: Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III and Richard’s uncle; Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel; and Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick. Later, Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby (son of John of Gaunt, Richard’s first cousin and the future King Henry IV), and Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk also became Lords Appellant. Richard II did not recognize the authority of the Lords Appellant and started an unsuccessful military attempt to overthrow the Lords Appellant. In 1387, the Lords Appellant launched an armed rebellion against King Richard II and defeated an army under Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford at the Battle of Radcot Bridge on the River Thames, outside Oxford.

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Battle of Radcot Bridge (Miniature from the Grandes Chroniques de France by Jean Froissart)

After the battle, Robert sought a way to escape. He forced his horse into the River Thames and moved upstream. Staying close to the riverbank, Robert lightened his load by dropping his gauntlets, sword, and helmet. He found a company of enemy archers on Radcot Bridge and sought shelter in the woods. When it was dark, he took off his armor and swam across the River Thames. Hiding in the woods during the day, and traveling at night, Robert made his way to the English Channel, and then to France. After his horse, helmet, armor, and sword were found, it was thought that perhaps Robert had drowned. Robert was attainted, found guilty of treason, lost his titles and land, and sentenced to death in absentia by the Merciless Parliament of 1388.

On November 22, 1392, in Louvain, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium, 30-year-old Robert de Vere died in exile and poverty from the wounds received while hunting a wild boar. In 1395, King Richard II had Robert’s remains brought back to England for burial at Colne Priory, the burial site of the Earls of Oxford, in Earls Colne, Essex, England. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham recorded that many nobles did not attend the burial ceremony because they “had not yet digested their hatred” of Robert. Richard II had the coffin opened to view his friend’s remains one last time. In 1393, Sir Aubrey de Vere, Robert’s uncle, was restored to the family titles and land, becoming the 10th Earl of Oxford. However, the Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin titles became extinct.

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Works Cited

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