John de Vere, Earl of Oxford

Also known as: Iohn Vere earle of Oxford / Iohn earle of Oxenford / Iohn earle of Oxford / earle of Oxenford · Family: England · Role: earl · First appears: Henry VI 28

Before c. 1461, John de Vere was allied with Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, accompanying him to Normandy. At Westminster around c. 1461, Edward IV attainted and put John and his son Aubrey Vere to execution; afterward, John rebelled against Edward IV.

By c. 1470, John had joined Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, Margaret of Anjou, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke in an alliance sworn to continue fighting until Henry VI or Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales regained the crown. That year, Edward IV restored John and Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke to their names, possessions, and dignities. In 1471, John strengthened Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick’s forces at Coventry and fought at Barnet, where a mistake in the mist caused Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick’s men to attack John’s force; John cried treason and fled with eight hundred men. In 1472, after holding Saint Michael’s Mount, he surrendered to Edward IV and was imprisoned at Hammes.

In 1473, John landed with 397 followers and captured Saint Michael’s Mount, where Edward IV ordered Bodringham to besiege him. Around c. 1484, John was freed and went to France with James Blount and John Fortescue to join Henry VII; Bodringham and later John Fortescue besieged the Mount, until John surrendered the castle to Edward IV. In 1485, Henry VII made John captain of the archers in the front of his army at Bosworth, while Henry VII’s forces included Gilbert Talbot, John Savage, Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derby, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and William Stanley. Henry VII welcomed John as “a man of so high nobilitie, of such knowledge and practises in feates of warre, and so constant, trustie and assured”.