John de Vere, born around 1482, was the son of John de Vere and Alice Kilrington (alias Colbroke), and the great-grandson of Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford,[3] succeeding his second cousin, John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, in the earldom.[4] De Vere had two stepbrothers, William Courtenay and Walter Courtenay, and a stepsister, Katherine Courtenay, by his mother's second marriage, before 1491, to Sir Walter Courtenay (d. 7 November 1506), a younger son of Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham, Devon, by Elizabeth Hungerford.[5]
Arms of Sir John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, KG – Quarterly: 1) de Vere; 2) Kilrington; 3) de Clare; 4) Sergeaux: 5) Badlesmere; 6) Folliot; 7) Bolebec
On 19 December 1526, Oxford was appointed Lord Great Chamberlain for life and was made a Knight of the Garter on 21 October 1527. He signed the Lords' petition against Cardinal Wolsey on 1 December 1529,[9] and was appointed to the Privy Council before 22 March 1531.[8]
In 1531 it was reported from Venice that Oxford was 'a man of valour and authority ... and it is his custom always to cavalcade with two hundred horse'.[9]
Oxford bore the crown at Anne Boleyn'scoronation in April 1533, but later served on the commission which tried the Queen on 15 May 1536.[8] On 15 October 1537 he attended the christening of the future King Edward VI, and on 12 November following was present at the funeral of the queen, Jane Seymour.[8]
De Vere 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 to 1536.[10] As Lord Great Chamberlain and a favourite of Henry VIII, about 1537 he directed Bale to write anti-Catholic propaganda plays for Richard Morison's campaign against the Pope.[11]
Oxford died on 21 March 1540 at his manor of Colne, Essex and was buried on 12 April at Castle Hedingham.[12]
Oxford's first wife was Christian Foderingey (b. circa 1481, d. before 4 November 1498),[1] daughter of Thomas Foderingey (circa 1446–1491) of Brockley, Suffolk,[13] by Elizabeth Doreward (c. 1473–1491), daughter of William Doreward of Doreward’s Hall in Bocking, Essex.[13] The couple had no children.
Funerary Monument of John De Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford in St Nicholas Church, Castle Hedingham, Essex
Oxford's second wife was Elizabeth Trussell, daughter of Edward Trussell (c. 1478 – 16 June 1499) of Kibblestone (Cublesdon), Staffordshire, and Margaret Donne, the daughter of Sir John Donne of Kidwelly(d. 1503) by Elizabeth Hastings (d. 1508).[14][15] They had four sons and three daughters.[16]
Aubrey de Vere married Margaret Spring, the daughter of Sir John Spring; their grandson, Robert de Vere, became 19th Earl of Oxford.[18] Their daughter, Anne de Vere (d.1617), married first Christopher Shernborne (d. 7 July 1575) with whom she had a son, Francis Shernborne, Esquire. Anne married second John Stubbs, whose right hand was cut off on 3 November 1579 for his authorship of The Discovery of a Gaping Gulf which criticized Queen Elizabeth's proposed marriage to Francois, Duke of Alençon.[19][20]
Robert de Vere (b. circa 1520 – 28 April 1598) was lord of the manor of Wricklemarsh and buried at Charlton, St Lukes, Kent.[21]
Anderson, Verily (1993). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England. Lavenham, Suffolk: Terence Dalton Limited. p. 141.
Berry, Lloyd E., ed. (1968). John Stubbs's Gaping Gulf with Letters and Other Relevant Documents. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. p. xxiv.
Betterton, Alec; Dymond, David (1989). Lavenham; Industrial Town. Lavenham, Suffolk: Terence Dalton Limited. p. 51.
Cokayne, George Edward (1916). The Complete Peerage, edited by Vicary Gibbs. Vol. IV. London: St. Catherine Press.
Cokayne, George Edward (1945). The Complete Peerage, edited by H.A. Doubleday. Vol. X. London: St. Catherine Press.
Nelson, Alan H. (2003). Monstrous Adversary: The Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Liverpool University Press. ISBN978-0853236788.
Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. II (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN978-1449966386.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. IV (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN978-1460992708.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)