Sir Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, 1st Marquis of Dublin & 9th Earl of Oxford

Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, and 9th Earl of Oxford KG (16 January 1362 – 22 November 1392) was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England.

From Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Wikipedia

Robert de Vere was the only son of Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford and Maud de Ufford.[1] He succeeded his father as 9th Earl in 1371, and was created Marquess of Dublin in 1385. The next year he was created Duke of Ireland. He was thus the first marquess, and only the second non-princely duke (after Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster in 1337), in England. King Richard's close friendship to de Vere was disagreeable to the political establishment. This displeasure was exacerbated by the earl's elevation to the new title of Duke of Ireland in 1386.[2]

His relationship with King Richard was very close and rumored by Thomas Walsingham to be homosexual.[3]

Robert, Duke of Ireland, was married to Philippa de Coucy, the King's first cousin (her mother had been the sister of the King's father, Edward, the Black Prince), and also had an affair with Agnes de Launcekrona, a Czech lady-in-waiting of Richard's Queen, Anne of Bohemia. In 1387, the couple were separated and eventually divorced; Ireland took Launcekrona as his second wife.

He died in or near Louvain in 1392. Three years later, on the anniversary of his death, 22 November 1395, Richard II had his embalmed body brought back to England for burial. It was recorded by the chronicler Thomas Walsingham that many magnates did not attend the re-burial ceremony because they 'had not yet digested their hatred' of him. The king had the coffin opened to kiss his lost friend's hand and to gaze on his face one last time.[5]

After Ireland's death, his uncle Sir Aubrey de Vere, was restored to the family titles and estates, becoming 10th Earl of Oxford.

Citations

• 1. Richardson IV 2011, pp. 268–9.
• 2. McKisack (1959), pp. 425, 442–3.
• 3. Saul, Nigel (1997). Richard II. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07003-9. p. 437.
• 5. Saul, 461.

Ref

1. Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham IV (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 1460992709

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He succeeded his father as 9th Earl of Oxford in 1371, and was created Marquess of Dublin for life in 1385. The next year he surrendered the Marquessate and was created Duke of Ireland, also for life. He was thus the first Marquess, and the first non-Royal Duke, in England. Richard's close friendship to de Vere was disagreeable to the political establishment. This displeasure was exacerbated by the earl's elevation to the new title of Duke of Ireland in 1386. His relationship with King Richard was very close

Robert was married to Philippa de Coucy, the King's first cousin (her mother had been the sister of the King's father, Edward, the Black Prince), and also had an affair with Agnes de Launcekrona, a Czech lady-in-waiting of Richard's Queen, Anne of Bohemia. In 1387, the couple were separated and eventually divorced; Richard took Launcekrona as his second wife.

He succeeded his father as 9th Earl of Oxford in 1371, and was created Marquess of Dublin for life in 1385. The next year he surrendered the Marquessate and was created Duke of Ireland, also for life. He was thus the first Marquess, and the first non-Royal Duke, in England. Richard's close friendship to de Vere was disagreeable to the political establishment. This displeasure was exacerbated by the earl's elevation to the new title of Duke of Ireland in 1386. His relationship with King Richard was very close

Robert was married to Philippa de Coucy, the King's first cousin (her mother had been the sister of the King's father, Edward, the Black Prince), and also had an affair with Agnes de Launcekrona, a Czech lady-in-waiting of Richard's Queen, Anne of Bohemia. In 1387, the couple were separated and eventually divorced; Richard took Launcekrona as his second wife.

Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, and 9th Earl of Oxford KG (16 January 1362 – 22 November 1392) was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England. He was the ninth Earl of Oxford and the first and only Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin.
...
Since Robert was hugely unpopular with the other nobles and magnates, his close relationship with King Richard was one of the catalysts for the emergence of an organised opposition to Richard's rule in the form of the Lords Appellant.
In 1387, Ireland led Richard's forces to defeat at Radcot Bridge outside Oxford, against the forces of the Lords Appellant. He fled the field and his forces were left leaderless and compelled into ignominious surrender.
He was attainted and sentenced to death in absentia by the Merciless Parliament of 1388, which also made him forfeit his titles and lands. ... Fortuitously for him, he had already fled abroad into exile directly after Radcot Bridge.
...
He died in or near Louvain in 1392. Three years later, on the anniversary of his death, 22 November 1395, Richard II had his embalmed body brought back to England for burial. It was recorded by the chronicler Thomas Walsingham that many magnates did not attend the re-burial ceremony because they 'had not yet digested their hatred' of him. The king had the coffin opened to kiss his lost friend's hand and to gaze on his face one last time.

Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Wikipedia

The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II, who, in 1388, sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule
....
They achieved their goals, first establishing a Commission to govern England for one year from 19 November 1386. In 1387, the Lords Appellant launched an armed rebellion against King Richard and defeated an army under Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford at the skirmish of Radcot Bridge, outside Oxford. They maintained Richard as a figurehead with little real power.
They had their revenge on the king's favourites in the "Merciless Parliament" (1388). The nominal governor of Ireland, de Vere and Richard's Lord Chancellor, Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, who had fled abroad, were sentenced to death in their absence. Alexander Neville, Archbishop of York, had all his worldly goods confiscated. The Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Tresilian, was executed, as were Sir Nicholas Brembre, Lord Mayor of London, John Beauchamp of Holt, Sir James Berners, and Sir John Salisbury.

Lords Appellant, Wikipedia