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Rh grandfather's death. Through the powerful influence of his sister's husband, Geoffrey, earl of Essex, he obtained from the empress Matilda, in 1142, the earldom of Oxford, which was afterwards confirmed to his house by Henry II. His younger son, Robert (c. 1170–1221), became 3rd earl in 1214, and, siding with the barons, became one of the twenty-five executors of Magna Carta. His marriage with a Bolebec heiress brought in what was afterwards claimed as a barony, and led to the style of Viscount Bolebec (or Bulbeck) for the earl's heirs.

Robert, the 5th earl (1240–1296), who brought into his family the chamberlainship to the queen by his marriage with the Sandford heiress, sided with Simon de Montfort, and lost for a time his earldom and offices. John, the 7th earl (1313–1360), was a distinguished soldier, fighting at Crecy and Poitiers and in all Edward III.'s wars in his time; and his marriage with a Badlesmere heiress added to the lands and titles of his house. His son, Thomas (1337–1371), also a soldier, was father of Robert, 9th earl, the famous favourite of Richard II. In spite of his attainder (1388), his uncle Aubrey (c. 1340–1400), a follower of the Black Prince, was restored to the earldom, by consent of parliament in 1393, but not to the great chamberlainship. As the earldom (which had been held in fee) was granted to him in tail male, this is looked on by some as a new creation. His elder son, Richard (d. 1417), the next earl, held a command at Agincourt, and was father of Earl John, who was beheaded as a Lancastrian, with his eldest son, in 1462. Their death was avenged by his younger son John, the 13th earl (1443–1513), who shared to the full in the triumph of the Red Rose. On the death of his nephew John, the next earl (d. 1526), the baronies (it was afterwards held) passed away to his sisters, but the earldom descended to his cousin John (d. 1540), though the crown resumed the great chamberlainship. This John, who was in favour with Henry VIII., was grandfather, through his younger son Geoffrey, of the celebrated "fighting Veres," Sir Francis and his brother Sir Horace. His eldest son John, 16th earl (c. 1512–1562), was in favour with Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth, and contrived to recover for his family the office of great chamberlain.

Hitherto the earls, in spite of their vicissitudes, had retained possession of their ancient seat and great estates; but Edward, the son of Earl John, was a spendthrift. A brilliant, gifted courtier, in whom Elizabeth delighted, he quarrelled with his father-in-law, Burghley, "sent his patrimony flying," patronized players, poets and musicians, and wrote excellent verse himself. His son Henry, the 18th earl (1593–1625), was twice imprisoned in the Tower as an opponent of Buckingham's policy, fought in the Palatinate and the Low Countries and died on campaign at the Hague in 1625. Then ensued the great dispute for the inheritance of his title and office (Hedingham Castle having passed away) between Robert Vere, his second cousin and heir-male, and Robert, Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, son of his aunt, Lady Mary Vere. The earldom was secured by the former, a poor officer in Holland, but the office was adjudged to Lord Willoughby, in whose descendants it is now vested. Earl Robert was slain before Maestricht in 1632, leaving an only son, Aubrey (1626–1703), 20th and last earl. His marriage with a Bayning heiress restored the fortunes of his house, and his Royalist intrigues under the Commonwealth were rewarded at the Restoration by sundry favours, among them the command of a regiment of horse, known from him as "the Oxford Blues" and still familiar as "the Blues" (Royal Horse Guards). James II. deprived him of his regiment and his lieutenancy of Essex for opposing his policy, but the prince of Orange, whom he joined, restored them. His long tenure of the ancient earldom ended in 1703, when he died, the last known male descendant of the house of Vere. His daughter Diana having married the 1st duke of St Albans, their descendants are named De Vere Beauclerk, and received the barony of Vere (1705).

The halo surrounding the name of Vere is seen as early as 1626 in the stately panegyric of Chief Justice Crewe. "I suppose there is no man that hath any apprehension of gentry, or nobleness, but his affection stands to the continuance of so noble a name and house." In the great days of the house, Earl John, says Stowe, rode into London city " with eighty gentlemen in a livery of Reading tawney, and chains of gold about their necks, before him, and one hundred tall yeomen in the like livery to follow him," wearing the famous badge of the blue boar (verres), which is still to be seen in Essex churches and forming the sign of Essex inns. Another badge of the Veres was the mullet in the first quarter of their shield, which, at Barnet Field, by a fatal error, was taken for the sun of York. Among the offices they held were the forestership of Essex and the keepership of Colchester Castle, and they founded the Essex religious houses of Hatfield Broadoak, Hedingham and Earls Colne.

(J. H. R.)

VERE, SIR FRANCIS (1560–1609), English soldier, was the son of Geoffrey Vere of Crepping Hall, Essex, and nephew of the 16th earl of Oxford. He first went on active service under Leicester in 1585, and was soon in the thick of the war raging in the Low Countries. At the siege of Sluys young Vere greatly distinguished himself under Sir Roger Williams and Sir Thomas Baskerville. In 1588 he was in the garrison of Bergen-op-Zoom, which delivered itself from the besiegers by its own good fighting, and was knighted by Willoughby on the field of battle. In the next year Sir Francis became sergeant-major-general of the English troops in the Low Countries, and soon afterwards the chief command devolved upon him. This position he retained during fifteen campaigns, with almost unbroken success. Working in close co-operation with the Dutch forces under Maurice, he step by step secured the country for the cause of independence. Vere won the reputation of being the first soldier of the day, his English troops acquired a cohesion and training fitting them to face the best Spanish troops, and his camp became the fashionable training-ground of all aspiring soldiers, amongst others not only his brother Horace, but men of such note as Ferdinando (Lord) Fairfax, Gervase Markham and Miles Standish. Sir Francis served in the Cadiz expedition of 1596, and in 1598 was entrusted with the negotiation of the treaty whereby the Dutch agreed to take a greater share of the burden of the war than they had hitherto done. His success in this task obtained him the governorship of Brill and the rank of general. The culminating point of his career came when, in 1600, on the advice of Barneveld, the states general decided to carry the war into the enemy's country. In the battle of Nieuwport (2nd July 1600), one of the most desperately contested battles of the age, Vere and Maurice completely defeated the veteran Spanish troops of the archduke Albert. This was followed by the celebrated defence of Ostend from July 1601 to March 1602. When James I. made peace with Spain, Vere retired from active service and spent the remainder of his days in country life in England, occupying himself with the compilation of his Commentaries of the Divers Pieces of Service wherein he had Command (1657; reprinted in Arber's English Garner, 1883). He died in 1609, soon after the truce recognized the independence of the United Provinces, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

His younger brother Sir Horace Vere, Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565–1635), began his military career as the lieutenant of Sir Francis's Company in 1590. Thenceforward he was continually on active service in the Low Countries, and, like his brother, took part in the Cadiz expedition of 1596; at Nieuwport and Ostend Sir Horace (who had been knighted at Cadiz) held command of some importance. On his brother's retirement Sir Horace, as senior colonel, assumed command of the