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John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford KG KB (8 September 1442 – 10 March 1513), the second son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Howard, was one of the principal Lancastrian commanders during the English Wars of the Roses. He was the principal commander of King Henry VII's army at the Battle of Bosworth, and again led Henry's troops to victory at the Battle of Stoke two years later. He became one of the great men of the King's regime. ==Early life== John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, was born on 8 September 1442, the second son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (23 April 1408 - 26 February 1462), and his wife Elizabeth Howard (c.1410-1474), the daughter of Sir John Howard and Joan Walton. In February 1462 the 12th Earl, his eldest son, Aubrey de Vere, and Sir Thomas Tuddenham, the 12th Earl's former political opponent in Norfolk and now a fellow Lancastrian loyalist, were convicted of high treason before John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester, Constable of England, for plotting against King Edward IV. The 12th Earl was beheaded on Tower Hill on 26 February 1462, and buried in the church of Austin Friars in London. His son Aubrey had been beheaded on the same scaffold six days earlier. Pursuing a conciliatory policy with Lancastrian families, King Edward allowed John de Vere to succeed his father, and on 18 January 1464 granted him licence to enter on his father's lands. On 26 May 1465 he was created a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Edward IV's wife, Elizabeth Woodville, and officiated at the ceremony as both Lord Great Chamberlain, in the absence of the then office-holder, the Earl of Warwick, and as Chamberlain to the queen. In November 1468, however, he was committed to the Tower, and confessed to plotting with the Lancastrians against the King. He was likely released before 7 January 1469, and received a general pardon on 5 April of that year. However by early July 1469 Oxford had joined the discontented Yorkists led by his brother-in-law, the Earl of Warwick, and King Edward's brother, the Duke of Clarence, for the Edgecote campaign. He fled overseas in the following spring to the court of King Henry VI's wife, Margaret of Anjou. In September 1470 he joined Warwick and Clarence in the invasion of England which restored Henry VI to the throne, and on 13 October bore the Sword of State before Henry in a procession to St Paul's. He was appointed Lord High Constable of England, and as such on 15 October tried and condemned for high treason the same Earl of Worcester who had in 1462 condemned Oxford's own father and brother. In March 1471, he prevented Edward IV's army from landing in Norfolk, and was in command of the right wing at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April of that year, defeating the forces of Lord Hastings. However this early success in the battle turned to disaster when Oxford's forces began pillaging. Oxford led his men back to the fight, but: they lost their way in the fog and suddenly emerged on their own army, who mistook the Vere star for Edward's sun in splendour, and met them with a flight of arrows. Whereupon Oxford and his men cried "Treasoune! treasoune" and fled. After this defeat Oxford escaped to Scotland with 40 men, accompanied by his two brothers, George and Thomas Vere, and the Viscount Beaumont. From there he went to France, where he collected ships and engaged in privateering. Although he was not attainted after leaving England in 1471, his lands were confiscated, and his wife, Margaret, is said to have been subjected to great financial hardship. On 28 May 1473, Oxford attempted an unsuccessful landing at St Osyth in Essex. On 30 September 1473, he seized St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, where he was besieged for some months by John Fortescue. After most of his men had deserted and he had been wounded in the face with an arrow, Oxford was eventually compelled to surrender on 15 February 1474, along with his two brothers and Beaumont. Oxford was imprisoned at Hammes Castle near Calais, and was attainted early in 1475. At this time his mother, the 12th Earl's widow, was forced to surrender her property to the Duke of Gloucester. In 1478 Oxford scaled the walls of Hammes and leapt into the moat, though whether this was an attempt at escape or suicide is unclear. The new king, Richard III, ordered his transfer to England on 28 October 1484, but before the transfer could be effected Oxford had escaped, having persuaded the captain of Hammes, Sir James Blount, to go with him to join the Earl of Richmond. It is said that Richmond was "ravished with joy incredible" at this event. Oxford immediately returned to Hammes to bring the garrison there to join Richmond. Oxford commanded the archers and Henry's vanguard using the formation called the Oxford Wedge, which penetrated Richard's army in the shape of an arrow at the Battle of Bosworth, and held Richmond's vanguard in fierce fighting in which the Duke of Norfolk, who was leading the vanguard of Richard III, was killed. To celebrate the Tudor victory at Bosworth, Oxford commissioned the building of the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Lavenham. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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