Aubrey de Vere III

Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford
Hedingham Castle, Essex, seat of the Earls of Oxford
Spouse(s)	Beatrice Euphemia Agnes of Essex
Issue Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford Ralph de Vere Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford Henry de Vere Alice de Vere
Noble family	De Vere
Father	Aubrey de Vere
Mother	Alice de Clare
Born	c. 1115
Died	26 December 1194

Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford (c. 1115 – 26 December 1194) was a noble involved in the succession conflict between King Stephen and Empress Matilda in the mid-twelfth century.

He was the son of Aubrey de Vere, master chamberlain, and Alice (died c. 1163), a daughter of Gilbert de Clare.

In 1136 or 1137 Aubrey de Vere married Beatrice, the daughter of Henry, Constable of Bourbourg, and the granddaughter and heiress of Manasses, Count of Guînes in the Pas de Calais. After the death of Manasses late in 1138, Aubrey travelled to Guînes, did homage to Thierry, Count of Flanders, and was made Count of Guînes by right of his wife. The marriage, however, may not have been consummated, due to the poor health of Beatrice.

Aubrey de Vere succeeded on 15 May 1141, after his father had been slain by a mob in London at a time of civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda over the succession to the crown. King Stephen had been captured at the Battle of Lincoln in February 1141, so Aubrey did homage to the Empress. His brother-in-law, the Earl of Essex, appears to have negotiated the grant of an earldom to Aubrey in July 1141, which grant was confirmed by Henry fitz Empress in Normandy. The latter charter provided that Aubrey de Vere would be Earl of Cambridgeshire, with the third penny, unless that county were held by the King of Scots, in which case he was to have a choice of four other titles. In the event, de Vere took the title of Earl of Oxford. Earl Geoffrey made his peace with King Stephen when the king regained his freedom late in 1141 and most likely Aubrey de Vere did as well.

In 1143, however, the King arrested Essex and Oxford at St. Albans. Both were forced to surrender their castles to the King in order to regain their liberty. The earl of Essex retaliated by rebelling against the king; it appears that Oxford did not actively or openly support his brother-in-law.