John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford

John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford
Hedingham Castle, Essex, seat of the Earls of Oxford
Spouse(s)	Maud de Badlesmere
Issue John de Vere Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford Robert de Vere Margaret de Vere Maud de Vere Elizabeth de Vere
Noble family	De Vere
Father	Alphonse de Vere
Mother	Joan Foliot
Born	c. 12 March 1312
Died	23 or 24 January 1360 Rheims, France

John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford (c. 12 March 1312 – 24 January 1360) was the nephew and heir of Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford who succeeded as Earl of Oxford in 1331, after his uncle died without issue.

John de Vere was a trusted captain of Edward III in the king's wars in Scotland and France, and took part in both the Battle of Crécy and the Battle of Poitiers. He died campaigning in France in 1360. Throughout his career he was closely associated with William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, who was his brother-in-law.

John de Vere was the only son of Alphonse de Vere, and Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Foliot. Alphonse was a younger son of Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford and apparently died shortly before 20 December 1328, when a writ was issued for inquisitions post mortem into the land that he held direct from the King. These hearings established that Alphonse's next heir was his son John, then aged 15 years and more. The manors concerned were Aston Sandford, Buckinghamshire, Westwick by St Albans and Great Hormead, Hertfordshire, as well as property at Beaumont and Althorne in Essex.

Alphonse was a brother of Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford. When the 6th Earl's son died without issue in 1329, he obtained licence from the king to entail his estates on his nephew, John. It was in this way that John de Vere, when his uncle died 17 April 1331, became Earl of Oxford. He had made homage and received livery by 17 May.

In 1336 John married Maud de Badlesmere, who was the second of the four daughters of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere, of Badlesmere in Kent and Margaret de Clare. Maud was a co-heiress of her brother Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere. When Giles died in 1338, this brought a significant part of the Badlesmere inheritance into de Vere's hands. The marriage also forged a strong bond with William Bohun, Earl of Northampton, who had married Badlesmere's third daughter, Elizabeth de Badlesmere, and thus became Oxford's brother-in-law. The two campaigned together, sat on the same commissions and died the same year.