Encyclopedia > Robert de Vere, 1st Duke of Ireland
Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford (d. 1397) was a favorite companion of Richard II of England. The king created him Marquess of Dublin and Duke of Ireland. He was thus the first marquess, and the first non-royal Duke in England.
The king intended that de Vere become more or less his viceroy in Ireland, but before he had finished raising his troops, he was accused of treason by the Lords Appellant to Richard II, and fled abroad (1387). His titles and estates were forfeited and he died in exile in 1397.
After his death his uncle Aubrey was restored to the family titles and estates, becoming 10th earl of Oxford.
RobertdeVere fleeing Radcot Bridge, 1387: taken from the Gruthuse manuscript of Froissart's Chroniques (circa 1475).
DeVere was married to Philippa de Coucy the King’s cousin and also had an affair with Agnes de Launcekrona, a Czech lady-in-waiting of the Queen, Anne of Bohemia.
DeVere was hugely unpopular with the nobles and magnates and Richard’s close relationship with him was one of the catalysts for the emergence of an organised opposition to his rule in the form of the Lords Appellant.
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