Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- 1 Oxford's Essex
- 2 Progenitors
- 3 Doubtful Marriage
- 4 Infancy and Childhood
- 5 The Education of Lord Bolbec
- 6 Long Live the Queen
- 7 The Earl is Dead
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- Part IV Exploration 1574–1576
- Part V Alienation 1576–1579
- Part VI Intrigue 1579–1580
- Part VII Sedition 1580–1581
- Part VIII Release 1581–1585
- Part IX Reiteration 1586–1591
- Part X Renewal 1592–1595
- Part XI Re-engagement 1595–1599
- Part XII Decline 1600–1604
- Part XIII Aftermath 1604–1613
- Notes
- Appendix: Oxford's Letters and Libel Documents
- Bibliography
- Index
- Liverpool English texts and Studies
4 - Infancy and Childhood
from Part I - Roots 1548–1562
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- 1 Oxford's Essex
- 2 Progenitors
- 3 Doubtful Marriage
- 4 Infancy and Childhood
- 5 The Education of Lord Bolbec
- 6 Long Live the Queen
- 7 The Earl is Dead
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- Part IV Exploration 1574–1576
- Part V Alienation 1576–1579
- Part VI Intrigue 1579–1580
- Part VII Sedition 1580–1581
- Part VIII Release 1581–1585
- Part IX Reiteration 1586–1591
- Part X Renewal 1592–1595
- Part XI Re-engagement 1595–1599
- Part XII Decline 1600–1604
- Part XIII Aftermath 1604–1613
- Notes
- Appendix: Oxford's Letters and Libel Documents
- Bibliography
- Index
- Liverpool English texts and Studies
Summary
Margery's pregnancy coincided with a disturbance in nearby Norfolk known to historians as ‘Ket's Rebellion’. In July 1549 Oxford was put on alert, in August (as noted) Edmund Sheffield was killed at Norwich, while on 5 October Somerset dispatched an order from Hampton Court to his ‘servant’ Golding – evidently Thomas:
… for the confidence we have in you, being our servant, we will and require you to solicit and give order for our very good Lord the Earl of Oxford's things, servants, and ordinary power, that he himself and the same also, be in good readiness, whatsoever shall chance to require his service for the King's Majesty; whereof, if any occasion shall chance, we will signify by our letters. Thus we commit the order of the whole unto your good discretion, and will you to use herein convenient secrecy.
On 16 October Oxford's name appeared in a memorandum of troops levied for service. But the rebellion was soon contained, and order restored in East Anglia.
Edward de Vere was born on Saturday 12 April 1550, probably at Castle Hedingham. On 17 April the Privy Council authorized a baptismal cup as a royal gift:
The kynges maiestes pleasure by our advise is that ye delyver vnto Phillip Manwaring gentleman Vssher to the Kinges maiestie one standing cup guilte with a cover weing twentye and seven ounces quarter by hym to be delyuered as the kinges maiestes guyft at the Christening of our very goode Lorde the Erle of Oxfordes Sonne / And these our lettres shalbe your sufficient warraunte and discharge therin Youen [=Given] at the Kinges maiesties mannour at Grenewich the xvijth of Aprell the iiijth yere of his highnes moast prosperous Reigne King Edward the sixte 1550.
Baptism was probably ministered not long after the date of this order, the choice of name – new to the de Veres – doubtless honouring the young King. Like Oxford heirs before and after, the child was styled Lord Bolbec, derived from Isabel de Bolebec, wife of the 3rd Earl.
Lord Bolbec grew up in rural Essex, his nurses and servants supervised by the lusty Countess Margery. The literal fabric of his life may be inferred from a schedule of household goods accompanying Earl John's will of December 1552, listing ‘trussing’ beds, ‘sparvers’ (bed-canopies), counterpoints, quilts, tapestries, linens, featherbeds, and sheets and blankets.
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- Monstrous AdversaryThe Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, pp. 19 - 22Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2003