Wednesday 5 September 2012

Robert de Vere

He´s in the colours of the De Vere family but which one is he? I wanted to paint up a lord,  based in the 13th century, preferably as a crusader, and with a not too difficult colour scheme, so after a bit of searching on the Early Blazon site,  I decided on the colours of the De Vere´s of Oxford.
After painting him and then re-checking sources ...doubt set in!

Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford.   b after 1164, d. 25 Oct 1221. One of the barons, who stood surety for  the enforcement of the magna carter, or the son the baron (or in fact the baron) who, in 1250,  died alongside William de Longspee at the battle of Al Mansurah during the 7th Crusade ?  The last seems unlikey as the Baron at the time was Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford and thier only son, Robert, became the 5th Earl and lived from 1240 - 1296. There´s also no mention of a Robert de Vere dying in 1250  in the De Vere family tree, but there´s a Robert de Vere buried at All Saints church Northamtonshire, England. The date of burial..1249 and again, no mention of the death in the De Vere family tree.

But, in the Exerpta Historica, (Illustrations of English history) 1831, Samuel Bentley 1835-1868, Page 64, The assault of Massoura;

"The superstition of Louis, King of France, who, during a dangerous illnes, vowed, in case of his recovery, to visit the Holy land, caused a crusade to be announced throughout Christendom by Pope Innocent the 4th on 1245. Six hundred French Knights, among them the kings brothers, the counts of Artois, Pontiers and Anjon, assumed the cross: and thier example was followed by the Bishop of Worcester, William de Longspee, Geoffrey de Lucy, Robert de Vere and many other english noblemen."

Noblemen? So Barons, Earls etc.
He´s mentioned in another source as being the Standard bearer for William de Longespée , not a very eloquent job for a baron but the other source is unsure as to how he´s connected to the Oxford de Vere family, and speculate if perhaps he´s a distant relative of Aubrey II de Vere, follower of William I.

History...can be a real pain sometimes!!! :-D *
Anyway..he´s now definately  Robert de Vere, 3rd earl of Oxford, and at a stretch, the Robert de Vere who fought and died  alongside William de  Longespée at Al Mansurah.
 
And almost to prove my long held conviction, keep away from in depth historical fact when painting bods, it was brought to my attention...the bloody Stars were up the wrong way...they point to the top and not the bottom!!!! DOH!!
So...after a bit of  correcting..

 

26 comments:

  1. Whoever he is, he's a great looking figure ;)

    Regards,
    Matt

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  2. Excellent painting for a 1/72" scale figure! Well done Paul ... Jeff

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  3. Thanks...one thing. Someone brought to my attention that the stars are reversed...the point should go UP!!! Oh well, back to the painting table :-D
    Cheers
    paul

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  4. very interesting post , my friend, and good work on the figure!!!

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  5. So is this one o the ancestors of the true Shakespear author?
    Coming here always makes me want to paint Medievals! Nice looking minis :)

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    1. Apparently he is...but that´s another story. Go on, paint somemedievals..I dare you :-D
      Cheers
      Paul

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  6. ..but they were great stars, don't change them!

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    1. Thanks Fran, but they are already changed ;-D last two pics.
      Cheers
      paul

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  7. love the bod, that is one cool looking figure! cannot wait to see what comes next!

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    1. Thanks Gowan.
      What comes next....?..one of his mates. But which one and when?
      Cheers
      paul

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  8. The research is impressive Paul, even if it did cause you to get your stars cattywampus! You fixed them though and he looks smashing.

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  9. Thanks for the historical background of this figure! Very nice painted figure, and you did the correcting very clean!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.be/

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  10. Lovely, lovely work Paul; great livery.

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  11. The before and after look great, shame you had to redo them!

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  12. Wow! Impressive and lifelike.

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  13. Still an interesting read and an awesome looking figure Paul.

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  14. Excellent, awesome paintjob especially the heraldry on such a tiny bod!

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  15. Paul, the Middle-Ages professional painter!
    Wunderbar (if that is correct...) :-)
    T

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  16. Fantastic job Paul. well done.

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  17. Those crisp quartering colours are wonderful - great fig mate!

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