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..