De Vere, Edward, 17th Earl Of Oxford

(1550-1604)

   Born at Castle Hedingham, Essex, he succeeded to the title at the age eight and was a royal ward under the care of William Cecil (later Lord Burghley). At his majority he regained control of his estates and married Anne Cecil, daughter of Lord Burghley. He studied at Queens' College, Cambridge, and St. John's College, Cambridge, before receiving legal training at Gray's Inn. He was a notable patron of writers and was also patron of the "Oxford's Men," an acting company. He flirted with Catholicism but in late 1580 he denounced a group of Catholic friends to the queen, accusing them of treasonous activities and asking her mercy for his own errors. In the 20th century he emerged the strongest candidate proposed for the authorship of some of Shakespeare's plays. Some of his poems: "A Louer Reiected Complaineth," "Fayre Fooles," "Greife of Minde," "His Good Name Being Blemished, He Bewaileth," "His Mynde Not Quietly Setled He Writeth Thus," "Loue Thy Choyse," "The Complaint of a Louer, Wearing Blacke and Tawnie."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford (http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/devere.htm). Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. ChadwyckHealey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The New Oxford Book of Sixteenth Century Verse. Emrys Jones, ed. Oxford University Press, 1991. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.