edward De Vere
Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford, is perhaps the most influential and imaginative author of the renaissance. Though he received a bad name for his poor money management and harsh behavior, his work on poetry and development of verse has been key to the history of literature.De Vere was born at Castle Hedingham in Essex, April 2, 1550 (May 1). The de Vere family was hereditarily the Lord Chamberlains of England (May 1). They had been among the country's finest Earls since they had arrived from Normandy with William the conqueror (Ogburn 4).Edward's father, the sixteenth Earl, was a kind and popular man who owned a company of theatrical players at Hedingham (May 2). He died when Edward was 12, and Edward then moved to London with William Cecil, the most powerful man in the country (Green letter). De Vere's relationship with Cecil was never very good, even after he married Cecil's 14-year-old daughter Anne (Ogburn 12).Edward earned a Bachelor's degree at the age of 14, a Masters at 16, then studied law (Ogburn 6). He lost vast sums of money by backing failed trips to the New World and selling off most of his inheritance (Green letter). De Vere was a fan of the arts. He was associated with the growth of the
However, by January of 1575 he was well on his way to being broke (May 3). Over the last 300 years many authors have assigned de Vere poems that were not legitimately his work (May 6). However that's not all, de Vere did things with the mid century lyric that no one had ever seen before. In fact he was never actively involved, aside from a couple of months at the time of the 1570 Northern Rebellion (May 5). One might say that all literature of the renaissance is very similar, but that's where the Earl's poetry is different. All charges were dropped because of de Vere's intervention with the jury (Frisbee 7). He had set out upon an elegant continental tour (May 3). The only poem to stray from the theme of love was an odd philosophical piece with no clear meaning (Looney 9). Perhaps his achievements in writing will eventually outweigh his mistakes as the Earl of Oxford. Not only did he abandon Vavasour, but publicly humiliated and insulted her as well (May 5). The newest information tells us that only 16 poems were definitely written and signed by de Vere, while 4 more hang in the balance (May 6). In his brief list of poems you will find 11 different metrical and stanza forms, including one English sonnet (Looney 12).
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