WURTS MAGNA CHARTA provided a brief accounting of the feudal headquarters of some
of the Magna Charta Barons. Some of the castles have been badly damaged. Some have
disappeared entirely. Often we can learn of them through Medieval and Renaissance
accounts, and some of them require the discerning eye of the archeologist. Others await
the evidence brought out with a shovel and pick, by the trained archeological historian.
A portion of the information concerning Surety Baron ROBERT de VERE is as follows:
The principal residence of the de VERES was Castle Headingham. The keep still stands
sentry guard over the River Colne in the North of Essex, probably erected by Aubrey de
Vere, who died in 1194. The Headingham keep ranks with that of Rochester as the finest of
the square keeps in England.
Oxford Castle was the seat of the Earls de Vere. It now consists of little more than a
Norman tower which stands inside the walls of a county jail. It was here that King Stephen
laid siege to Matilda in 1141. She escaped by a rope ladder fashioned from bed sheets
during the night and, fleeing, found refuge at Wallingford.
Oxford Castle is thought to be the oldest in all England. The Norman structure was
built in 1071 by Robert d'Oilly. From what is left of it we can conclude that it was
originally a pre-Norman motte and bailey fort. After the 1071 rebuilding, alterations were
made by Henry II, between 1165 and 1173. He added the houses inside the shell keep, and
also the well. He presumably built the diagonal keep on the motte, the foundations of
which were discovered in the 18th Century.
ROBERT de VERE, the Surety, born after 1164, became heir to his brother, Aubrey de
Vere, who died without issue before September of 1214, and who was reputed to be one of
the "evil councillors" of King John. Although he was hereditary lord great
Chamberlain of the kingdom, Robert pursued a different course in politics from that of his
brother, and became one of the principal Barons in arms against King John, a party to that
covenant which resigned the custody of the City and Tower of London to the Barons, and one
of those excommunicated by the Pope. In the beginning of the reign of King Henry III,
after he had made his peace with that young monarch following the Battle of Lincoln,
Robert was received into his favor, and was appointed one of the judges in the Court of
King's Bench, but he died only a few months afterward, 25~ October 1221, and was buried in
the Priory of Hatfield, Broad Oak, in Essex. His wife was Isabel, who died 3 February
124S, daughter of Hugh, second Baron de Bolebec in Northumberland.
Appreciation is expressed to Reed M. W. Wurts, one of the Heralds of the Society for
furnishing the Barons Shield on this page.