Aubrey de Vere II

Who was Aubrey de Vere II?

Aubrey de Vere II — also known as "Alberic[us] de Ver" — was the second of that name in England after the Norman Conquest, being the eldest surviving son of Alberic or Aubrey de Vere who had followed William the Conqueror to England in or after 1066.

Aubrey II served as sheriff of many shires and as a Justiciar under kings Henry I and Stephen. King Henry I had declared the estates and office of the first master chamberlain, Robert Malet, to be forfeit, and in 1133 awarded the office to Aubrey and his heirs. The chronicler William of Malmesbury reports that Aubrey represented King Stephen in 1139, when the king had been summoned to a church council to answer for the seizure of castles held by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. He was killed by a London mob in May, 1141, and buried in the family mausoleum, Colne Priory, Essex.

The building of a stone keep at Hedingham, Essex, was most likely begun by Aubrey II and completed by his son and heir, Aubrey III. In addition to his patronage of Colne Priory, the new master chamberlain also founded a cell of the abbey St. Melanie in Rennes, Brittany, at Hatfield Broadoak or Hatfield Regis, Essex.

His eldest son Aubrey de Vere III, was later created Earl of Oxford, and their descendants were to hold that title and the office that in later centuries was known as the Lord Great Chamberlain until the extinction of the male line in 1703.