John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford

However, by early July 1469, Oxford had joined the discontented Yorkists led by his brother-in-law, the Earl of Warwick, and King Edward's brother, the Duke of Clarence, for the Edgcote campaign.

Following the loss at Losecoat Field on 12 March 1470, he fled overseas to the court of King Henry VI's wife, Margaret of Anjou.

[6][4][2] In March 1471, he prevented Edward IV's army from landing in Norfolk, and was in command of the right wing at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April of that year, defeating the forces of Lord Hastings.

Oxford led his men back to the fight, but: they lost their way in the fog and suddenly emerged on their own army, who mistook the Vere star for Edward's sun in splendour, and met them with a flight of arrows.

[7]After this defeat Oxford escaped to Scotland with 40 men, accompanied by his two brothers, George and Thomas Vere, and the Viscount Beaumont.

[8][2] Although he was not attainted after leaving England in 1471, his lands were confiscated, and his wife, Margaret, is said to have been subjected to great financial hardship.

After most of his men had deserted and he had been wounded in the face with an arrow, Oxford was eventually compelled to surrender on 15 February 1474, along with his two brothers and Beaumont.

[8][2] To celebrate the Tudor victory at Bosworth, Oxford commissioned the building of the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Lavenham.

He was present at most great court occasions, and stood godfather to the king's eldest son, Arthur, Prince of Wales, in 1486, bestowing on his godson a gift of a pair of basins with a cup of assay, all gilt.

However, Sir Francis Bacon's story that Henry VII imposed an enormous fine on the Earl for illegally bringing together more than the allowed number of retainers to welcome the king is likely apocryphal.

[2][12] On the accession of King Henry VIII, Oxford continued in high favour, and officiated as Lord Great Chamberlain at the coronation.

She and her sister Mary, Lady Kingston, were members of the household of Catherine of Aragon and went to the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520.

[17] The Earl of Oxford is said to have had an illegitimate daughter, Katherine de Vere (d. after 20 June 1504), who married Sir Robert Broughton, 'one of the richest non-baronial landowners in England'.