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30-530: Chaucer scholarship has long assumed that no manuscripts of the Tales existed before Chaucer's death in 1400. The Ellesmere manuscript, conventionally dated to the first decades of the fifteenth century, would therefore be one of the first extant manuscripts of the Tales . More recently, the manuscript has been dated to c. 1405 or earlier, leading to speculation that it "was conceived as an immediate response to Chaucer's death by those eager to commemorate his memory through

60-506: A fellow Lancastrian loyalist, Sir John Montgomery, Sir William Tyrrell and John Clopton , and convicted of high treason before the Constable of England , John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester . On 26 February 1462 Oxford was beheaded on Tower Hill . Then he was buried in the church of the Austin Friars, London . His eldest son, Aubrey, had been executed there six days earlier, and Oxford

90-531: A horse). The manuscript is written on 240 high-quality parchment leaves of approximately 394mm (13¾") by 284mm (11¼") in size. Owing to the quality of its decoration and illustrations, Ellesmere is the most frequently reproduced Chaucer manuscript. In order of appearance in the Ellesmere Chaucer (note that not all storytellers have an illumination): The Ellesmere manuscript is thought to be very early in date, being written shortly after Chaucer's death. It

120-703: Is no evidence that he actually did so. In July 1436 Oxford mustered his retainers at Sandwich, Kent for an expedition to relieve the Siege of Calais by the Duke of Burgundy . On 23   July 1437 he was summoned to attend the funeral of Queen Joan at Canterbury . In June 1439, with Cardinal Henry Beaufort and other envoys, he was appointed a commissioner to treat of peace with France. On 16   May 1441 he sailed from Portsmouth to France with Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York , who had been appointed Lieutenant-General and Governor of France and Normandy. In June 1450 Oxford

150-620: Is now in the collection of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California (EL 26 C 9). It was published in facsimile in 1911, then reproduced again in colour in 1995. Because the manuscript was in the Bridgewater Library for centuries, early scholars working on Chaucer's works were unaware of its existence and it was not consulted for any early editions of the Tales . It first came to public notice following its description in 1810;

180-528: Is seen as an important source for efforts to reconstruct Chaucer's original text and intentions, though John M. Manly and Edith Rickert in their Text of the Canterbury Tales (1940) noted that whoever edited the manuscript probably made substantial revisions, tried to regularise spelling, and put the individual Tales into a smoothly running order. Up until this point the Ellesmere manuscript had been used as

210-523: The 'base text' by several editions, such as that of W. W. Skeat , with variants checked against British Library, Harley MS 7334 . The manuscript is believed to have been written by a single scribe, the same scribe who wrote the Hengwrt Manuscript of the Tales. The scribe has been identified as Adam Pinkhurst , a man employed by Chaucer himself; however, the attribution is controversial, with many palaeographers remaining undecided for or against. If

240-804: The Duke of York. In December of that year and in April 1460 he was appointed to lead anti-Yorkist commissions of array in Essex, and by May 1460 his eldest son, Sir Aubrey Vere, who had recently married Anne, the daughter of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham , was reported to be "great with the Queen". After the Yorkist victory at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460, Oxford appears to have suffered from ill health. In November of that year, he

270-513: The Egerton house, Ashridge , Hertfordshire , until 1802 when it was removed to London. Francis Egerton , created Earl of Ellesmere in 1846, inherited the library, and it remained in the family until its sale to Henry Huntington by John Francis Granville Scrope Egerton (1872–1944), 4th Earl of Ellesmere. Huntington purchased the Bridgewater library privately in 1917 through Sotheby's . The manuscript

300-536: The English higher nobility'. Another member of the Duke of Clarence's expedition was Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge , and three years later, on 5 August 1415, Oxford was among the peers at the trial, presided over by the Duke of Clarence, which condemned to death Cambridge and Lord Scrope for their part in the Southampton Plot on the eve of Henry V's invasion of France. A few days later Oxford sailed to France with

330-788: The King, and was one of the commanders at Agincourt on 25 October 1415. In May 1416 Oxford was invested with the Order of the Garter , and in that year sailed with the fleet to relieve Harfleur , taking part in the naval battle at the mouth of the Seine on 15 August. Oxford died on 15 February 1417, aged 31, and was buried at Earls Colne , Essex. His widow, Alice, married Sir Nicholas Thorley, of London, Bobbingworth , Essex, and Sawtres (in Thundridge), Hertfordshire, Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire, 1431–2. He served in

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360-507: The appropriate preservation of his work." It has even been suggested that, while the final sentence of the manuscript ("Here is ended the Book of the Tales of Canterbury, compiled by Geffrey Chaucer, of whos soule Iesu Crist have mercy. Amen.") makes it clear that Chaucer had died by the time the manuscript was finished , Ellesmere could have been begun while the poet was still alive. The early history of

390-555: The contingent of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He and his wife, Countess Alice, presented to the churches of Badlesmere, Kent , 1421, Aston Sandford , Buckinghamshire, 1422, and St Erme , Cornwall, 1432. In October 1421 he was brought before a court consisting of the Regent, Beaufort, the Chancellor, Treasurer, Privy Seal, Justices of either Bench, and others of

420-857: The council, and acknowledged that he had married the widowed Countess of Oxford without the king's permission. The Chancellor took into the king's hands all of the lands of the Countess until he made a fine for their recovery, and sent him to the Tower in irons, where he remained until February 1424, when the Countess had paid a full year's value of her lands. Alice obtained a papal indult for plenary remission in 1426. In November 1426 he and his wife, Alice, were fully pardoned for having married without royal licence. In 1436 he and John Robessart, Knt. owed 110 marks to Lawrence Downe, Gent. In 1440 he and his wife, Alice, Countess of Oxford, John Passheley, and John Marny, Esq., sued John Balle, of Chipping Norton , Oxfordshire, yeoman, in

450-673: The four-year-old King Henry VI . On 4 July 1429 he was granted livery of his lands. In 1431 he was appointed to the Privy Council . During the 1430s and 1440s Oxford was involved in local politics in East Anglia , being appointed to various commissions in Essex and serving as a Justice of the Peace in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. In February 1435 he was licensed to travel to the Holy Land , although there

480-460: The influence of Suffolk's supporters in that county. By the spring of 1451, however, Suffolk's associates had regrouped under the leadership of Thomas, Lord Scales and the widowed Duchess of Suffolk , and by 1452 leading members of Suffolk's affinity such as Sir Thomas Tuddenham and John Heydon were again being appointed to office. As national politics became increasingly divided during the 1450s, Oxford did not immediately take sides, although he

510-479: The manuscript is uncertain, but it seems to have been owned by John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (1408–1462). The manuscript takes its popular name from the fact that it later belonged to Sir Thomas Egerton (1540–1617), Baron Ellesmere and Viscount Brackley, who apparently obtained it from Roger North, 2nd Baron North (1530/31-1600). The library of manuscripts, known as the Bridgewater Library , remained at

540-479: The marriage had been contracted on Exeter's advice, it had not been authorized by license from the King, and Oxford was fined £2000. According to Castor, Oxford had difficulty making payment of this large fine since "the earldom of Oxford was among the poorest of the comital titles", with Oxford stating in 1437 that his lands were worth only £500 per year. Oxford was knighted at Leicester on 26   May 1426, together with 34 others including his brother, Robert, and

570-523: The scribe was employed by Chaucer directly, this would imply that the reconstructions hypothesized by Manly and Rickert were carried out by someone who had worked with Chaucer, knew his intentions for the Tales , and had access to draft materials. The Ellesmere manuscript is conventionally referred to as El in studies of the Tales and their textual history. A facsimile edition is available. John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford (23 April 1408 – 26 February 1462),

600-442: The text was not available until 1868, when it was edited by F. J. Furnivall . W. W. Skeat 's 1894 edition of the Tales was the first to use Ellesmere as the basis for its text. The Ellesmere manuscript is a highly polished example of scribal workmanship, with a great deal of elaborate illumination and, notably, a series of illustrations of the various narrators of the Tales (including a famous one of Chaucer himself, mounted on

630-459: The widow of Guy St Aubyn, and daughter of Sir Richard Sergeaux of Colquite, Cornwall , by his second wife, Philippa (d. 13 Sep 1399), the daughter and co-heiress of Sir Edmund Arundel. Through their second son, Sir Robert Vere, the 11th Earl and his wife, Philippa, were the great-grandparents of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford . The 12th Earl inherited his title as a minor at his father's death on 15 February 1417. Custody of his person and lands

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660-462: Was a member of the council while the Duke of York was Lord Protector in 1453–54 during Henry VI's period of mental breakdown, and on 28   May 1454, together with 6 other peers and his brother, Sir Robert Vere, undertook to keep the seas for three years. In May 1455 he and the Duke of Norfolk both arrived a day too late to take part in the Battle of St Albans . It was not until 1459 that Oxford committed himself to Margaret of Anjou against

690-458: Was among the noblemen appointed to act against Jack Cade's Kentish rebels. In the late 1440s, Oxford extended his political influence in East Anglia to Norfolk. He was regularly appointed a Justice of the Peace there, and in 1450, after the fall from power of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk , Oxford, together with John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , and Sir John Fastolf , challenged

720-544: Was among those who sailed to Normandy under Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence , to aid the Armagnac party against the Burgundians . According to Pugh, the members of the nobility who accompanied the Duke of Clarence on this expedition did so in hope of financial gain, Oxford's earldom, in particular, having suffered from forfeitures and attainders during the lives of his predecessors which had made him 'the poorest member of

750-508: Was exempted, "in consideration of his infirmities", from appearing in person before the King or in Council or Parliament. If he was feigning illness in order to maintain a low profile in the face of the new Yorkist regime under King Edward IV , the ploy was unsuccessful. In February 1462 Oxford was arrested, together with his son Aubrey and Sir Thomas Tuddenham , his former opponent in Norfolk and now

780-540: Was granted firstly to the Duke of Exeter until his death in 1426, and later to the Duke of Bedford . In 1425, while still underage, Oxford married the heiress Elizabeth Howard (c. 1410–1473/4), the daughter of Sir John Howard, 7th Lord Plaiz (c. 1385/6–1409), a brother of Sir Robert Howard, father of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk . After the death of her grandfather, Sir John Howard of Wiggenhall (c. 1366 – 17 November 1436), Elizabeth inherited lands in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Although Oxford claimed

810-527: Was the son and heir of Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford . He took part in the trial of Richard, Earl of Cambridge , and Lord Scrope for their part in the Southampton Plot , and was one of the commanders at Agincourt in 1415. Richard de Vere, born 15 August 1385, was the eldest son of Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford , and his wife Alice Fitzwalter , daughter of John, 3rd Baron Fitzwalter , by Eleanor Percy, daughter of Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy . The 10th Earl died on 23 April 1400 while Richard

840-460: Was the son of Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford (1385? – 15 February 1417), and his second wife, Alice Sergeaux (1386–1452). A Lancastrian loyalist during the latter part of his life, he was convicted of high treason and executed on Tower Hill on 26   February 1462. John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, born 23   April 1408 at Hedingham Castle , was the elder son of Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford , and his second wife, Alice,

870-599: Was therefore succeeded by his second son, John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford . Oxford married, between 22 May and 31 August 1425, Elizabeth Howard, de jure Baroness Plaitz in her own right (c. 1410–1475), the only child and heiress of Sir John Howard, 7th Lord and Baron Plaiz (c. 1385/6 – c. 1409), and his wife Joan Walton, the daughter of John Walton of Wivenhoe , Essex and Margery Sutton, by whom he had five sons and three daughters: Attribution: Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford KG (15 August 1385 – 15 February 1417)

900-562: Was underage. His wardship was initially granted to his mother, but after her death on 29 April 1401, King Henry IV granted it to his mother-in-law, Joan de Bohun, Countess of Hereford . Oxford had livery of his lands on 21 December 1406 without proof of age. From 1410 onwards Oxford was appointed as a commissioner in Essex on various occasions, and in November 1411 was a Trier of Petitions from overseas in Parliament . In August 1412 Oxford

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