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 - 1609
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| Name |
Francis Vere |
| Prefix |
Sir |
| Suffix |
Governor of Brill |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
28 Aug 1609 |
| Burial |
Westminster Abbey, London, England  |
| Notes |
- http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssbct/cgi-bin/gedlkup.php/n=royal?royal32681
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Vere
«b»Francis Vere«/b» (1560-1609), «u»English «/u» soldier, was the son of «u»Geoffrey Vere «/u» of Crepping Hall, «u»Essex <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex>«/u», and nephew of «u»John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_de_Vere,_16th_Earl_of_Oxford>«/u».
He first went on active service under «u»Leicester <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dudley,_1st_Earl_of_Leicester>«/u» in 1585, and was soon in the thick of the war raging in the «u»Low Countries <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Countries>«/u». At the siege of «u»Sluys <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sluys>«/u» young Vere greatly distinguished himself under «u»Sir Roger Williams <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(soldier)>«/u» and Sir «u»Thomas Baskerville <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Baskerville>«/u».
In 1588 he was in the garrison of «u»Bergen op Zoom <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen_op_Zoom>«/u», which delivered itself from the besiegers by its own good fighting, and was knighted by «u»Lord Willoughby <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_Bertie,_13th_Baron_Willoughby_de_Eresby>«/u» on the field of battle.
In the next year Sir Francis became sergeant major-general of the English troops in the Low Countries, and soon afterwards the chief command devolved upon him. This position he retained during fifteen campaigns, with almost unbroken success. Working in close cooperation with the Dutch forces under «u»Maurice of Nassau <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_of_Nassau>«/u», he step by step secured the country for the cause of independence.
Vere won the reputation of being one of the best soldiers of the day, his English troops acquired a cohesion and training fitting them to face the best Spanish troops, and his camp became the fashionable training-ground of all aspiring soldiers, amongst others not only his younger brother «u»Horace <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Vere>«/u», but men of such note as «u»Ferdinando (Lord) Fairfax <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinando_Fairfax,_2nd_Lord_Fairfax_of_Cameron>«/u», «u»Gervase Markham <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gervase_Markham>«/u» and Captain «u»Myles Standish <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myles_Standish>«/u».
Sir Francis served in the «u»Cádiz <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A1diz>«/u» expedition of 1596, and in 1598 was entrusted with the negotiation of the treaty whereby the Dutch agreed to take a greater share of the burden of the war than they had hitherto done. His success in this task obtained him the governorship of Brill and the rank of general.
The culminating point of his career came when, in 1600, on the advice of «u»Barneveld <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_van_Oldenbarneveltt>«/u», the states general decided to carry the war into the enemy's country. In the «u»Battle of Nieuwpoort <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nieuwpoort>«/u» (2 July 1600), one of the most desperately contested battles of the age, Vere and Maurice completely defeated the veteran Spanish troops of «u»the archduke Albert <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_VII,_Archduke_of_Austria>«/u». This was followed by the celebrated «u»defense of Ostend <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ostend>«/u» from July 1601 to March 1602.
When «u»James I
«/u» made peace with Spain, Vere retired from active service and spent the remainder of his days in country life in England, occupying himself with the compilation of his «i»Commentaries of the Divers Pieces of Service«/i» wherein he had Command (1657; reprinted in Arbers «i»English Garner«/i», 1883). He died in 1609, soon after the truce recognized the independence of the United Provinces, and was buried in «u»Westminster Abbey «/u».
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| Person ID |
I58487 |
Glenn Cook Family |
| Last Modified |
13 Mar 2009 |
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| Sources |
- [S36] Brian Tompsett, Dept of Computer Science, University of Hull, England(B.C.Tompsett@dcs.hull.ac.uk), Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, (This work is Copyright b 1994-2002 Brian C Tompsett).
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