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Edward De Vere

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Royalty

The Resume

    (April 12, 1550-June 24, 1604)
    Born in Castle Hedingham, England, United Kingdom
    17th Earl of Oxford
    Elizabethan courtier, poet and playwright
    Sponsored two acting companies
    Alleged to be the 'real' author of Shakespeare's plays

Why he might be annoying:

    According to John Aubrey's 'Brief Lives,' he went to Europe for an extended period due to 'an unfortunate flatulence' in Queen Elizabeth's presence.
    He killed an unarmed cook while practicing fencing and escaped punishment by claiming the dead man had thrown himself onto Oxford's sword (1567).
    He repudiated his Catholicism and accused several of his Catholic friends of treason (1580).
    He had a daughter out of wedlock (1581).
    Little of his own poetry and none of his plays have survived.
    The theory that he was really Shakespeare runs into the minor complication that someone kept releasing Shakespearean plays after his 1604 death.

Why he might not be annoying:

    While he was off in Europe, his wife had another man's child (1575).
    On his way back from Europe, he was robbed by pirates.
    He was a patron of writers such as Edmund Spenser.
    In 'The Wit's Treasury' (1598), he was described as 'the best for comedy.'
    If being dead couldn't stop V. C. Andrews from releasing new books, why should it stop Oxford?

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 79 Votes: 62.03% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 30 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 19 Votes: 52.63% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 62 Votes: 79.03% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 27 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 27 Votes: 51.85% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying