Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, KG (died 1509) was an English nobleman. He was a member of the ancient Courtenay family.
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, KG (died 1509) was an English nobleman. He was a member of the ancient Courtenay family.
Edward Courtenay was the son of Sir Hugh Courtenay (c.1427–6 May 1471) of Boconnoc in Cornwall, son of Sir Hugh Courtenay (aft 1358–5 or 6 March 1425) of Haccombe in Devon, younger brother of Edward de Courtenay, 3rd/11th Earl of Devon (died 1419).
A member of a family that had consistently supported the Lancastrian cause throughout the Wars of the Roses, Courtenay became involved with the opposition to King Richard III in the 1480s, having secret dealings with Margaret Beaufort, the dowager queen Elizabeth Woodville, and the latter's son Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset. He acted as a courier between the conspirators in England and Henry Tudor's entourage in France, and accompanied Henry on his expedition to England and fought for him at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.
Their Lancastrian partisanship had led to the forfeiture of the Courtenay earldom of Devon under Edward IV. On the restoration of Henry VI in 1470, John Courtenay, 7th/15th Earl of Devon had been restored to the earldom, but was attainted by Edward IV on his return to power in 1471 and killed shortly afterwards at the Battle of Tewkesbury.
Edward Courtenay, as the senior surviving descendant of the previous Courtenay earls, and as a reward for his support, was created earl of Devon by the new king Henry VII in 1485.
He married Elizabeth Courtenay, daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (born 1445) of Molland, granddaughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (died 1463) of Powderham. Edward and Elizabeth his wife were third cousins once removed, sharing a common descent from Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon.
They had one son, [1] William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (died 1511), attainted 1504, imprisoned during the reign of Henry VII and released by his son Henry VIII but died before being formally restored to the earldom. His son Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter was restored in blood and honours and created a marquess in 1525, but beheaded in 1539 for conspiring to place Reginald Pole upon the throne. [2]
Courtenay made his will on 27 May 1509 and died in the same month, possibly only hours later. His will was proved at Lambeth on 15 July 1509. He requested to be buried in "the chapel at Tiverton", next to his wife. This refers to the now demolished Courtenay chantry chapel, within St Peter's Church, the parish church of Tiverton, which once contained no doubt many richly decorated Courtenay family monuments. To this chantry, he left lands of the yearly value of £4 for the performance of religious rites. [3]
A fine monument, now lost, was erected in the Tiverton chapel apparently to Edward Courtenay and his wife, but was destroyed before the end of the 16th century. The historian of Devon Tristram Risdon (died 1630) wrote of Tiverton: [4]
Hoe, hoe, who lyes here?
'Tis I, the goode erle of Devonshire,
With Kate, my wyfe, to mee full dere,
Wee lyved togeather fyfty-fyve yere.
That wee spent wee had;
That wee lefte wee loste;
That wee gave wee have."
W. Hamilton Rogers wrote of a certain Dr. Oliver who in alluding to this epitaph says "that "Kate" is manifestly wrong and Cleveland's reading of "Mabel" is equally incorrect. There can be little doubt of the effigies being intended for Edward Courtenay, second of that name Earl of Devonshire and Elizabeth his wife". Rogers believed the inscription to date from the late 15th century from its similarity to others of known date. [5]
The Earl's inheritance was disputed and became a celebrated Peerage Case in the 19th century. [6] The analysis in several documents deposited at Westcountry Studies library and the Devon History Centre, Exeter, reveals how the bifurcation of the lineage caused the descendants of the female lines to claim patrimony. This was rejected in favour of the cadet Powderham line, despite this being the junior male inheritance.[ citation needed ]
Earl of Devon was created several times in the English peerage, and was possessed first by the de Redvers family, and later by the Courtenay family. It is not to be confused with the title of Earl of Devonshire, held, together with the title Duke of Devonshire, by the Cavendish family of Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, although the letters patent for the creation of the latter peerages used the same Latin words, Comes Devon(iae). It was a re-invention, if not an actual continuation, of the pre-Conquest office of Ealdorman of Devon.
Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, 2nd Earl of Devon, KG, PC, feudal baron of Okehampton, feudal baron of Plympton, of Tiverton Castle, Okehampton Castle and Colcombe Castle all in Devon, was a grandson of King Edward IV, nephew of the queen consort, Elizabeth of York and a first cousin of King Henry VIII. Henry Courtenay was a close friend of Henry VIII, having "been brought up of a child with his grace in his chamber".
Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Devon was a great-granddaughter of King Edward III (1327–1377).
Sir Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon, 2nd Baron Courtenay, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, played an important role in the Hundred Years War in the service of King Edward III. His chief seats were Tiverton Castle and Okehampton Castle in Devon. The ordinal number given to the early Courtenay Earls of Devon depends on whether the earldom is deemed a new creation by the letters patent granted 22 February 1334/5 or whether it is deemed a restitution of the old dignity of the de Redvers family. Authorities differ in their opinions, and thus alternative ordinal numbers exist, given here.
William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, was a member of the leading noble family of Devon. His principal seat was Tiverton Castle, Devon with further residences at Okehampton Castle and Colcombe Castle, also in that county.
Margaret de Bohun, Countess of Devon was the granddaughter of King Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, and the wife of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377). Her seventeen children included an Archbishop of Canterbury and six knights, of whom two were founder knights of the Order of the Garter. Unlike most women of her day, she received a classical education and was a lifelong scholar and collector of books.
Thomas de Courtenay, 5th/13th Earl of Devon was a nobleman from South West England. His seat was at Colcombe Castle near Colyton, and later at the principal historic family seat of Tiverton Castle, after his mother's death. The Courtenay family had historically been an important one in the region, and the dominant force in the counties of Devon and Cornwall. However, the rise in power and influence of several gentry families and other political players, in the years leading up to Thomas' accession to the earldom, threatened the traditional dominance of the earls of Devon in the area. Much of his life was spent in armed territorial struggle against his near-neighbour, Sir William Bonville of Shute, at a time when central control over the provinces was weak. This feud forms part of the breakdown in law and order in England that led to the Wars of the Roses.
Edward de Courtenay, 3rd/11th Earl of Devon, known by the epithet the "Blind Earl", was the son of Sir Edward de Courtenay and Emeline Dawnay, and in 1377 succeeded his grandfather, Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon, as Earl of Devon. The ordinal number given to the early Courtenay Earls of Devon depends on whether the earldom is deemed a new creation by the letters patent granted 22 February 1334/5 or whether it is deemed a restitution of the old dignity of the de Redvers family. Authorities differ in their opinions, and thus alternative ordinal numbers exist, given here.
Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham, Devon, was the senior member of a junior branch of the powerful Courtenay family, Earls of Devon.
Tiverton Castle is the remains of a medieval castle dismantled after the Civil War and thereafter converted in the 17th century into a country house. It occupies a defensive position above the banks of the River Exe at Tiverton in Devon.
Francis Courtenay, de jure 4th Earl of Devon, of Powderham, Devon, was an English Member of Parliament. In 1831 he was recognised retrospectively as having been de jure 4th Earl of Devon, having succeeded his father in 1630.
Sir William Courtenay of Powderham in Devon was a prominent member of the Devonshire gentry. He was Sheriff of Devon in 1579–80 and received the rare honour of having been three times elected MP for the prestigious county seat (Devon) in 1584, 1589 and 1601.
Sir Peter Courtenay, KG, (1346–1405) was a soldier, knight of the shire, Chamberlain to King Richard II and a famous jouster. His principal seat was Hardington Mandeville, Somerset.
Sir John Chichester (1519/20-1569) of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple in North Devon, was a leading member of the Devonshire gentry, a naval captain, and ardent Protestant who served as Sheriff of Devon in 1550-1551, and as Knight of the Shire for Devon in 1547, April 1554, and 1563, and as Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1559, over which borough his lordship of the manor of Raleigh, Pilton had considerable influence.
Sir William Courtenay"The Great", of Powderham in Devon, was a leading member of the Devon gentry and a courtier of King Henry VIII having been from September 1512 one of the king's Esquires of the Body. He served as Sheriff of Devon three times: from February to November 1522, 1525/26, and 1533/34. He was elected Knight of the Shire for Devon in 1529.
Colcombe Castle was a castle or fortified house situated about a 0.5 mi (0.80 km) north of the village of Colyton in East Devon.
The Manor of Molland was a medieval manor in North Devon, England. It was largely co-terminous with the existing parish of Molland, in which is situated the village of Molland. More accurately it consisted from the earliest times of two separate manors, held from separate overlords, later known as Molland-Bottreaux and Molland-Champson.
Sir John Speke (1442–1518) of Whitelackington, Somerset and of Heywood in the parish of Wembworthy and of Bramford Speke both in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1517 and a Member of Parliament (1477). He was knighted in 1501. His monument is the Speke Chantry in Exeter Cathedral in which survives his recumbent effigy.
Upcott is an historic manor in the parish of Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon. The manor house, known as Upcott Barton is a mediaeval grade II* listed building notorious in the history of Devon as the place where in 1455 the murder of the lawyer Nicholas Radford by a mob directed by the Earl of Devon during the Wars of the Roses took place. In the grounds is a reproduction of an Iron Age roundhouse built circa 2014.
Columb John in the parish of Broadclyst in Devon, England, is an historic estate and was briefly the seat of the prominent Acland family which later moved to the adjacent estate of Killerton. Nothing of the structure of the Acland mansion house survives except the arch to the gatehouse, dated about 1590, and the private chapel, restored in 1851. The site of the former mansion house is situated one mile due west of Killerton House, and five miles north-east of the historic centre of the City of Exeter. The estate's name derives from it having been held by the Culme family, whose own name was taken from its landholdings in the vicinity of the River Culm, which flows through the Columb John estate.