William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1475 – 9 June 1511),

feudal baron of Okehampton The feudal barony of Okehampton was a very large feudal barony, the largest mediaeval fiefdom in the county of Devon, England,Thorn & Thorn, part 2, chapter 16 whose ''caput'' was Okehampton Castle and manor. It was one of eight feudal baronies ...

and

feudal baron of Plympton The feudal barony of Plympton (or Honour of Plympton) was a large feudal barony in the county of Devon, England, whose ''caput'' was Plympton Castle and manor, Plympton. It was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the ...

, was a member of the leading noble family of Devon. His principal seat was

Tiverton Castle 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. Desc ...

, Devon with further residences at

Okehampton Castle Okehampton Castle is a medieval motte and bailey castle in Devon, England. It was built between 1068 and 1086 by Baldwin FitzGilbert following a revolt in Devon against Norman rule, and formed the centre of the Honour of Okehampton, guarding ...

and

Colcombe Castle Colcombe Castle was a castle or fortified house situated about a north of the town of Colyton, Devon, Colyton in East Devon. It was a seat of the House of Courtenay, Courtenay family, Earl of Devon, Earls of Devon, whose principal seat was ...

, also in that county.

Origins

He was the son of

Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (c. 1527 – 18 September 1556) was an English nobleman during the rule of the Tudor dynasty. Born into a family with close royal connections, he was at various times considered a possible match for the ...

by his wife Elizabeth Courtenay, daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (b. 1445) of

Molland Molland is a small village, civil parish, dual ecclesiastical parish with Knowstone, located in the foothills of Exmoor in Devon, England. It lies within the North Devon local government district. At the time of the 2001 Census, the village ...

, 2nd son of

Sir Philip Courtenay ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

(18 January 1404 – 16 December 1463) of Powderham by Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of

Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford (1378 – 9 August 1449) was an English knight and landowner, from 1400 to 1414 a Member of the House of Commons, of which he became Speaker, then was an Admiral and peer. He won renown in the Hund ...

(d. 1449). William's parents were thus distant cousins, sharing a common descent from Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377).

Career

William was a supporter of King Henry VII (1485–1509), the first of the Tudors, who made him a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth on 25 November 1487. He also served in the royal army as a Captain and assisted his father in the defeat of the

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( 1474 – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, ...

at the siege of Exeter in 1497, which secured the Tudor succession at last.

Attainder

However, William fell out of favour. King Henry VII discovered that he had joined in the conspiracy to crown

Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk, KG (c. 147130 April 1513), Duke of Suffolk, was a son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York. Although the male York line ended with the death of Edw ...

(d.1513), the last Yorkist claimant. For his complicity, the king attainted and imprisoned him in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

in February 1504, and so made him incapable of inheritance.

Pardon and restoration

Released from prison by Henry VIII (1509–1547), Courtenay received a pardon and the restoration of his rights and privileges as a sword bearer at the coronation on 24 June 1509. It is a matter of debate as to whether he lived long enough to have been restored in his honours formally. Certain sources, however, maintain that he assumed the full titles and lands of the earldom on 10 May 1511, after jousting in a tournament with the king, his cousin Sir Thomas Knyvett, and Sir William Nevill.

Marriage and issue

In October 1495 he married

Catherine of York Catherine of York (14 August 1479 – 15 November 1527), was the sixth daughter of King Edward IV of England and his queen consort Elizabeth Woodville. Soon after the death of her father and the usurpation of the throne by Richard III, Cather ...

, the sixth daughter of King Edward IV and

Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile;Although spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelt "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton, but her tomb at St. George's Chapel, Wind ...

and sister to the then queen. William and Catherine had three children: Vivian, Lt. Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.245 * Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter (c. 1496 – 9 January 1539) married (1)

Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle Elizabeth Grey, 5th Baroness Lisle, 3rd Viscountess Lisle (25 March 1505 – 1519) was an English noblewoman. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle and Lady Muriel Howard. After the death of her stepfather, Sir Thomas K ...

and (2) Gertrude Blount.Vivian, p.245 * Lady Margaret Courtenay (c. 1499 – before 1526) married

Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester (26 November 1549) was an English nobleman. He was the son of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester and Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert. On his father's death on 15 April 1526, he succeeded as the ...

. * Edward Courtenay (1497 – 12 July 1502)

Monument to daughter

An effigy tradition identifies as "little choke-a-bone", Margaret Courtenay (d.1512), an infant daughter of William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1475–1511) by his wife Princess Catherine of York (d.1527), the sixth daughter of King Edward IV (1461–1483) exists in Colyton Church in Devon. The effigy is only about 3 ft in length, much smaller than usual for an adult. The face and head were renewed in 1907, and is said to have been based on the sculptor's own infant daughter. One of the Courtenay seats was

within the parish of Colyton. A 19th-century brass tablet above is inscribed: ''"Margaret, daughter of William Courtenay Earl of Devon and the Princess Katharine youngest daughter of Edward IVth King of England, died at Colcombe choked by a fish-bone AD MDXII and was buried under the window in the north transept of this church"''. The effigy appears to contain errors—records show that Margaret was still alive and serving Princess Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII, on 2 July 1520. However, another nobleman from that period -Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk- had named two living sons Thomas and two living daughters Elizabeth; hence, it is possible the Courtenay family had two daughters named Margaret who lived at the same time.

Heraldry

Three sculpted heraldic shields of arms exist above the effigy, showing the arms of Courtenay, Courtenay

impaling Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in response to "crimes aga ...

the

royal arms of England The royal arms of England are the Coat of arms, arms first adopted in a fixed form at the start of the age of heraldry (circa 1200) as Armorial of the House of Plantagenet, personal arms by the House of Plantagenet, Plantagenet kings who ruled ...

and the royal arms of England. Later authorities have suggested, on the basis of the monument's heraldry, the effigy to be the wife of Thomas Courtenay, 5th/13th Earl of Devon (1414–1458), namely Lady

Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort (usually pronounced: or ; 31 May 1441/43 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late fifteenth century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. A descendant of ...

(c. 1409–1449), daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Marquess of Somerset, 1st Marquess of Dorset (1373–1410), KG, (later only 1st Earl of Somerset), (the first of the four

illegitimate child Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

ren of

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...

(4th son of King Edward III), and his mistress

Katherine Swynford Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (born Katherine de Roet, – 10 May 1403), also spelled Katharine or Catherine, was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth (but third surviving) son of King Edward III. Daughter o ...

, later his wife) by his wife

Margaret Holland Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

. The basis of this re-attribution is the belief that the "royal arms" shown are not the arms of King Edward IV, but those of Beaufort. The arms of Beaufort are the royal arms of England differenced ''within a

bordure In heraldry, a bordure is a band of contrasting tincture forming a border around the edge of a shield, traditionally one-sixth as wide as the shield itself. It is sometimes reckoned as an ordinary and sometimes as a subordinary. A bordure encl ...

compony argent and azure''. ''The effigy of this grandaughter of John of Gaunt, with the shields of Courtenay and Beaufort'' (sic) ''above it, is in Colyton church. It is less than life-size, a fact which has given rise to a village legend that it represents “Little choke-a-bone,” an infant daughter of the tenth earl, who died “choked by a fish bone.” In spite of the evidence of the shields and the 15th-century dress of the effigy, the legend has now been strengthened by an inscription upon a brass plate, and in the year 1907 ignorance engaged a monumental sculptor to deface the effigy by giving its broken features the newly carved face of a young child''.

Death and burial

He died of

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

on 9 June 1511 and was buried by a royal warrant at

Blackfriars, London Blackfriars is in central London, specifically the south-west corner of the City of London. Blackfriars Priory The name is first visible today in records of 1317 in many orthographies. Friar evolved from la, frater as french: frère has, mea ...

Notes and references

Sources

* G.E. Cokayne, ''Complete Peerage'' new ed. (1910–59) * Great Britain, and Richard Bligh. ''New Reports of Cases Heard in the House of Lords, On Appeals and Writs of Error.'' London: Saunders and Benning, 1829
googlebooks
Retrieved 26 January 2008

Accessed 26 January 2008
familysearch.org
Accessed 26 January 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Devon, William Courtenay, 1st Earl 1475 births 1511 deaths

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

15th-century English people 16th-century English nobility William Courtenay, 01st Earl of Devon Earls of Devon Burials at the Church of the Black Friars, London