Charles Blount (pronounced blunt), 8th Baron Mountjoy and 1st Earl of Devonshire (1563 – 3 April 1606) was an English nobleman and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I, then as Lord Lieutenant under King James I.
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The second son of James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy, Charles became the most notable of the later holders of the barony, inheriting the title in 1594 on the death of his unmarried elder brother William. The favour which his youthful good looks procured for him from Queen Elizabeth I of England aroused the jealousy of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and led to a duel between the two courtiers, who later became close friends. Between 1586 and 1598 Charles spent a lot of time on the continent, serving in the Netherlands and in Brittany. He joined Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh in their expedition to the Azores in 1597, along with his distant cousin, Sir Christopher Blount. (Sir Christopher had married Essex's mother, Lettice Knollys, the Dowager Countess of Leicester, and he was afterwards executed for complicity in Essex's treason.)[1]
In 1600 Mountjoy went to Ireland as Lord Deputy in succession to Essex and, with the able assistance of Sir George Carew, brought the Nine Years War to an end with ruthless scorched-earth tactics in the stronghold of the rebel Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone in Ulster. In July 1601 he had successfully ordered an amphibious landing at Lough Foyle, near Derry, which penetrated the north of the province and undermined the rebels. In the following December he defeated O'Neill's Spanish allies at Kinsale, and drove them out of the country. On 30 March 1603, six days after the death of Elizabeth and the accession of James I, O'Neill made peace with Mountjoy, signing the Treaty of Mellifont.Mountjoy continued in office with the more distinguished title of Lord-Lieutenant (1603–1604). He declared an amnesty for the rebels and granted them honourable terms, which caused some severe criticism from England.[1][2]
On his return to England, Lord Mountjoy served as one of Sir Walter Raleigh's judges in 1603; and in the same year James I made him master of the ordnance and created him Earl of Devonshire, also granting him extensive estates.
Mountjoy took as his mistress Penelope Devereux, wife of Lord Rich and sister of Essex. After the execution of her brother in 1601, Lady Rich's husband divorced her in the ecclesiastical courts. Mountjoy, by whom she had already had several children, married her on 26 December 1605 at Wanstead House in London, in a ceremony conducted by his chaplain, William Laud, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury.[1] This proceeding, carried out in defiance of canon law, was followed by the disgrace of both parties, who were banished from court by King James. The couple continued to live together as husband and wife with their children until his death a few months later. Blount died on 3 April 1606[1] and Penelope on 7 July 1607.
Penelope Rich's illegitimate children acknowledged by Charles Blount were:
Mountjoy left no legitimate children, and so the hereditary titles became extinct at his death.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Marquess of Winchester |
Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire jointly with The Marquess of Winchester 1595–1598 The Lord Hunsdon 1597–1603 The Earl of Southampton 1604–1606 1595–1606 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Southampton |
| Military offices | ||
| Vacant
Title last held by
The Earl of Essex |
Master-General of the Ordnance 1603–1606 |
Vacant
Title next held by
The Lord Carew |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Lords Justices |
Lord Deputy of Ireland 1600–1603 |
Succeeded by Sir George Cary (Lord Deputy) |
| Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1603–1604 |
||
| Peerage of England | ||
| New title | Earl of Devonshire 1603–1606 |
Extinct |
| Preceded by William Blount |
Baron Mountjoy 1594–1606 |
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