Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of Exeter, née Gertrude Blount, was the wife of Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter and a lady at the court of Henry VIII of England. She was a godmother to the future Elizabeth I.
Henry Courtenay was a close friend of Henry VIII's, having "been brought up of a child with his grace in his chanber."[1] Gertrude was the daughter of William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, Katherine of Aragon's chamberlain and a man well respected by both King and Queen, and his first wife Elisabeth Saye.
In 1533, Anne Boleyn gave birth to a baby girl. Princess Elizabeth was baptised, and Gertrude, a close friend of Katherine of Aragon's, was chosen as the godmother at the confirmation, which was performed immediately after the baptism. Apparently, it was well-known that Gertrude "really wanted to have nothing to do with this" but agreed "so as not to displease the King".[2] As this was such a public spectacle - and as a godparent was expected to provide an extremely expensive present, and historian Eric Ives has concluded that the decision to appoint Gertrude to this role was malicious.[3]