Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1485 creation)
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, KG (died 1509) was an English peer. He was a member of the ancient House of Courtenay.
Origins
Edward Courtenay was the son of Sir Hugh Courtenay (c. 1427–6 May 1471) of Boconnoc, Cornwall, son of Sir Hugh Courtenay (after 1358–5 or 6 March 1425) of Haccombe, younger brother of Edward Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon (d. 1419).
Career
A loyalist of the House of Tudor, he fought alongside Henry VII at Bosworth and had been one of his original companions in France. There he went to pay homage to the future King of the Lancastrian affinity to which he adhered. Edward was particularly opposed to Richard III, and as such sought the patronage of Margaret Beaufort and her secret alliance with the Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville on the disappearance (and suspected murder) of the princes. Courtenay acted a courier over the Channel during the 1480s. He also met Marquess of Dorset, the alienated Yorkist, whose disaffected support left Richard dangerously exposed on the flank of his kingdom.
Raised to Earldom of Devon
Following his death fighting for the Lancastrian cause at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 of his second cousin once removed John Courtenay, 7th Earl of Devon (d. 1471), the earldom, which had descended in a direct male line from Hugh de Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d. 1340), expired.
Due to Edward's valuable support of the new King Henry VII, the latter created Courtenay Earl of Devon, under a new creation of 1485.
Marriage and progeny
He married Elizabeth Courtenay, daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (b. 1445) of Molland, 2nd son of Sir Philip Courtenay (d. 1463) of Powderham by Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford (d. 1449). Edward and Elizabeth his wife were thus distant cousins, sharing a common descent from Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (d. 1377). They had the following progeny, an only son:[1]
- William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d.1511), attainted 1504, imprisoned during the reign of Henry VII and released by Henry VIII but died before being formally restored to earldom. His son Henry Courtenay was restored in blood and honours and created Marquess of Exeter in 1525, but beheaded in 1539 for conspiring to place Reginald Pole upon the throne.[2]
Death and burial
Edward 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. In it he requested to be buried in "the chapel at Tiverton", next to his wife. This refers to the now demolished Courtenay chantry chapel, 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]
Succession
The Earl's inheritance was disputed and became a celebrated Peerage Case in the 19th century.[4] The analysis in several documents deposited at Westcountry Studies library and the Devon History Centre, Exeter, reveal 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.
Lost monument
A fine monument, now lost, was erected in Tiverton Church apparently to Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d. 1509) and his wife, but was destroyed before the end of the sixteenth century. The historian of Devon Tristram Risdon (d. 1630) wrote of Tiverton:[5]
- "In the churchyard is a chapel built by the Earls of this county, and appropriated for their burials (now demolished), where there is a tomb, under which Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire, and his Countess were interred, having their effigies in alabaster, sometimes sumptuously gilded, and was about forty years ago to be seen, and which, lamenteth me to write, time hath not so much defaced, as men have mangled that magnificent monument, which had this written thereon, as some have seen:
"Hoe, hoe, who lyes here?
'Tis I the goode Erle of Devonshire,
With Kate (sic) my wyfe to mee full dere,
We lyved togeather fyfty-fyve yere.
That wee spent wee had,
That wee lefte wee loste,
That wee gave wee have".
W. Hamilton Rogers[6] 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" (i.e. who died in 1509; the first was Edward Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon (d.1419)), "and Elizabeth his wife". Rogers believed the inscription to date from the late 1400s from its similarity to others of known date, firstly: "On a slab in St. Peter's Church at St. Albans, beneath the effigy of a priest, is a large rose in brass, and upon this rose a legend is engraved both in Latin and English. The Latin inscription is as follows:
Ecce, Quod expendi habui,
Quod donavi habeo,
Quod negavi punior,
Quod servari perdidi.
Which he translates as:
"Lo, all that ever I spent, that sometime had I,
All that I have in good intent, that now have I,
That I never gave nor lent, that now aby I,
That I kept 'till I went, that lost I."
Rogers further states that according to Boutell the same Latin inscription occurs at Pightlesthorne (Pitstone) in Buckinghamshire. He failed to mention that it was on the tomb of John Killungworth, (d. 1412). This earlier date therefore somewhat disproves Rogers attribution of the lost Tiverton tomb. Rogers quotes another version of the inscription which was to be found in the hall of the manor house of Maperton, near Beaminster.[7]
"Robert Morgan and Mary his wife built this house, In their own life time, at their own charge and cost.
What they spent, that they lent,
What they gave, that they have,
What they left, that they lost".
Further similar rhyming epitaphs are given in Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations, 1922.[8]
References
- ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pedigree of Courtenay, p.245
- ↑ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.354
- ↑ Dunsford, Martin, Historical Memoirs of Tiverton, Exeter, 1790, pp.22-6
- ↑ Devon Peerage Case, Edward Nicholas p. xvi
- ↑ Risdon, Tristram, Survey of Devon, 1810 Edition, pp.72-3
- ↑ Rogers, W. H. Hamilton, Ancient Sepulchral Effigies and Monumental and Memorial Sculpture of Devon, Exeter, 1877, pp.59-60
- ↑ Maperton: "An old mansion now much modernized, built by the Morgans, an ancient family originally from Morganhayes, Southleigh, Devon, and afterwards settled at Maperton, where they were succeeded by Broadrep, temp. James I., who married one of their last heiresses".(Rogers)
- ↑ Examples:
Quod expendi habui
Quod donavi habeo
Quod servavi perdidi.
That I spent that I had
That I gave that I have
That I left that I lost.
Epitaph under an effigy of a priest. T. F. Ravenshaw’s Antiente Epitaphes. P. 5. Weever’s Funeral Monuments. Ed. 1631. P. 581. Pettigrew’s Chronicles of the Tombs.
Ecce quod expendi habui, quod donavi habeo, quod negavi punior, quod servavi perdidi. On Tomb of John Killungworth. (1412). In Pitson Church, Bucks, England.
Lo, all that ever I spent, that sometime had I; All that I gave in good intent, that now have I; That I never gave, nor lent, that now aby I; That I kept till I went, that lost I. Trans. of the Latin on the brasses of a priest at St. Albans, and on a brass as late as 1584 at St. Olave’s, Hart Street, London.
It that I gife, I haif, It that I len, I craif, It that I spend, is myue, It that I leif, I tyne. On very old stone in Scotland. Hackett’s Epitaphs. Vol. I. P. 32. (Ed. 1737).
Howe: Howe: who is heare: I, Robin of Doncaster, and Margaret my feare. That I spent, that I had; That I gave, that I have; That I left, that I lost. Epitaph of Robert Byrkes, in Doncaster Church. Richard Gough—Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain.
| Peerage of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Earl of Devon 3rd creation 1485–1509 |
Extinct |