Hugh de Courtenay

Sir Hugh de Courtenay
Spouse(s) Eleanor le Despenser

Issue

Hugh de Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon
John Courtenay
Philip Courtenay
Isabel Courtenay
Aveline Courtenay
Egeline Courtenay
Margaret Courtenay
Noble family Courtenay
Father John de Courtenay
Mother Isabel de Vere
Born 25 March 1251
Died 28 February 1292 (aged 40)
Colcombe, Devon

Sir Hugh de Courtenay (1251–1292) was the son and heir of John de Courtenay, feudal baron of Okehampton, Devon, by Isabel de Vere, daughter of Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford. His son inherited the earldom of Devon.

Early years

Sir Hugh de Courtenay, born 25 March 1251,[1] was the son and heir of John de Courtenay of Okehampton, Devon, by Isabel de Vere, daughter of Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford, and Hawise de Quincy.[2] John's father, Robert de Courtenay (d. 26 July 1242),[3] son of Reginald de Courtenay (d.1190) by Hawise de Curci (d.1219), heiress of the feudal barony of Okehampton,[4] married Mary de Redvers (sometimes called 'de Vernon'), daughter of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (d.1217).

In order to avoid military service Courtenay paid a fine on 12 December 1276. He was called to arms on the emergency against the Welsh princes, fighting in the 1282 campaign. He attended upon the King at Shrewsbury on 28 June 1283. He again absented himself from the wars on 14 June 1287 by paying the King's justice a fine.[5]

Marriage and issue

Courtenay married Eleanor le Despenser, daughter of Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer, Justiciar of England, of Loughborough, Leicestershire and Ryhall, Rutland by Aline Basset, daughter of Sir Philip Basset, Justiciar of England, of Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and Compton Bassett and Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire. They had three sons and four daughters:[6]

Death

Courtenay died at Colcombe, Devon, on 28 February 1292.[7] He was buried at Cowick Priory, near Exeter. The date of his death is correctly recorded in the Forde Abbey Chronicles. However the Fine Rolls decided upon his death on 5 March and issued a writ affirming deceased on 24 March. An inquisition post mortem was taken at London from 3 April to 27 May 1292. Records for his Buckinghamshire estates relate that his death was "after the Feast of St Peter and to the Feast of the Exalted St Crucis".

Footnotes

  1. Richardson I 2011, p. 537; There is some confusion on this point. A writ of diem clausit extremum issued 11 May 1274 stated that Hugo de Corteney was the son and next heir of John de Curtenay, and was aged 25, and would inherit his lands in Dorset at tantum amplius (at full age) from the Feast of the Annunciation (i.e. 25 March) next.
  2. Richardson IV 2011, p. 262.
  3. Cokayne 1916, p. 323.
  4. Sanders 1960, pp. 69–70.
  5. Cokayne, George Edward (1916). The Complete Peerage edited by Vicary Gibbs. IV. London: St Catherine Press.
  6. Richardson I 2011, p. 536.
  7. Richardson I 2011, p. 537.

References