Sir Hugh Courtenay of Haccombe and Bampton

Sir Hugh Courtenay
Arms of first Courtenay Earls of Devon: Or, three torteaux a label azure, the earliest surviving depiction of which (without tinctures), impaling Bohun, is visible on the monumental brass in Exeter Cathedral, Devon, of Sir Peter Courtenay (died 1405), 5th son of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (died 1377)
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Fitzpayn Elizabeth Cogan Philippa Archdekne Maud Beaumont
Issue Elizabeth Courtenay Joan Courtenay Sir Edward Courtenay Sir Hugh Courtenay Margaret Courtenay
Noble family	Courtenay
Father	Sir Edward Courtenay
Mother	Emeline Dawnay
Born	after 1358
Died	5 or 6 March 1425 buried at Haccombe

Sir Hugh Courtenay (after 1358 – 5 or 6 March 1425), grandson of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon, was an English member of Parliament and High Sheriff of Devon.

Family

Hugh Courtenay, born in 1358, was the younger of two sons of Sir Edward de Courtenay (d. between 2 February 1368 and 1 April 1371) of Goodrington, Devon, and Emeline or Emme Dawney (c.1329 – 28 February 1371), daughter and heiress of Sir John Dawney (d.1346/7) of Mudford Terry, Somerset by Sybil Treverbyn. Hugh Courtenay was the grandson of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon. At the 10th Earl's death on 2 May 1377, Courtenay's elder brother, Edward, became 11th Earl of Devon.^[1]

Career

Courtenay's elder brother, Edward Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon (c.1357 – 5 December 1419), succeeded to the earldom of Devon in 1377, and by 1384 Hugh was serving as one of his brother's esquires. Earlier, in 1378 Courtenay had taken part with his uncles, Sir Philip Courtenay and Sir Peter Courtenay, in an unsuccessful naval expedition against Spain at which Courtenay was captured, but quickly ransomed. He had been knighted by 1387, and in March of that year served at sea in his brother's retinue under the Lord Admiral, the Earl of Arundel.

Little else is known of his career until he went to Ireland with King Richard II's expedition in April 1399, serving under the Duke of Aumale, who had earlier been granted custody of the lands of Courtenay's stepson, Fulk FitzWarin.

Over the years Courtenay acquired considerable property, much of it by way of his marriages. At his death he held 14 manors, principally in the West Country, but also in Essex and Herefordshire.

Courtenay served on commissions during the reigns of both Richard II and his successor, Henry IV, including commissions concerned with inquiry into the possessions of Richard II's former supporters, suggesting that he accommodated himself to both regimes.

He was made Commissioner of Survey to Devon and Cornwall in 1388, and again by Lords Appellant to the two counties in October 1397. In 1395 he was elected as MP for Devon and again in September 1397. At the height of the Crisis, King Richard II betrayed his uncle, Earl of Arundel, and as a consequence he lost his main supporters.

After the usurpation by King Henry IV Hugh was made Commissioner of Array for Devon in December 1399 - responsible for raising troops and bringing the south-west to the Lancastrian cause. He proved a successful recruiter for the wars in France, as he was made commissioner again in July 1402 to fight the Welsh Rebellion. The commission met again in August, September, and October 1403, after King Henry had defeated Harry Hotspur and the Mortimers at Shrewsbury.

In February 1400, Sir Hugh was a Commissioner of oyer and terminer dispensing the king's justice in the south-west. There was also a Commission of Inquiry into waste lands. King Henry made Hugh a Commissioner in the region and in Hampshire, a traditional land area of Courtenay holdings, to look into the concealment of possessions owned by adherents of the late king. He was also on the commission for "concealment of alnage" in Devon from July 1401.

The south-western counties disliked the new king and interference of parliament and in 1405 the Cornish rebelled with widespread rioting. In January a commission was set up to look into "unlawful assemblies" during 1406. Sir Hugh, however was a known Lancastrian: in May 1402 he had been forced to proclaim the intention of Henry IV to govern well. Also he was a JP for Devon, appointed on 16 February 1400 for the period until 1407; instructed to enforce the law and collect the king's taxes. He was appointed Tax Collector for Devon in March 1404.

He was made High Sheriff of Devon on 4 November 1418, holding the office for the year until 23 November 1419. When his brother the Earl of Devon died the new earl was fighting the French abroad, and so Sir Hugh was the most senior member of the family at home and probably felt compelled to represent Devon in parliament again in May 1421.

Henry IV died in 1413, and during the new reign Sir Hugh found favour with Henry V. King Henry V had travelled triumphantly through France, securing the future accession of his son as King of both England and France. Sir Hugh was thus present as knight of the shire for the County of Devon.

Hugh's brother, the 11th Earl, died in 1419, and was succeeded by his son, Hugh Courtenay, 12th Earl of Devon (1389 — 16 June 1422). The 12th Earl spent considerable time abroad in service to the crown, leaving Hugh as the senior member of the family in England. After the death of his nephew in 1422, Courtenay was again the senior member of the family during the minority of Thomas Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon.

Courtenay died on 5 or 6 March 1425, leaving two daughters, Joan and Eleanor, by his third wife Philippa, and two sons and a daughter by his fourth wife, Maud. The lands which had belonged to Philippa were divided between their two daughters, Joan and Eleanor. Courtenay's heir was his elder son, Edward, who was eight years of age at his father's death. Courtenay's younger son, Hugh (d.1471) of Boconnoc, was the father of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon of the 1485 creation.

Courtenay was buried at Haccombe beside his third wife, Philippa.^[2]

Marriages and issue

Sir Hugh Courtenay married four times:^[3]

Firstly to Elizabeth FitzPayn (d. by 1392),^[4] widow of Sir Thomas de Audley (d. pre-1386), slain in France in the Hundred Years' War, and daughter of Sir Robert FitzPayn by his wife Elizabeth Bryan, daughter of Guy de Bryan, Lord Bryan. Without issue.
Secondly, before 11 February 1393, to Elizabeth Cogan (d. 29 October 1397), widow of Sir Fulk FitzWarin (d.1391), 5th Baron FitzWarin and daughter of Sir William Cogan of Bampton, Devon, by Isabel Loring, the daughter of Sir Nigel Loring. There was no surviving issue of the marriage.

Arms of Archdekne of Haccombe, Devon: Argent, three chevronels sable^[5]

Thirdly, before 1407, to Philippa Archdekne (alias Ercedecne), daughter and co-heiress of Sir Warin Archdekne of Haccombe, Devon, by his wife Elizabeth Talbot, daughter of Sir John Talbot. They had two daughters:
- Elizabeth (or Alianore^[6]) Courtenay (born c.1413)
- Joan Courtenay (born 1411/14 – d. before 3 August 1465), who married firstly, Sir Nicholas Carew (d. before 20 April 1448), Baron Carew, by whom she had five sons and three daughters, and secondly, by licence dated 5 October 1450, to Sir Robert Vere of Haccombe, Devon, son of Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, by whom she had a son, John Vere.

Arms of Beaumont of Youlston, Shirwell: Barry of six vair and gules^[7]

Fourthly, by licence dated 16 October 1417, to Maud Beaumont (d. 3 July 1467), daughter of Sir William Beaumont of Shirwell by Isabel Willington, daughter of Sir Henry Willington of Umberleigh. They had two sons as follows:
- Sir Edward Courtenay (b.1417), eldest son, died without progeny
- Sir Hugh Courtenay (c.1427 – 6 May 1471) of Boconnoc, Cornwall, MP for Cornwall 1446 and 1449,^[6] who married Margaret Carminow, widow of Sir John de Saint Looe,^[6] and daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Carminow by Joan Hill, the daughter of Robert Hill. He was beheaded after the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471).

Sources

M. Cherry, 'The Crown and the Political Community in Devonshire, 1377-1461' (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Wales, Swansea, 1981).
M. Cherry, "The Disintegration of a Dominant Medieval Affinity: the Courtenay family", in: Southern History; 1979 & 1986.
Cokayne, George Edward (1916). The Complete Peerage, edited by Vicary Gibbs IV. London: St. Catherine Press.
Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham I (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 1449966373
Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham II (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 1449966381

References