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COURTENAY

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 326 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COURTENAY , the name of a famous See also:

English See also:family. See also:French genealogists See also:head the See also:pedigree of this family with one A thon or See also:Athos, who is said to have fortified Courtenay in Ghtinois about the See also:year lo10. His son Josselin had, . with other issue, See also:Miles, See also:lord of Courtenay, founder of the Cistercian See also:abbey of See also:Fontaine-See also:Jean. By his wife Ermengarde, daughter of Renaud, See also:count of See also:Nevers, Miles See also:left a son Renaud, one of the magnates who followed See also:Louis le Jeune to the See also:Holy See also:Land. This was the last lord of Courtenay of the See also:line of Athon. See also:Elizabeth, his See also:elder daughter —a younger daughter died without issues carried Courtenay and other lordships to her See also:husband See also:Pierre, seventh and youngest son of the French See also:king Louis VI. the See also:Fat, the See also:marriage taking See also:place about 115o, and the many descendants of this royal match See also:bore the surname of Courtenay. Pierre, the eldest son, was founder of a See also:short-lived See also:dynasty of emperors of See also:Constantinople, which ended in 1261 when See also:Baldwin (Baudouin), last of the Frankish emperors, fled before See also:Michael See also:Palaeologus from a See also:capital in flames. Baldwin's son See also:Philip, however, bore the empty See also:title, and his granddaughter See also:Catherine, wife of See also:Charles, count of See also:Valois, was titular empress. Other lines of the royal Courtenays, sprung from Pierre of See also:France, were lords of Champignolles, Tanlai, Yerre, Bleneau, La Ferte Loupiere and Chevillon. On the See also:death of Gaspard, sieur de Bleneau, in 1655, his See also:cousin Louis de Courtenay, See also:comte de Cesi (jure uxoris) and sieur de Chevillon, had Bleneau, and reckoned himself the surviving See also:chief of his See also:house. He styled himself See also:Prince de Courtenay and his family made attempts to obtain recognition for their royal See also:blood. But their laboriously constructed genealogies availed nothing to this impoverished See also:race.

The last " Prince de Courtenay," an ex-See also:

captain of dragoons, died in 1730; his See also:uncle See also:Roger de Courtenay, See also:abbe See also:des Eschalis, who died in 1733, was the last recognized member of the line of Pierre of France. A younger See also:branch of the first house of Courtenay came from Josselin, second son of Josselin, son of Athon. This Josselin, a notable crusader, went to the Holy Land with the count of See also:Blois, and held by the See also:sword for eleven years the See also:county of See also:Edessa, given him by his cousin King Baldwin II. Edessa was won back by the infidel from his son Josselin, who died a prisoner in See also:Aleppo in 1147. A See also:grandson, also a Josselin, was See also:seneschal of the See also:kingdom of See also:Jerusalem. In See also:England a house of Courtenay has flourished with varying fortunes since the reign of the first Angevin king. The monks of See also:Ford, to whom they were benefactors, complacently set down their patrons as the offspring of the royal Courtenays, of whose origin they had some dim knowledge, deriving them from " See also:Florus," son of Louis the Fat. A comparison of See also:dates destroys the See also:story. But they were, doubtless, Courtenays of the stock of Athon. Josselin, the first count of Edessa, has been suggested by See also:modern writers as their founder, but the name See also:Reinaud, See also:borne by the first known ancestor of the English house, suggests that they may have sprung from a younger son of Josselin I. of Courtenay by his marriage about 1095 with Ermengarde, daughter of Reinaud, count of Nevers. It is also notable that the English Courtenays have, from the first introduction of armorial See also:bearings, borne with various See also:differences the three red roundels in a See also:golden See also:field, the arms of the Courtenays in France, the See also:shield of the earls of See also:Devonshire being identical with that of the lords of La Ferte Loupiere. Several Courtenays whose kinship cannot be exactly ascertained, appear in English records of the 12th See also:century.

One of them, See also:

Robert de Courtenay, married the daughter and See also:heir of Reynold fitz Urse, the See also:leader of the murderers of See also:Arch-See also:bishop See also:Thomas See also:Becket. His son, See also:William, a See also:Shropshire See also:baron, held the See also:castle of See also:Montgomery, as heir by his See also:mother of Baldwin de Buslers, or Boilers, to whom See also:Henry I. had given it with his " niece " Sibil de See also:Falaise. This William married Ada of See also:Dunbar, daughter of See also:Patrick, See also:earl of Dunbar, but died in the reign of King See also:John, without issue. Reinaud de Courtenay, ancestor of the See also:main English line, may well have been, a See also:brother of the Robert above named. The English pedigrees confuse him with his son of the same name. He was a favourite with Henry II., his attestations of charters showing him as a See also:constant See also:companion at See also:home and abroad of the king, whom he followed to See also:Wexford in the Irish expedition of 1172. Henry gave him See also:Berkshire lands at See also:Sutton, still known as Sutton Courtenay, by a See also:charter to which the date of 1161 can be assigned. In England he had to wife See also:Maude, daughter of Robert fitz See also:Roy by Maude of See also:Avranches, the elder Maude being the heir of the house of Brionne. By her, who survived him, dying before See also:January 1224, hg had no issue, but by a wife who may have died before his coming to England he had, with other issue,325 Robert and Reinaud. Robert, who succeeded to Sutton about 1192, was husband of Alice de Rumeli, widow of See also:Gilbert Pipard, and one of the three sisters and co-heirs of William, the boy of Egremond, of whose drowning in the Strid See also:Wordsworth has made a ballad. Robert died childless in 1209. Of his brother Reinaud or Reynold de Courtenay little is known, See also:save that he was a married See also:man in 1178 when he and his wife F awise were given by the See also:pope a See also:licence to have a See also:free See also:chapel at See also:Okehampton.

This wife, Hawise de Ayencourt, was, with Maude his See also:

father's second wife, a daughter and co-heir of Maude of Avranches, her father being the lord of Ayencourt, first husband of the last named Maude. Her See also:great See also:inheritance included the See also:honour of Okehampton in Devonshire of which, as a widow, she had See also:livery about 1205. Her son, Robert de Courtenay, succeeded to her land in 1219, having been his uncle Robert's heir in Sutton ten years before. Like his father he advanced his house by a great marriage, his wife being See also:Mary, the younger daughter of William de See also:Vernon, earl of See also:Devon and of the Isle of See also:Wight. He was succeeded in 1242 by his son John, who by See also:Isabel, a daughter of See also:Hugh de See also:Vere, earl of See also:Oxford, has issue Hugh, whose wife was Eleanor, daughter of the earl of See also:Winchester, elder of the two favourites of See also:Edward II. The son of this marriage, another Hugh, followed his father at Okehampton in 1291. Two years later died Isabel, surviving See also:sister and heir of Baldwin de Reviers, earl of Devon, and widow of William de Forz, last earl of Aumerle (See also:Albemarle). On her death-See also:bed she had granted her lordship of the • Wight to the king, but her cousin Hugh de Courtenay succeeded her in the unalienated estates of the house of Reviers.. He was summoned as a baron on the 6th of See also:February 1298/9, and in 1300 he displayed his banner before the castle of Caerlaverock. Claiming the " third See also:penny " of the county of Devon, he was refused by the See also:exchequer as he did not claim in the name of an earl. Following, however, a See also:writ of inquiry, a patent of the 22nd of February 1334/5 declared him 'earl of Devon and qualified to take such See also:style as his ancestors, earls of Devon, were wont to take. Hugh, his son, the second earl, a See also:warrior who drove the French back from their descent on See also:Cornwall in 1339, made another of the brilliant marriages of this family, his wife being Eleanor, daughter of Humfrey de See also:Bohun, earl of See also:Hereford and See also:Essex, by Elizabeth daughter of Edward I.

Their eldest son, See also:

Sir Hugh de Courtenay, shared in the honours of See also:Crecy and See also:Calais, and was one of the knights founders of the See also:order of the Garter, the See also:stall-See also:plate of his arms being yet in St See also:George's chapel at See also:Windsor. This See also:knight died in the lifetime of the earl, as did his only son Hugh, summoned as a baron on the 3rd of January 1370/1, a companion at See also:Najara of the See also:Black Prince, whose step-daughter Maude of See also:Holland he had married. The earl was therefore succeeded by his grandson Edward (son of Edward his third son), earl See also:marshal of England in 1385, who died See also:blind in 1419, the year after the death of Sir Edward his heir apparent, one of the conquerors at See also:Agincourt. Hugh, a second son of Earl Edward, succeeded as See also:fourth earl of the Courtenay line. By his wife, a sister of the renowned See also:Talbot, earl of Shrews-See also:bury, he had issue Thomas the fifth earl, a See also:partisan of Henry VI., whose wife was See also:Margaret See also:Beaufort, daughter of John, earl of See also:Somerset. The effigy of this grandaughter of John of Gaunt, with the See also:shields of Courtenay and Beaufort above it, is in Colyton See also:church. It is less than See also:life See also:size, a fact which has given rise to a See also:village See also:legend that it represents " Little choke-a-See also:bone," an See also:infant daughter of the tenth earl, who died " choked by a See also:fish bone." In spite of the See also:evidence of the shields and the 15th century See also:dress of the effigy, the legend has now been strengthened by an inscription upon a See also:brass plate, and in the year 1907 See also:ignorance engaged a monumental sculptor to deface the effigy by giving its broken features the newly carved See also:face of a See also:young See also:child. Both sons of this marriage See also:fell in the See also:Wars of the See also:Roses, Thomas the See also:sixth earl being taken at See also:Towton by the Yorkists and beheaded at See also:York in 1462, his younger brother Henry having the same See also:fate at See also:Salisbury in 1466. The earldom being extinguished by See also:attainder, Sir See also:Humphrey See also:Stafford was created earl of Devon in 1469, but in the same year, having retired with his men from the expedition against See also:Robin of See also:Redesdale, another earl of Devon suffered at the headsman's hands, his patent being afterwards annulled by a See also:statute of Henry VII. On the restoration of Henry VI. John Courtenay, only surviving brother of Thomas and Henry, was restored to the earldom by the reversal of attainder. He, too, died in the Lancastrian cause, being killed on the 4th of May 1471 at See also:Tewkesbury, where he led the See also:rear of the See also:host.

The See also:

representation of the Reviers earls and of the Courtenay See also:barony fell then to his sisters and their descendants. Beside him at Tewkesbury died his cousin Sir Hugh Courtenay of Boconnoc, son of Hugh, a younger brother of the blind earl, leaving a son Edward, who thus became the heir male of the house though not its heir See also:general. Joining in the cause which had cost so many of his kinsmen their lives, he and his brother See also:Walter shared the See also:duke of See also:Buckingham's rising. On its failure they fled into France to the earl of See also:Richmond, beside whom Sir Edward fought at See also:Bosworth. By a patent of the 26th of See also:October 1485 he was created earl of Devon with See also:remainder to the heirs male of his See also:body, and by an See also:act of 1485 he was restored to all honours lost in his attainder by the Yorkist See also:parliament. He defended See also:Exeter against See also:Warbeck's rebels and was a knight of the Garter in 1489, dying twenty years later, when the earldom became again forfeit by his son's attainder. That son, William Courtenay, had See also:drawn the See also:jealousy of Henry VII. by a marriage with Catherine, sister of the See also:queen and daughter of King Edward IV., the Yorkist See also:sovereign whose See also:hand had been so heavy on the Courtenays. After the queen's death, Henry sent his wife's brother-in-See also:law to the See also:Tower on a See also:charge of corresponding with See also:Edmund See also:Pole, an attainder following. But on the See also:accession of Henry VIII., the young king released his uncle, who although styled an earl was not fully restored in blood at his death in 1511. His son Henry Courtenay obtained from parliament in See also:December 1512 a reversal of his father's attainder, thus succeeding to the earldom of his grandfather. At the Field of See also:Cloth of See also:Gold he ran a course with the king of France. He was knight of the Garter and on the 15th of See also:June 1525 had a patent as See also:marquess of Exeter.

Profiting by the suppression of the monasteries he increased his See also:

estate, his See also:power being all but supreme in the See also:west See also:country. But See also:Cromwell was his enemy and the royal See also:strain in his blood was a dangerous thing. Involved in See also:correspondence with See also:Cardinal Pole, he was sent to the Tower with his wife and his young son, and on the 9th of December 1538 he was beheaded as a traitor. The misfortunes of the house were heavy upon the son, who at twelve years old was a prisoner for the See also:sake of his high descent. His honours had been forfeited, and See also:release did not come until the accession of Queen Mary, who took him into favour. See also:Noailles the See also:ambassador found him le plus beau et le plus agreable gentilhomme d'Angleterre, and he had some hopes of becoming king See also:consort. The queen created him earl of Devonshire by a patent of the 3rd of See also:September 1553 and in the next See also:month he was restored in blood. But, disappointed in his hopes, he formed some See also:wild plans for marrying the See also:Lady Elizabeth and making her queen. He could raise Devon and Cornwall. See also:Wyat did raise See also:Kent, but the See also:plot was soon crushed. The earl was sent back to the Tower and thence to See also:Fotheringhay. At See also:Easter of 1555 he was released on See also:parole and exiled, dying suddenly at See also:Padua in 1556.

His co-heirs were the descendants of the four sisters of Earl Edward (d. 1519), the wives of four Cornish squires, and with him was extinguished, to the belief of all men, the Courtenays' earldom of Devon. His heir male was Sir William Courtenay, his sixth cousin once removed, head of a knightly line of Courtenays whose seat was Powderham Castle, a line which, during the See also:

civil wars, stood for the See also:White See also:Rose. Sir William, who is said to have been killed at St Quintin in 1557, was succeeded by his son, another Sir William, one of the under-takers for the settling of See also:Ireland, where the family obtained great estates. William Courtenay of Powderham, of whose marriage with the daughter of Sir William See also:Waller (the parliament's general) it is remarked that the years of See also:bride and bridegroom added together were less than See also:thirty when their first child was See also:born, was created a See also:baronet by writ of privy See also:seal in February 1644, the patent being never enrolled. His great grandson, Sir William Courtenay, many years a member of parliament, was on the 6th of May 1762, ten days before his death, created See also:Viscount Courtenay of Powderham Castle. Since the death at Padua in 1556 of Edward, earl of Devon, that See also:ancient title had been twice revived. Charles See also:Blount, Lord See also:Mountjoy, who was created earl of Devon in 1603, died without lawful issue in 16o6. In 1618 Sir William See also:Cavendish, son of the famous Bess of Hardwick, was given the same title, which is still among the See also:peerage honours of the ducal house descending from him. For the Courtenays, who had without protest accepted a baronetcy and a viscounty, their earldom was dead. In the reign of William IV., the third and last Viscount Courtenay was living unmarried in See also:Paris, an See also:exile who for sufficient reasons was keeping out of the reach of the English criminal law. In the name of this man, his presumptive heir male, William Courtenay, clerk assistant of the parliament, succeeded in persuading the House of Lords that the Courtenay earldom under the patent of 1553 was still in existence, the plea being that the terms of the remainder—to him and his heirs male for ever—did not limit the See also:succession to heirs male of the body of the grantee.

Five other cases wherein the words de See also:

cor See also:pore suo had been omitted from the patent are known to peerage lawyers. In no See also:case had a peerage before been claimed by See also:collateral heirs male. " I have often rallied See also:Brougham," writes Lord See also:Campbell, " upon his creating William Courtenay earl of Devon. He says he consulted Chief See also:Justice See also:Tenterden. But Tenterden knew nothing of peerage law." After the death of the exile in 1835 the clerk of the parliament succeeded him as an earl by force of the House of Lords decision of the 15th of See also:March 1831. His second son, the Rev. Henry Hugh Courtenay (1811–1904), succeeded, as 13th earl, a See also:nephew whose extravagance had impoverished the estates. He in turn was followed, as 14th earl, by his grandson Charles See also:Pepys Courtenay (b. 187o). No other recognized branch of this house, once so widely spread in the western counties, is now among the landed houses of England. Among its cadets were many famous warriors, but three prelates must be reckoned as the most eminent of the Courtenays. William, a younger son of the match of Courtenay and Bohun, was bishop of Hereford in 1370, bishop of See also:London in 1375 and See also:archbishop of See also:Canterbury in 1381.

Proceeding against Wycliffe he opposed John of Gaunt, who, taunting him with his See also:

trust in his great kinsfolk, threatened to See also:drag him out of St See also:Paul's by his See also:hair, a See also:threat which roused the angry Londoners in his See also:defence. He died in 1396 and lies buried at the feet of the Black Prince in his See also:cathedral of Canterbury. By his will he left his best See also:mitre to his nephew See also:Richard Courtenay—son and See also:pupil, as he styles him—against the See also:time he should be a bishop. This Richard, a friend of Henry V. when prince, and treasurer of his See also:household, was bishop of See also:Norwich in 1413. Twice See also:chancellor of Oxford, he repelled Archbishop See also:Arundel and all his See also:train when that See also:primate would have had a visitation of the university, although the claim of the university to See also:independence was at last broken down. Tall of stature, eloquent and learned, he kept the favour of the king, who was with him when he died of See also:dysentery in the host before See also:Harfleur. Heir of this bishop was his nephew Sir Philip of Powderham, whose younger son See also:Peter Courtenay was the third of the Courtenay prelates, being bishop of Exeter from 1478 to 1487, when he was translated to Winchester. Although of the Yorkist Courtenays, he was of Buckingham's party and, being attainted by Richard III. for joining with certain of his kinsfolk in an See also:attempt to raise the west, he escaped to See also:Brittany, whence he returned with the first Tudor sovereign, who had him in high favour. A fourth See also:prelate of this family was Henry Reginald Courtenay, who was bishop of See also:Bristol 1794–1797 and bishop of Exeter from 1797 to his death in 1803. See charter, patent, See also:close, See also:fine and plea rolls, inquests See also:post mortem and other records. G. E.

C.'s See also:

Complete Peerage; See also:Dictionary of See also:National See also:Biography; Notes and Queries, See also:series viii. vol. 7; J. H. See also:Round's Peerage Studies; Calendars of See also:State Papers; Machyn's See also:Diary (See also:Camden Society) ; See also:Chronicles of See also:Capgrave, Wavrin, See also:Adam of See also:Usk, &c. (O.

End of Article: COURTENAY

Additional information and Comments

Louis Courtenay Nesham (1917-) is related to William Courtenay (buried at feet of Black Prince) has said that there was always a Louis Courtenay amongst Neshams. In Gibbons` "Decine and Fall of the Roman Empire" VIII is a chapter titled "Courtenay" amongst the last chapters of the volume. It dates Courtenays to 800 in Constantinople
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