
Sir Hugh Courtenay ( 1427 – 6 May 1471) of
Boconnoc
Boconnoc () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, approximately east of the town of Lostwithiel. According to the UK census 2011, 2011 census the parish had a population of 96.
The parish is rural ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, was twice a
Member of Parliament for
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
in 1446–47 and 1449–50.
[Vivian, p.245] He was beheaded after the
Battle of Tewkesbury
The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on Saturday 4 May 1471, was one of the most decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses in England.
King Edward IV and his forces loyal to the House of York completely defeated those of the rival Hou ...
in 1471,
together with John Courtenay, 7th Earl of Devon (d. 1471), the grandson of his first cousin the 4th Earl, and last in the senior line, whose titles were forfeited. His son
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (c. 1527 – 18 September 1556) was an English nobleman during the rule of the Tudor dynasty. Born into a family with close royal connections, he was at various times considered a possible match for the ...
(d. 1509), was created
Earl of Devon
Earl of Devon is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. It was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the Redvers family (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.), and later by the Courtenay famil ...
in 1485 by King
Henry VII, following the
Battle of Bosworth
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 ...
and the closure of the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...
.
Origins

He was the second son of Sir
Hugh Courtenay (c. 1358 – 1425), of Haccombe and Bampton, Devon, MP and
Sheriff of Devon
The High Sheriff of Devon is the Kings's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...
(a grandson of
Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon
Sir Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon (12 July 1303 – 2 May 1377), 2nd Baron Courtenay, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, played an important role in the Hundred Years War in the service of King Edward III. H ...
(1303–1377) and the younger brother of
Edward de Courtenay, 3rd/11th Earl of Devon
Edward de Courtenay, 3rd/11th Earl of Devon (c.1357 – 5 December 1419), known by the epithet the "Blind Earl", was the son of Sir Edward de Courtenay and Emeline Dawnay, and in 1377 succeeded his grandfather, Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of D ...
(1357–1419), "The Blind Earl"),
by his fourth wife Maud Beaumont (d. 3 July 1467), daughter of Sir William Beaumont of
Shirwell
Shirwell is a village, civil parish and former manor in the local government district of North Devon, in the county of Devon, England. It was also formerly the name of a hundred of Devon. The village lies about 3.5 miles north-east of the town o ...
, in Devon, by Isabel Willington, daughter of Sir Henry Willington of
Umberleigh
Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it became ...
, in Devon.
Battle of Tewkesbury
Courtenay's presence at the Battle of Tewkesbury, fighting for the
Lancastrian cause, is narrated by Cleaveland (1735) as follows:
Marriage and children
He married Margaret Carminow, a daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Carminow of Boconnoc, by his wife Joan Hill, a daughter of Robert Hill.
They had the following issue:
Sons
*
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (c. 1527 – 18 September 1556) was an English nobleman during the rule of the Tudor dynasty. Born into a family with close royal connections, he was at various times considered a possible match for the ...
(d. 1509), created
Earl of Devon
Earl of Devon is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. It was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the Redvers family (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.), and later by the Courtenay famil ...
in 1485 by King
Henry VII, the title long held by his ancestors and cousins but forfeited during the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...
. His great-grandson was
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (c. 1527 – 18 September 1556) was an English nobleman during the rule of the Tudor dynasty. Born into a family with close royal connections, he was at various times considered a possible match for the ...
(d. 1556), who died unmarried and without children, the last of the mediaeval Courtenay Earls of Devon seated at Tiverton Castle, whose co-heirs were the descendants of Sir Hugh Courtenay's four daughters below.
*Sir Walter Courtenay, died childless
*John Courtenay (d. 1509), died childless
Daughters
*Elizabeth/Isabel Courtenay, wife of John Trethurffe of
Trethurffe in the parish of
Ladock
Ladock ( (village) or (parish)) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about six miles (9.5 km) north-east of Truro.
Historically, Ladock was two small settlements; Bissick by the river and Ladock on the hil ...
, near
Truro
Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
, Cornwall.
*Maud Courtenay, wife of John Arundell of Talvern
*Isabel/Elizabeth Courtenay, wife of William Mohun
of
Hall
In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...
in the parish of
Lanteglos-by-Fowey
Lanteglos (, meaning ''church valley'') is a coastal civil parishes in England, civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the east side of the tidal estuary of the River Fowey which separates it from the town and civil pa ...
in Cornwall, a descendant of John Mohun (d. 1322) of
Dunster Castle
Dunster Castle is a former motte and bailey castle, now a English country house, country house, in the village of Dunster, Somerset, England. The castle lies on the top of a steep hill called the Tor, and has been fortified since the late Anglo ...
in Somerset,
feudal baron of Dunster
The feudal barony of Dunster was an English feudal barony with its ''caput'' at Dunster Castle in Somerset. During the reign of King Henry I (1100–1135) the barony (or "honour") comprised forty knight's fees and was later enlarged. In about 11 ...
by his wife Anne Tiptoft. In 1628 her descendant
John Mohun (1595–1641) was created by King
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
Baron Mohun of Okehampton
Baron Mohun of Okehampton was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 15 April 1628 for John Mohun, formerly a Member of Parliament for Grampound, Cornwall.
The family was formerly seated at Hall in the parish of Lanteglos-by-Fo ...
, his ancestor having inherited as his share
Okehampton Castle
Okehampton Castle is a medieval motte and bailey castle in Devon, England. It was built between 1068 and 1086 by Baldwin FitzGilbert following a revolt in Devon against Norman conquest of England, Norman rule, and formed the centre of the Honou ...
and remnants of the
feudal barony of Okehampton
The feudal barony of Okehampton was a very large feudal barony, the largest mediaeval fiefdom in the county of Devon, England,Thorn & Thorn, part 2, chapter 16 whose '' caput'' was Okehampton Castle and manor. It was one of eight feudal baron ...
, one of the earliest possessions of the Courtenays. The Mohuns held the manor of
Boconnoc
Boconnoc () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, approximately east of the town of Lostwithiel. According to the UK census 2011, 2011 census the parish had a population of 96.
The parish is rural ...
not (as might be expected) as a share of the Courtenay inheritance, but by lease from the Russell
Earl of Bedford
Earl of Bedford is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England and is currently a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Bedford. The first creation came in 1138 in favour of Hugh de Beaumont. He appears to have been degraded ...
.
*Florence Courtenay, wife of John Trelawny
Death, burial and monument
Having died on 6 May 1471 during the Battle of Tewkesbury, he is said by Cleveland to have been buried in Tewkesbury Priory. He and his wife are said by
Rogers (1877) and by
Hoskins
Hoskins is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Allen Hoskins (1920–1980), American child actor who played Farina in the Our Gang series
* Andrew Hoskins (born 1975), Canadian rower
* Anthony Hoskins (1828–1901), Royal Navy a ...
(1954), to be represented by the surviving effigies in the canopied tomb in the south aisle of Ashwater Church in Devon, which displays the arms of Courtenay and Carminowe, although the manor of Ashwater descended from Carminowe to the Carew family, not to Courtenay.
Pevsner (2004) on the other hand suggests that the effigy is that of Thomas Carminow (d. 1442), and states the monument to be "the most ambitious late mediaeval monument in north-west Devon", with the design of the canopy based on those of Bishop Stafford and Bishop Branscombe in Exeter Cathedral.
Concerning the heraldry in Ashwater Church, Rogers states:
Eventual co-heirs
Thus the Courtenay estates were divided into four parts.
[ Lysons, Daniel & ]Samuel
Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...
, ''Magna Britannia
''Magna Britannia, being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain'' was a topographical and historical survey published by the antiquarians Daniel Lysons and his brother Samuel Lysons in several volumes between 180 ...
'', Vol 6, Devonshire, 1822, pp.496–520 On the death of Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, in 1556, the actual heirs to his estates were the following descendants of the four sisters above:
History of Parliament
The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in ...
biography of Reginald Mohun (1507/8-67) of Hal
/ref>
*Reginald Mohun (1507/8–67) of Hall in the parish of Lanteglos-by-Fowey
Lanteglos (, meaning ''church valley'') is a coastal civil parishes in England, civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the east side of the tidal estuary of the River Fowey which separates it from the town and civil pa ...
in Cornwall, who inherited Okehampton Castle
Okehampton Castle is a medieval motte and bailey castle in Devon, England. It was built between 1068 and 1086 by Baldwin FitzGilbert following a revolt in Devon against Norman conquest of England, Norman rule, and formed the centre of the Honou ...
;
*Margaret Buller;
*John Vivian;
*John Trelawny.
Sources
* John Lambrick Vivian, Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pedigree of Courtenay, p. 245
* The National Archives: C 2/Eliz/W13/36, Winslade versus Arundell.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtenay, Hugh
1420s births
1471 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
English MPs 1447
People of the Wars of the Roses
People executed under the Yorkists
Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall
English MPs November 1449
Courtenay family