Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1485 creation)

Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, KG (died 1509) was an English nobleman. He was a member of the ancient Courtenay family.

Edward Courtenay was the son of Sir Hugh Courtenay (c.1427–6 May 1471) of Boconnoc, Cornwall, son of Sir Hugh Courtenay (aft 1358–5 or 6 March 1425) of Haccombe, younger brother of Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon (d. 1419).

A member of a family that had consistently supported the Lancastrian cause throughout the Wars of the Roses, Courtenay became involved with the opposition to King Richard III in the 1480s, having secret dealings with Margaret Beaufort, the dowager queen Elizabeth Woodville, and the latter's son Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset. He acted a courier between the conspirators in England and Henry Tudor's entourage in France, and accompanied Henry on his expedition to England and fought for him at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

Raised to Earldom of Devon

Their Lancastrian partisanship had led to the forfeiture of the Courtenay earldom of Devon under Edward IV. On the restoration of Henry VI in 1470, John Courtenay had been restored to the earldom, but was attainted by Edward IV on his return to power in 1471 and killed shortly afterwards at the Battle of Tewkesbury.

Edward Courtenay, as the senior surviving descendant of the previous Courtenay earls, and as a reward for his support, was created earl of Devon by the new king Henry VII in 1485.

Marriage and progeny

He married Elizabeth Courtenay, daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (b. 1445) of Molland, granddaughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (d. 1463) of Powderham by Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Sir Walter, Lord Hungerford (d. 1449). Edward and Elizabeth his wife were thus distant cousins, sharing a common descent from Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devon (d. 1377). They had the following progeny, an only son:

• William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d.1511), attainted 1504, imprisoned during the reign of Henry VII and released by his son Henry VIII but died before being formally restored to the 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.

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. 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.

Succession

The Earl's inheritance was disputed and became a celebrated Peerage Case in the 19th century. 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 this wife, but was destroyed before the end of the 16th century. The historian of Devon Tristram Risdon (d. 1630) wrote of Tiverton:

"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 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, Earl of Devon (d.1419)), "and Elizabeth his wife". Rogers believed the inscription to date from the late 15th century 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 Killingworth, (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.

"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".

Examples: Quod expendi habui Quod donavi habeo Quod servavi perdidi.

That I spent that I hadThat I gave that I haveThat I left that I lost. 

Ecce quod expendi habui, quod donavi habeo, quod negavi punior, quod servavi perdidi.

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.

It that I gife, I haif, It that I len, I craif, It that I spend, is myue, It that I leif, I tyne.

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.

• [1]

• 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
• 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)
• Further similar rhyming epitaphs are given in Hoyt, New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations, 1922.
• Epitaph under an effigy of a priest. T. F. Ravenshaw, "Antiente Epitaphes." P. 5. Weever’s Funeral Monuments. (ed.) 1631. p. 581. Pettigrew, 'Chronicles of the Tombs.'
• On Tomb of John Killungworth. (1412). In Pitson Church, Bucks, England.
• 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.
• On very old stone in Scotland. Hackett, 'Epitaphs', vol.I, p.32.(Ed. 1737)
• Epitaph of Robert Byrkes, in Doncaster Church. Richard Gough—Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain.