I apologize for this long post. I found so much information on the following people that I decided to just use their wikipedia posts instead of consolidating all of their information into my own words.
When Hugh (2nd Earl
Devonshire) De Courtenay was born on July 12, 1303, in Okehampton, Devon,
England, his father, Hugh, was 26 and his mother, Agnes, was 24. He married
Margaret de Bohun, 2nd Countess of Devon on August 11, 1325. He died on May 2,
1377, in Exeter, Devon, England, at the age of 73, and was buried in England.
On January 20, 1327 Hugh was made a knight
banneret. In 1333 both Hugh and his
father were at the Battle of Halidon Hill.
In 1339 they were also with the forces which stopped a French invasion
at Cornwall. In 1342, Hugh was part of
King Edward III's expedition to Brittany.
In 1350 Hugh was granted permission by Edward III to travel for a year. During that year the house of the White
Friars was built for him in London. In
1352 he was appointed Joint Warden of Devon and Cornwall, and returned to
Devon. In 1361 he and his wife were
legatees in the will of her brother, Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of
Hereford, which greatly increased his land holdings.
Courtenay made an important
contribution to the outcome of the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. The Black Prince
had sent the baggage train under Courtenay to the rear, which proved to be a
wise manoeuvre as the long trail of wagons and carts blocked the narrow bridge
and the Frenchmen's escape route. Courtenay played little part in the battle as
a result of his defensive role. Courtenay retired with a full pension from the
King. In 1373 he was appointed Chief Warden of the Royal
Forests of Devon, the income of which in 1374 was assessed by Parliament at
£1500 per annum. He was one of the least wealthy of the English earls,
and did not compare in this respect with his much wealthier fellow warrior
lords such as Arundel, Suffolk, and Warwick.
He had nevertheless a retinue of 40 knights, esquires and lawyers in
Devon. He also held property by entail, including five manors in Somerset,
two in Cornwall, two in Hampshire, one in Dorset and one in
Buckinghamshire. The earl had stood as
patron in the career of John Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter. He supported the taking-on of debt to build
churches in the diocese of Exeter. He died at Exeter 2 May 1377, and
was buried in Exeter Cathedral on the same day. His left a will
dated 28 Jan 1391.
When Sir Philip de
Courtenay was born in 1355 in Powderham, Devon, England, his father, Hugh, was
52 and his mother, Margaret, was 44. He had a daughter with Anne Wake in 1380.
He died on July 29, 1406, at the age of 51.
Sir
Philip Courtenay (c.1355 – 29 July
1406), of Powderham, Devon was the fifth son of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl
of Devon (1303-1377). He was the founder of
the cadet dynasty known as "Courtenay of Powderham", seated at the
manor of Powderham, until then a former Bohun manor of little importance,
whilst the line descended from his elder brother, the Earls of Devon of the
mediaeval era, continued to be seated at Tiverton Castle and Okehampton.
He was known as a rash, angry and
temperamental man but was skillful in naval and military affairs. Philip served
during the Spanish War. He was with Edward the Black Prince at the famous
victory of the Battle of Najera. He was knighted before the battle with his
brothers Peter Courtenay, K.G., and Hugh Courtenay, K.G.
On his return Sir Philip was made
Adrmiral of the West responsible for defending a coast plagued by pirates.
In 1373 he was put in charge of a large supply convoy to Gascony. In
August, the expedition took the Castle of Gurry.
Back in England, he launched a
petition to parliament protesting against corruption of the
Stannaries, which he claimed was preventing protection and patrol of the
coastline. That August, Philip was engaged with Peter in a desperate battle
against the Spaniards during which they were both captured as supplies failed
to get through to Gascony. Two Bristol burgesses paid a large ransom for their
release. In return they were granted trading exemptions from customs tax.
In February 1383, he became Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, serving for 10 years under King Richard II. He attended
the parliament that met at Salisbury in April 1384, but in July his duties were
taken over by the deputies. In 1385 the King gave him powers of administration
in Dublin. He did not stay long and returned to London on 6 May. That Christmas
the Great Council met to discuss charges of extortion levelled at Courtenay. In
January 1386 he was dismissed from his post, arrested by the Crown in March. Sir
Robert de Vere was created Marquess of Dublin and Viceroy. By 1387, De Vere was
styling himself as duke of Ireland. Courtenay was elected to the Commons in
October 1386, and petitioned against the perceived injustice. He received
compensation for the loss of Ireland. By the end of 1387, the Lords Appellant
had banished de Vere.
Courtenay also served as Steward of
Cornwall in the 12th year of the reign of Richard II. Pope Urban VI
challenged the English to join a Crusade in 1383. John of Gaunt opposed any such venture;
whereas the clerical party was supported by Henry le Despencer, Bishop of
Norwich and Sir Philip Courtenay. Gaunt made the Priory of
Somborne over to the Courtenays. There in Hampshire they attacked and
tortured the Carmelites, and when they accused Gaunt of treason, the knights
caused the death of the Friar.
It was perhaps as well for his
privilege that Sir Philip was elected to parliament in February 1383, for he
was not a favourite of Richard II. Edward III had granted him a pension of £100
for life, which was confirmed by Richard II in 1378. The Black Prince had
granted him two annuities of £50 each from the Duchy of Cornwall, which
were doubled on his marriage in 1393.
Richard II demanded his presence in
parliament because he had been given the official post of Keeper of Dartmoor
Forest in 1370, and granted substantial estates in Devon from 1380. In
March 1388, he received four parks, which he forfeited to the Merciless
Parliament. But he was granted the Royal Manor of Haslebury
Plucknett for a period of six years. In 1391, the manor of Dartmoor
and manor of Bradninch were granted to him and his wife, for the sum of £39
p/a. All these landholding decisions were confirmed by Henry IV.
In December 1404, the King ordered
Philip to grant Dartmoor and Bradninch to Henry, Prince of Wales.
Courtenay was still Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall
until 1392. Two years later he was preparing to go on an expedition with the
king to Ireland. Philip was in charge of royal household arrangements as the
steward. He was to this end commissioned to find fish from Devon and Cornwall
for provisions. Whilst in Ireland he soon fell out with Robert de Vere, Duke of
Ireland, the royal favourite, and was
removed as royal troops commissioner.
By 1399 Sir Philip was an experienced soldier called
upon to suppress the Welsh revolt. He called up the Commissions of Array. He
bought transporters of the soldiers and horses for the 1402 expedition to Brittany, and the sailing against the King
of Scotland in 1400.
He criticised ships lying idle in the docks, and
reported to the Royal Council. They urged Henry IV to bring the experience of
the West Country men in provisioning stores against France in 1402. Sir Philip
also sat on the Council of 1405. Despite falling into terrible debts governing
Ireland, he was exonerated of any crimes and pardoned by the King in 1393. When
two men were dispossessed of their property Philip encouraged arbitrators Sir
Peter Chudleigh and Sir James Chudleigh MP to decide. Many men complained of Courtenay's conduct:
Sir Thomas Pomeroy was returned some property lost in Exeter in 1402. And
Nicholas Potyngton managed to renew his complaint of 1393 for the loss of the
manor of Bickleigh. Abbot of Newenham's property was stolen by sixty retainers;
Courtenay ignored the summons to appear in Westminster. This he also did when
summoned to answer for his conduct in forbidding the Abbot of Beaulieu access
to his abbey.
Sir Philip was imprisoned in the Tower in November
1402 for clerical abuses against the Church. On 29 November he was forced to
pay a recognizance of £100 by Sir John Arundell, and to Sir John Herle and
Sir William Sturmy a surety of £1000.
Philip had been very fortunate to
receive property on the death of relatives. In 1357 he received the reversion
of the manor of Moreton on the death of his brother, Thomas. In 1374 he had
gained Broadwindsor and Cadleigh on the death of his brother, Sir Peter
Courtenay, and the reversion of Honiton and Nuneham Courtenay, and East Coker.
The Earl left him 100 marks in his will. In 1377, Sir Philip returned advowsons
of Honiton and East Coker to Exeter Cathedral to construct a memorial to his
father. His mother also left him seven manors from 1391 as well as her chapel.
Philip was granted Powderham Castle
by his mother upon her death in 1391, as well as seven other manors. He was succeeded by his son, Richard, Lord
Chancellor and Bishop of Ireland, upon his death on 29 July 1406. At that
time he held one manor and hamlet in Dorset; three manors and a moiety and
three advowsons in Somerset; and seventeen manors and five advowsons in Devon
with some smaller properties. He was valued in 1405 to have an income of £140
pa.
When Margaret
Baroness de Bideford de Courtenay was born in 1380 in Powderham, Devon,
England, her father, Sir, was 25, and her mother, Anne, was 36. She married
Robert Cary in 1395 in Holway, Devon, England.
She died as a young mother in 1400 at the age of 20.
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