Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter
Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter KG (approx. 1498 - December 9, 1538 in London ) was an English nobleman and courtier under the reign of King Henry VIII. About his mother Katherine of York , a younger sister of the Elizabeth of York , Henry Courtenay was Heinrich's cousin and a prince closely related to the House of York , which is why he had a place in the English line of succession. Initially a close friend and confidante of the king, Henry Courtenay aroused the suspicion of his cousin through his sympathy for the outcast Catherine of Aragon and her daughter Maria . Eventually he was arrested as part of the Exeter Conspiracy named after him and executed for high treason.
Childhood and youth
Henry Courtenay was born between 1498 and 1499 as the eldest surviving son of William Courtenay and Katherine of York . His grandfather Edward Courtenay of Boconnoc had in 1485 against Richard III. posed and had defected to Heinrich Tudor , which is why this gave him the title of Earl of Devon after his coronation . His son William Courtenay, Henry's father, was initially one of the favorites of the new king, who married his sister-in-law to him. Henry grew up with his siblings Margaret and Edward in the countryside in Havering-atte-Bower, Essex , an old royal residence that was part of the Queen's Wittum .
Due to an alleged conspiracy with Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk , his father William fell out of favor in 1502 and was imprisoned in the Tower of London . In July of the same year, Henry's little brother Edward died. Henry and his family were then supported by his aunt Elizabeth of York, who regularly provided them with clothes, food, servants and wet nurses and paid for them out of their own pocket. She finally brought the two children to the court in London, where they were given their own chambers. The royal accounts show that Henry fell ill shortly after his arrival and that his aunt paid the large sum of 10 shillings for his medication. His tutor was Giles Duwes, who also taught Elizabeth's children in French. It is possible that Henry was brought up together with his cousin Heinrich, because under his reign he was described as "the close relative of the king", who "grew up with his majesty in his rooms from an early age".
After Heinrich's accession to the throne, the family's situation suddenly improved. William Courtenay was released from prison and made Earl of Devon in 1511, but died a month later, after which Henry inherited the title. In 1514 he belonged to the entourage of his cousin Mary Tudor in France and was by Louis XII. selected for political negotiations. Heinrich also treated his cousin preferentially and accepted him into the narrow circle of his personal friends and favorites. Among other things, there is evidence of a snowball fight between the two around 1519. Henry also made friends with Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk , with whom he sometimes dined. When he came of age in 1520, Heinrich officially accepted him as a gentleman of the Privy Chamber , giving Henry unrestricted access to the king. At court he soon made a name for himself in the joust , so that in 1520 he shone together with Charles Brandon and the Marquess of Dorset at the meeting of the Camp du Drap d'Or in the tournament. The three also showed their skills for Charles V's visit to England.
Ascent
How high Henry was in the favor of his cousin was shown, among other things, by the honors with which the king showered him. Henry was inducted into the prestigious Order of the Garter in 1521 and made Constable of Windsor four years later . On Corpus Christi that year, Charles Brandon and Dorset ceremonially escorted Henry into the presence of the king who bestowed him the title of Marquess of Exeter . On the same day, Henry Fitzroy and Henry Brandon were also bestowed noble degrees. By Cardinal Wolsey restructuring of the royal household in 1526 Henry Courtenay would like his comrade Francis Bryan lost his post in the royal private quarters, but in his case the king opposed the Cardinal. Heinrich insisted on keeping Henry in his service and Wolsey had to give in. It was the only case during the restructuring that the cardinal could not get his way.
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Despite these surveys, Courtenay was financially dependent on his cousin for years, as his full inheritance was not due to him until his mother's death. Here, too, the king was generous and transferred lands in Cornwall , Kent and Devon to his young relative . He also ensured that Courtenay was awarded the condemned man's London villas after the execution of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham . After the death of his mother, Henry Courtenay's estate expanded to include 34 houses in Devon, twelve in Cornwall and sixteen between Dorset and Hampshire. This made him an important local magnate. However, he rarely stayed in Devon and Cornwall and left the regions to his administrators. His family ancestry became West Horsley in Surrey instead . Only in 1531 did Courtenay in Cornwall intervene at gunpoint in a private dispute between his father-in-law and receive a large amount of compensation from a Cornish resident.
Courtenay married for the first time in June 1515. His bride was ten-year-old Elizabeth Gray Baroness Lisle , the former ward of Charles Brandon, whose guardianship had been bought by Henry's mother. Since girls were only considered marriageable at the age of twelve, it is possible that the marriage initially only existed on paper. Elizabeth died four years later and Henry married Gertrude , daughter of William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, who was a chamberlain to Queen Catherine of Aragon. Gertrude herself was loyal to Katharina and, like her husband, was firmly Catholic. The Courtenays were known and famous for their love of music. They owned several instruments and promoted singers and musicians. Their first son Henry died early, so their second son Edward was their only heir.
Political activities
The king's trust not only gave Courtenay offices and dignities, but also special commissions. 1525 he was sent as ambassador to France to negotiate with Charles V and managed the release of the French king Francis I to achieve. Due to his sympathy for Catherine of Aragon, Courtenay was not one of the supporters of the new Queen Anne Boleyn . Instead, he was a well-known friend of the Princess Maria , although outwardly he conformed and supported Heinrich in his quest for a divorce. He was one of the signatories of the letter to Pope Clement VII , who in 1531 demanded the annulment of the marriage between Heinrich and Katharina. He was also one of the agents who dethroned Katharina.
During the plot against Anne Boleyn, Courtenay teamed up with Lord Seal Keeper Thomas Cromwell and served on the jury at the Queen's trial. But even after Anne Boleyn's death, the king did not reverse the changes he had made in the succession to the throne and in religious policy. Heinrich insisted that Maria officially recognize her own illegitimacy, which the princess refused. Instead, to put pressure on them, the king attacked their friends among the nobles, which led to Henry Courtenay's dismissal from the Privy Chamber.
Thomas Cromwell himself claimed that Courtenay tried to reintegrate Maria into the line of succession. In order to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the king, Courtenay was forced to join the armed forces against the Pilgrimage of Grace in the fall of 1536, although he himself represented ideals similar to the rebels. Nevertheless, his family regained the king's trust, because at the baptism of the newborn Prince Edward VI. on October 15, 1537, Gertrude Courtenay carried the infant and Henry Courtenay represented the king, who, according to the tradition, stayed away from the ceremony.
Fall and execution
Despite the king's regained favor, tensions between Courtenay and Cromwell remained. In 1537 it was rumored that Courtenay had stabbed Cromwell with a dagger and was arrested for it. Courtenay's steadily growing power in the west of England and his influence on the king was suspect to Cromwell. At the same time, Courtenay despised Cromwell, who came from a humble background, and watched Cromwell's Reformation with great suspicion. Possibly he was referring to Cromwell when he said to his friend and relative Henry Pole Lord Montague in 1536: "I am certain that one day we will triumph over these villains who control the king." In addition, there was evidence that he was in contact with Henry's brother Reginald Pole , who had made Heinrich an implacable enemy. Added to this was the king's growing fear of potential rivals for his son Eduard. Due to his various marriages, there were doubts about the legitimacy of his three children. Illegitimate children could not inherit and so after his death the crown could go to his more distant relative - Henry Courtenay.
In early November 1538, Courtenay was arrested along with his family, the Pole family and his friend Sir Edward Neville. This was triggered by statements from Geoffrey Pole, who had incriminated him in various interrogations. In addition, Cromwell had learned in Devonshire and Cornwall that Courtenay had not gathered the armed men in 1531 to stand by his father-in-law, but to be declared heir to Henry's throne. There were also rumors that a special banner had been made for him in Cornwall and carried around the villages to call for rebellion against the Crown. Although Courtenay was considered the great troublemaker and ringleader in Devonshire in the Victorian era because of these rumors, modern historians hold that Courtenay had no planned rebellion. On the one hand, he was too seldom in Devonshire and Cornwall to gain enough influence to raise an army and, on the other hand, he owed his wealth solely to his cousin's friendship.
Courtenay's sympathies for the Poles and Princess Maria had made him vulnerable and circumstantial evidence and conspiracy theories against him and his friends were combined into the so-called Exeter conspiracy . She got her name from Courtenay's title as Marquess of Exeter and thus stamped him as the main culprit. On December 3, 1538 Henry Courtenay, Henry Pole Lord Montague, his brother Geoffrey Pole and Sir Edward Neville had to answer in court. Although all but Geoffrey pleaded "not guilty" and the charges were based on mere rumors, they were found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death. Six days later, on December 9, 1538, Henry Courtenay was beheaded on Tower Hill along with Montague and Neville . His wife Gertrude was imprisoned for 18 months, his son Edward was only released from the Tower under Queen Maria. All his possessions were confiscated from the Crown, including his son's toy sword.
progeny
The marriage with Elizabeth Gray remained childless, from the marriage with Gertrude Blount had two children:
- Henry Courtenay, died as a child
- Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1526–1556)
literature
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 13: Constable-Crane. 2004 Oxford University Press
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ David Starkey: Henry: Virtuous Prince. Harper Perennial, London 2009, p. 109
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n J. PD Cooper: Courtenay, Henry . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 13: Constable-Crane. 2004 Oxford University Press
- ↑ David Starkey: Henry: Virtuous Prince. Harper Perennial, London 2009, p. 110
- ↑ a b c d e England under the Tudors - Henry Courtenay
- ^ Anna Whitelock: Mary Tudor. England's first queen. Bloomsbury Publishing 2010, p. 87
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| William Courtenay |
Earl of Devon 1512-1538 |
Title forfeited |
| Recreate title |
Marquess of Exeter 1521-1538 |
Title forfeited |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Courtenay, Henry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Courtenay, Henry, 1st Marquess of Exeter; Courtenay, Henry, 2nd Earl of Devon |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English nobleman and cousin of Henry VIII. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1498 |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 9, 1538 |
| Place of death | Tower Hill , London |