Introduction
Hugh Courtenay, 4th/12th Earl of Devon, 5th Baron Courtenay (1389 – 16 June 1422) was an English nobleman, son of the 3rd/11th Earl of Devon, and father of the 5th/13th Earl. The ordinal number given to the early Courtenay Earls of Devon depends on whether the earldom is deemed a new creation by the letters patent granted 22 February 1334/5 or whether it is deemed a restitution of the old dignity of the de Redvers family. Authorities differ in their opinions, and thus alternative ordinal numbers exist, given here.
Family
Hugh Courtenay was the second, but first surviving son of Edward Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon, 'the blind Earl', and Maud Camoys, the daughter of Sir John de Camoys of Gressenhall, Norfolk by his second wife, Elizabeth le Latimer, the daughter of William le Latimer, 3rd Baron Latimer.
Courtenay had two brothers and a sister:
- Sir Edward de Courtenay (c.1385 – 1418), who married, before 20 November 1409, Eleanor Mortimer, second daughter of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March by Eleanor Holland, daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent. They had no issue.
- James Courtenay, who died without issue.
- Elizabeth Courtenay, who married firstly, John, 4th Lord Harington in 1411, who died 11 April 1418, and secondly, William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (1393–1461) by whom she had issue. She died 18 October 1471.
- Cokayne misidentifies her as the daughter of Thomas, Lord Camoys.
- Richardson I 2011, pp. 397–8, 546–7.
- Richardson I 2011, pp. 387–8, 546.
- Richardson I 2011, p. 547.
- Richardson I 2011, p. 547.
- Richardson I 2011, p. 547.
Career
Courtenay was knighted 13 October 1399 at the coronation of King Henry IV. He was appointed 'captain of a fleet to guard the sea' from March to August 1418, and the King's lieutenant at sea from April to November 1419. He succeeded to the earldom of Devon at the death of his father on 5 December 1419.
Courtenay died on 16 June 1422, aged 33, and was succeeded in the earldom by his son, Thomas.
Marriage and issue
Courtenay married Anne Talbot, daughter of Richard Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot (d. 8 or 9 September 1396), by Ankaret (d. 1 June 1413), daughter of John Le Strange, 4th Baron Strange of Blackmere. Anne Talbot was the sister of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (c.1392 – 17 July 1453), whom Thomas Nashe termed 'brave Talbot, the terror of the French'.
They had one son, Thomas Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon, 6th Baron Courtenay.
About 1432/3, Courtenay's widow married John Botreaux. She died 16 January 1441.