THE FAMILY OF COURTENAY, EARLS OF DEVON. BY FRANK ORDE RUSPINI. (Continued from page 104). IN 1471, the battle of Barnet had proved most disastrous to the Lancastrian party. The great king-maker-Richard, Earl of Warwick— fell upon the field; but unaware of the loss she had thus sustained, the heroic Queen Margaret landed that very day at Weymouth, accompanied by her son, and supported by a small body of French forces. When the fatal news of the battle reached her she was terrified, and took sanctuary in the Abbey of Beaulieu; where she was joined by some powerful noblemen, amongst whom were the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Pembroke, Lords Wenlock and St. John, Sir Hugh Courtenay, of Haccomb, and Sir John Arundel. The reassured Princess and her splendid retinue marched through the counties of Devon, Somerset, and Gloucester, and met King Edward IV. at Tewkesbury. The attack on Queen Margaret's camp was led by the Duke of Gloucester, the brother of the King, but the charge was repulsed. The Duke of Somerset, who led the vanguard of the Lancastrians, pursued the retreating forces too far: Gloucester perceived the mistake, and, rallying his flying columns, turned upon Somerset and cut off most of his men. Somerset with great difficulty forced his way back to the main body, and riding up to Lord Wenlock, reproached him for not coming to his aid. The enraged Duke, not content with reproaches, raised the axe he held in his hand and dashed out the Baron's brains. This incident caused so much confusion that the Lancastrians lost heart, and Somerset, accompanied by some of the other leaders, fled to Tewkesbury church for sanctuary. It is uncertain whether Sir Hugh Courtenay fell on the field or whether he fled to the church; in any case his death took place that day, for the sanctuary was invaded by the conquerors, and Somerset and bis companions were dragged forth and immediately put to death. Sir Hugh married Margaret Carmino, by whom he left-1. Sir Edward, and 2. Sir Walter. Sir Edward Courtenay was his successor. He attached himself to the Tudor interest, and fought under the Earl of Richmond's banner on Bosworth field. The tyrant who had usurped the English throne, and whose hands were stained with his nephews' blood, was awaiting the approaching struggle with a heavy and anxious heart. He scarcely knew on whom to rely. Stanley, whose powerful influence in the northern counties made him an important character in the events which were being transacted, was rumoured to be temporizing with the invader. At length came the decisive struggle. Richard, blind with fury, and unhorsed, fought in the thickest of the fray, seeking his enemy. The great dramatist draws a vivid picture of the frenzy of the furious monarch, when he puts into his mouth the words - "I think there be six Richmonds in the field; Had it not been for the interference of Stanley it might have gone ill with Henry Tudor's cause, but the powerful force led by this valiant baron soon decided the fortunes of the day. Richard III. fell a corpse upon the field, and Stanley, seizing his crown, placed it on the brows of the victor, whilst Courtenay and Herbert, and Talbot and Pembroke, and the other nobles who followed, proclaimed Henry-King. Henry VII. was not unmindful of the great services he had received. Stanley was raised to the Earldom of Derby, and Courtenay was restored to the dormant honours of his family. With Sir Edward were his two relatives, Sir Walter and Bishop Courtenay of Exeter. During the reign of Richard III. these three patriots had incurred attainder, for they had raised a force of retainers, and had joined the standard of Buckingham, who had declared for Richmond. The Severn was rendered impassable by floods, and the soldiers began to desert until the Duke became alarmed. Buckingham was arrested and beheaded, but the Courtenays succeeded in escaping, and sailed to Brittany, where the Earl of Richmond then was. Richard proceeded to Exeter, and appointed a special commission, by whose verdict the Courtenays were outlawed. Not content with these measures, Richard was sedulous in his attempts to gain possession of the persons of his enemies. The Duke of Brittany was ill, and his chief minister, Landerse took advantage of the fact to enter into negotiations with the King of England. A plot was laid for the capture of the Refugees, and but for timely warning the current of public events might have changed its course. Richmond fled into France, and the Duke recovering from his illness and learning what had occurred, took steps at once to give a safe pass into France to the Courtenays, who rejoined their leader at Paris, where they were magnificently entertained by King Charles. Lord Devon remained a trusty vassal of his chosen sovereign. He accompanied Henry in his expedition into France when siege was laid to Boulogne. This war was speedily brought to a termination on easy terms for the French, much to the chagrin of the Barons, who had hoped for plunder and fame. In 1497 Courtenay took an active part in opposing Perkin Warbeck, who after being proclaimed Richard IV., at Bodmin, besieged Exeter; but all his efforts being foiled by the valour of the citizens, the adventurer marched to Taunton, and then fled to Bewdley, where he took sanctuary, but was captured. Notwithstanding this he was pardoned until further treasonable attempts brought down on his head the punishment he so richly deserved. After the capture of Warbeck the king made a triumphant entrance into Exeter, and commended the citizens for their valour. He delivered his sword to the Mayor, and ordered that it should be for ever carried before him in his municipal processions. Edward, 9th Earl of Devon, married his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay, of Molland. They had one son, William, who succeeded his father. This William Courtenay was a friend of Pole, Earl of Suffolk, who, on account of having murdered a mean person, was brought to trial. Suffolk was pardoned, but resenting his arrest, he withdrew into Burgundy. The king, unaware of the cause of his flight, suspected treason, and made many arrests of his personal friends on the merest suspicion. Amongst the victims was Lord Courtenay, who had married the Lady Catherine Plantagenet, the youngest daughter of King Edward IV. On the death of his father Courtenay was liberated, and permitted to enjoy the honours of his family. About the date of his liberation a prince was born, and great festivities were held in honour of the event. Jousts and tournaments were held at Westminster. In one of these jousts the king took a prominent part under the title of Cœur Loial. With his Majesty were three aids. The Earl of Devon, as Bon Voloix; Sir Thomas Knyvet, as Bon Espoire; and Sir Edward Nevil, as Valiant Desire. We are told that "their names were put in a fine table, and the table was hung on a tree curiously wrought, and they were called Les Chevaliers de la Forêt Saloigne, and they were to run at the tilt with all comers." On the 1st of May, 1510, the king, with his nobles, rode upon well-managed horses to the wood to fetch May. The sets were arranged, four knights in each set. In the one set were the King, Sir Edward Howard, Sir Charles Brandon, and Sir Edward Nevil. They had coats of green satin, guarded with crimson velvet. In the other set, and opposed to them, were the Earls of Essex and Devon, the Marquis of Dorset, and Lord Howard, all in crimson satin guarded with green velvet. On the third day a banquet was held, and the Queen distributed the prizes. The King received the first prize, the Earl of Essex the second, the Earl of Devon the third, and the Marquis of Dorset the fourth; after which a herald cried the following aloud :- "My Lords, for your noble feats in arms, God send you the love of the ladies whom you most admire." "In the following year the Earl of Devon was seized with an attack of pleurisy. This was then a novel and unknown disease to the medical world, and the earl died at Greenwich, no one being able to master the severity of the complaint. His body was embalmed, and buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, on the south side of the high altar, the ceremony being conducted with great pomp. His wife, the Lady Catherine, survived him. On her decease her body was interred at Tiverton, with great solemnity. They had two children-1, Henry, who succeeded his father; and 2, Margaret, who died young, having been choked by a fish bone. In the island known as Chokebone Isle there is a monument erected to her memory. This royal marriage proved to be a source of great sorrow to the Courtenays, as will be seen in the sequel. The life of Earl Henry was a very variable one. In his earlier years he lived in the dazzling splendour of one of the gayest courts that ever existed. Jousts and tournaments were the chief pleasures of King Hal, and Courtenay excelled in these manly exercises. After his accession to the earldom he was one of the twenty-six peers who sat at the trial of the fallen Duke of Buckingham, and he received a share of the confiscated estates of that attainted nobleman. The next incident in his life, of any moment, leads us to that brilliant scene which was enacted at Ardres between Henry VIII., of England, and Francis, of France. Who has not heard of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where the two powerful monarchs met on terms of amity, and vied with each other in display of pomp and brilliancy. The two kings themselves entered the lists, and, in the tournament, the challenge glove thrown down by Francis was taken up by the Earl of Devon. Henry raised Courtenay to the Marquisate of Exeter. He was one of the subscribers to the 44 Articles against Wolsey, in 1529, and a signitary to the celebrated letter addressed to Pope Clement VII. in favour of the divorce of the Queen. The Marchioness of Exeter was godmother at the christening of the Princess Elizabeth, and the Marquis, in 1536, sat at the trial of Anne Boleyn. In the same year he assisted in quelling an insurrection in Yorkshire. This insurrection, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, was headed by a county gentleman named Uske, and gained some headway at first. The Duke of Norfolk, though foremost of the party opposed to the Reformation, took the field against them, and eventually routed them. Some idea of the formidable character of this insurrection may be gathered from the names of those who suffered for their participation in it. These included Sir Robert Constable, Sir John Bulmer, Sir Thomas Percy, William Lumley, and others. Despite the loyalty of his mind, and the excellency of his character and person, the Marquis of Exeter was, in 1538, arraigned for high treason, and beheaded on Tower Hill. Amongst the most renowned persons of the day was the king's kinsman and favourite, Reginald de la Pole, who was maternally descended from the Duke of Clarence, and therefore of the bloodroyal of England. Pole sturdily opposed the king's application for a divorce from his first Consort, and having offended the bluff monarch, he retreated to Rome, where he was made a Cardinal by the Pope. Violent statements respecting the king were issued from Rome, and Henry believed that their composition betrayed the literary style of Pole. At length the king's vexation broke out in open rancour, and a diligent watch was kept on Pole's movements and correspondence. It was reported that Exeter had said: "I like well of the proceedings of Cardinal Pole, but I like not the proceedings of this realm, and I trust to see a change of the world; I trust once to have a fair day upon these knaves which rule about the king. I trust to give them a buffet one day." Upon this insufficient evidence, and on the supposition that Pole aimed at the Crown, Exeter was accused of high treason. The Cardinal's brother, Lord Montacute, Sir Edward Nevill, and Sir Nicholas Carew, were all executed, and Sir Geoffrey de la Pole, his other brother, only escaped by turning king's evidence. Strange as it may seem, it is stated by some authors that at one time Henry contemplated the nomination of Courtenay as his heir apparent. If so, it is probable that having raised the Marquis by his favouritism to the highest point to which a subject could aspire, he became jealous of his influence, character, and popularity. His loss was the occasion of much grief to the nation. The Marquis married three wives, the third, Elizabeth, was daughter of Sir William Lay; and by this lady he had two sons-Henry, who predeceased him; and Edward, his suc cessor. Edward was only 12 years of age on the disgrace of his father; as soon as he succeeded to the representation of his family he was committed to prison, where he remained till the demise of the king. In 1553 he was liberated by Queen Mary, who granted him a new patent of the Earldom of Devon, in which in consideration of the nobility of his birth and proximity of blood to the Queen," she was pleased to create him "Earl of Devon, with the honours and preeminences thereunto belonging to the aforesaid Edward, and his heirs male for ever." The patent continued as follows, " and further, of our more abundant grace we will, and by these presents do, grant to the aforesaid now Earl, that he and his heirs male may have, hold, enjoy, and possess in all Parliaments and other places, the same pre-eminence as any of the ancestors of the said Earl being hereafter Earls of Devon, hath held or enjoyed." Queen Mary viewed the person of this handsome nobleman with admiration, and her sentiments towards him were soon observed and understood. Courtenay was told that the Queen loved him and that he could obtain her hand if he desired to seek it. Courtenay, however, was secretly attached to the Princess Elizabeth, his religious convictions being favourable to the Reformed Religion. The Queen learned with jealousy of Courtenay's preference for her sister, and henceforth viewed Elizabeth with suspicion, and Courtenay with abhorrence. The subsequent marriage she contracted with Philip of Spain made her highly unpopular, and a formidable insurrection was led in Kent by Sir Thomas Wyatt, whose design was supposed to be to supplant Mary by the elevation of Courtenay and Elizabeth to the joint occupancy of the throne. His proclamation showed that he intended "nothing but to preserve the liberty of the nation, and to keep it from coming under the yoke of strangers." Wyatt made his way to London where he was captured. Courtenay, who defended Temple Bar against the rebels, was accused of complicity in the design, and both he and the Princess Elizabeth were consigned to the Tower. The affection which subsisted between the Princess and the Earl was of the most touching and romantic description. During the time when they were both incarcerated in the Tower, a little boy, aged four years, the son of a man who lived in the Tower, was accustomed to visit the two captives in their respective apartments, and he was wont to carry to her Grace a posy of flowers. The visits were observed and suspicion was aroused. The Lord Chamberlain and Lord Chandos sent for the boy, and the following colloquy occurred. The Lord Chamberlain : My little boy, if you will answer my questions I will give you some figs and apples; now tell me, when were you with the Earl of Devon? Boy: I am going to him by and bye. The Lord Chamberlain : When were you with the Lady Elizabeth? Boy: Every day. The Lord Chamberlain : What does the Lord Devon send by you to the Lady Elizabeth? Boy: I will go and ask him what he will give me to take to her. The Lord Chamberlain: A crafty boy-how say you, my LordChandos ? |