COURTENAY LORDS OF MORETON [HAMPSTEAD] 1309-1485

1293
Isabella Fortibus, the last direct descendant of the Redvers earldom of Devon, died without surviving heirs of the body in 1293, and her estates, and eventually the comital title in 1335 as 1st earl of Devon and the third penny of the county also, were inherited by Hugh Courtenay (1275-1340), the young head of a major baronial family in the region.¹
“The first Lord Hugh de Courtenay established himself in the inheritance of his ancestors and his lordship; and just as he surpassed his forefathers in rank, so he excelled and flourished in devotion and affection towards God and in the observance of religion. In this respect he possessed the virtues of sincerity, piety, purity, and prudence.
He took as his wife Eleanor, daughter of the noble lord Hugh le Despenser the elder, formerly lord of the manor of Hugh le Despenser, the renowned knight, afterwards Earl of Winchester, a man distinguished for his singular power and reputation.
By her he had Hugh the second, his heir and future Earl of Devon; and Philip, afterwards lord of Moreton near Dartmoor, a knight of distinction, who was slain on 8 July 1314 in the battle fought in Scotland near Stirling”.^2
1 (‘Society, Economy and Lordship In Devon In The Age of The First Two Courtenay Earls, c. 1297-1377’. Robin J Burls PHD 2000 Bodlean Library Deposited Thesis)
2 (Monasticon Anglicanum Vol V Ford Abbey p. 380). The Courtenays were patrons of Ford Abbey and many were buried there.

1297
The two large Anglo-Norman honors of Okehampton and Plympton were for the first time united under a single lord, giving the Courtenay family unprecedented but not unique influence and leverage in local society.
(Ibid)

1309
Theobald de Grandisono sold Moreton to Hugh de Courtenay in 1309
‘In 1309 he (Theobald) conveyed, as tenant in chief, the manor of Mortone {Moretonhampstead}, Devon, in fee to Hugh de Courtenay (afterwards Earl of Devon), who in 1310 granted it to his younger son, Robert de Courtenay, and his issue , with remainder, failing issue, to himself and his heirs’.
(The Register of John de Grandison, Bishop of Exeter, part III 1899 pedigree of family by FJB Winchester)

This was approved by King Edward II
‘Hugh de Curtenay to retain the manor of Morton (Devon) acquired by him from Theobold de Grandisono.’
(1309: Inquisition Ad Quod Damnum p112)

Hugh passed Moreton immediately to a son.
‘Pardon, after inquisition ad quod damnum, to Hugh de Curtenay for acquiring in fee, without licence, from Theobold de Grandisono, tenant in chief, the manor of Morton, co. Devon, with restitution thereof; licence also for him to grant the same to his son Robert and his issue, with remainder, failing issue, to himself and his heirs. By K., on the information of W. de Melton.’
(1310 Calendar of Patent Rolls p212)

1310
Earl Hugh (1275-1340) may have changed his mind about the succession as he actually gave Moreton to his younger brother Sir Philip de Courtenay who called himself Sir Philip Courtenay de Moreton & (see below) was also called ‘lord of Moreton near Dartmoor‘ by the Chronicler of Ford Abbey.¹ According to Sir William Pole Moreton was his ‘dwellinge’.²
1 Monasticon Anglicanum Vol V Ford Abbey p. 380
2 ‘Description of Devon’ 1791 p263 Internet Archive.

Sir Philip de Courtenay Lord of Moreton c1310-1314
Sir Philip was a younger son of Sir Hugh de Courtenay, lord of Okehampton, and Eleanor le Despenser, and brother of Hugh de Courtenay, later Earl of Devon. He also held land in Somerest, including Illegh in Ilminster, and so is recorded on that county’s list of about 230 men knighted with the future Edward II at Westminster in May 1306. The ceremony took place at Westminster Abbey on 22 May 1306, during the celebrations commonly called the Feast of the Swans. Edward I first knighted his son Edward, Prince of Wales; the prince then participated in the knighting of approximately 260–270 young men, including Philip de Courtenay. The event was not merely ceremonial. Edward I intended these new knights to accompany the prince into Scotland and continue the campaign against Robert Bruce. At the subsequent banquet, the participants made elaborate vows connected with the Scottish war. It has been estimated that he was no more than 29 years old The relatively advanced age of most of the knights was probably due to a delay in being knighted in anticipation of the eventual knighting of the monarch ‘s eldest son.
(The Knights of Edward I by A. Jurica Birmingham University PhD – accessed at: https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/7628/2/Jurica_1976_PhD_7628.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

1314
Eight years later Philip accompanied Edward, by then King Edward II, on the campaign which ended in the English defeat at the battle of Stirling aka Bannockburn, where Philip was killed on 24 June 1314.¹

Robert de Courtenay Lord of Moreton 1314-1328
Robert, son of Hugh, succeeded to Moreton on death of his uncle Sir Philip who died without male issue.
(A Genealogical History of the Noble and Ilustrious Family of Courtenay (Internet Archive)

1316
There may have a been a time lapse in the succession or it was not known unversally as the 1316 Feudal Aids records: “Hundred of Teignbridge: The manor of Moreton, together with Teign Canons, which is a dependent member of it; the lord of both is Hugh de Courtenay.”
(Feudal Aids Vol 1 p 378)

1318
Two years later Robert is recognised as lord of Moreton in the Charter Rolls.
20/11/1318
‘Thomas, earl of Lancaster, the king’s kinsman, grant to Robert de Courtenay & his heirs, free warren in all their demesne lands in Moreton. By the king on the information of Hugh le Despencer the younger & Bartholomew de Badelesmere.’
(Charter Rolls)
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster (c.1278–1322) was was Edward II’s first cousin, the richest and most powerful magnate in England, and the leader of the baronial opposition to the king. He had become temporarily reconciled with Edward II. Here he acted as Robert de Courtenay’s influential sponsor or petitioner, asking the king to grant Robert free warren at Moretonhampstead. that gave him and his heirs the exclusive right to hunt specified small game—principally hare, rabbit, pheasant and partridge—over their own demesne lands at Moretonhampstead. It was also a prestigious indication of lordship, not simply permission to hunt. Hugh Despenser the Younger was a first cousin of Hugh de Courtenay, Robert’s father, and had recently become chamberlain of Edward II’s household, giving him direct access to the king. Bartholomew de Badlesmere had recently become steward of the royal household. So this document shows that Robert de Courtenay—or more probably Robert’s family—had some connection with powerful political circles.

1329
Hugh de Courtenay the younger Lord of Moreton 1328-1377 and his wife Margaret 1377-1391
05/10/1329
Robert Courtenay of Moreton died in 1328 without a surviving male heir. He held a messuage, carucate, 9 acres of meadow, 2 water mills & 100s rent of king by service of mewing sparrowhawk yearly.¹ He was succeeded by his brother Brother Hugh de Courtenay 2^nd Earl of Devon (1303-77) heir aged 21+. Hugh paid the king 50s as a relief for Moreton.²
1 (IPM)
2 A Genealogical History of the Noble and Ilustrious Family of Courtenay (Internet Archive)

Hugh de Courtenay, called “the Younger” during his father’s lifetime, was born on 12 July 1303, the son of Hugh de Courtenay the Elder (1276–1340), lord of Okehampton and later Earl of Devon, and Agnes de St John, daughter of Sir John de St John of Basing. The fact that Moreton was placed in Robert’s name suggests that it was being provided as an estate for a younger son, while Hugh was expected to inherit the principal Courtenay estates. A marriage settlement was arranged in 1314 between Hugh and Margaret de Bohun, although they were then children. The marriage took place in 1325. Margaret was the daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, a daughter of Edward I. Hugh therefore married a granddaughter of the king.
This marriage was enormously important: it connected the Courtenays directly to the royal family and it brought the manor of Powderham into the family. Hugh was made a knight banneret in January 1327. He and his father fought in Edward III’s Scottish campaign and were present at the English victory at Halidon Hill in 1333. His father was formally recognised as Earl of Devon in 1335. In 1337 Hugh was summoned to Parliament by a writ addressed to Hugoni de Courteney juniori
“Hugh de Courtenay the Younger”.1 This effectively gave him a barony in his father’s lifetime. When his father died on 23 December 1340, Hugh inherited: the earldom of Devon; the barony of Okehampton; Okehampton and Tiverton castles; and extensive lands throughout Devon and elsewhere. He is numbered either the 2nd or 10th Earl of Devon, depending upon whether the Courtenay earldom is considered a new creation or a continuation of the earlier Redvers earldom. Hugh served Edward III during the early Hundred Years’ War. He accompanied the king’s expedition to Brittany in 1342 and later held responsibility for the defence and administration of Devon and Cornwall.2 By his later years he was one of the principal territorial magnates of south-western England.3
He and Margaret had a very large family—traditionally said to comprise eight sons and nine daughters. Their sons included:
Hugh Courtenay, the eldest son, who predeceased his father, served on the Crécy–Calais campaign.4
Edward Courtenay, ancestor of the later senior line of the earls
William Courtenay, subsequently Archbishop of Canterbury
Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham
Sir Peter Courtenay, a distinguished soldier and Knight of the Garter.
Hugh died on 2 May 1377, aged 73, and was buried in Exeter Cathedral. His monument there, showing him beside Margaret de Bohun, survives.
1 G. E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, 2nd edn, ed. Vicary Gibbs, IV (London, 1916), p. 324.
2 Attila Bárány, “The Participation of the English Aristocracy in the First Phase of the Hundred Years’ War, 1337–1360”, Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, 3, no. 2 (1997), pp. 211–240.
3 Robin J. Burls, Society, Economy and Lordship in Devon in the Age of the First Two Courtenay Earls, c.1297–1377, DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 2002.
4 See https://www.medievalsoldier.org/about/miscellanea/Royal-Household-Knights-on-Military-Campaign/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

1334
23/09/1334
‘The King’s grant of special grace to Hugh de Courtenay the younger (1303-77) & his heirs weekly market on Saturday & yearly fair on feast of St Margaret the Virgin (9-11th June) & feast of St Andrew the Apostle (29Nov.-1st Dec.) at their manor of Morton co. Devon.’
(Charter Rolls)

1335
22/11/1335
‘Licence for Hugh de Courtenay (1303-77) the younger to enfeoff Robert Pil & William de Chebeseye of the manor of Morton, co. Devon, held in chief, & for them to re-grant it to him, his wife Margaret & his heirs. By fine of 1 mark.’
(Patent Rolls)
[Note: This is a licence to enfeoff and re-enfeoff, a very common legal device in the 14th century. to secure inheritance rights or provide for a wife.]

1346
VOL 1 P391
‘Hugh de Courtenay holds Moreton for half a knight’s fee.’

Vol1 P391
‘Concerning Hugh de Courtenay, who holds Moreton by the service of one sparrowhawk in socage {non military tenure}, which the Earl of Ulster formerly held; for which manor no relief was payable.’

Vol 1 P437
‘From the tenants of the lands which belonged to Hugh de Courtenay, brother and heir of Robert de Courtenay, for half a knight’s fee in the manor of Moreton: 20 shillings.’

Vol 1 P440
‘In the Memoranda of the ninth year, Michaelmas Term. The aforesaid collectors are charged, in the final account, with the said half knight’s fee under the names of the tenants of the lands of the aforesaid Hugh, according to this evidence.’

Vol 1 P441
‘Hugh Courtenay acknowledges he owes service to king for various places including Morton in the Teign hundred.’
(Feudal Aids)

1350
23/06/1350
‘Hugh de Courtenay, earl of Devon, granted the manor of Moreton & Cadele in Devon & Brodewynsore in Dorset to his daughter Elizabeth de Veer, widow, after death of her first husband, but kept the advowson.’
(Patent Rolls)

1357
05/02/1357
‘Hugh & Margaret de Courtenay given licence to grant manor of Moreton to their son Thomas de Courtenay though no evidence he ever entered into possession. Elizabeth de Veer continued as tenant under her parents until 1359 when she married Andrew Luttrel (Patent Rolls 33 Edward III 28^th June 1359). This caused the earl to reconsider the ultimate disposal of the manor.’
(Patent Rolls)

1359
06/10/1359
‘Hugh de Courtenay licensed to place the ‘manor & Hundred’¹ of Moreton in trust for himself & wife for life. Only on death of both to pass to son Thomas. He died in 1362 and his son had predeceased him in 1359. This forced another revision of the manor’s inheritance.’
(Patent Rolls)
1 Moreton was probably the centre of its own hundred in the late Anglo-Saxon period, but by 1086 it had been incorporated into Teignbridge Hundred. It remained in Teignbridge thereafter, although the old name “Moreton Hundred” survived in some medieval fiscal records.
See: Reichel, “The Hundred of Exminster in Early Times,” Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol. 47 (1915), pp. 198–99; and Open Domesday: Teignbridge Hundred

1373/4
Hugh de Courtenay, earl of Devon and his wife Margaret (Bohun d. 1391) to pass Moreton and Milton Dameral and advowsons to 6^th son, Peter de Courtenay (d. 1405), then if no male issue to 4^th son, Philip de Courtenay (d. 1406). Theinquiry does not appear to have been opposed as the proposals were confirmed.
(Inquisition Ad Quod Dampnum 47 Edward III File CCCLXXXII/6)

1374
15/02/1374
After the death of Hugh & Margaret de Courtenay, Moreton to pass to to 6^th son Peter de Courtenay (d. 1405), then if no male issue to 4^th son Philip de Courtenay (d. 1406) & if no male issue to his brother Philip (d. 1406).
(Patent Rolls)

1377
2/5/1377
Hugh de Courtenay died but Moreton was not mentioned in his IPM. Presumably because it was held jointly with his wife and so would not need to establish any heirs on his death.

1392
01/01/1392
Margaret, widow of Hugh de Courtenay, earl of Devon, died 27/12/1391. Morton. The manor, held of the king in chief, service not known.
(IPM)

Peter de Courtenay Lord of Moreton 1392-1405
1392
14/02/1392
‘To James de Chuddelegh escheator in Devon. Order to give the said Peter (de Courtenay) knight livery of the manor of Honeton the advowson excepted, the manors & advowsons of Morton & Milton Daumarle, all held in chief, & the issues thereof taken as the king has learned by inquisition, taken by the escheator, that the said Margaret (Peter de Courtenay’s mother) held the manors of Honeton, Morton & Milton Daumarle & the said advowsons (as in the last), & the residue by gift of Hugh Segrave knight to her for life, all with remainder (as above); & for 20s. paid etc. (as above).’
(Close Rolls)
Peter was a younger son of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377) and Margaret de Bohun (died 1391), granddaughter of Edward I. Peter married Margaret Clyvedon, daughter and heiress of John Clyvedon and widow of Sir John St Lo. She brought him an extensive landed inheritance, particularly in Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. Peter and Margaret had no surviving children together.

Military career
Peter probably began his career in the household of Edward the Black Prince. He took part in the prince’s Spanish expedition of 1367 and was knighted at Vitoria, shortly before the English victory at Nájera on 3 April 1367. In 1378 Peter and his brother Philip took part in a naval expedition under the earls of Arundel and Salisbury. Their fleet was attacked by Spanish galleys off Brittany, and both brothers were captured. Peter subsequently had to be ransomed.
(The Life of the Black Prince by Chandos Herald, edited by Mildred K. Pope and Eleanor C. Lodge (Oxford, 1910), lines 2609–2613.)
(Chris Given-Wilson, “The Later Retinue of Edward the Black Prince,” Nottingham Medieval Studies, vol. 44 (2000), pp. 133–175.)

He later became associated particularly closely with Richard II. His surviving memorial in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle describes him as the king’s kinsman and chamberlain. He was also connected with Calais and is called its captain on his monument, although the exact nature and dates of this appointment need further investigation. Following the death of John Neville, Lord Neville of Raby, on 17 October 1388, Sir Peter Courtenay was elected a Knight of the Garter and succeeded Neville in the fifth stall on the Prince’s side in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. No precise record of his election or installation has apparently survived, but his membership is established by the Windsor stall tables and his surviving contemporary stall plate shows his standing at the court of Richard II.
(George Frederick Beltz, Memorials of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (London, 1841), pp. 328–332, especially p. 328.)

A famous jouster
Peter acquired an international reputation for chivalric display and tournament fighting. In 1388 he travelled to France intending to fight Guy de La Trémoïlle in a formal deed of arms. King Charles VI of France intervened to prevent the combat. His most famous appearance came at the great tournament at Saint-Inglevert near Calais in 1390. Three French knights challenged all comers for thirty days. Peter Courtenay touched all three shields and asked to run two courses against each knight — six encounters altogether. Froissart presents this as an unusually bold demonstration of confidence.
(An English translation of the episode is available through Harvard’s Geoffrey Chaucer website.)

Peter and Moretonhampstead
Peter held the Devon manors and advowsons of Moretonhampstead, Honiton, Milton Damerel, Alphington, Bolberry and North Pool. These estates had been settled upon Peter and his male heirs, with successive remainder to his brother Philip and Philip’s male heirs. Moretonhampstead was held directly from the king by knight service and was valued in 1405 at 20 marks annually, or £13 6s. 8d.
Like his predecessors, Peter’s lordship was probably largely absentee. His principal landed interests were spread across southern England, while his royal and military career frequently took him elsewhere. Day-to-day business at Moreton would have been handled by his steward and other manorial officers. They did have the weekly market and two annual fairs confirmed.

1402
25/04/1402
‘We have inspected and confirmation to Peter de Courtenay, tenant of the manor of Morton, co. Devon, and his heirs of a charter dated at Westminster, 28 September, 8 Edward III [Charter Roll 8 Edward III, No. 18], granting to Hugh de Courtenay the younger and his heirs a market and two fairs at the manor. For 20s. paid in the hanaper {i.e paid standard Chancery fee of 20s}.’
(Patent Roll)

Sir Peter held various properties at Bolberry and North Pool bordering on the coastline of south Devon, and apparently was not averse to indulging in the illegal but profitable side-line of seizing salvage from wrecks, which properly should have been handed over to the king. Around the year 1398/99 he was involved in a dispute with the king concerning wines and other merchandise seized from a wreck, the goods being of ‘no small value’; and again in 1404 ‘merchandise to the value of £11.13.4 came into his hands, taken at sea.’
(R Heath Sparrow Hawk Key Copy P76 Moreton Archives)

1405
Death and succession
Peter died on 2 February 1405. His inquisition post mortem explicitly states that he died “without heirs of his body.” Consequently, Moretonhampstead, Honiton, Milton Damerel and the other specially settled estates passed to his brother Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham, rather than to Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, who was Peter’s heir under the ordinary rules of inheritance. This is the important point in the history of Moreton: Peter’s death brought the manor into the hands of the Powderham branch of the Courtenay family.

7/2/1405
Sir Peter de Courtenay died in February 1405 without issue, and his Inquisition Post Mortem records that he held – inter alia – ‘the manors and advowsons of Morton and Milton Daumarle; Morton held of the king in chief by knight’s service; worth by the year 20 marks.’
(IPM 1405)

1405
15/05/1405
Pending allocation of his estates to the right heirs, his properties – including Moreton – were taken into the hands of the king’s (Henry IV) escheator for Devon. In accordance with the provisions of the Patent Roll of 1374, Sir Peter was succeeded by his brother, Sir Philip de Courtenay, Knight of the Garter, and the first Courtenay of Powderham.
(Close Rolls)

Peter was buried in Exeter Cathedral wherehis badly worn monumental brass survives in the south aisle. The medieval Latin inscription around Sir Peter Courtenay’s brass was recorded in the seventeenth century, when substantially more of it remained legible and was translated as:
‘Born in Devon, the earl’s son, and called Peter;
Kinsman of the king, entitled Chamberlain;
Favoured by the Church, a captain proven by the sword;
Deprived of life, he was carried hence above the stars;
And, taken away, he departed from the world beloved;
Established in Heaven, may he remain blessed without end.‘
(Antiquities of the city of Exeter collected by Richard Izacke 1677 See: https://ota.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repository/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.12024/A45839/A45839.html?isAllowed=y&sequence=5&utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Although Peter had no descendants, his military career, Garter membership, celebrated tournament exploits and role in transferring Moretonhampstead to the Powderham Courtenays make him a particularly significant member of the family.

COURTENAYS OF POWDERHAM
SIR PHILIP COURTENAY (C. 1355 – 29 JULY 1406), OF POWDERHAM
LORD OF MORETON 1405-6
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.

Sir Philip Courtenay (c.1355–1406) was the fifth of eight sons of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon, and Margaret de Bohun, a great-granddaughter of Edward I. He gained considerable military and naval experience, fighting with the Black Prince at the Battle of Nájera in 1367. He was knighted before the battle, together with his brothers Peter and Hugh.

Courtenay served twice as Admiral of the West, with responsibility for protecting the coast from piracy and maintaining supplies to English forces in Gascony. During fighting against the Spanish, he and his brother Peter were captured and subsequently ransomed. In 1383 he was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland, but his administration attracted accusations of extortion, and he was removed in 1386. He later received compensation and a royal pardon.

Although regarded as an able soldier and administrator, Courtenay was also known for his violent temper and frequently became involved in disputes. Complaints were made about his treatment of religious houses and neighbouring landowners. In 1402 he was imprisoned briefly in the Tower of London and required to provide substantial financial guarantees for his future conduct.

He sat in Parliament, served on the Royal Council, and held several important offices in the West Country, including Steward of Cornwall, Keeper of Dartmoor Forest, and Warden of the Stannaries.

He helped organize troops, ships and provisions for expeditions to Wales, Scotland, Brittany and Ireland.Through royal grants and family inheritances, Courtenay accumulated extensive estates. He inherited the reversion of Moreton in 1373/4 (see above) and received Powderham Castle and seven other manors from his mother in 1391.

LORD OF MORETON 1405-6
15/5/1405
He succeeded to Moreton in May 1405
6 HENRY IV. MEMBRANE 8 1405 May 15. Westminster.
To Robert Frensshe escheator in Devon. Order to take the fealty of Philip de Courtenay knight, and to give him livery of the manor of Honyton the advowson excepted, and the manor and advowson of Morton, and of the issues of those manors taken, but to remove the king’s hand and meddle no further with the manors of Milton Daumarle, Alfyngton, Boltebyry, and ‘Northpole,’ one acre of land in Alfyngton and the advowson excepted, and the advowson of Milton Daumarle church, delivering to him any issues taken of those manors with the exception aforesaid; as the king has learned by inquisition, taken by the escheator, that Peter Courtenay knight at his death held the manor of Honyton, the advowson excepted, by gift of Robert Vaggescombe late canon of Exeter cathedral and parson of Parkham, and other, the manors and advowsons of Morton and Milton Daumarle by gift of the said Robert, the manors of Alfyngton and Boltebyry, one acre of land in Alfyngton and the advowson of the church excepted, by gift of Hugh de Segrave in exchange for the manor of Nywenham co. Oxford, and the manor of ‘Northpole’ by gift of William Chebesie and Richard Brankescombe, all to him and the heirs male of his body, with remainder to the said Philip his brother and to the heirs male of his body, that the said Peter died without issue, and that the manors of Honyton and Morton are held of the king by knight service, and the other manors of others than the king; and for 40s. paid in the hanaper the king has respited until the feast of St. John Baptist next the homage of the said Philip due for the manors of Honyton and Morton and of ‘Estcoker’ co. Somerset.’
(1405 May 15 Close Rolls)

29/7/1406
He died a year later on 29 July 1406. His estates passed to his eldest surviving son, Richard Courtenay, later Bishop of Norwich. At his death, Sir Philip possessed extensive lands in Devon, Somerset and Dorset, providing an estimated annual income of £140. Here is the IPM entry for Moreton:

‘Moreton hampstead, the manor & advowson by the grant of Robert de Vaggiscomb, formerly canon of Exeter & rector of Parkham, of the king in chief by knight service, annual value 20 marks.’
(IPM Sir Philip Courtenay 1406 {Nb Also in IPM For 1405)

RICHARD COURTENAY c1381-1415
LORD OF MORETON 1406-1415
Richard Courtenay was a distinguished churchman, scholar and royal adviser from the early Powderham branch of the Courtenay family. He was the eldest surviving son of Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham founder of the Powderham line, and Anne Wake. He inherited his fathers’ estates, including Moreton, in1406

Educated at Exeter College, Oxford, Richard became an accomplished scholar of civil and canon law. He was ordained priest in 1400 under a papal dispensation because of his youth and subsequently held important ecclesiastical offices, including the deaneries of St Asaph and Wells. He served more than once as Chancellor of Oxford University. In 1411 he defended the university’s traditional liberties against Archbishop Thomas Arundel’s attempt to extend Canterbury’s authority over Oxford. Although Henry IV supported the archbishop and Richard was forced to submit, his reputation remained high. Later writers called him “the Flower of Devon”, though no contemporary source for the epithet has been identified.

In 1413 Richard was appointed Bishop of Norwich. He also became Treasurer of the King’s Household, keeper of the royal jewels, a royal councillor and diplomatic adviser. He was among Henry V’s closest friends and assisted in negotiations with France. Suggestions of a romantic relationship remain speculative and unsupported by contemporary evidence.

Richard accompanied Henry’s invasion of France in 1415 but died of dysentery or another illness during the siege of Harfleur on 15/09/1415, shortly before Agincourt. His body was returned to England and buried near Henry’s future tomb in Westminster Abbey. The grave was rediscovered in 1953, containing his skeleton, a wooden crozier and a ruby-set gold ring, now displayed in the Abbey’s Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries.

LORD OF MORETON 1406-1415
1415
The manor of Moretonhampstead with the advowson by the grant of Robert de Vaggescomb to Hugh & Margaret for their lives with remainder to Philip Courtenay, knight, & heirs male & right heirs of the earl.  Held of the king in chief by knight service. Annual values, the manor £24 & the advowson £10.’
(IPM 1415)

As an unmarried churchman without children, however, he did not continue the family line. After his death, the estates passed to Philip, the heir of his younger brother, Sir John Courtenay, who had predeceased him. Philip was aged 11 and because he was underage, the Crown placed the estates in the custody of his paternal uncle, William Courtenay, and three associates, backed by three Devon guarantors, until Philip was old enough (i.e. 21) to take possession.

02/12/1415
‘Dec. 2. Westminster.
Commitment to William Courteney, Stephen Payn, Robert Cary and Robert Westecote,—by mainprise of Thomas Lerchedekyn, esquire, John Copleston, esquire, and William Werthe, esquire, of the county of Devon,—of the keeping of the manors of Honyton, Alfyngton, Morton, Yethelton, Thurleston, Boltebyry, Southhywysch, Malleburgh, Soure, Portelmouth, Saltecombe and Whitston, co. Devon, and Thormerston and Sampford Bryt, together with certain lands in Wachet and Wyleton, co. Somerset, late of Richard Courteney, late bishop of Norwich, who held of the king in chief on the day of his death, which by the death of the said Richard and by reason of the minority of Philip, son and heir of John Courteney, ‘chivaler,’ Richard’s kinsman and heir, came to the king’s hands and are still in the king’s hands; to hold the same from Michaelmas last until the full age of the said heir, rendering 350 marks sterling yearly at the Exchequer by equal portions at Easter and Michaelmas, maintaining the houses and buildings, and supporting all other charges belonging to the said manors, lands, rents and services. By bill of the keeper of the office of treasurer.’
(Fine Rolls 1415)

SIR PHILIP COURTENAY 1404–1463
LORD OF MORETON 1415-1463
Sir Philip Courtenay (1404–1463), nephew of Bishop Richard Courtenay and grandson of the founder of the Powderham branch, inherited the family estates in 1415. He was the son of Sir John Courtenay and Joan Champernoun, daughter of Sir Richard Champernoun of Modbury.

Philip Courtenay was almost certainly born during the night of 17–18 January 1404 and was baptised at Ashton parish church, about 10 miles by modern roads from Moreton, later on 18 January. This is recorded in a proof-of-age inquisition taken in 1425, supported by the testimony of twelve local witnesses.
(Calendar of Inquisitions Postmortem, volume XXII, no. 530. Based on an original document in The National Archives series C 139)

About 1425–26 he married Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford, an influential servant of Henry V and Henry VI. This advantageous marriage connected the Powderham Courtenays with one of the wealthiest families of Lancastrian England. Elizabeth also brought interests in Molland-Bottreaux, later given to their second son, Philip, founder of the Courtenays of Molland.

Philip and Elizabeth had a large family, traditionally comprising seven sons and four daughters. Their children established important connections with the Devonshire families of Bonville, Grenville, Luttrell, Fulford and Pomeroy. Their son Peter pursued a distinguished ecclesiastical career, becoming Bishop of Exeter and later Bishop of Winchester.

Philip’s most important political decision was his alliance with William Bonville, later Lord Bonville. This was strengthened by the marriage of Philip’s eldest son, William, to Bonville’s daughter Margaret. It drew the Powderham Courtenays into the increasingly violent struggle between Bonville and Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon, for dominance in Devon.

In November–December 1455 Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon, besieged Powderham. Bonville’s attempts to relieve it failed, but Sir Philip held out and the Earl never captured the castle. The rival forces eventually met on 15 December at Clyst Heath, east of Exeter. Bonville was defeated and forced to withdraw. After Edward IV’s accession in 1461, Philip pragmatically accepted the Yorkist regime and represented Devon in Edward’s first Parliament., swearing allegiance to the new king. Meanwhile he senior Courtenay Earl of Devon remained Lancastrian and was captured and executed after the Yorkist victory at Towton. Philip and the Powderham Courtenays consequently benefited from the destruction of the senior Courtenay faction.
(G. H. Radford, “The Fight at Clyst in 1455,” Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol. 44 (1912), pp. 257–72.)

LORD OF MORETON 1415-1463
During his minority the King kept the advowson of Moreton church and approved two quick changes of Rector.

29/07/1416
‘Presentation of Richard Penels, vicar of the church of Peyngton, in the diocese of Exeter, to the church of Morton, in the same diocese, in the king’s gift by reason of the minority of Philip Courtenay on an exchange of benefices with William Bruter. By K.’
Patent Rolls

29/07/1416
‘Guildford. To C. Richard Penels, chaplain, vicar of Paignton in Exeter diocese, & William Britter, parson of Moreton Hampstead in the same diocese, wish to exchange benefices. Warrant for collation of Penels to Moretonhampstead in the king’s gift owing to the minority of Philip Courtenay.’
Signet Letters of HIV & HV

30/01/1419
854. Rouen. To C. The church of Moreton Hampstead vacant by the death of master Richard Penelles & being in the king’s hands because it is on the estates of the Courtenays, has been granted under the great seal in France. The king wishes this grant to take effect. Toly. (Footnote: Presentation of Thomas Brid, in place of Richard Penlis (sic), 14/01/1419 See C64/10, m.36;DKB 41 p.727)’
Signet Letters of HIV & HV

Penels was only Rector for two years but in his will he left 100s for the poor parishioners of Moreton to pray for his soul and ‘ for the new campanile of the Church of Moreton 100s‘.
(F. C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Stafford (1886), p. 382)

Following the proof-of-age inquisition, he inherited estates including Powderham and Moreton, together with other properties in Devon and Somerset, and was probably in full possession of them by the mid-1420s.

The manor was still as a non-military tenure, based upon a fixed and certain service of presenting a sparrowhawk as a ceremonial or honorary obligation.
1428
Heirs of Hugh de Courtenay hold Morton for 1 sparrowhawk in soccage which Hugh Courtenay held of old.’
(Feudal Aids vol.1 p443 See: https://archive.org/details/inquisitionsasse01grea/page/442/mode/2up

Sir Philip died on 16 December 1463, leaving his eldest son William as heir. His principal achievement was to strengthen the Powderham Courtenays through marriage, landholding and political alliances, transforming them into a substantial and influential Devon dynasty.(See Chris Fotheringham’s article ‘Politics, Networks and Estates: The Courtenays of Powderham during the fifteenth century.’ Available online at:
https://www.academia.edu/16478120/Politics_Networks_and_Estates_The_Courtenays_of_Powderham_during_the_fifteenth_century

SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY c.1428–September 1485
LORD OF MORETON 1463-1485
Sir William Courtenay was the eldest son and heir of Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham (1404–1463) and his wife Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford. At the inquisition following his father’s death, William was described as aged thirty-five or more, placing his birth at about 1428.

He succeeded his father in December 1463, inheriting Powderham Castle and an extensive collection of estates in Devon, Somerset and Dorset. These included the manor of Moretonhampstead, making him lord of Moreton from 1463 until his death.

Marriage and the Bonville alliance
William married Margaret Bonville, daughter of Sir William Bonville, later Lord Bonville, one of the most powerful landowners in south-west England. This marriage reinforced the alliance between the Powderham Courtenays and the Bonvilles against the senior Courtenay family, the Earls of Devon.

That rivalry had already led to open violence. In 1455, while William’s father was still alive, the Earl of Devon’s forces occupied Exeter and laid siege to Powderham Castle. William was therefore brought up amid the bitter Bonville–Courtenay feud, which became entangled with the Wars of the Roses.

Political career
The Powderham Courtenays generally supported the Yorkist regime. During the later 1460s William and his family became associated with George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV. Clarence’s rebellion and temporary alliance with the Earl of Warwick in 1470–71 placed the family in a difficult position, and the Powderham Courtenays temporarily lost royal favour after Edward IV regained the throne.

William nevertheless returned to public office. He served as Sheriff of Devon in 1483–84, during the reign of Richard III. This was an important office: the sheriff was responsible for executing royal writs, overseeing elections, collecting certain revenues and maintaining order throughout the county. His appointment suggests that Richard III regarded him as politically dependable.

Children and succession
William and Margaret had several children, usually listed as:
Sir William Courtenay, his eldest son and successor, who died in 1512
Edward Courtenay, later of Landrake in Cornwall
Philip Courtenay
James Courtenay
Joan Courtenay, who married Sir William Carew
Some older pedigrees give additional children, but their placement in the family is uncertain.

Sir William died in September 1485, probably around 20 September, shortly after Henry VII’s victory at Bosworth. He was apparently buried at St Clement’s Church, Powderham. His widow Margaret survived him until 1487. Their arms—Courtenay impaling Bonville—remain represented in Powderham church.

The most significant feature of his career is that, despite the upheavals of the Wars of the Roses, he preserved and transmitted the Powderham inheritance intact. He was therefore an important link between his formidable father, Sir Philip, and the increasingly influential Powderham Courtenays of the Tudor period.

His eldest son, another Sir William Courtenay, succeeded him at Powderham and as lord of Moretonhampstead.

Useful sources include:
J. L. Vivian’s Visitations of the County of Devon, the Courtenay pedigree at pp. 243–53: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002002213917&seq=257
Thompson, J. A. F. “The Courtenay family in the Yorkist period.” Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research 45, no. 112 (1972): 230–246.
The surviving Courtenay–Bonville heraldry in St Clement’s Church, Powderham