William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon

William Courtenay belonged to the youngest branch of an old and noble family, descended from one of the sons of the king of France, Louis VI Tolstoy . Courtenay owned vast lands in Devonshire and Cornwall and were the descendants of one of the daughters of King Edward I of England. William's father, Eduard Courtenay, provided very important services to Henry VII Tudor even before he seized the throne, and therefore received the title of Count Devon in 1485, which belonged to the older branch of Courtenay until 1471. William was Edward's only son from a marriage with a cousin, Elizabeth Courtenay.

In 1495, the king allowed Edward Courtenay to marry William to the sixteen-year-old Catherine of York , the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth ; thus, William became the king's brother-in-law and approached the throne.

William and his father took an active part in suppressing the rebellion of Perkin Warbeck , who questioned the Tudors' right to the crown (1497). But a few years later, Henry VII suspected him of participating in a conspiracy whose purpose was to reign the Yorkist challenger Edmund de La Paul (grandson of Richard of York and cousin of the wives of the king and Earl of Devon). In 1504, Courtenay was arrested and deprived of the right to inherit patrimonial possessions and titles; from that time he was imprisoned in the Tower.

In 1509, the king and Eduard de Courtenay died within a month. The Tower Prisoner was forgiven by the new King Henry VIII and restored to his rights. At the coronation of Henry on June 24, 1509, Courtenay carried the monarch's sword. The question remains whether he lived long enough to formally assume his rights; perhaps this entry occurred on May 10, 1511. Already on May 9, 1511, William Courtenay died.

William Courtenay has been married since 1495 to Catherine of York , daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville . Four children were born in this marriage:

• Henry, 2nd Earl of Devon, Marquis of Exeter (c. 1496-1539)
• Edward (c. 1497-1502)
• Margaret (died 1512)
• Margaret (circa 1499 - until 1526); husband - Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester

• William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, at www.thepeerage.com