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Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of Exeter

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Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of Exeter, (née Blount; c.1499/1502 – 25 September 1558)[1] was an English Marchioness, married to Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter and a member of the court of Henry VIII of England. She was a godmother to the future Elizabeth I.

Family

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Gertrude was the daughter of William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, Katherine of Aragon's chamberlain,[2] and his first wife Elisabeth Say, the daughter and coheiress to Sir William Say.[1] One of her step-mothers was Inez de Venegas, one of Catherine of Aragon's original Spanish ladies-in-waiting. [citation needed]

In 1519 she married Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter.[3] He was a rising star within the privy chamber and close friend and first cousin of Henry VIII's, having "been brought up of a child with his grace in his chamber."[4] The coupled lived in West Horsley Place during the 1530s.[5]

Marchioness of Exeter

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As Marchioness of Exeter, Gertrude was one of Queen Catherine of Aragon's attendants at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520,[1] where she participated in courtly pageants with the king’s sister, Mary, Dowager Queen of France, and the sisters Mary and Anne Boleyn, while her husband took part in jousting.[5]

Gertrude and her husband were held in high favour at the English royal court and in 1525, Courtenay was created Marquess of Exeter.[6] In May 1529, the Courtenay's were given prominent roles in jousts and dances, with Gertrude dancing hand in hand with Princess Mary.[7] Gertrude also presented the Princess to the French Ambassador.[5]

Gertrude fell ill of the sweating sickness, in 1528, but survived.[5]

Gertrude was amongst a group of high ranking noblewomen who openly opposed King Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Others were Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk and the King's sister; Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of Norfolk; Anne Grey, Baroness Hussey and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury.[8] In September 1533 Gertrude was described in a letter written by the Imperial Ambassador, Eustache Chapuys, as "the sole consolation of the Queen and Princess."[1] When Chapuys was later imprisoned, Gertrude took a risk by visiting him in person.[9]

In 1533, Anne Boleyn gave birth to a baby girl. Princess Elizabeth was baptised, and Gertrude, a close friend of Katherine of Aragon's, was chosen as the godmother at the confirmation.[10] It was well known that Gertrude "really wanted to have nothing to do with this" but agreed "so as not to displease the King".[11] By acting as godmother, this forced Gertrude and her husband to show public allegiance to Anne.[12] Also, as a royal baptusm was a public spectacle and a godparent was expected to provide an extremely expensive present, historian Eric Ives has concluded that the decision to appoint Gertrude to this role was malicious.[13]

Mary refusal to accept the invalidity of her parents’ marriage and the King's privy council went into an emergency session in 1536 to discuss what should be done. Despite being member, Gertrude's husband was barred from attending as he and his wife were known to be close to Mary.[9] Chapuys reported to Emperor Charles V of the love that Courtenay had for the princess, “in whose service he would willingly, as he has often sent to tell me, shed his blood.”[9]

In October 1537, Gertrude represented Princess Mary at the pre-funeral ceremonies for Queen Jane Seymour at Hampton Court Palace.[14] She also carried the new born Prince Edward during his christening.[1]

Gertrude was imprisoned with her husband, Henry Courtenay, and their son, Edward, in the Tower of London following the discovery of the supposed Exeter Conspiracy in 1538. Widowed when Henry was executed, Gertrude and her son were attainted and remained in prison. The King is said to have partied at Westminister while Courtenay was being beheaded on Tower Hill.[6][9]

In 1540, Gertrude was released from the Tower. Her attainder was reversed by Mary I of England, and she was appointed her lady in waiting during her reign.

Death

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She died in 1558 and was buried in Wimborne Minster in Dorset.[1]

Issue

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Gertrude had two sons with her husband:

  • Henry Courtenay, who died in infancy;[1]
  • Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (c. 1527 – 18 September 1556), eldest surviving son, who having spent 15 years incarcerated in the Tower of London was released on 3 August 1553, a few days after the accession of Queen Mary to the throne. She created him Earl of Devon on 3 September 1553.[15] He had been tutored during his imprisonment by Bishop Stephen Gardiner, who considered him a protégé, and he had been considered as a potential husband for Mary before her marriage to Phillip II of Spain.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cooper, J. P. D. (3 January 2008) [23 September 2004]. "Courtenay [née Blount], Gertrude, marchioness of Exeter (d. 1558), noblewoman and courtier". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6450. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  2. ^ Carley, James P. (3 January 2008) [23 September 2004]. "Blount, William, fourth Baron Mountjoy (c. 1478–1534), courtier and literary patron". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2702. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  3. ^ Cooper, J. P. D. (3 January 2008) [23 September 2004]. "Courtenay, Henry, marquess of Exeter (1498/9–1538), nobleman and courtier". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  4. ^ Ives, Eric. Anne Boleyn. p.125
  5. ^ a b c d "Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of Exeter". West Horsley Place. 28 April 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b Bilyeau, Nancy (24 November 2023). "Henry VIII Lashes Out: The Exeter Conspiracy". The Anne Boleyn Files. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  7. ^ Betteridge, Thomas; Walker, Greg (19 July 2012). The Oxford Handbook of Tudor Drama. OUP Oxford. p. 413. ISBN 978-0-19-956647-1.
  8. ^ Harris, Barbara J. (June 1990). "Women and Politics in Early Tudor England". The Historical Journal. 33 (2): 259–281. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00013327. ISSN 1469-5103.
  9. ^ a b c d Pierce, Hazel. "Wolf Hall: Princess Mary was not so alone in her fight against her father, Henry VIII, as the TV series would like you to believe". Bangor University. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  10. ^ Merrington, Andrew (10 June 2024). "Translating research into live experience: how Exeter's history expertise is helping to bring famous Tudor pageant to life". News. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  11. ^ Ives, Eric. Anne Boleyn. p.231
  12. ^ Whitehead, Georgia (26 May 2020). "Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of Exeter (d.1558)". The Tudor Society. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  13. ^ Ives, Eric. Anne Boleyn. p. 231
  14. ^ "Spelthorne Hundred: Hampton Court Palace, history Pages 327-371 A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2, General; Ashford, East Bedfont With Hatton, Feltham, Hampton With Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1911". British History Online.
  15. ^ Archer, Ian W. (3 January 2008) [23 September 2004]. "Courtenay, Edward, first earl of Devon (1526–1556), nobleman". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6449. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  16. ^ Edwards, John (22 September 2011). Mary I: England's Catholic Queen. Yale University Press. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-0-300-11810-0.
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