Courtenay family

According to the old register of Ford Abbey, the Courtenays of Devonshire are descended from Prince Florus, the second son of Peter, and the grandson of Louis the Fat. This fable of the grateful or venal monks was too respectfully entertained by our antiquaries, Cambden and Dugdale: but it is so clearly repugnant to truth and time, that the rational pride of the family now refuses to accept this imaginary founder. Their most faithful historians believe, that, after giving his daughter to the king's son, Reginald (Renauld) of Courtenay abandoned his possessions in France, and obtained from the English monarch a second wife and a new inheritance. It is certain, at least, that Henry the Second distinguished in his camps and councils a Reginald, of the name and arms, and, as it may be fairly presumed, of the genuine race, of the Courtenays of France.

The right of wardship enabled a feudal lord to reward his vassal with the marriage and estate of a noble heiress; and Reginald of Courtenay acquired a fair establishment in Devonshire, where his posterity has been seated above six hundred years. From a Norman baron, Baldwin de Brioniis, who had been invested by the Conqueror, Hawise, the wife of Reginald, derived the honor of Okehampton, which was held by the service of ninety-three knights. Their son Robert married the sister of the earl of Devon: at the end of a century, on the failure of the family of Rivers, his great-grandson, Hugh the Second, succeeded to a title which was still considered as a territorial dignity; and twelve earls of Devonshire, of the name of Courtenay, have flourished in a period of two hundred and twenty years.. ... more

Hugh de Courtenay's castle at Okehampton

• A1 = Athon de Courtenay, b:985;
  • B1 = Joscelin, Sire de Courtenay, lvd:1034/1101, m. Elizabeth de Montlhery;
    • C1 = Miles, Sire de Courtenay, lvd:1069/1127, m. Ermengard de Nevers;
      • D1 = Renauld, Sire de Courtenay, lvd:1161, m. Hawise de Donjon;
        • E1 = Elizabeth, heiress of Courtenay, d:1174, m. Sn. Pierre I de Courtenay;  <==  Capetian Dynasty
        • E2. Sir Renauld de Courtenay, d:1174, m. Hawise, lady of Okehampton;
          • F1 ~ Robert de Courtenay of Okehampton, d:1242, m. Mary de Redvers;  ==>  Comte de Beaumont
            • G1 ~ Hugh de Courtenay of Okehampton, d:1273, m. Isabel de Vere;  ==>  de Vere family
              <==========
  • H1 ~ Hugh de Courtenay, Lord of Okehampton, d:1291, m. Alianora Despenser;  ==>  Despenser family
    • I1 ~ Hugh de Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, d:1340, m. Agnes St. John;  ==>  St. John family
      • J1 ~ Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon, lvd:1303/1377, m. Margaret de Bohun;  ==>  de Bohun family
        • K1 ~ Philip Courtenay of Powderham, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, m. Anne Wake;  ==>  Wake family
          • L1 ~ Margaret Courtenay, m. Sir Robert Cary;  <==  Carey family
        • K2 ~ Edward Courtenay of Godlington, m. Emeline Dawnay;  ==>  Dawnay family
          • L1 ~ Edward Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon, d:1419, m. Maud Camoys;
            • M1 ~ Hugh Courtenay, 4th Earl of Devon, lvd:1389/1422, m. Anne Talbot;  ==>  Talbot family
              • N1 ~ Thomas Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon, lvd:1414/1458, m. Margaret Beaufort;  ==>  Plantagenet
                • O1 ~ Elizabeth Courtenay, m. Sir Hugh Conway;  <==  Conway family