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John Courtenay, 15th Earl of Devon

Sir John Courtenay
Tiverton , Tiverton Castle Ruins - geograph.org.uk - 1272097.jpg
Ruins of Tiverton Castle, seat of the Earls of Devon
Noble family Courtenay
Father Thomas Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon
Mother Margaret Beaufort
Born c.1435
Died 4 May 1471
Tewkesbury

Sir John Courtenay (c. 1435 – 4 May 1471) was the third son of Thomas Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon, and Margaret Beaufort, and was styled "earl of Devon" by Lancastrians in exile, following the execution of his brother the 14th earl in 1461.

Courtenay is said to have been born in 1435, the third son of Thomas Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon, by Margaret Beaufort, the daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset. Through his mother Courtenay was a great-grandson of King Edward III. He had two brothers and five sisters:

John Courtenay is said to have been originally intended for a career in the church. He was knighted by his brother, Thomas Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon, after the Battle of Wakefield. After the Battle of Mortimer's Cross Edward, Earl of March marched and took the capital from the Lancastrians. Parliament voted an attainder on his opposition, and John declared a traitor. The effect of the attainder was to terminate the Barony of Okehampton (creation 1299), so that the earldom inherited from the Redvers family was in abeyance, passing laterally to the descendants of Courtenay's sisters The new King, Edward IV, marched north and sealed his reign with the bloody victory at the Battle of Towton, following which his brother was beheaded. About 1465, Courtenay was in exile in France with King Henry VI's, Queen, Margaret of Anjou. he was titular earl of Devon from 1469.


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