On this day in Tudor history, 3rd September 1553, Edward Courtenay was created Earl of Devon by Queen Mary I.
He hadn't long been released from the Tower of London, having spent 15 years there, losing his father, the Marquess of Exeter to the executioner's block.
In this video, I trace the extraordinary (and rather sad) life of Edward Courtenay:
- His royal blood as a great-grandson of King Edward IV
- His childhood imprisonment and forgotten years in the Tower
- His restoration under Mary I, even carrying the sword of state at Mary's coronation
- Hopes that he might marry Mary (or even Elizabeth)
- His entanglement in Wyatt's Rebellion and return to prison
- Exile abroad and rumours of conspiracies, assassination plots, and finally poison
- His sudden death in Padua in 1556, aged just thirty
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