Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of Exeter

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

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

Gertrude was raised as a devout Catholic.

In 1519 Gertrude married Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter. 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." The coupled lived in their primary residence of West Horsley Place during the 1530s.

Gertrude and her husband were held in high favour at the English royal court and in 1525, Courtenay was created Marquess of Exeter. In May 1529, the Courtenay's were given prominent roles in jousts and dances, with Gertrude dancing hand in hand with Princess Mary. Gertrude also presented the Princess to the French Ambassador. She continued her correspondence with Catherine, even after the Queen had been banished from court, and was forbidden from visiting her.

Despite her earlier support of Catherine, at the coronation of Anne Boleyn in 1533, Gertrude was a member of the litter of "several ladies in crimson velvet turned up with cloth of gold and tissue and their horses trapped in gold."

In 1533, Anne Boleyn gave birth to a baby girl. Princess Elizabeth was baptised, and Gertrude was chosen as the godmother at the confirmation despite remaining Katherine of Aragon's close friend. It was well known that Gertrude "really wanted to have nothing to do with this" but agreed "so as not to displease the King". By acting as godmother, this forced Gertrude and her husband to show public allegiance to Anne. Also, as a royal baptism was a public spectacle and a godparent was expected to provide an extremely expensive present, historian Eric Ives argued that the decision to appoint Gertrude to this role was malicious. She also carried the new born Prince Edward during his christening. She and her son remained in prison for the rest of Henry VIII's reign. The King is said to have partied at Westminster while Courtenay was being beheaded on Tower Hill. He had been tutored during his imprisonment by Bishop Stephen Gardiner, who viewed him as a protégé, and he had been considered by many courtiers as a potential husband for Mary before her marriage to Phillip II of Spain.