Charles Brooke Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire, KG (pronounced Blunt; 15633 April 1606), was an English nobleman and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Elizabeth I, and later as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under James I. He was instrumental in forcing the Irish confederacy's surrender in the Nine Years' War. He is also known for his scandalous affair with married noblewoman Penelope Rich, whom he later married.

Blount entered court around 1583 and quickly found favour with the queen. He succeeded to the family title as 8th Baron Mountjoy in 1594. After the Earl of Essex's failed Irish campaign, Blount was appointed as Lord Deputy and commanded the Crown's forces during the final years of the Nine Years' War. He was able to defeat confederacy leader Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and the 4th Spanish Armada at the Siege of Kinsale, and captured Tyrone's headquarters at Dungannon before peace was agreed at the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603.

The old title of Earl of Devon was recreated for him in 1603, after returning to England, but he is usually referred to as Baron Mountjoy (his title during the most prominent period of his career). Since it was much later decided that the "Devon" earldom had not in fact become extinct, but was merely dormant in 1603, he is usually now regarded retrospectively as the 1st Earl of Devonshire. He is not related to the later Cavendish Earls (then Dukes) of Devonshire from the second creation in 1618.

Early life and education

Charles Brooke Blount was born in 1563, the second son of James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy, and Catherine Leigh. His paternal grandfather was courtier Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy. His maternal grandfather was Thomas Leigh of St Oswald's, Yorkshire, a lawyer who played a key role in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Blount was also a distant cousin of soldier Christopher Blount.

Charles Blount studied at Oxford for a short time, then went on to study at either the Inner Temple of the four Inns of Court. When his father died in 1581, the title of Baron Mountjoy passed to Blount's elder brother William.

His father's poor business ventures had greatly diminished the Blount family's estates. From youth, Charles Blount aimed to recover his family's reputation and wealth. When he had his portrait painted as a boy, he insisted on it being inscribed with the motto "ad reædificandam antiquam domum" ("to rebuild an old house"). Elizabeth is said to have rewarded Blount with "a queen at chesse of gold richly enamelled" for his skill in a tilting match "which his servant had the next day fastened on his arme with a crimson ribband". Essex noticed the token and angrily remarked at court to Sir Fulk Greville, "Now I perceive every fool must have a favour." The speech was reported to Blount, and a duel followed, near Marybone Park, in which Essex was wounded.

Blount was knighted in 1586. He was created M.A. from Oxford on 16 June 1589. He was made a Knight of the Garter.

Military career

Between 1586 and 1598, Charles spent most of his time on the Continent, serving in the Netherlands and Brittany. He joined Essex and Walter Raleigh in their expedition to the Azores in 1597, along with his cousin Christopher. He was frequently absent from court to further his military career. In response, the Queen states to him that "you shall go when I send you; in the mean time, see that you lodge in the court where you may follow your books, read, and discourse of warre".thumb|243px|[[Coat of arms|Arms as Lord Mountjoy, KG (after 1597), viz: Barry nebuly of six Or and Sable]] thumb|Portrait of Mountjoy by unknown artist, |left

Ireland

The downfall of Lord Essex did no damage to Lord Mountjoy's career. After the failure of his rebellion, Essex shocked many by denouncing his sister Penelope, who was Mountjoy's mistress, as a traitor, which inevitably raised the question of his own possible involvement; but the Crown, anxious to retain Mountjoy's services, and also to show as much leniency as possible to the defeated rebels, simply ignored the accusation.

On 24 February 1600, Mountjoy landed in Ireland as Lord Deputy following Lord Essex and in the ensuing years brought the Nine Years' War to an end. The leader of the rebellion, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, wrote about Mountjoy's "refined manners" that he would lose a whole season of campaigning "while waiting until breakfast is prepared to his mind!". Despite this, Mountjoy proved that he was quite qualified to pursue the war.

In early 1600, Mountjoy had dispatched Sir Henry Docwra with an army of 4,200 troops to land at Culmore to erect a fortress commanding the shores of Lough Foyle in the north-west of Ulster. To prevent Hugh O'Neill from sending a strong force to repulse Dowcra's forces, Mountjoy advanced in force from Dublin to Newry causing O'Neill to fear a southern advance into Tyrone.]]Mountjoy advanced to the location he found the previous summer at the River Blackwater, which commanded safe and secure passage into Tyrone, previously inaccessible, and set about erecting a new fort. O'Neill having observed this burnt his capital at Dungannon and fled to his last refuge in Glenconkeyne. He showed similar moderation in putting down the abortive risings in Cork, Waterford and Wexford, where the aldermen, apparently with some vague idea of gaining greater toleration for Roman Catholics, refused to proclaim the new King: in Cork, three insurgents were hanged after a summary trial, but the rest were acquitted or pardoned.

As part of the Plantation of Ulster, the majority of the barony of Loughinsholin was detached from County Tyrone and made part of the newly created County Londonderry. The rest of Loughinsholin along with the northern parts of Dungannon barony were merged to create the short-lived barony of Mountjoy. It would later be amalgamated with the barony of Dungannon.

Later life

left|thumb|1775 print by [[Valentine Green, after a portrait by Paul van Somer I]]

On his return to England, Lord Mountjoy served as one of Sir Walter Raleigh's judges in 1603, and in the same year King James I appointed him Master of the Ordnance as well as creating him Earl of Devonshire, granting him extensive estates. He was one of the founder members of the Spanish Company re-founded by royal charter in 1605.

Mountjoy's long-term successor in Ireland was Sir Arthur Chichester. Ireland remained in a state of some tension, with a number of disgruntled Gaelic Irish allies of the Crown angered by Mountjoy's generous terms to the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell which meant land that had been promised to them had now been restored to the earls.

In 1607, a year after Mountjoy's death, the flight of the Earls took place. The following year a former government ally Sir Cahir O'Doherty attacked and burned Derry, launching O'Doherty's Rebellion. The flight and the rebellion led to the Plantation of Ulster, something that had not been envisaged by Mountjoy when he had made peace in 1603.thumb|Portrait from before 1619

Marriage

Towards the end of his life, on 26 December 1605 at Wanstead Hall near London, in a ceremony conducted by his chaplain William Laud, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, he married his long-time mistress Lady Penelope (died 7 July 1607), formerly wife of Robert, 3rd Baron Rich (later 1st Earl of Warwick) and sister of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. (1597–1666)

  • Sir Saint John Blount

Sources

  • "Mountjoy, Charles Blount, Lord". p. 389.

Further reading

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