Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire

Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy
Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, c. 1594.
Born	1563
Died	1606
Spouse(s)	Penelope Rich, Lady Rich
[]

Charles Blount (pronounced blunt), 8th Baron Mountjoy and 1st Earl of Devonshire (1563 – 3 April 1606), KG, was an English nobleman and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I, then as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland under King James I. Mountjoy commanded the Crown's forces during the final years of Tyrone's Rebellion. He was able to defeat Tyrone at the Battle of Kinsale, and captured his headquarters at Dungannon before peace was agreed at the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603.

The second son of James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy, Charles became the most notable of the later holders of the barony, inheriting the title in 1594 on the death of his unmarried elder brother William. The favour which his youthful good looks procured for him from Queen Elizabeth I of England aroused the jealousy of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and led to a duel between the two courtiers, who later became close friends.

He was MP for St Ives, Cornwall in 1584 and for Bere Alston in 1586 and 1593.

Between 1586 and 1598 Charles spent a lot of time on the continent, serving in the Netherlands and in Brittany. He joined Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh in their expedition to the Azores in 1597, along with his distant cousin, Sir Christopher Blount. (Sir Christopher had married Essex's mother, Lettice Knollys, the Dowager Countess of Leicester, and he was afterwards executed for complicity in Essex's treason.)