Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon

Thomas Courtenay, 5th/13th Earl of Devon
Arms of Courtenay Earls of Devon: Or, three torteaux a label azure
Spouse(s)	Margaret Beaufort
Issue Thomas Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon Henry Courtenay Sir John Courtenay Joan Courtenay Elizabeth Courtenay Anne Courtenay Eleanor Courtenay Maud Courtenay
Noble family	Courtenay
Father	Hugh de Courtenay, 4th/12th Earl of Devon
Mother	Anne Talbot

Thomas Courtenay, 5th/13th Earl of Devon (1414–1458) was an English nobleman who was involved in the Wars of the Roses. His seat was Colcombe Castle, near Colyton, Devon, and later the principal historic family seat of Tiverton Castle after his mother's death. Much of his life was spent in armed territorial struggle against his near-neighbour in Devon Sir William Bonville of Shute, Devon, at a time when central control over the provinces was weak. He had been married off as an infant to Margaret Beaufort, granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and started his career an adherent to the Lancastrian Beaufort party. On the demise of the Beaufort party he abandoned it in favour of the Duke of York. When York sought the support of Courtenay's arch-enemy Bonville, Courtenay fell out of favour with York. The Wars of the Roses led to the deaths and executions of all three of his sons, successively 6th, 7th, and 8th Earls of Devon, and the eventual attainder of his titles and forfeiture of his lands. The Earldom was however revived in 1485 for his distant cousin Sir Edward Courtenay, KG, (d. 1509), third in descent from his great-uncle. The ordinal number given to the early Courtenay Earls of Devon depends on whether the earldom is deemed a new creation by the letters patent granted 22 February 1334/5 or whether it is deemed a restitution of the old dignity of the de Redvers family. Authorities differ in their opinions, and thus alternative ordinal numbers exist, given here.

Courtenay was born in 1414, the only surviving son of Hugh Courtenay, 12th Earl of Devon (1389 – 16 June 1422), and Anne Talbot. He inherited the earldom in 1422 at the age of eight. He may at some time before have become a ward of the all-powerful Duke of Exeter.