1471 he rejoined Clarence, and by March 1472 was secretary to Edward IV, who had taken back the throne. Courtenay was still serving as King Edward's secretary in May 1474, and appears to have become a member of the King's council in 1477–8. After the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, Courtenay initially supported the new King, Richard III. However, in the fall of 1483 both he and his younger brother, Walter Courtenay (d. 7 November 1506), attempted to incite a rising in Devon and Cornwall on behalf of Henry Tudor, the future King Henry VII. The rising failed, and Courtenay fled to the continent, joining Tudor in exile at Vannes, Brittany. In January 1484 he was attainted by Parliament, and his temporalities were forfeited. Courtenay accompanied Henry Tudor on his return to England, and after the victory at Bosworth and the death of Richard III, was made Keeper of the Privy Seal on 8 September 1485, and was one of the bishops who officiated at the new King's coronation. His attainder was reversed by Henry VII's first Parliament, and on 29 January 1487 he was translated to become Bishop of Winchester. Courtenay continued to play a political role until his death, being present at the ratification of a treaty with Spain on 23 September 1490 and the creation of the King's eldest son, Arthur, as Prince of Wales on 29 November 1491. Courtenay died on 23 September 1492, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Shakespeare and Peter Courtenay, Bishop of Exeter Courtenay's rising against Richard III is mentioned in Act IV Scene iv of Shakespeare's Richard III, although Shakespeare erroneously refers to Sir Edward Courtenay, the Bishop's cousin, as his brother: Mess. My gracious sovereign, now in Devonshire, As I by friends am well advertised, Sir Edward Courtney and the haughty prelate, Bishop of Exeter, his elder brother, With many moe confederates, are in arms. Citations References : Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 12 External links Courtenay pedigree in The Visitations of Cornwall, p. 108 Images of Bishop Courtenay's Mantlepiece 1430s births 1492 deaths Peter Courtenay Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Deans of Exeter Bishops of Exeter Bishops of Winchester Deans of Windsor Lords Privy Seal 15th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Peter Year of birth uncertain