Short answers, pulled from the story.
Gertrude Courtenay, born Gertrude Blount around 1499-1502, was an English noblewoman and member of the courts of Henry VIII and Mary I. She was married to Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, and served as a godmother to the future Elizabeth I at her 1533 baptism.
The supposed Exeter Conspiracy, discovered in 1538, led to the imprisonment of Gertrude Courtenay, her husband Henry Courtenay, and their son Edward in the Tower of London. Henry Courtenay was executed on Tower Hill, and Gertrude was attainted; she and her son remained imprisoned for the rest of Henry VIII's reign until her release in 1540.
Gertrude was appointed godmother to Princess Elizabeth at her 1533 baptism despite being a known supporter of Catherine of Aragon. Historian Eric Ives argued the appointment was deliberately malicious, as it forced Gertrude and her husband to publicly demonstrate allegiance to Anne Boleyn, and required Gertrude to provide an extremely expensive gift as was expected of royal godparents.
Gertrude was among a group of noblewomen who openly opposed Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. She continued corresponding with Catherine after the queen was banished from court, and in September 1533 the Imperial Ambassador Eustache Chapuys described her as "the sole consolation of the Queen and Princess." She also visited the imprisoned Chapuys in disguise to warn him about the king's intentions.
Gertrude Courtenay died on the 25th of September 1558 and was buried at Wimborne Minster in Dorset.
Edward Courtenay, Gertrude's eldest surviving son born around 1527, spent approximately fifteen years imprisoned in the Tower of London following the Exeter Conspiracy. He was released on the 3rd of August 1553 after Mary I's accession, and she created him Earl of Devon on the 3rd of September 1553. He had been tutored during his imprisonment by Bishop Stephen Gardiner and was considered by many courtiers as a potential husband for Queen Mary before her marriage to Philip II of Spain.