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. 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 e