Roger de Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, was an English
nobleman and powerful Marcher lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches
and Ireland following his advantageous marriage to the wealthy heiress Joan de
Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville. In November 1316, he was appointed Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1322 for
having led the Marcher lords in a revolt against King Edward II in what became
known as the Despenser War. He later escaped to France, where he was joined
by Edward's queen consort Isabella, whom he took as his mistress. After he and
Isabella led a successful invasion and rebellion, Edward was subsequently
deposed; Mortimer allegedly arranged his murder at Berkeley Castle. For three
years, Mortimer was de facto ruler of England before being himself overthrown
by Edward's eldest son, Edward III. Accused of assuming royal power and
other crimes, Mortimer was executed by hanging at Tyburn.
Early life Mortimer, grandson of Roger Mortimer,
1st Baron Mortimer and Maud de Braose, Baroness Mortimer, was born at Wigmore
Castle, Herefordshire, England, the firstborn of Marcher Lord Edmund
Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer, and Margaret de Fiennes. Edmund Mortimer was
a second son, intended for minor orders and a clerical career, but on the sudden
death of his elder brother Ralph, Edmund was recalled from Oxford University and
installed as heir. According to his biographer Ian Mortimer, Roger was
possibly sent as a boy away from home to be fostered in the household of his
formidable uncle, Roger Mortimer de Chirk. It was this uncle who had carried
the severed head of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Wales to King Edward I in 1282. Like
many noble children of his time, Roger was betrothed at a young age, to Joan de
Geneville, the daughter of Sir Piers de Geneville, of Trim Castle and Ludlow.
They were married on 20 September 1301. Their first child was born in 1302.
Marriage Through his marriage with Joan de
Geneville, Roger not only acquired numerous possessions in the Welsh
Marches, including the important Ludlow Castle, which became the chief
stronghold of the Mortimers, but also extensive estates and influence in
Ireland. However, Joan de Geneville was not an "heiress" at the time of her
marriage. Her grandfather Geoffrey de Geneville, at the age of eighty in 1308,
conveyed most, but not all, of his Irish lordships to Roger Mortimer, and then
retired, notably alive: he finally died in 1314, with Joan succeeding as suo
jure 2nd Baroness Geneville. During his lifetime Geoffrey also conveyed much of
the remainder of his legacy, such as Kenlys, to his younger son Simon de
Geneville, who had meanwhile become Baron of Culmullin through marriage to
Joanna FitzLeon. Roger Mortimer therefore succeeded to the eastern part
of the Lordship of Meath, centred on Trim and its stronghold of Trim Castle.
He did not succeed, however, to the Lordship of Fingal.
Military adventures in Ireland and Wales Roger Mortimer's childhood came to an
abrupt end when his father was mortally wounded in a skirmish near Builth in
July 1304. Since Roger was underage at the death of his father, he was placed
by King Edward I under the guardianship of Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall.
However, on 22 May 1306, in a lavish ceremony in Westminster Abbey with two
hundred and fifty-nine others, he was knighted by Edward and granted livery of
his full inheritance. His adult life began in earnest in 1308,
when he went to Ireland in person to enforce his authority. This brought him
into conflict with the de Lacys, who turned for support to Edward Bruce,
brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scots. Mortimer was appointed Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland by Edward II on 23 November 1316. Shortly afterwards, at the head of
a large army, he drove Bruce to Carrickfergus and the de Lacys into
Connaught, wreaking vengeance on their adherents whenever they were to be
found. He returned to England and Wales in 1318 and was then occupied for some
years with baronial disputes on the Welsh border.
Opposition to Edward II Mortimer became disaffected with his
king and joined the growing opposition to Edward II and the Despensers. After
the younger Despenser was granted lands belonging to him, he and the Marchers
began conducting devastating raids against Despenser property in Wales. He
supported Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, in refusing to obey the king's
summons to appear before him in 1321. Mortimer led a march against London, his
men wearing the Mortimer uniform which was green with a yellow sleeve. He was
prevented from entering the capital, although his forces put it under siege.
These acts of insurrection compelled the Lords Ordainers led by Thomas, 2nd Earl
of Lancaster, to order the king to banish the Despensers in August. When
the king led a successful expedition in October against Margaret de Clare,
Baroness Badlesmere, after she had refused Queen Isabella admittance to
Leeds Castle, he used his victory and new popularity among the moderate lords
and the people to summon the Despensers back to England. Mortimer, in company
with other Marcher Lords, led a rebellion against Edward, which is known
as the Despenser War, at the end of the year.
Forced to surrender to the king at Shrewsbury in January 1322, Mortimer was
consigned to the Tower of London, but by drugging the constable, escaped to
France in August 1323, pursued by warrants for his capture dead or alive.
In the following year Queen Isabella, anxious to escape from her husband,
obtained his consent to her going to France to use her influence with her
brother, King Charles IV, in favour of peace. At the French court the queen
found Roger Mortimer, who became her lover soon afterwards. At his
instigation, she refused to return to England so long as the Despensers
retained power as the king's favourites. Historians have speculated as to the
date at which Mortimer and Isabella actually became lovers. The modern view
is that it began while both were still in England, and that after a
disagreement, Isabella abandoned Roger to his fate in the Tower. His subsequent
escape became one of medieval England's most colourful episodes. However almost
certainly Isabella risked everything by chancing Mortimer's companionship and
emotional support when they first met again at Paris four years later. King
Charles IV's protection of Isabella at the French court from Despenser's
would-be assassins played a large part in developing the relationship. In 1326,
Mortimer moved as Prince Edward's guardian to Hainault, but only after a
furious dispute with the queen, demanding she remain in France. Isabella
retired to raise troops in her County of Ponthieu; Mortimer arranged the invasion
fleet supplied by the Hainaulters. Invasion of England and defeat of Edward
II The scandal of Isabella's relations with
Mortimer compelled them both to withdraw from the French court to Flanders, where
they obtained assistance for an invasion of England from Count William of
Hainaut, although Isabella did not arrive from Ponthieu until the fleet was
due to sail. Landing in the River Orwell on 24 September 1326, they were
accompanied by Prince Edward and Henry, Earl of Lancaster. London rose in
support of the queen, and Edward took flight to the west, pursued by Mortimer
and Isabella. After wandering helplessly for some weeks in Wales, the king was
taken prisoner on 16 November, and was compelled to abdicate in favour of his
son. Though the latter was crowned as Edward III of England on 25 January
1327, the country was ruled by Mortimer and Isabella, who were widely believed
to have arranged the murder of Edward II the following September at Berkeley
Castle. Historian and biographer of Roger
Mortimer and Edward III, Ian Mortimer, retells the old story that the ex-king
was not killed and buried in 1327, but secretly remained alive at Corfe Castle.
When Mortimer besieged the castle, Edward II was said to escape to Rome,
where he stayed under papal protection. Powers won and lost
Rich estates and offices of profit and power were now heaped on Mortimer. He
was made constable of Wallingford Castle and in September 1328 he was created
Earl of March. However, although in military terms he was far more competent
than the Despensers, his ambition was troubling to all. His own son Geoffrey,
the only one to survive into old age, mocked him as "the king of folly."
During his short time as ruler of England he took over the lordships of
Denbigh, Oswestry, and Clun. He was also granted the marcher lordship of
Montgomery by the queen. The jealousy and anger of many nobles
were aroused by Mortimer's use of power. Henry, Earl of Lancaster, one of the
principals behind Edward II's deposition, tried to overthrow Mortimer,
but the action was ineffective as the young king passively stood by. Then, in
March 1330, Mortimer ordered the execution of Edmund, Earl of Kent, the
half-brother of Edward II. After this execution Henry Lancaster prevailed upon
the young king, Edward III, to assert his independence. In October 1330, a
Parliament was summoned to Nottingham, just days before Edward's eighteenth
birthday, and Mortimer and Isabella were seized by Edward and his companions from
inside Nottingham Castle. In spite of Isabella's entreaty to her son, "Fair
son, have pity on the gentle Mortimer," Mortimer was conveyed to the Tower.
Accused of assuming royal power and of various other high misdemeanours, he was
condemned without trial and ignominiously hanged at Tyburn on 29
November 1330, his vast estates forfeited to the crown. His body hung at
the gallows for two days and nights in full view of the populace. Mortimer's
widow Joan received a pardon in 1336 and survived till 1356. She was buried
beside Mortimer at Wigmore, but the site was later destroyed.
In 2002, the actor John Challis, the current owner of the remaining buildings
of Wigmore Abbey, invited the BBC programme House Detectives at Large to
investigate his property. During the investigation, a document was discovered
in which Mortimer's widow Joan petitioned Edward III for the return of
her husband's body so she could bury it at Wigmore Abbey. Mortimer's lover
Isabella had buried his body at Greyfriars in Coventry following his
hanging. Edward III replied, "Let his body rest in peace." The king later
relented, and Mortimer's body was transferred to Wigmore Abbey, where Joan
was later buried beside him. Children of Roger and Joan
The marriages of Mortimer's children cemented Mortimer's strengths in the
West. Sir Edmund Mortimer knt, married
Elizabeth de Badlesmere; they produced Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, who
was restored to his grandfather's title. Margaret Mortimer, married Thomas de
Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley Maud Mortimer, married John de Charlton,
Lord of Powys Geoffrey Mortimer
John Mortimer Joan Mortimer, married James Audley, 2nd
Baron Audley Isabella Mortimer
Katherine Mortimer, married Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Agnes Mortimer, married Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Beatrice Mortimer, who married firstly, Edward of Norfolk, son and heir apparent
of Thomas of Brotherton, by whom she had no issue, and secondly, before 13
September 1337, Thomas de Brewes, by whom she had three sons and three
daughters. Blanche Mortimer, married Peter de
Grandison, 2nd Baron Grandison Royal descendants
Through his son Sir Edmund Mortimer, he is an ancestor of the last Plantagenet
monarchs of England from King Edward IV to Richard III. By Edward IV's daughter,
Elizabeth of York, the Earl of March is an ancestor to King Henry VIII and to
all subsequent monarchs of England. Ancestry
Notes References
Richardson, Douglas. Everingham, Kimball G., ed. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in
Colonial and Medieval Families II. Salt Lake City. ISBN 1449966349.
Mortimer, Ian. The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of
England 1327–1330. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-34941-6.
Ian Mortimer, 'The Death of Edward II in Berkeley Castle', English Historical
Review, cxx, 489, 1175–1214. R. R. Davies, 'Mortimer, Roger, first
earl of March', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University
Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [2], accessed 19 Dec 2009.
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before
1700 By Frederick Lewis Weis; Lines: 10–31, 29–32, 29–33, 39–31, 47B-33,
71–33, 71A-32, 120–33, 176B-32, 263–31 Calendar of the Gormanston Register,
Dublin, 1916. Preston Genealogy, by Sir Thomas
Wentworth, May 1636 A. Weir, Isabella she-wolf of France,
Queen of England,. G. W. Watson, Geoffrey de Mortimer and
his Descendants,. J. H. Round, "The Landing of Queen
Isabella" D. A. Harding, The Regime of Isabella
and Mortimer, 1326–1330, M Phil Thesis. C. G. Crump, "The Arrest of Roger
Mortimer and Queen Isabel", 331–2 Derek Pratt, "The Marcher Lordship of
Chirk, 1329–1330",. External links
Wigmore Castle BBC "House Detectives at Large" Press
Release