Roger Mortimer | |
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 15th-century manuscript illustration depicting Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabella in the foreground. Background:Hugh Despenser the Younger on the scaffold, beingemasculated | |
| Born | 25 April 1287 Wigmore Castle, Wigmore, Herefordshire, England |
| Died | 29 November 1330(1330-11-29) (aged 43) Tyburn, London |
| Buried | Wigmore Abbey |
| Noble family | Mortimer |
| Spouse | |
| Issue |
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| Father | Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore |
| Mother | Margaret de Fiennes |
Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerfulmarcher lord who gained many estates in theWelsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marriage to the wealthy heiressJoan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville. Her mother was of the royalHouse of Lusignan. In November 1316, he was appointedLord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was imprisoned in theTower of London in 1322 for having led the marcher lords in a revolt against KingEdward II in what became known as theDespenser War.
He later escaped toFrance, where he was joined by Edward'squeen consortIsabella, where they had an affair. After he and Isabella leda successful invasion and rebellion, Edward was deposed; Mortimer allegedly arranged his murder atBerkeley Castle. For three years, Mortimer wasde facto ruler ofEngland before being himself overthrown by Edward's eldest son,Edward III. Accused of assuming royal power and other crimes, Mortimer was executed byhanging atTyburn.
Mortimer, grandson ofRoger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, andMaud de Braose, was born atWigmore Castle, Herefordshire, England, the firstborn of marcher lordEdmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, andMargaret de Fiennes. Through his mother Margaret, he was a great-grandson ofJohn of Brienne,Emperor of Constantinople andKing of Jerusalem. Through his father he was descended fromJohn, King of England.
Edmund Mortimer was a second son, intended for minor orders and a clerical career. But on the deaths of his elder brother Ralph in 1274, and his father in 1304, Edmund was recalled fromOxford University and succeeded to the title. He married in 1301.
Roger was born on 25 April 1287, theFeast of Saint Mark, a day of bad omen. He shared this birthday with KingEdward II, which would be relevant later in life.[2]
According to his biographerIan Mortimer, Roger was possibly sent as a boy to be fostered in the household of his formidable uncle,Roger Mortimer de Chirk. De Chirk had helped Edmund killLlywelyn ap Gruffudd of Wales in 1282 and had then carried Llywelyn's severed head to KingEdward I.[3] Ironically, Roger was a cousin of Llywelyn via his great-grandmother,Gwladus Ddu.
Roger attended thecoronation of Edward II on 25 February 1308 and carried a table bearing the royal robes in the ceremony's procession.[4]
Like many noble children of his time, Mortimer was betrothed at a young age, toJoan de Geneville (born 1286), the daughter of Sir Peter de Geneville, ofTrim Castle andLudlow. They were married on 20 September 1301 when he was aged fourteen. Their first child was born in 1302.[5]
Through his marriage, Mortimer not only acquired numerous possessions in theWelsh Marches, including the importantLudlow Castle, which became the chief stronghold of the Mortimers, but also extensive estates and influence in Ireland.[6] However, Joan de Geneville was not an "heiress" at the time of her marriage. Her grandfatherGeoffrey de Geneville, at the age of eighty in 1308, conveyed most, but not all, of his Irish lordships to Mortimer, and then retired: he finally died in 1314, with Joan succeeding assuo 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. Mortimer, therefore, succeeded to the eastern part of theLordship of Meath, centred onTrim and its stronghold ofTrim Castle. He did not succeed, however, to the Lordship ofFingal.[a]
Mortimer's childhood came to an abrupt end when his father was mortally wounded in a skirmish nearBuilth in July 1304. Since Mortimer was underage at the death of his father, he was placed by King Edward I under the guardianship ofPiers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall.[6] However, on 22 May 1306, in a lavish ceremony inWestminster Abbey with 259 others, he was knighted by Edward and granted livery of his full inheritance.[7]
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 thede Lacys, who turned for support toEdward Bruce, brother ofRobert Bruce, King of Scots. Mortimer was appointedLord Lieutenant of Ireland by Edward II on 23 November 1316. Shortly afterwards, at the head of a large army, he drove Bruce toCarrickfergus and the de Lacys intoConnaught, wreaking vengeance on their adherents whenever they were to be found. He returned to England and Wales in 1318[8] and was then occupied for some years with baronial disputes on the Welsh border.[6]
Mortimer became disaffected with his king and joined the growing opposition to Edward II and theDespensers. After the younger Despenser was granted lands belonging to him, he and themarchers began conducting devastating raids against Despenser's property in Wales. He supportedHumphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, in refusing to obey the king's summons to appear before him in 1321 as long as "the younger Despencer was in the King's train."[4] Mortimer led a march against London, his men wearing the Mortimer uniform which was green with a yellow sleeve.[9] He was prevented from entering the capital, although his forces put it under siege. These acts of insurrection compelled theLords Ordainers led byThomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, to order the king to banish the Despensers in August. When the king led a successful expedition in October againstMargaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere, after she had refused Queen Isabella admittance toLeeds 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 theDespenser War.[4]
In January 1322, Mortimer attacked and burntBridgnorth but, being heavily outnumbered, was forced to surrender to the king atShrewsbury.[4] Mortimer joined Lancaster at theBattle of Boroughbridge in March 1322 and warrants for his arrest were issued in July.[4]
Adeath sentence was passed upon Mortimer but this was commuted to life imprisonment and he was consigned to theTower of London.[4] On 1 August 1323, Mortimer, aided by BishopAdam Orleton of Hereford and Gerald de Alspaye, the sub-lieutenant or valet of the Tower's Constable,[10][11][12] drugged the warders during a feast,[13] allowing Mortimer to escape.[4] He attempted to captureWindsor andWallingford Castles to free imprisonedContrariants.[4] Mortimer eventually fled to France, pursued by warrants for his capture dead or alive.[b]
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, KingCharles IV, in favour of peace. At the French court, the queen found 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.[6]
Historians have speculated as to the date at which Mortimer and Isabella actually became lovers.[14] The modern view is that the affair began while both were still in England and that after a disagreement, Isabella abandoned Mortimer 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 in Paris four years later (Christmas 1325). 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.[c]
In 1326, Mortimer moved as Prince Edward's guardian toHainault, but only after a furious dispute with the queen, demanding she remain in France.[d]
Isabella retired to raise troops in her County ofPonthieu; Mortimer arranged the invasion fleet supplied by the Hainaulters and an army supplied by his supporters back in England, who had been sending him aid and advice since at least March 1326.[15]
The scandal of Isabella's relations with Mortimer compelled them both to withdraw from the French court toFlanders, where they obtained assistance for an invasion of England from CountWilliam of Hainaut, although Isabella did not arrive from Ponthieu until the fleet was due to sail. Landing in theRiver Orwell on 24 September 1326, they were accompanied by Prince Edward andHenry, 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 asEdward III of England on 1 February 1327, the country was ruled by Mortimer and Isabella.[6] On 21 September that same year, Edward II died in captivity. Thesuspicious death of Edward II has been the subject of many conspiracy theories, including that Mortimer's men killed him, but none has been proven.[16]
Following the removal of the Despensers, Mortimer set to work restoring the status of his supporters, primarily in the Marches, and hundreds of pardons and restorations of property were made in the first year of the new king's reign.[15] Rich estates and offices of profit and power were heaped on Mortimer. He was made constable ofWallingford Castle and in September 1328 he was createdEarl of March. However, although in military terms he was far more competent than the Despensers, his ambition was troubling to all.[6] His own son Geoffrey, the only one to survive into old age, mocked him as "the king of folly" deriding his ambitious extravagance of "rich clothes ot of manner resoun, both of shaping and wearing".[17] During his short time as ruler of England he took over the lordships ofDenbigh,Oswestry andClun (the first of which belonged to Despenser, the latter two had been the Earl of Arundel's). He was also granted themarcher lordship of Montgomery by the queen. During theWar of Saint-Sardos, the Regent and his queen spent over £60,000 bankrupting the Treasury, even after the proscriptions of Arundel and the Despensers. The Lancastrian opposition were incensed by this casual display of irresponsible government.[18]
The jealousy and anger of many nobles were aroused by Mortimer's use of power, which in many ways was tenuous. In 1328Simon de Mepham, reportedly a Lancastrian at court, was elected Archbishop of Canterbury without controversy. However, the feuding would not stop. The day Parliament opened on 15 October Thomas of Lancaster's nemesis, Sir Robert Holland was murdered by highway robbers. Whereupon March swore on Mepham's cross that he knew nothing of it. Nonetheless, the King decreed an indictment; he would be judged at law against the standards of the Magna Carta. With Parliament adjourned on 31 October, he was able to slip away to his estates on the Marches. The two earls' lethal enmity, and enforced absence from the King's presence, rendered their motives almost equally suspect to rowdy Londoners. The young king would have to raise an army of archers if he was to defend his throne from a northern rebellion controlled by Lancaster. In charge of the army, Lancaster blamed Mortimer and his queen for the debacle, and the highly contentiousTreaty of Edinburgh–Northampton with the Scots.[19]
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 ofEdmund, 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 toNottingham, just days before Edward's eighteenth birthday, and Mortimer and Isabella were seized by Edward and his companions from insideNottingham Castle via an underground tunnel.[20] 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 andhanged at Tyburn on 29 November 1330, his vast estates forfeited to the crown.[6] 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 until 1356. She was buried beside Mortimer at Wigmore, but the site was later destroyed.[21]
In 2002, the actorJohn Challis, the owner of the remaining buildings of Wigmore Abbey, invited the BBC programmeHouse 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 atWigmore Abbey. Mortimer's lover Isabella had buried his body atGreyfriars 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.[citation needed]
The marriages of Mortimer's children (four sons and eight daughters) cemented Mortimer's strengths in the West:
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Through his sonSir Edmund Mortimer, he is an ancestor of the lastPlantagenet monarchs of England from kingsEdward IV toRichard III. By Edward IV's daughter,Elizabeth of York, the Earl of March is an ancestor to KingHenry VIII of England and KingJames V of Scotland, and therefore to all subsequent Scottish, English and British monarchs.
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Mortimer appears inChristopher Marlowe's playEdward II (c. 1592), theRestoration tragedyEdward III (1690), as well asBertolt Brecht'sThe Life of Edward II of England (1923). InDerek Jarman's filmEdward II (1991), based on Marlowe's play, he is portrayed byNigel Terry.
Mortimer is also a character inLes Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings), a series of Frenchhistorical novels byMaurice Druon. He was portrayed byClaude Giraud in the 1972 French miniseries adaptation of the series, and byBruno Todeschini in the 2005 adaptation.[26] Mortimer is also briefly mentioned in the 2001 filmA Knight's Tale as a contestant in a joust.
Mortimer is also a character inWorld Without End played byHannes Jaenicke.
McNeill, Ronald John (1911). "March, Earls of". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 685–686.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (MS 10,208, National Library, Dublin)
| Peerage of England | ||
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| New creation | Earl of March 1328–1330 | Forfeit Title next held by Roger Mortimer |
| Preceded by | Baron Mortimer of Wigmore 1304–1330 | |
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