Tuesday, June 26, 2012

House of Mortimer


Genealogy of the House of Mortimer †


Roger, seigneur de Mortemer-sur-Eaulme in Normandy, married Hawise, daughter of Raoul III de Valois (see Amiens). He may have been the son or grandson of William de Warrenne, ancestor of that family, the later earls of Surrey. He was the father of Ralph de Mortimer (died 1104), seigneur de St Victor-en-Caux and one of the commanders at the Battle of Hastings. Ralph married Melisende, whose parentage is unknown. They were the parents of (1) Hugh, see below; (2) William de Mortimer, lord of Chelmersh and Netherby; and (3) Hawise, married Étienne, comte d'Aumale, Lord of Holderness - see Blois - possibly but not certainly an ancestor via Bruce and Percy.

Hugh de Mortimer (died c1149) was the father of (1) Roger, who died young c1153; (2) Hugh, see below; and (3) William.

There is some disagreement about the number of generations here, but I follow Stirnet and The Complete PeerageHugh de Mortimer (1108-1181) married Maud, daughter of William de Meschines of Copeland and Cecilie de Rumilly (seeKevilioc). They were the parents of (1) Hugh, died young; (2) Roger, see below; (3) Robert; and (4) Philip.
Roger de Mortimer, lord of Wigmore (died 1214) married Isabelle, daughter of Walkelin, seigneur de Ferrieres and Chambrai, lord of Oakham and Lechlade (see Ferrers). They had (probably) four children: (1) Hugh de Mortimer, lord of Wigmore (died 1227), married but no children; (2) Ralph, see below; (3) a daughter who married Stephen le Gross; and (4) Joan, married Walcheline de Beauchamp of Elmley.

Ralph de Mortimer, lord of Wigmore (died 1246) married Gwladys 'Ddu," (died 1251) daughter of Llywellyn the Great, Prince of Wales, by his mistress Tangwystsl Goch (daughter of Llowarch ap Bran, Lord of Menai). This marriage linked the Mortimers to Welsh affairs for some time to come; it makes Llywellyn 'the Last' and Roger de Mortimer first cousins. The children of Ralph and Gwladys are (1) Roger, see below; (2) Joan, married Peter, first Lord Corbet of Caus Castle (two sons but no grandchildren); (3) Janet, married Sir Andrew Perrot; (4) Peter; (5) John, an Augustinian monk; and (6) Hugh of Chelmersh.

Roge r Mortimer, lord of Wigmore (died 1282) married (1247) Maud, daughter of William de Braose of Brecknock and Abergavenny and Eve Marshal. They were the parents of seven children: (1) Sir Ralph de Mortimer, Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire, who died unmarried in 1274; (2) Edmund, see below; (3) Roger Mortimer, Lord of Chirke, who had descendants - it was he who executed his close relative Llywellyn the Last and brought his head to Edward I; (4) Sir William de Mortimer, no children; (5) Sir Geoffrey de Mortimer, no children; (6) Isabel, first married John FitzAlan, parents of the 7th Earl of Arundel; second Ralph Arderne; and third Robert de Hastang; she is our ancestor by the first and third marriages; and (7) Margaret (died 1297), married Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford (one son, no grandchildren)

Sir Edmund de Mortimer, 1st Lord of Wigmore (died 1304) married Margaret  (died 1334), daughter of William, 2nd Baron de Fiennes and Jeanne of Brienne. They were the parents of nine children: (1) Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, see below; (2) Maud (died 1312), married (1302) Theobald, 2nd Lord Verdon, Justice of Ireland, our ancestors via several lines; (3) Isolde, married first Sir Walter de Balun of Much Marcle, second Hugh Audley of Stratton Audley, by whom she is our ancestor; (4) John (1266-1284); (5) Hugh, (6) Walter, and (7) Edmund, all priests or monks; and (8) Joan and (9) Elizabeth, both nuns.

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (1287-1330) is probably the most famous of the family. He was involved in an affair with Queen Isabelle, wife of Edward II, and may in fact be the 'real' father of Edward III (though many historians think the relationship did not begin until 1324, and Edward was born in 1312). He was the chief conspirator in the overthrow of Edward II in 1327, who had made him Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1327-1329 he was the real ruler of England, acquiring new estates and titles (as Edward III was a minor). But in 1330 the king seized power and imprisoned his mother and Mortimer. He was hanged on November 29, 1330 at Tyburn, as a common criminal. Mortimer's wife (married in 1306) was Joan, daughter of Piers de Genville and Jeanne de Lusignan (and widow of Bernard, seigneur d'Albret); from her he acquired the Lordship of Trim and vast estates in Ireland as well as Ludlow Castle and estates on the Welsh Marches (as a result he forced Edward III to make him Earl of March). They were the parents of (1) Edmund, see below; (2) Roger, married but no children; (3) Geoffrey, lord of Towyth in Wales; (4) John, died young; (5) Katherine, married (1328) Thomas de Beauchamp, 3rd/11th Earl of Warwick - our ancestors via several lines; (6) Joan, married James, 2nd Lord Audley - our ancestors via the Touchet Audleys; (7) Agnes (died 1368), married first Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (one son, one grandson, no further descendants), and second John de Hakeluyt; (8) Margaret, married (1320) Sir Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Lord Berkeley; (9) Maud, married John de Cherlton, 3rd Lord of Powys, no children; (10) Blanche (died 1347), married Sir Piers de Grandison, 2nd Lord, no children; (11) Beatrix (died 1383), married first (1327) Edward Plantagenet, a nephew of Edward II, who died at 15; and second Sir Thomas de Braose of Manningford Bruce, etc, Lord Braose - descendants through the female line, but not us.

Sir Edmund Mortimer, Lord Mortimer (1306-1332) was denied the title Earl of March because of his father's attainder. He married Elizabeth, daughter Bartholomew deBadlesmere of Badlesmere and Chilham Castle, 1st Lord; they had one son, Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March (1328-1360). While still a minor, he received some of the family property back from Edward III, and served in the army in France; he was at Crécy, and was made a Knight of the Garter. In 1355 he was summoned to Parliament as Earl of March, and was later Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports, among other honors. He died in Burgundy during a military campaign, age about 31. He married Philippa, daughter of William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury- interestingly, he was one of the chief nobles who arrested the first Earl of March, and had received some of his estates. They were the parents of three children: (1) Roger, died young; (2) Edmund, see below; and (3) Margery, married John Touchet, who became Lord Audley by inheritance from his mother; we are descended from them via several lines.

Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March (1352-1381) was an infant when his father died. At age 17 he married Philippa (died 1378), only child of Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III. This marriage is the fundamental cause of the Wars of the Roses. At the time, there was no reason to think that Philippa would become heir to the throne by the strict rules of primogeniture; but her grandson did, upon the death of her cousin Richard II in 1400. As father of the heir presumptive (see below), Edmund was hated and feared by John of Gaunt, who wanted the throne for himself or his son; he forced Edmund to accept the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, to get him out of the country. The Earl and Countess of March had five children: (1) Roger, see below; (2) Edmund (1376-1411), who married Catherine, a daughter of Owen Glendower, and had daughters and further descendants; (3) John, lived to adulthood but died childless; (4) Elizabeth (1371-1417), married first Henry 'Hotspur' Percy and second Thomas, first Lord Camoys (two children by the first marriage); and (5) Philippa (died 1401), married first John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, no children; second Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, no surviving children; and third John Poynings, Lord St. John, no known children. 


Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (1374-1398) was recognized as heir to the throne by Richard II, but died before the King did, in a battle at Kells in Ireland . He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age seven, and married Alianore, daughter of Thomas Holand, second Earl of Kent (and a great-great-granddaughter of Edward I). They were the parents of three children (1) Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March (1391-1425), married but no children; (2) Roger, died young; and (3) Anne (1390-1411), whose son became de jure heir to the throne when her brother died in 1425. She and Edmund had, however, been treated well by Henry V, and were never imprisoned. Edmund was even one of the regents for the infant Henry VI.

Anne Mortimer married her cousin Richard Plantagenet (1375-1415), a grandson of Edward III, who became the leader of the Yorkist opposition to the House of Lancaster in the name of his wife and son. They were the parents of two children (see Plantagenet), and grandparents of Edward IV and Richard III, as well as great-grandparents of Henry VIII.

This family was closely intertwined with the house of Plantagenet throughout the Middle Ages, and in fact was the de jure royal family for a time during the Wars of the Roses. The arms shown above were used by Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March (c. 1328-1360).

 (click on the photo to enlarge and see my de Mortimer line)

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