1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer

Other Events:

• Name: Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl Of March
• Reference Number: 15664

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• Reference Number: 4430

Notes:

Edmund de Mortimer, 2nd Baron Wigmore (1251 - July 17, 1304) was the second son and eventual heir of Roger de Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore. His mother was Maud de Braose. As a younger son, Edmund had been intended for clerical or monastic life, and had been sent to study at Oxford University. He was made Treasurer of York in 1265. But the sudden death of his elder brother, Ralph, in 1276, made him heir to the family estates.

He returned in 1282 as the new Baron Mortimer of Wigmore and immediately became involved in Welsh Marches politics. Together with his brother Roger Mortimer of Chirk, John Giffard, and Roger Lestrange, he devised a plan to trap Llywelyn the Last. Edmund sent a message to Llywelyn telling him he was coming to Llywelyn's aid and arranged to meet with him at Builth. But Edmund's brothers secretly forded the river behind Llywelyn's army and surprised the Welsh. In the resulting battle Llywelyn was killed and beheaded. Edmund then send his brother Roger Mortimer of Chirk to present Llywelyn's severed head to King Edward I of England.

In September 1285, he married Margaret de Fiennes, the daughter of William II de Fiennes and Blanche de Brienne (herself the granddaughter of John of Brienne by his third wife Berenguela of Leon).

Their children were:
Isolde Mortimer, married Hugh I de Audley
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March
Maude Mortimer, married Theobald II de Verdun
Edmund was knighted by King Edward at Winchester, and served in the king's Gascon and Scottish campaigns. He was mortally wounded in a skirmish near Builth, and died at Wigmore Castle.

Edmund married Margaret De Fiennes Sep 1285. Margaret (daughter of William De Fiennes, II and Blanche De Brienne) was born Aft 1269; died 7 Feb 1333. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Margaret De Fiennes
• Reference Number: 3797

Notes:

Margaret Mortimer (née de Fiennes), Baroness Wigmore (born after 1269 - 7 February 1333) was an English noblewoman born to William II de Fiennes, Baron Tingry and Blanche de Brienne. Her paternal grandparents were Enguerrand II de Fiennes and Isabelle de Conde. Her maternal grandparents were Jean de Brienne and Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun. In September 1285, when she was 14 or 15 years old, Margaret married Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Wigmore, the son of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore and Maud de Braose.

They had three children:
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 - 29 November 1330) married Joan de Geneville, by whom he had twelve children.
Maud Mortimer, married Theobald II de Verdon, by whom she had two daughters, Joan de Verdon and Elizabeth de Verdon.
Hugh Mortimer, married Margaret De Ros as her second husband.

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15660

Notes:

Roger Mortimer (1231 - 30 October 1282), 1st Baron Mortimer, was a famous and honoured knight from Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire. He was a loyal ally of King Henry III of England. He was at times an enemy, at times an ally, of the Welsh prince, Llywelyn the Last.

Early career

Born in 1231, Roger was the son of Ralph de Mortimer and his Welsh wife, Princess Gwladys Ddu, daughter of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.
In 1256 Roger went to war with Llywelyn ap Gruffydd when the latter invaded his lordship of Gwrtheyrnion or Rhayader. This war would continue intermittently until the death of both Roger and Llywelyn in 1282. They were both grandsons of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.
Mortimer fought for the King against the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and almost lost his life in 1264 at the Battle of Lewes fighting Montfort's men. In 1265 Mortimer's wife, Maud de Braose helped rescue Prince Edward; and Mortimer and the Prince made an alliance against de Montfort.
[edit]Victor at Evesham

In August 1265, de Montfort's army was surrounded by the River Avon on three sides, and Prince Edward's army on the fourth. Mortimer had sent his men to block the only possible escape route, at the Bengeworth bridge. The Battle of Evesham began in earnest. A storm roared above the battle field. Montfort's Welsh soldiers broke and ran for the bridge, where they were slaughtered by Mortimer's men. Mortimer himself killed Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester in crushing Montfort's army. Mortimer was awarded Montfort's severed head and other parts of his anatomy, which he sent home to Wigmore Castle as a gift for his wife, Lady Mortimer.
[edit]Marriage and children

Lady Mortimer was Maud de Braose, daughter of William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny by Eva Marshal. Roger Mortimer had married her in 1247. She was, like him, a scion of a Welsh Marches family. Their children were:
Ralph Mortimer, died 1276.
Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer (1251-1304), married Margaret de Fiennes, the daughter of William II de Fiennes and Blanche de Brienne. Had issue, including Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March
Isabella Mortimer, died 1292. She married (1) John Fitzalan, 7th Earl of Arundel, (2) Robert de Hastings
Margaret Mortimer, died 1297. She married Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford
Roger Mortimer of Chirk, died 1326.
Geoffrey Mortimer, a knight
William Mortimer, a knight
Their eldest son, Ralph, was a famed knight but died in his youth. The second son, Edmund, was recalled from Oxford University and appointed his father's heir.
[edit]Epitaph

Roger Mortimer died on 30 October 1282, and was buried at Wigmore Abbey, where his tombstone read:
Here lies buried, glittering with praise, Roger the pure, Roger Mortimer the second, called Lord of Wigmore by those who held him dear. While he lived all Wales feared his power, and given as a gift to him all Wales remained his. It knew his campaigns, he subjected it to torment.
[edit]Sources

Mortimer, Ian. The Greatest Traitor, 2003.
Remfry, P.M., Wigmore Castle Tourist Guide and the Family of Mortimer (ISBN 1-899376-76-3)
Remfry, P.M., Brampton Bryan Castle, 1066 to 1646 (ISBN 1-899376-33-X)
Dugdale, Sir William The Baronage of England, Vol. 1, 1661.

Roger married Maud De Braose 1247. Maud (daughter of William De Braose and Eva Marshal) was born 1224; died 1301. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15661

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• Name: William Ii Fiennes, Lord Windover
• Reference Number: 15662

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Died:
Killed in Action, Battle of the Golden Spurs

William — Blanche De Brienne. Blanche (daughter of Jean De Brienne and Jeanne Dame De Chateaudun) was born Abt 1252, France; died Abt 1302, Loupeland, Maine, France. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Blanche De Brienne, Baroness Tingry
• Reference Number: 15663

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• Reference Number: 15666

Notes:

Ranulph or Ralph de Mortimer (before 1198 to before 2 October 1246) was the second son of Roger de Mortimer and Isabel de Ferrers of Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire He succeeded his elder brother before 23 November 1227 and built Cefnllys and Knucklas castles in 1240.
[edit]Marriage and issue

In 1230, Ralph married Princess Gwladus, daughter of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. They had the following children:
Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer, married Maud de Braose and succeeded his father.
Hugh de Mortimer
John de Mortimer
Peter de Mortimer
[edit]References

Remfry, P.M., Wigmore Castle Tourist Guide and the Family of Mortimer (ISBN 1-899376-76-3)
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis; Lines 132C-29, 176B-28, 28-29, 67-29, 77-29, 176B-29
A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest (Longmans, Green & Co.) John Edward Lloyd (1911)

Ralph married Gwladus Ferch Llywelyn 1230. Gwladus (daughter of Llywelyn Ap Iorwerth and Joan) was born 1206; died 1251. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Gwladus the Dark
• Reference Number: 15667

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• Name: Gwilym Ddu, Black William
• Reference Number: 15668

Notes:

William de Braose (c. 1197 - 2 May 1230) was the son of Reginald de Braose by his first wife, Grecia de Briwere (born 1186) from Stoke in Devon. He was an ill-fated member of a powerful and long lived dynasty of Marcher Lords.

William de Braose was born in Brecon, probably between 1197 and 1204. The Welsh, who detested him and his family name, called him Gwilym Ddu, Black William. He succeeded his father in his various lordships in 1227, including Abergavenny and Builth.

William married Lady Eva Marshal, daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. They had four daughters:
Isabella de Braose (born c. 1222), wife of Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn
Maud de Braose (born c. 1224 - 1301), wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore another very powerful Marcher dynasty.
Eleanor de Braose (c. 1226 - 1251), wife of Humphrey de Bohun and mother of Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford.
Eve de Braose (c. 1227- July 1255), wife of William de Cantelou.

He was captured by the Welsh forces of Prince Llywelyn the Great, in fighting in the commote of Ceri near Montgomery, in 1228. William was ransomed for the sum of £2,000 and then furthermore made an alliance with Llywelyn, arranging to marry his daughter Isabella de Braose to Llywelyn's only legitimate son Dafydd ap Llywelyn.

However on a later visit to Llywelyn during Easter 1230 William de Braose was found in Llywelyn's private bedchamber with Llywelyn's wife, Joan, Lady of Wales.

The Chronicle of Ystrad Fflur's entry for 1230 reads:
"In this year William de Breos the Younger, lord of Brycheiniog, was hanged by the Lord Llywelyn in Gwynedd, after he had been caught in Llywelyn's chamber with the king of England's daughter, Llywelyn's wife."

Llywelyn had William publicly hanged on 2 May 1230, possibly at Crogen, near Bala. though others believe the hanging took place near Llywelyn's palace at Garth Celyn.

With William's death by hanging and his having four daughters, who divided the de Braose inheritance between them and no male heir, the titles now passed to the junior branch of the de Braose dynasty, the only male heir was now John de Braose who had already inherited the titles of Gower and Bramber from his far-sighted uncle Reginald de Braose.

William's wife Eva continued to hold de Braose lands and castles in her own right, after the death of her husband. She was listed as the holder of Totnes in 1230, and was granted 12 marks to strengthen Hay Castle by King Henry III on the Close Rolls (1234-1237).

William married Eva Marshal Bef 1221. Eva (daughter of William Marshal and Isabel De Clare) was born 1203, Pembrokeshire, Wales; died 1246. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15669

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• Reference Number: 16024

Enguerrand — Isabelle De Conde. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 16025

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• Reference Number: 16022

Jean — Jeanne Dame De Chateaudun. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 16023