Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coat of arms of the Mortimer family

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (* April or May, according to other information April 25, 1287 in Wigmore Castle , † November 29, 1330 in London ) was an English magnate , military and rebel. After the fall of King Edward II in 1326, he was the actual ruler of England until he was overthrown and executed in 1330.

Origin and heritage

Roger Mortimer came from the Mortimer family , an Anglo-Norman family that had been one of the leading English noble families since the 11th century. By inheritance and the generosity of King Edward I , the Mortimer family had risen to become the most respected and wealthy family of the English barons at the end of the 13th century, surpassed only by the families of the Earls. He was the eldest son of Edmund Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer , and his wife Margaret de Fiennes . His father engaged him on September 20, 1301 to Joan de Geneville , a daughter of Peter de Geneville († 1292) and his wife Joan. Her grandfather Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville , decided that Joan should be his sole heir after the death of his eldest son and sent her two sisters to the Aconbury convent as nuns . When his father died in July 1304, Roger was still a minor. To his legacy belonged to the ancestral home Wigmore Castle estates in Herefordshire , Shropshire , Gloucestershire and Worcestershire . In addition, there were other possessions in southern England and extensive estates in Ireland , including Dunamase in County Leix, through the inheritance of parts of the possessions of the Marshal and Briouze families . Above all, however, seven lords of the Welsh Marches belonged to his legacy, which were mainly in the highlands of Mid Wales. These were Maelienydd , Gwrtheyrnion , Radnor , Ceri and Cedewain , he also owned Narberth and a third of the dominion of St Clears in South West Wales. However, about half of the Welsh possessions fell to his mother Margaret as lifelong Wittum . Since this survived him, Roger never came into possession of all of his inheritance.

youth

Mortimer probably lived at the royal court before his father died, where he received a knightly training. After the death of his father he stayed at the royal court, the lucrative administration of guardianship for him was given to Piers Gaveston , the favorite of the heir to the throne Edward . In April 1306, Mortimer was handed over his inheritance, although he was still a minor. However, he is said to have paid Gaveston 2,500 marks for it. On May 22, 1306 he was knighted together with the heir to the throne, Edmund FitzAlan and numerous other young nobles . In the summer of 1306 he took part in Edward I's campaign to Scotland . After the end of the campaign, Mortimer left the army with over twenty other young knights to take part in tournaments in France . The king was so angry about this desertion that he declared the estates of Mortimer and the other young knights confiscated. Only through the intercession of the heir to the throne and Queen Margarethe most of the young knights received their goods back in early 1307. In February 1307 Mortimer was first invited to Parliament as Baron Mortimer of Wigmore . In December 1307, Geoffrey de Geneville, his wife's old grandfather, gave her and Mortimer the management of his Irish possessions and estates at Meath . After Geneville's death in 1314, his wife inherited half of Ludlow , several estates in Shropshire and the reign of Ewyas Lacy in the Welsh Marches. This legacy cemented Mortimer's position in western England and the Welsh Marches.

Career in Ireland

Consolidation of his Irish holdings

As an important baron, Mortimer took part in the coronation of Edward II in February 1308. While numerous magnates demanded the banishment of the royal favorite Piers Gaveston shortly afterwards, Mortimer supported the king. On March 17th, he openly confessed his friendship with Gaveston, who, like Mortimer, had belonged to the young knights in the autumn of 1306 who had left the royal army without permission. From the end of March to the beginning of April 1309, Mortimer took part in a tournament in Dunstable , at which numerous magnates and knights had come together and possibly planned the further action of the opposition magnates against the king. However, Mortimer was not involved in the power struggle between the magnates and the king at this time. From autumn 1308 he was mainly active in Ireland, where he had become one of the most powerful Anglo-Irish nobles through the inheritance of his father and his wife's grandfather. In October 1308 he and his wife traveled to Ireland for the first time to visit his estates. He also made two trips to Ireland in the next two years. He obtained that the English government in Ireland confirmed or extended privileges of his possessions. The most important privilege he received was the restoration of the freedoms of the Trim rule , which now again had its own chancellery and treasury.

The ruins of Trim Castle , which were the center of the Irish holdings of Mortimer in the 14th century

Fight against the Scottish invading army

However, when Edward Bruce , the brother of the Scottish King Robert Bruce , landed with a Scottish army in Northern Ireland on May 25, 1315 , Mortimer had to fight for his Irish possessions. Beginning in December 1315 became his squad by Bruce at Kells defeated and Mortimer had to Dublin escape. From there he returned to England at the end of 1315 in consultation with the royal commissioner John Hotham to report to the government on the devastating situation in Ireland. He spent the next few months in England and Wales. On November 23, 1316, the same day that his uncle Roger Mortimer of Chirk was appointed Justiciar of North Wales by the King , Mortimer was appointed Justiciar of Ireland . He owed this office to the support of the Earl of Pembroke . Edward II commissioned Mortimer to beat Edward Bruce, to suppress the rebellions of the Irish chiefs and to end the disputes among the English settlers in Ireland. Thereupon Mortimer set in April 1317 with a large army of Welsh mercenaries from Haverfordwest to Ireland, where he arrived in Youghal on April 7th . Over the next few months he tried hard to solve his problems. First, in May 1317, he released Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster , who had been suspected of being an ally of Edward Bruce and who had therefore been imprisoned in Dublin. Then he struck the troops of the family Lacy from Rath Wire . This had made claims to the inheritance of his wife and possibly supported the Scots. After his victory, he forced the family leaders to leave Ireland. He held a parliamentary assembly outside Dublin in June and made several attempts against the insurgent Irish in the Wicklow Mountains . Overall, he managed to restore English rule in south and south-west Ireland. The Scots under Bruce, however, did not succeed in advancing further south from north-east Ireland. On May 5, 1318 Mortimer was replaced as justiciar and called back to England. After his departure, the Scots were decisively defeated in October 1318 by an English army under John Bermingham in the Battle of Faughart , in which Edward Bruce was killed.

Second term as Justiciar of Ireland

In England, Mortimer was reappointed Justiciar of Ireland due to his successes in March 1319, and the king gave him the administration of Roscommon , Randown and Athlone Castle . In June 1319 Mortimer resumed his activity in Ireland. He now pursued a more balancing policy towards the Irish population and granted every Irishman, if so desired, subject to English instead of traditional Irish law. In May 1320 he held a parliament in Dublin where laws were passed to maintain English rule and improve administration. To this end, he commissioned an investigation to examine which elements of English legislation should be transferred to Ireland. In September 1320 he returned to England, but it was not until February 1321 that he was officially replaced as Justiciar. On February 11, 1321, Mortimer signed a contract in Wigmore in which he left his Irish possessions to his younger son Roger Mortimer junior on the occasion of his wedding to Joan Butler . Her father, the Anglo-Irish nobleman Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick paid Mortimer £ 1,000 for the marriage.

Active in England and Wales until 1320

Supporters of the politics of Edward II.

In England, Mortimer had generally supported the king's policies. From the conflicts at the royal court and from the dispute between the king and the powerful Earl of Lancaster , who had Gaveston arbitrarily executed in 1312, he had initially kept out. The king commissioned him to raise troops in his Welsh possessions for the war with Scotland. In 1313 he traveled on behalf of the king to Gascony, which belonged to the English kings, in south-west France. Back in England, he took part in the king's campaign to Scotland in the summer of 1314 and in June at the Battle of Bannockburn , in which the English army suffered a crushing defeat. Mortimer was captured by the Scots while covering the escape of the English with the troops of the Earl of Pembroke. The Scottish King Robert Bruce , who was distantly related to him, released him without paying a ransom, and Mortimer was allowed to transfer the royal seal found on the battlefield and the bodies of the Earl of Gloucester and Robert de Clifford who had fallen in the battle to England. From February 1316 he was involved in the suppression of the rebellion of the Welsh Llywelyn Bren in Glamorgan . However, while Llywelyn Bren was eventually executed at the instigation of the royal favorite Hugh le Despenser , Llywelyn ap Madog ap Hywel , another leader of the insurgents, was pardoned at Mortimer's request. In July 1316, Mortimer helped put down a revolt by the citizens of Bristol who had rebelled against the commandant of Bristol Castle , Bartholomew de Badlesmere , his eldest son's father-in-law. In addition, Mortimer supported the claim of John Cherleton , the King's Chamberlain , to the rule of Powys in Mid Wales.

King's rewards for Mortimer's service

Mortimer had received only modest rewards for his services to the king. In August 1309 the King Cwmwd Deuddwr in the Welsh hill country and in February 1310 had given him command of Builth Castle . After his success as Justiciar of Ireland, the king granted him guardianship and the right to marry the young heir James Audley in December 1316 . Mortimer became engaged to Audley to his daughter Joan . Mortimer also looked after his numerous children in other ways. In May 1315 he had secured his younger son John a share of the rental income from his estates. In May 1316 he signed a marriage contract with Bartholomew de Badlesmere, after which Mortimer's eldest son Edmund Badlesmere's daughter Elizabeth married. Badlesmere paid Mortimer 2,000 marks for the marriage , while Mortimer gave the young bride and groom goods in Somerset and Buckinghamshire as well as the right to further possessions in the west of England and the Welsh Marches.

Role in closing Leake's contract

After Mortimer returned from Ireland in May 1318, he began to deal more intensively with politics in England. He was able to draw on his experience in Ireland, but also on his contacts to Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who had growing influence on the king. It is unclear whether Mortimer had a largely neutral position in the tense political situation between the court party and the Earl of Lancaster or whether he, as a high official like numerous other barons, was closely connected to the king. In the negotiations for a settlement between the king and Lancaster, which had been running since April 1318, Mortimer was probably involved from mid-July 1318 onwards at the suggestion of the Earl of Pembroke and von Badlesmere. The king's negotiating delegation probably succeeded in persuading Lancaster that the courtiers did not have to return or reimburse all royal gifts, as Lancaster had originally requested. Mortimer was not unselfish, because on July 20, 1318 the king had granted him the right to marry off the young Thomas de Beauchamp , heir to the Earl of Warwick. Mortimer engaged him to his daughter Katherine . After the return of the delegation that had negotiated with Lancaster on July 29, Mortimer was also a member of the next delegation, which started negotiating with Lancaster from August 1. The negotiations were successfully concluded by Leake's contract concluded on August 9, 1318 . Under this treaty, a sixteen-member council of state was to oversee the king's government, and Mortimer was designated as one of the four barons who were to belong to that council of state. He was a member of the committee that was supposed to reform the royal budget. In 1319 he managed to marry another of his daughters to the heir of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley , while another of his daughters married John Charlton , heir to Powys. Through these marriages, Mortimer was able to expand his position in the west of England and in the Welsh Marches.

Role in the Despenser War

Defeat the Despensers

When Mortimer returned to England from his renewed service as Justiciar of Ireland in September 1320, the political situation had changed again. Hugh le Despenser the Elder and his son of the same name Hugh le Despenser had achieved a dominant position at the royal court. Both ruthlessly used the support of the king to increase their power and to obtain further possessions. The Marcher Lords in particular felt threatened by the increase in power of the Despensers, as the younger Despenser had begun to build up his own contiguous territory in South Wales. There was a personal conflict between Mortimer and the younger Despenser, because Mortimer had rejected the Despenser-led execution of the rebel Llywelyn Bren in 1318. The conflict may have receded further, as the younger Despenser is said to have threatened to avenge the death of his grandfather Hugh le Despenser , who was killed in action against Mortimer's grandfather Roger Mortimer at the Battle of Evesham in 1265 . In early 1321 there was an open conflict over the possession of the South Welsh dominion of Gower . Mortimer, but also his uncle Roger Mortimer of Chirk and several other Marcher Lords had expected that they could acquire the rule from the indebted William de Briouze . The king, however, confiscated the rule in November 1320, only to hand it over to the younger despenser. Thereupon the two Mortimers led an open revolt in early 1321, the so-called Despenser War , against the two Despensers, which the Earl of Hereford , Hugh Audley , Roger Damory , Roger Clifford and most of the other Marcher Lords joined. The Marcher Lords, led by Hereford and Mortimer, made contact with the Earl of Lancaster, and although from late March to April 1321 the King repeatedly urged the Marcher Lords to keep peace and not attack the Despenser lands, an army of the raided and sacked Marcher Lords from May 4th to 9th the Despenser holdings in South Wales. On May 9, Mortimer's troops captured Cardiff Castle , whose commander he had brought to Wigmore Castle. A little later he also conquered Clun Castle , a castle of the Earl of Arundel, who was allied with Despenser . In Clun, Mortimer received the homage from the vassals and tenants of Arundel. After this violent revolt, Mortimer and the other rebels sought contact with Lancaster. On June 28, 1321, they took part in the meeting at Sherburn-in-Elmet , through which Lancaster wanted to consolidate the alliance between him and the Marcher Lords. Mortimer then moved to London with the Marcher Lords. In view of their military superiority, the king gave in and sent the Despensers into exile on August 14th. A parliament pardoned Mortimer and the other Marcher Lords on August 20th for offenses committed since March 1st.

Defeat to the king

Lancaster and the opposition barons failed to consolidate their victory. As early as the autumn of 1321, the king began his counter-attack and, following a provocation, first attacked Leeds Castle in October , which was defended by Margaret , the wife of Badlesmere. Mortimer, his uncle Roger Mortimer of Chirk and the Earl of Hereford gathered an army to relieve the castle, but through negotiations the Earl of Pembroke, together with Archbishop Reynolds and Bishop Stephen Gravesend of London, stopped the conflicting aristocratic opposition at Kingston . After the conquest of Leeds Castle, Lancaster, Hereford, Mortimer and other barons sent a petition to the king at the end of November, mainly directed against the younger Despenser, but they could not agree on a further uniform approach. In late 1321 the king led an army to the west of England to subdue the Marcher Lords. These withdrew behind the Severn , while Lancaster's promised aid failed to materialize. Although Mortimer, his uncle Roger Mortimer of Chirk and the Earl of Hereford were able to conquer Bridgnorth , which was already occupied by the royal vanguard, in a night attack , burn the city and then destroy the bridge over the Severn, but the king then moved on up the Severn . On January 14th the royal army crossed the river at Shrewsbury . After negotiations, Mortimer and his uncle Roger Mortimer of Chirk surrendered on January 23, 1322. Why they gave up so quickly is not exactly clear. According to various sources, they should have given up after mediation by the Earls of Arundel and Richmond , according to other sources, the Earls of Pembroke, Surrey and Norfolk moved them to give up. Or maybe they ran out of money to continue the conflict, and several of their castles were attacked by Welsh insurgents who supported the king. The main reason for the rapid collapse of the revolt in the Welsh Marches was probably the disagreement of the aristocratic opposition and the lack of support from Lancaster. It is not clear whether the king had promised the Mortimers mercy in negotiations. He had them brought to London in the Tower while he turned on Lancaster after the submission of the Marcher Lords. This was defeated on March 22, 1322 in the Battle of Boroughbridge in northern England, captured and then executed, which finally put down the rebellion. In July 1322, a court in London sentenced Mortimer and his uncle to death as well. However, the sentence was commuted to permanent detention on July 22nd.

Flight and Exile

Mortimer remained in jail in the Tower, but a year later he was able to flee with the help of Londoners and his guard Gerard d'Ailspaye . While the Constable of the Tower Stephen Seagrave and the guards were drunk on the holiday of St Peter in Chains , Mortimer was released from his dungeon and escaped across the Thames in a boat waiting for him . Although his escape was soon noticed and he was followed, he was able to reach Dover on horseback with a few companions and from there escaped to France by ship. He was received in Paris by King Charles IV , who was preparing a war against England . In French exile, Mortimer quickly became the new leader of the opposition to the English king. Only a few weeks after his escape there were rumors of a revolt in the Welsh Marches and plans to assassinate the king. To finally end the war with France, Edward II sent his wife Isabelle , who was a sister of the French king, to France in the spring of 1325 . Isabelle was actually able to negotiate a peace, whereupon the heir to the throne, Eduard , arrived in Paris on September 12, 1325 to pay homage to the French king for the possessions of the English king. Neither Isabelle nor the heir to the throne wanted to return to the English royal court, which was dominated by the two Despensers. Instead, they stayed in France, where Isabelle began a relationship with Mortimer. This relationship was evident when Walter Stapeldon , Bishop of Exeter, visited Paris in November 1325, which is why the scandal became known in England in early 1326 at the latest. The Earl of Kent , a half-brother of the king, also stayed in France and joined Mortimer.

Invasion of England

Mortimer now began with concrete preparations to overthrow Edward II. After they had already received financial support from the French king, Mortimer and Isabelle traveled to the Netherlands, where they received further support from Count Wilhelm III. from Holland and Hainaut , which was in a trade dispute with England. The heir to the throne, Eduard, was betrothed to a daughter of the Count, and Mortimer was able to recruit a small army of Dutch and German mercenaries. The army was about 1,500 men strong, including about 700 men in arms . Johann von Beaumont , a brother of the count and an experienced military man, agreed to help command the invasion. The invading army crossed from the Netherlands to England , where it landed on September 24, 1326 at the mouth of the River Orwell in Sussex . The Earl of Norfolk , another half-brother of Edward II, and Henry of Lancaster , a brother of the executed Earl of Lancaster, immediately joined Mortimer and Isabelle. As fighters against the hated tyranny of the Despensers, they quickly received further support from all strata of the population. Within a few weeks the rule of Edward II collapsed. Mortimer was in Bristol, where on October 27 the elderly Despenser was sentenced to death and executed. On November 17, Mortimer had the Earl of Arundel executed in Hereford. The king and the younger despenser had fled to the west of England and on to Wales, where they were captured on November 16 with a few faithful. The younger despenser was taken to Hereford, where Mortimer sentenced him to death and executed him on November 24th. On January 7, 1327, a parliament convened by the new rulers declared Edward II to be deposed in favor of his son.

Isabelle and Mortimer with their army, in the background the execution of the younger Despenser. Representation from the 15th century.

Mortimer's reign

Coronation of Edward III. and alleged death of Edward II.

Mortimer and Isabelle were now the new rulers in England. Mortimer celebrated Christmas 1326 with the Queen and the heir to the throne at Wallingford . Mortimer secured the support of the City of London when he confirmed the privileges of the city during a visit on January 13, 1327 and granted it a new charter in March . Though he still only had the rank of baron, he played at the coronation of Edward III. played an important role on February 1st. On the occasion of the coronation, his three sons Edmund , Geoffrey and Roger were knighted. In April the deposed Edward II was placed in the care of Mortimer's son-in-law Thomas de Berkeley . What role Mortimer played in the alleged death of the deposed king in September 1327 cannot be clarified. It is possible that Edward II was not murdered at all, but Mortimer used him as a bargaining chip against his son Edward III. and had him kept at Corfe Castle . Rumors that Edward II was not dead never ceased during Mortimer's lifetime, and there were other reports in the 1330s that the king was supposedly in exile, possibly in Italy.

Indirect domination

Although Mortimer instead of the underage Edward III. continued to be the actual ruler, his rule had no legitimation. He did not officially take over the reign or any other leading office and did not even belong to the fourteen-member Regency Council, which was responsible for the underage Edward III. led the government. As leader of the invasion against Edward II, he was respected by the other barons, and through his allies Bishop Adam Orleton and Sir Oliver Ingham he had considerable influence on the Regency Council. Above all, however, he remained the lover of the Queen Mother Isabelle. Officially, he lived as a relative of the king at the royal court and received a pension as a member of the royal family. In fact, he was one of the king's immediate entourage. He was later charged with not allowing the king to speak publicly without his permission, and allegedly Mortimer bypassed the Regency Council by letting the king issue orders.

Mortimer made presents to his wife Joan, who was under arrest during his captivity and exile, and he visited her too. However, he no longer lived with her, even if the marriage was never officially separated.

Elimination of the Earl of Lancaster and the Earl of Kent

By autumn 1328 at the latest, there was growing resentment among the nobles about Mortimer's rule. The failures of his rule were initially responsible for this. The campaign against Scotland in the summer of 1327 was unsuccessful so that Mortimer began peace negotiations with Scotland. This led to the Peace of Edinburgh and Northampton in March 1328 , which ended the First Scottish War of Independence. The recognition of Robert Bruce as king of an independent Scotland was felt by many English barons as so humiliating that rumors arose that Mortimer and Isabelle had already formed an alliance with the Scots in Paris. This failure, as well as the humiliating negotiations to extend the armistice with France, weakened Mortimer's position. Above all, however, Mortimer's autocratic rule, his increasing claim to power and his greed for land led to the formation of an opposition to him. Henry of Lancaster, who was formally the head of the Regency Council, was increasingly ignored by Mortimer. As early as April 1327, Mortimer had withdrawn from him the supervision of the deposed Eduard II, and over the next few months his relatives and supporters were increasingly ousted from their offices. Lancaster firmly opposed peace with Scotland, and in protest he refused to participate in Parliament, which had been convened in Salisbury for October 1328 , but was dominated by supporters of Mortimer. Lancaster tried to gather Mortimer's opponents in London and published a long list of charges against him. Mortimer managed to win over the Lancaster allied Earls of Kent and Norfolk to his side. Then he plundered Lancaster's estates and occupied Leicester . The outmaneuvered and abandoned by most of his followers, Lancaster had to submit to Mortimer in mid-January 1329 under humiliating circumstances. He and several of his followers were sentenced to extremely high fines. Some of his closest supporters, including his son-in-law Thomas Wake and Henry de Beaumont, had to flee England and their lands were confiscated. Mortimer's position was now almost indisputable. When the Earl of Kent became involved in a conspiracy based on the assumption that the deposed Edward II was still alive, Mortimer took the opportunity to eliminate this magnate as well. The Earl of Kent was executed in March 1330 after a controversial trial. With this execution of another potential enemy, Mortimer wanted to consolidate his position. He gave part of the confiscated property to one of his younger sons, but this and the judicial murder of the Earl of Kent only exacerbated political tensions. Mortimer then ordered his leading vassals such as Maurice de Berkeley and Simon Bereford in May 1330 to ensure that a bodyguard was always available for him and for Isabelle.

Enrichment and expansion of his power

Gaining power in Wales

Almost all contemporary chroniclers describe Mortimer's insatiable greed for land and power. As the unofficial ruler of England, he endeavored to become the leading English magnate. He expanded his land holdings mainly in Wales and Ireland, where the focus of his possessions had previously been. In Wales and the Welsh Marches he mainly acquired the possessions of his fallen opponents. As early as December 15, 1326 he had secured the rule of Denbigh , which had previously belonged to Hugh le Despenser the Elder. On September 13, 1327 he acquired Oswestry and Clun in Shropshire , which had previously been owned by the Earl of Arundels. On June 12, 1327 he acquired the administration of Glamorgan from Eleanor , the widow of the younger Despenser. On September 2, 1329, he succeeded in getting Queen Isabelle to regain control of Montgomery and Builth, which she had been deprived of after her flight to France. In April 1330 he himself received Montgomery as a fief. His appropriation of the possessions of his uncle Roger Mortimer of Chirk, who had died in the Tower a few weeks before Mortimer's invasion in 1326, was particularly bold. Although his uncle had left an adult son, also called Roger , Mortimer occupied Chirk, Blaenllyfni , Narberth and part of St Clears , disinheriting his cousin. Through the guardianship of the young James Audley he had the administration of Cemais and Cantref Bychan in Wales and through that of the young Lawrence Hastings he had control of Pembroke , Abergavenny and Cilgerran . In addition, he had the guardianship of Thomas de Beauchamp , the heir of the Earldom of Warwick and Lord of Elfael , so that Mortimer had control over other rulers of the Welsh Marches. To this end, he obtained the office of Justiciars of the Principality of Wales on February 22, 1327 , which was conferred on him for life on June 8, 1328, as well as the offices of Justiciars of the dioceses of Llandaff and St David's . He was also charged with keeping order and peace in Worcestershire , Herefordshire and Staffordshire , and finally on August 16, 1330 he was still administrator of Bristol. Through this accumulation of offices he had, in addition to his possessions, an unprecedented wealth of power in Wales and western England. In May 1330 he approved an annual pension of 500 marks from the income of the royal estates in Wales.

Gaining power in Ireland

In addition to Wales, Mortimer used his power to expand his land holdings in Ireland. Mortimer was already one of the largest English landowners in Ireland through his wife's inheritance, which he knew well through his previous visits and through his service as Justiciar of Ireland. After making peace with Scotland in the spring of 1328, he devoted himself more to Ireland. In doing so, after long negotiations, he succeeded in reconciling some of the deeply divided Anglo-Irish nobles. In October 1328 he named James Butler Earl of Ormond, and in August 1329 Maurice FitzGerald was named Earl of Desmond. Both magnates subsequently support Mortimer. Besides that, Mortimer did not neglect his own interests. He himself took over the guardianship administration and the right to marry the young Earl of Kildare . In June 1330 he achieved that Meath and Louth were placed directly under royal jurisdiction, so that they, like Trim, were privileged over other areas.

Elevation to the Earl of March

Mortimer openly displayed his power and wealth. In 1328 he gave a splendid feast in Bedford , another feast at his ancestral home in Wigmore lasted for several days, during which he distributed generous gifts to various magnates. The most elaborate event was the great tournament that took place in Hereford in June 1328 in honor of the King and Queen Mother. At this tournament, the weddings of his two daughters Beatrice and Agnes , who married Edward of Norfolk , a son of the Earl of Norfolk and cousin of the King and Lawrence Hastings, presumably also took place . Both marriages illustrate Mortimer's endeavors to link his family to the families of the leading English earls. They were preparing his own promotion to Earl to be held during Salisbury Parliament in October 1328. The choice of Mortimer's new title Earl of March astonished his contemporaries because it was the first time that an earldom was named after an English county. The title, however, consistently named the Welsh Marches as the territorial base for Mortimer's power, and soon Mortimer was only addressed as the Earl of March. A little later, Mortimer was granted £ 10 a year from the income of the Crown from Shropshire and Staffordshire, which other earls from the eponymous counties also received. Possibly the title should also refer to Mortimer's connections to the French county of La Marche.

After the fall of Edward II, the royal treasurer William Melton had given the new rulers a treasure of over £ 61,921. After Mortimer's fall, his treasurer's Wodehouse gave the king a remainder of just over £ 41 on December 1, 1330. Although the treasure was used to finance Mortimer's campaign to Scotland, most of the money was probably simply wasted.

Fall and execution

After all, Mortimer's rule was based primarily on fear among the barons. With the choice of the title Earl of March, but also with his pride, Mortimer had offended many of his peers. His entourage was larger than that of the king, and soon he was not only pacing in the presence of the king, but sometimes even before him, who was then allowed to catch up with him. Such violations of hierarchy and court etiquette illustrate the immense power that Mortimer had appropriated and that he also proudly wielded. Due to his greed, his (then generally considered outrageous) relationship with the Queen Mother and his violence against political opponents, rumors soon arose that he was going to grab the crown. He intimidated his opponents with his armed entourage, which included groups of the feared Welsh. After the execution of the Earl of Kent in March 1330, no English magnate could be sure of life, so that political tensions increased further. Since the most powerful English magnates, the Earls of Kent and Lancaster, had been eliminated, in view of Mortimer's abundance of power, only a revolt with the participation of the now seventeen-year-old king could have had any prospect of success. Edward III's closest friends, including Lord Seal Keeper Richard Bury , William Montagu , Robert Ufford , John Molyns , Edward de Bohun and John Neville of Hornby , urged him to overthrow Mortimer, whereupon he agreed to join a conspiracy. When Mortimer called a parliament to Nottingham for October 1330 , the conspirators carried out their plan. Mortimer, now suspicious, suspected the king's friends of being involved in a conspiracy, but Montagu denied this so resolutely that Mortimer had no further action. As a precaution, he had taken up quarters with the Queen Mother and the King in Nottingham Castle , but the captain of the castle showed the conspirators a secret passage that led into the castle. On the night of October 19, the Montagu-led conspirators penetrated the castle, where the king joined them. They surprised Mortimer in his room and were able to overwhelm him despite his and his bodyguard's brave resistance. The King had him and his closest followers, Oliver Ingham and Simon Bereford, brought to the Tower of London under strict guard. Then the king issued a proclamation that he was in charge of government himself and moved Parliament to Westminster for November. There Mortimer was charged with fourteen offenses on November 26th. Among other things, he was accused of having divided Edward II and Queen Isabelle and striving for the crown and government himself. He had illegally brought Edward II to Berkeley , wrongly provided himself and his family with crown property and withheld funds from the crown. He had wrongly condemned Henry of Lancaster and intentionally incited the Earl of Kent to revolt in order to be able to condemn him. As with the trials against Thomas of Lancaster, the Despensers, or the Earl of Kent, Mortimer was not allowed to defend himself against the charges, so the verdict was predictable. Since his crimes were well known, the Peers found him guilty as a traitor, and Mortimer was executed like a common criminal in Tyburn . However, the king spared him the entire procedure of hanged, drawn and quartered , by which traitors were executed. Either at Isabelle's request or out of consideration for her, Mortimer was tied to an ox skin, dragged from the Tower to Tyburn by two horses and hung there . In his final words, he is said to have announced that the Earl of Kent had died as a victim of a conspiracy. Mortimer's body was hung on the gallows for two days before it was taken to the Franciscan settlement on Newgate . As a traitor he should not be buried in London, which is why his body was brought to Coventry and buried in the Franciscan settlement there. In November 1331, Mortimer's widow received permission to bury Mortimer's body in the Wigmore Priory Family Foundation. The Franciscans are said to have reluctantly given her the body, but it is unclear whether Mortimer's body did not stay in Coventry after all or was buried in Wigmore or Shrewsbury .

Descendants and inheritance

Mortimer had at least twelve children with his wife, Joan de Geneville:

  1. ⚭ Edward of Brotherton († 1334), son of Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk
  2. ⚭ Thomas de Braose, 1st Baron Brewes ( House of Braose )

After his conviction, Mortimer's property was confiscated by the Crown and his title Earl of March was forfeited. His eldest son received part of the old family estates back in 1331, and he was invited to parliament as Baron Mortimer. However, he died in the same year. Roger Mortimer's widow was pardoned in 1336, she still saw that Mortimer's grandson Roger succeeded in 1354, that Edward III. overturned Mortimer's conviction and restored the title of Earl of March. Mortimer's younger son Geoffrey had inherited the Couhé dominion in Poitou as early as 1323 after the death of his maternal grandmother Jehan de la Marche , where he founded a branch of the family.

rating

Only the chronicler of the Wigmore Priory family foundation found positive words for Roger Mortimer as a generous and energetic man. Contemporary chroniclers, but also historians of the 19th and 20th centuries, severely condemned his lust for power and the abuse of his reign. Mortimer had secured the threatened English rule in Ireland. It is noteworthy that he tried to combine elements of traditional Irish law with English common law, which also applies in Ireland . Through his experience as a justiciar, he was more successful than most other English rulers and governments during his reign in Ireland. After the initial defeat at Weardale, he succeeded in defending against the Scottish invasion against Scotland. The peace treaty concluded with Scotland in 1328, which was perceived as shameful, was a recognition of reality under the compulsion of defeat and ended the long, destructive and costly war with the northern neighbor. On the other hand, Mortimer was considered a ruthless, greedy man by the Welsh as early as 1322. After Mortimer and his uncle Roger Mortimer of Chirk surrendered in January 1322, the Welsh is said to have threatened to leave their land if Mortimer and his uncle were pardoned and their possessions returned.

Had Mortimer lived in the times of a strong and capable king, he would have gone down in history as a capable military man and as a baron who had adroitly pursued his interests, especially in Wales and Ireland. Due to the political crisis in England, especially from 1318, and only because of his relationship with Queen Isabelle after 1326, Mortimer finally rose to regent. After 1326 he showed himself to be selfish, greedy and extraordinarily vain. Through his abuse of power and through his excessive ambition, he finally destroyed the position of his family.

literature

  • Ian Mortimer: The Greatest Traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2

Web links

Commons : Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 16
  2. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 13.
  3. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 18.
  4. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 40.
  5. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 111.
  6. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 28.
  7. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 39.
  8. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 99.
  9. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 70.
  10. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 103.
  11. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 283.
  12. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 64.
  13. ^ RR Davies: Mortimer, Roger, first earl of March (1287-1330). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
  14. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 149.
  15. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 92
  16. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 225.
  17. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 170.
  18. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 226.
  19. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 261.
  20. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 208.
  21. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 267.
  22. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 271.
  23. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 217.
  24. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 218.
  25. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 305
  26. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 54.
  27. ↑ John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, p. 317.
  28. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 173
  29. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 161.
  30. ^ ELG Stones: The date of Roger Mortimer's escape from the Tower of London . In: English Historical Review , 65 (1951), p. 98
  31. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 20.
  32. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 162.
  33. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 180.
  34. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 181.
  35. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 182.
  36. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 185.
  37. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 244.
  38. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 206.
  39. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 207.
  40. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 164.
  41. ↑ George Holmes: The Estates of the Higher Nobility in Fourteenth-Century England, University Press, Cambridge 1957, p. 13.
  42. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 208.
  43. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . London, Pimlico 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , p. 318.
  44. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 224.
  45. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 209.
  46. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 225.
  47. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . London, Pimlico 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , p. 350.
  48. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . London, Pimlico 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , p. 355.
  49. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 14.
  50. ^ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 54.
  51. ^ RR Davies: Mortimer, Roger, first earl of March (1287-1330). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
predecessor Office successor
New title created Earl of March
1328-1330 		Roger Mortimer
personal data
SURNAME Mortimer, Roger, 1st Earl of March
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Roger Mortimer of Wigmore; Mortimer, Roger, 2nd Baron Mortimer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman and military man, regent of England
DATE OF BIRTH April 1287 or May 1287 or April 25, 1287
PLACE OF BIRTH Wigmore Castle
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1330
Place of death London