Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer

Arms of Mortimer: Barry or and azure, on a chief of the first two pallets between two base esquires of the second over all an inescutcheon argent

Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Lord Mortimer (1251 – 17 July 1304)^[1] was the second son and eventual heir of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer. 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. By 1268 he is recorded as studying Theology in the house of the Archbishop of York. King Henry III showed favour by supplementing his diet with the luxury of venison.

The sudden death of his elder brother, Ralph, in 1274,^[2] made him heir to the family estates; yet he continued to study at Oxford. But his father's death eventually forced his departure.

He returned to the March in 1282 as the new Lord Mortimer of Wigmore and immediately became involved in Welsh Marches politics. Together with his brother Roger Mortimer, Baron of Chirk, John Giffard, and Roger Lestrange, he devised a plan to trap Llywelyn ap Gruffudd.^[3] Edmund, a great-grandson of Llywelyn the Great, sent a message to his kinsman Llywelyn, grandson of Llywelyn the Great, telling him he was coming to Llywelyn's aid and arranged to meet with him at Builth. At Irfon Bridge^[4] the Welsh prince became separated from his army. 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 sent his brother Roger Mortimer of Chirk to present Llywelyn's severed head to King Edward I of England at Rhuddlan Castle. The head was displayed on the Tower of London as a warning to all rebels.^[5]

In return for his services Edmund was knighted by King Edward at Winchester in 1283. 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), the family entering the blood royal. Their surviving children were:

• Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330) married Joan de Geneville,^[6] by whom he had twelve children.
• Maud Mortimer, married Sir Theobald II de Verdun, by whom she had four daughters, Joan de Verdun, who married John de Montagu (d. August 1317), eldest son and heir apparent of William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu; Elizabeth de Verdun, who married Bartholomew de Burghersh, 1st Baron Burghersh; Margaret de Verdun, who married firstly Sir William le Blount of Sodington, Worcestershire, secondly Sir Mark Husee, and thirdly Sir John de Crophill; and (allegedly) Katherine de Verdun.^[6][7]
• John Mortimer, accidentally slain in a joust by John de Leyburne.^[6]
• Walter Mortimer, a priest, Rector of Kingston.^[6]
• Edmund, a priest, Rector of Hodnet, Shropshire and Treasurer of the cathedral at York.^[6]
• Hugh Mortimer, a priest, Rector of church at Old Radnor.^[6]

They also had two daughters who became nuns; Elizabeth and Joan.^[6]

Mortimer served in the king's Scottish campaign, and returned to fight in Wales. He was mortally wounded in a skirmish near Builth, and died at Wigmore Castle.

Notes

1. 'M Prestwich, The Three Edwards' (2003)
2. J. J. Crump, ‘Mortimer, Roger (III) de, lord of Wigmore (1231–1282)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
3. known in Welsh as Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf
4. also known as Orewin Bridge
5. M Prestwich,(1), 13–14.
6. Sir Bernard Burke. A genealogical history of the dormant, abeyant, forfeited, and extinct peerages of the British empire, Harrison, 1866. p. 384. Google eBook
7. Richardson IV 2011, pp. 252, 255.

References

• Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G., ed. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families IV (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 1460992709.

Bibliography

• Mortimer, Ian. The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England 1327–1330, (Jonathan Cape, London 2003).
• Cokayne, G. E. The Complete Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland of titles extinct, abeyant, and dormant, 14 vols (London, 1910–37).
• Prestwich, M, The Three Edwards: War and State in England, 1272–1377, London, 2003.
• Prestwich, M, Plantagenet England, 1265–1399 London, 2005.