Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March

Roger de Mortimer
Conte de la Marsche, Roger, illustration from the Bruges Garter Book, c.1450. He displays the arms of Mortimer on his tabard
Born	11 November 1328
Died	26 February 1360 (aged 31) Rouvray
Title	2nd Earl of March
Tenure	1348-1360
Other titles	4th Baron Mortimer
Known for	Military commander during the Hundred Years' War
Nationality	English
Spouse(s)	Philippe de Montagu
Parents	Sir Edmund Mortimer Elizabeth de Badlesmere

Arms of Sir Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, KG -- Barry or and azure, on a chief of the first two pallets between two base esquires of the second over all an inescutcheon argent

Sir Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, 4th Baron Mortimer, KG (11 November 1328 – 26 February 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War.

He was the son of Sir Edmund Mortimer (d. 1331) and Elizabeth de Badlesmere, and grandson of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March.

Inheritance

The Mortimer family lands and titles were lost after the first Earl of March's revolt and death by hanging in 1330, which was followed the next year by the death of Roger's father. Roger thus grew up with uncertain prospects, and re-acquired the family honours only gradually.

Around 1342, he received back Radnor, and the next year the old family baronial seat at Wigmore, Herefordshire.

Military career

As a young man he distinguished himself in the wars in France, fighting at Crécy and elsewhere in the campaign of 1347. Afterwards he was given livery of the rest of his lands, was one of the knights admitted at the foundation of the Order of the Garter,^[1] and was summoned to parliament as a baron both in 1348.

Earldom

In 1354, the sentence passed against Mortimer's treacherous grandfather, the first earl, was reversed, and the next year he was summoned to parliament as Earl of March. Also in 1355, he received a number of important appointments, including Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports, and he accompanied an expedition of Edward III to France.

Other honours

On 19 October 1356, his grandmother Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville, widow of the first earl, died, and Roger inherited her vast estates, including Ludlow Castle, which was thereafter the Mortimer family seat and power base.

In the following years, he became a member of the Royal Council and was appointed Constable at the castles of Montgomery, Bridgnorth in Shropshire, and Corfe in Dorset.

In 1359, and continuing into 1360, he was Constable of Edward III's invasion of France. He fought in the failed siege of Reims and captured Auxerre. The English forces then moved into Burgundy, where Roger died suddenly at Rouvray, near Avallon.

Marriage and children

Roger married Philippa de Montagu (1332–1381), daughter of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and Catherine Grandison and had by her at least four children:

• Roger Mortimer, who died young;
• Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March;
• Margery Mortimer.^[2]
• Janet Mortimer, who married Andrew Gray, father of Andrew Gray, 1st Lord Gray.

Mortimer also had at least one illegitimate child:^[3]

• Sir Thomas Mortimer, who acted as deputy for his nephew Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, in Ireland (1382–1383) and stood trial for the slaying of Richard II's commander, Sir Thomas Molineux after the Battle of Radcot Bridge (1387).

Arms

Heraldic Coat of Arms: Barry Or and azure, on a chief of the first three pallets between two gyronnies based on the second, over all an inescucheon argent.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March

16. Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer               8. Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer                       17. Maud de Braose, Baroness Mortimer               4. Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March                             18. William II de Fiennes, Baron Tingry               9. Margaret Mortimer, Baroness Wigmore                       19. Blanche de Brienne, Baroness Tingry               2. Sir Edmund Mortimer                                   20. Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville               10. Sir Piers de Geneville                       21. Maud de Lacy, Baroness Geneville               5. Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville                             22. Hugh XII of Lusignan               11. Jeanne of Lusignan                       23. Jeanne de Fougères, Countess of La Marche and of Angoulême               1. Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March                                         24.               12. Gunselm de Badlesmere                       25.               6. Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere                             26.               13. Joan FitzBernard                       27.               3. Elizabeth de Badlesmere, Countess of Northampton                                   26. Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester               14. Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond                       29. Maud de Lacy, Countess of Gloucester               7. Margaret de Clare, Lady Badlesmere                             30. Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly               15. Juliana FitzGerald, Lady of Thomond                       31. Maud de Prendergast, Lady of Offaly

Footnotes

1. Beltz 1841, p. cxlix.
2. Browning, Charles Henry. The Magna Charta Barons and Their American Descendants, Together with the Pedigrees of the Founders of the Order of Runnemede Deduced from the Sureties for the Enforcement of the Statutes of the Magna Charta of King John. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub., 1969. Print. page 250
3. Dunn, Alistair The Politics of Magnate Power in England and Wales 1389-1413 Oxford Historical Monographs 2003 p.56

References

• Beltz, George Frederick (1841). Memorials of the Order of the Garter. London: William Pickering. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
• R. R. Davies, ‘Mortimer, Roger (VI), second earl of March (1328–1360)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008.