The Mortimer Family

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

 

Background: The surname Mortimer has a Norman origin, deriving from the village of Mortemer, Seine-Maritime, Normandy. A Norman castle existed at Mortemer from an early point; one 11th century figure associated with the castle was Roger, lord of Mortemer, who fought in the Battle of Mortemer in 1054.The 12th century abbey of Mortemer at Lisors near Lyons-la-Forêt is assumed to share the same etymological origin, and was granted to the Cistercian order by Henry II in the 1180s. According to the toponymists Albert Dauzat and later, François de Beaurepaire, there are two possible explanations for such a place name: In the Middle Ages, the Mortimers became a powerful dynasty of Marcher Lords in the Welsh Marches, first as barons of Wigmore Castle, Herefordshire and later as Earl of March from 1328 to 1425. Through marriage, the Mortimers came close to the English throne during the reign of Richard II, though their royal claim was ignored after Richard II's deposition by his cousin Henry of Bolingbroke in 1399. Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March was born 11 April 1374 at Usk in Monmouthshire. He was the eldest son of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, by his wife Philippa of Clarence, the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence (the second surviving son of King Edward III) by his wife Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster. Philippa passed on a strong claim to the English crown to her children. Roger had a younger brother, Edmund Mortimer, and two sisters, Elizabeth, who married Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, and Philippa, who first married John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, secondly Richard de Arundel, 11th Earl of Arundel, and thirdly Sir Thomas Poynings. After Roger Mortimer's death his titles and claim to throne passed to his son, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, who Sir Edmund Mortimer (his uncle and namesake) attempted claim to English throne on behalf of his nephew. The Mortimer claims were later inherited by the House of York, which claimed the throne upon the Earl of March Edward IV's victory in the Battle of Towton, 1461.

Members of the Noble Mortimer Family Included:

• Ranulph de Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore, Herefordshire and Seigneur of St Victor-en-Caux, Seine-Maritime, Normandy
• Hugh de Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore
• Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore
• Ralph de Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore
• Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer (1231–1282)
  • Isabella Mortimer, Countess of Arundel (after 1247–before 1 April 1292/after 1300)
• Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer (1251–1304)
• Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (1287–1330)
  • Edmund Mortimer (1302–1331)
  • Katherine Mortimer, Countess of Warwick (1314–1369)
  • Agnes Mortimer, Countess of Pembroke (1317–1368)
• Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March (1328–1360)
• Thomas Mortimer (c. 1350–1399), illegitimate member of the Mortimer family who opposed Richard II
• Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March (1352–1381)
  • Edmund Mortimer (1376–1409)
• Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (1374–1398)
• Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March (1391–1425)

 Source: Wikipedia