Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March
Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March and 6th Earl of Ulster (11 April 1374 – 20 July 1398)[1] was the heir presumptive to Richard II of England between 1385 and 1398.
Mortimer was son of the powerful Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, and Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster, Countess of March and Ulster.[2] His mother was the only issue of Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.[3] Thus, Roger Mortimer was Richard II's heir presumptive.
Mortimer's father died whilst on campaign in Munster, Ireland on 27 December 1381. His mother then died, aged only twenty six, less than a month later on 5 January 1382. Mortimer therefore succeeded to his title and estates aged only seven.[2] His hereditary influence and position caused him to be appointed to the lord-lieutenancy of Ireland on 24 January 1382.[2] His uncle Sir Thomas Mortimer acted as his deputy.[2] This experiment did not work well and Mortimer was replaced by Philip de Courtenay the next year.[2]
Being a ward of the Crown, his guardian was Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, half-brother to Richard II. The Earl of Kent also purchased the rights to choose Mortimer's bride, and on 7 October 1388 married him to his daughter Alianore (Eleanor).[3]
The importance which he owed to his hereditary influence and possessions, and especially to his descent from Edward III, was immensely increased when Richard II publicly acknowledged him as heir presumptive to the crown in 1385.[3]
Conflict in Ireland
In 1394 he accompanied Richard II to Ireland, but notwithstanding a commission from the King as lieutenant of the districts over which he exercised nominal authority by hereditary right, he made little headway against the native Irish chieftains. Nevertheless the following year Mortimer was given broader authority as lieutenant of Ireland.
March enjoyed great popularity in England, though he took no active part in opposing the despotic measures of the King.
On 20 July 1398, he was killed at Kells in a fight with an Irish clan, and was buried in Wigmore Abbey.
His titles and the designation of heir presumptive passed to his young son, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March.
Children
By his wife Alianore Holland he had four children[4]:
- Anne de Mortimer, married Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge
- Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March
- Roger Mortimer (died young c. 1409)
- Eleanor (d. 1418), married Edward de Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon and had no children
Ancestry
Notes
References
- Michel L. Call (2005). The Royal Ancestry Bible: A 3,400 Pedigree Chart. M.L. Call. ISBN 1-933194-22-7.
- Stephen, Leslie (1894) [1894]. Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: MacMillan and Co. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
{{cite book}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|origmonth=
,|chapterurl=
,|month=
, and|origdate=
(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - Tout, T. F. (1894). "Roger de Mortimer, fourth earl of March and Ulster". Dictionary of National Biography. 39: 145–146.