Edmund Mortimer (died 1331)

Sir Edmund Mortimer(1302/1303 – 16 December 1331) was the eldest son ofRoger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March,andJoan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville.By his wifeElizabeth de Badlesmere,he was the father ofRoger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March.Though Edmund survived his father by one year, he did not inherit his father's lands and titles, as they were forfeited to the Crown, and his son only reacquired them gradually.

Sir Edmund Mortimer
Born	1302/1303
Died	16 December 1331
Noble family	Mortimer
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth de Badlesmere ​ ​ (m.1316)​
Issue	Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March John Mortimer
Father	Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March
Mother	Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville

Family and early life

Edmund's father,Lord Roger,married the great heiressJoan de Genevilleon 20 September 1301. Edmund and another sibling were born within three years of the marriage.Ian Mortimerplaces Edmund's birth in late 1302 or early 1303, with the earliest possible date being nine months after the wedding. As evidence, Mortimer writes that Edmund would probably have married at a similar age to his father, who was fourteen when he married Joan.TheWigmore AbbeyAnnals,however, did not record his birth, so it is possible that the boy was born nearer to 1305, after the birth of his eldest sister,Margaret.

Marriage and issue

In the spring of 1316 atWestminster,Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere,negotiated an alliance with Roger, which took place at the same time that they undertookEdward II's order to attack the town ofBristoland seize eighty men who had been indicted. In mid-May, Roger and his household travelled to Wigmore to celebrate the marriage of his eldest son, fourteen-year-old Edmund, to the three-year-oldElizabeth de Badlesmere.With Bartholomew de Badlesmere agreeing to pay Roger the "substantial sum" of £2,000,the two were married at Kinlet,Shropshire,on 27 July 1316.Edmund and Elizabeth's eldest son,Roger,would be born atLudlow Castleon 11 November 1328.A short-lived brother, John, soon followed.

During the time of Edmund's marriage, his father named him the heir to his motherMargaret'sestates inSomersetandBuckinghamshire,which includedBridgwater Castle.During their father's later exile abroad, Edmund and his younger brother Roger were imprisoned atWindsor Castle,along with the sons of theEarl of Hereford.Edmund and his two brothers were moved to the more secureTower of Londonon 1 October 1326.Once freed, a triumphant Roger had Edmund and his brothers wear earls' attire as they wereknightedby the young kingEdward IIIon 1 February 1327.Roger was made Earl of March in September 1328, and Edmund's eldest son Roger was born eleven days later.The Earl of March was executed for treason by hanging in 1330,one year before the death of his son Edmund. Edmund did not inherit his father's lands and titles, as they were forfeited to the Crown.

Alison Weircites Edward III's behaviour towards Edmund as evidence of the young king's sense of justice. In October 1331, Edmund was restored to the family lands at Wigmore as well as to other lordships.He died several months later from a fever, on 16 December 1331, and was survived by his three-year-old son, Roger.Four years later, Elizabeth remarried toWilliam de Bohun,a close companion of Edward III and future Earl of Northampton.Edmund's son Roger was allowed to succeed as the 2nd Earl of March in 1354.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Edmund Mortimer (died 1331)

Ralph de Mortimer Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer Gladys the Dark Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Wigmore William de Braose Maud de Braose Eva Marshal Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Infelram de Fiennes William de Fiennes Isabelle Conde Margaret de Fiennes John II of Brienne,Grand Butler of France Blanche de Brienne Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun Edmund Mortimer Simon de Joinville Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville Beatrix d'Auxonne Peter de Geneville Gilbert de Lacy, of Ewyas Lacy Maud de Lacy Isabel Bigod Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville Hugh XI of Lusignan,Count of La Marche Hugh XII, Count of La Marche Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthièvre and of Porhoet Joan of Lusignan Raoul III, Sire de Fougères Jeanne de Fougères Isabelle de Craon

References

Works cited

• Davies, R. R. (2004). "Mortimer, Roger (VI), second earl of March (1328–1360)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19355.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
• Mortimer, Ian(2003).The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327–1330.New York: St. Martin's Press.ISBN0-312-34941-6.
• Ward, Jennifer (2006).Women in England in the Middle Ages.London: Hambledon Continuum.ISBN1852853468.
• Weir, Alison(2006).Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England.New York: Ballantine Books.ISBN9780345453198.