Vol II File 19: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James
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Vol II File 19: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James
29. Mortimer Line
The family of Mortemer derives its name from
Mortemer (Mortuo-Mari) in Pays-de-Caux at the source of the Eaulne
River. The castle of St. Victor-en-Caux was the chief barony
of the family, which is said to have sprung from a marriage of
Walter de St. Martin and a niece of the Duchess Gonnor. It was
possessed by Roger de Mortemer in 1054, on which date he was one
of the commanders of Duke William's forces at the battle of Mortemer.
He sheltered in his castle, after the battle, his father-in-law,
Raoul III. the Great, Comte de Valois and d'Amiens, by Oderic
Vital called de Montdidier, one of the French commanders, until
he was able to conduct him safely to his own territories three
days later. For this reason Roger was banished by Duke William
and his estates confiscated. He was later pardoned and his possessions
returned with the exception of the castle of Mortemer, which the
Duke had given to Roger's brother, William de Warren I. He contributed
sixty vassals to the fleet of Duke William and it is generally
conceded that he was too old to have been present at Senlac, although
he made a donation to the abbey of St. Ouen in 1074 and died prior
to the compilation of the General Survey. Wace mentions "Hue
de Mortemer" as having taken part in the battle. Many commentators
believe this to be an error, contending that Wace should have
chronicled Roger or his son, Ralph, or both, because the only
recorded Hugh was the son of Ralph and therefore too young to
have participated in this event. There is no proof, however,
that if not of this branch of the family, a Hugh could not have
sprung from another. Eyton says, "There is evidence that
Roger had two sons in addition to Ralph, namely, Hugh and William."
Nevertheless, Ralph was certainly Roger's heir, and if the son
of Hawisa, the only known wife of Roger, he must have been young
at the time he attended the Conquest. He possessed at the compilation
of Domesday 123 manors, in addition to the castle of Wigmore,
in Herefordshire, which was the chief seat of his barony. In
1088 Ralph was opposed to William Rufus in favor of Robert Curthose
(Courteheuse), but two years later, being pardoned, he accompanied
Robert, Count of Eu, and Walter Giffard to Normandy, where they
arrayed themselves against Duke Robert. In 1100 he founded the
priory of Wigmore, at which time it was stated that Roger de Mortemer,
descended from his family. Ralph, by his wife Millicent, had
issue, Hugh, who succeeded him, William, to whom his brother gave
Chelmarsh and who was ancestor of the Mortimers of Attleborough
and Hawise, who married Stephen, Comte of Aumale. From this family
descended the Lords of Wigmore, Earls of March, Lords Mortimer
of Richard's Castle, etc. (Reference: Crispin & Macary, "Falaise
Rolls").
-
1. Roger de Mortimer, the first of this
name upon record is deemed by some to have been the son of William
de Warren, and by others, of Walter de St. Martin, brother of
that William. Which Roger was the founder of the abbey of St.
Victor, in Normandy. "It is reported," says Dugdale,
"that in the year 1054 (which was twelve years before the
Norman Conquest), when Odo, brother of Henry, King of France,
invaded the territory of Evreux, Duke William sent this Roger,
then his general (with Robert, Earl of Ewe, and other stout soldiers),
to resist his attempts; who meeting with Odo near to the castle
of Mortimer, gave him battle, and obtained a glorious victory.
It is further observable of this Roger, that he was by consanguity
allied to the Norman duke (Afterwards King, by the name of William
the Conqueror), his mother being niece to Gunnora, wife of Richard,
Duke of Normandy, great grandmother to the Conqueror." The
presumed son of this Roger, was Ralph de Mortimer.
-
2. Ralph de Mortimer, accompanying the
Duke of Normandy in his expedition against England, was one of
his principal commanders at the decisive battle of Hastings; and
shortly after, as the most puissant of the victor's captains,
was sent into the marches of Wales to encounter Edric, Earl of
Shrewsbury, who still resisted the Norman yoke. This nobleman,
after much difficulty, and a long siege in his castle of Wigmore,
Mortimer subdued, and delivered into the king's hands. When,
as a reward for his good service, he obtained a grant of all Edric's
estates, and seated himself thenceforward at Wigmore. Independently
of these great Welsh territorial possessions, Ralph Mortimer enjoyed
by the bounty of his royal master sundry
lordships and manors in other parts of the realm, which he held
at the time of the General Survey. In the beginning of Rufus's
reign, Mortimer took part with Curthose, but he subsequently changed
sides, and being constituted general of the forces sent to oppose
that prince in Normandy, by King Henry I., he totally routed the
enemy, and brought Curthose prisoner to the king. He
married Millicent ________,
by whom he had issue:
-
3. Hugh de Mortimer, being a person
of a proud and turbulent spirit, opposed strenuously the accession
of King Henry II., upon the demise of King Stephen, and induced
Roger, Earl of Hereford, to fortify his castles of Gloucester
and Hereford against the new monarch; himself doing the same with
his castles of Cleobury, Wigmore, and Brugges (commonly called
Bridgenorth). Whereupon Gilbert Foliot, at that time Bishop of
Hereford, addressing himself to the Earl of Hereford (his kinsman),
by fair persuasions soon brought him to peaceable submission.
But Mortimer continued obstinate, the king was forced to raise
an army, and at the point of the sword to bring him to obedience.
Between this rude baron, and Joceas de Dynant, at that time Lord
of Ludlow, existed a feud, carried to so fierce a pitch, that
Dynant could not pass safely out of his castle for fear of being
taken by Mortimer's men. But is so happened, that setting his
spies to take all advantages of Dynant, he was surprised himself,
and carried prisoner to Ludlow, where he was detained until he
paid a ransom of 3,000 marks of silver. He was oftentimes engaged
against the Welsh, and he erected some strong castles in Wales.
He likewise finished the foundation of the abbey of Wigmore,
begun by his father, and in his old age became a canon of that
house. He married __________
and had issue as follows:
-
4. Roger de Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore,
like his predecessors, was in constant strife with the Welsh.
At one time he sustained a great defeat in conjunction with Hugh
de Say, but in the end he was victorious, and took twelve of their
principal leaders in one battle. He also enlarged considerably
his territories, and drove thieves and robbers from those parts.
Being at one time present at the solemn anniversary of his father,
he confirmed all his grants to the canons of Wigmore; adding,
of his won gift, a spacious and fruitful pasture, lying adjacent
to the abbey, called the Treasure of Mortimer. Upon which
occasion his steward remonstrating him for parting with so valuable
a treasure, re replied, "I have laid up my treasure in that
field, where thieves cannot steal or dig, or moth corrupt."
This Roger married (1) Millicent Ferrers, daughter
of Robert Ferrers, Earl of Derby, and
had issue as follows:
-
1. Hugh de Mortimer, the eldest son was
his successor. This feudal lord in the baronial war adhered with
unshaken fidelity to King John. In the 16th year of that monarch's
reign he had military summons to attend the king at Cirencester,
with the other Barons-Marchers. He married Annora Braose, daughter
of William de Braose (which one?), and had 100 shillings in land
with her. But having been severely wounded in a tournament, died
in November, 1227, leaving no issue, when he was succeeded by
his half-brother, Ralph.
-
2. Daughter #1, _________ Mortimer, married
Stephen le Gross.
-
3. Joane Mortimer, married Walceline de Beauchamp. See continuation
of this lineage in the Beauchamp Line.
He married (2) Isabel Ferrers, sister
and heir of Hugh de Ferrers, of Oakham, in Rutlandshire, and of
Lechelade and Lagebiry in Gloucestershire.
All which lands he inherited upon the death of the said Hugh
Ferrers. Roger and Isabel had three sons as follows:
-
5. Ralph de Mortimer , half-brother
to Hugh, succeeded him at his death. In the 12th year of King
Henry III., paying 100 pounds for his relief, had livery of all
his lands, lying in the cos. of Gloucester, Southampton, Berks,
Salop, and Hereford. This nobleman being of martial disposition,
erected several strong castles, by which he was enabled to extend
his possessions against the Welsh; so that Prince
Llewellyn, seeing that he could not successfully cope with him,
gave him his daughter Gladys (Gladuse) Dhu, daughter
of Llewellyn the Great, and widow of Reginald de Braose,
in marriage, and by this lady he had issue as follows:
-
6. Roger de Mortimer , in the 31st year
of King Henry III., paying 2,000 marks to the king, had livery
of all his lands, excepting those whereof Gladys, his mother then
surviving was endowed. In six years afterwards he attended the
king in his expedition into Gascony, and in a few years subsequently,
when Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, began again to make incursion
upon the marches, received command to assist Humphrey de Bohun,
Earl of Hereford, in the defense of the country lying between
Montgomery, and the lands of the Earl of Gloucester. In the 42nd
year of the same reign he had another military summons to march
with the king against the Welsh; and being in that service, had
a special discharge of his scutage for those twenty-six knights'
fees and a sixth part which he held in right of Maud, his wife,
one of the daughters and co-heirs of William de Braose, of Brecknock.
In two years afterwards he was made captain-general of all the
king's forces in Wales, all the barons marchers receiving command
to be attendant on him with their whole strength; and he was the
same year constituted the Governor of the castle of Hereford.
But notwithstanding this extensive power, and those great resources,
he was eventually worsted by Llewellyn, and constrained to sue
for permission to depart, which the Welsh price conceded, owing
to his consanguity. After this he took and active part in the
contest between Henry III. and the insurrectionary barons in favor
of the former. He was at the battle of Lewes, whence he fled
into Wales, and afterwards successfully planned the escape of
Prince Edward. Having accomplished his prince's freedom, Mortimer,
directing all his energies to the embodying a sufficient force
to meet the enemy, soon placed Prince Edward in a situation to
fight and win the great battle of Evesham (August 4, 1265), by
which the king was restored to his freedom and his crown. In
the celebrated conflict Mortimer commanded the third division
of the royal army, and for his faithful services obtained, in
the October following, a grant of the whole earldom and honor
of Oxford, and all other the lands of Robert de Vere, Earl of
Oxford, at that time and by that treason forfeited. The Dictum
of Kenilworth followed soon after the victory of Evesham, by which
the defeated barons were suffered to regain their lands upon the
payment of a stipulated fine, but this arrangement is said to
have caused great irritation among the barons marchers, (Mortimer
with the rest), who had acquired grants of these estates. He
was, however, subsequently entrusted, by the crown, with the castle
of Hereford, which he had orders to fortify, and was appointed
Sheriff of Herefordshire. After the accession of Edward I., he
continued to enjoy the sunshine of royal favor, and had other
valuable grants from the crown. He married, as already stated
above, Maud Braose,
eldest daughter and a co-heir of William
de Braose, of Brecknock. They had
the following children:
-
1. Ralph de Mortimer, d.v.p.
-
2. Edmund de Mortimer, his successor. See
below.
-
3. Roger de Mortimer, 5th Lord of Wigmore,
and lord of Chirke, part of the territories of Griffith ap Madoc,
and was summoned to parliament from February 6, 1299, to November
3, 1396, as "Roger de Mortuomari," and as Baron Mortimer,
of Chirke, from August 26, 1307, to May 15, 1321 (See Burke, Page
385-6). Eventually, his grandson sold to the lordship of Chirke
to Richard Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel.
-
4. William de Mortimer, of Bridgewater,
an eminent soldier, married Hawise Musegros, heir
of Robert de Musegros and his wife, Agnes Ferrers,
but d.s.p.
-
5. Geoffrey de Mortimer, d.s.p., d.v.p.
-
6. Isabella Mortimer, married John Fitz Alan III See continuation
if this lineage in the Fitz Alan Line in Volume II.
Upon having procured the honor of knighthood
to be conferred by King Edward I., he caused a tournament to be
held, at his own cost, at Kenilworth, where he sumptuously entertained
a hundred knights and as many ladies, for three days, the like
whereof was never before known in England; and there began the
round table, so called from the place wherein they practiced those
feats, which was encompassed by a strong wall, in a circular form.
Upon the 4th day the golden lion, in token of triumph, having
been yielded to him, he carried it with all that company to Warwick.
The fame whereof being spread into foreign countries occasioned
the Queen of Navarre to send him certain wooden bottles, bound
with golden bars and wax, under the pretense of wine, but in truth
filled with gold, which for many ages after were preserved in
the Abbey of Wigmore. Whereupon for the love of that queen, he
had added a carbuncle to his arms. This celebrated feudal
lord died in 1282, and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
Edmund.
-
7. Edmund Mortimer , Lord of Wigmore,
born in 1261, fought constantly in the Welsh wars, and was mortally
wounded in the battle of Buelt, dying July 17, 1304. He married
Margaret Fiennes,
daughter of William de Fiennes and
his wife, Blanche Brienne, daughter of Jean de Brienne and his
wife, Jeanne Chateaudun. She was the great granddaughter of Jean
de Brienne, King of Jerusalem. In
the 10th year of King Edward I., he succeeded his father, and
the next year, doing his homage, had livery of his lands. He
was afterwards constantly employed in the Welsh wars, and was
summoned to parliament as a baron, from June 8, 1294, and from
June 23, 1295, to June 2, 1302. He was mortally wounded at the
battle of Buelt, against the Welsh, and dying almost immediately,
at Wigmore Castle, was buried in the abbey there. He and his
wife had the following children:
-
8. Roger Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer,
born in 1287, was summoned to parliament from February 22, 1306,
to December 3, 1326 (from the accession of Edward II., with addition
of "De Wigmore"). This nobleman, so notorious in the
histories as the paramour of Isabel, Queen Consort of the unfortunate
Edward II., was in his sixteenth year at the time of his father's
death, and was placed by the king (Edward I.) in ward with Piers
Gaveston, so that to redeem himself, and for permission to marry
whom he pleased, he was obliged to pay Gaveston 2,500 marks, and
thereupon married Joane Geneville,
born in 1285, died in 1356, daughter
of Peter de Geneville and his wife, Joane Lusignan. Peter was
the son of Geoffrey de Geneville, Lord of Trim, in Ireland and
conveyed eventually the whole inheritance of the Genevilles, and
half the land of the Lacys, into that family. See Burke, pg.
228. Peter de Geneville, died in 1292, was the second son of
Geoffrey de Geneville and his wife Maud Lacy, daughter of Walter
Lacy, Lord of Meath. Geoffrey was the son of Peter de Geneville,
a Provencal, who died in 1249, stated by Matthew of Paris, to
have been a man of humble birth, and by others to have been Lord
of Vancouleur, and brother of John de Geneville, or Joinville,
the historian of the Crusade of St. Louis, who was Governor of
Windsor Castle, and dying in 1249, was succeeded by his son and
heir, Geoffrey, who in the 38th year of King Henry III., had livery
of the castle of Trim, in Ireland. In four years afterwards he
received a military summons to march against the Welsh, and in
the 44th year of the same king, being then one of the barons marchers,
he had command to repair to the castle of Wales, and to reside
there. In the 10th year of King Edward I., he was in the expedition
made against the Welsh, and in fifteen years subsequently he was
in the wars of Gascony. For all which service he was summoned
to parliament as a baron, February 6, 1299, and from that period
to November 3, 1306. He married Maud, daughter and heir of Gilbert
de Lacy (Lacey), son of Walter de Lacy (Lacey), Lord of Maeth.
He died in 1307, succeeded by his son, Peter, whose older brother,
Geoffrey d.s.p. in the lifetime of his father.
In the 34th year of Edward I., he received the honor of knighthood,
and the same year attended the king into Scotland, where we find
him again in the 3rd year of Edward II., and the same year he
was constituted Governor of the castle of Buelt, in Brecknockshire.
In the 7th, 8th, and 9th years he was likewise in Scotland, and
then appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland. During the remainder
of the unhappy Edward's reign he attached himself to the interests
of the queen, and at length fled with her and Prince Edward into
France. Returning, however, and his party triumphing, he was
advanced to the dignity of Earl of March soon after the accession
of King Edward III., and he held a round table the same year at
Bedford. But hereupon becoming proud beyond measure (so that
his own son, Geoffrey, called him the King of Folly), he kept
a round table of knights in Wales, in imitation of King Arthur.
"Other particulars," says Dugdale, "of his haughtiness
and insolence were these, viz., that with Queen Isabel, he caused
parliament to be held at Northampton, where an unworthy agreement
was made with the Scots, and Ragman's Roll of Homage of Scotland
was traitorously delivered as also the black cross, which King
Edward I. brought into England, out of the abbey of Scone, and
then accounted a precious relic. That (with the queen) he caused
the young king to ride twenty-four miles in one night, towards
Bedford, to destroy the Earl of Lancaster and his adherents, saying
that they imagined the king's death. That he followed Queen Isabel
to Nottingham, and lodged in one house with her. That he commanded
the treasure of the realm, and assumed the authority, which by
common consent in parliament was conferred upon Henry, Earl of
Lancaster, at the king's coronation." His career was not
however of long continuance, for, the king becoming sensible of
his folly and vices, had him suddenly seized in the castle of
Nottingham, and conveyed prisoner to London, where, being impeached
before parliament, he was convicted under various charges, the
first of which was privity to the murder of King Edward II. in
Berkeley Castle; and receiving sentence of death was hanged in
1330, at the summons gallows, called Elmes, near Smithfield, where
his body was permitted to hang for two days and three nights naked,
before it was interred in the Grey Friars; whence in some years
afterwards it was removed to Wigmore. The Earl of March left
issue four sons and seven daughters as follows:
-
9. Edmund Mortimer, the eldest son of
Roger, born about 1305, although he did not succeed to the earldom,
was summoned to parliament, as Lord Mortimer, November 20, 1331.
He married June 27, 1316 Elizabeth Badlesmere, one
of the daughters and at length co-heir of Bartholomew Badlesmere
(commonly called the Rich), Lord Badlesmere, of Ledes Castle,
in Kent, and his wife, Margaret Clare. She married, after his
decease, William de Bohun,
Earl of Northampton. She was aged 25 in 1338 and died June 8,
1355. See the continuation of this lineage in the Bohun
Line in Volume II.
========================================================
The following descent is not directly related, only half-relations.
From the marriage of Mortimer and Elizabeth there was an only
surviving son, Roger Mortimer, successor to Edmund at his death
shortly before January 21, 1331.
-
1. Roger Mortimer, born November 11, 1328,
three years before his father's death, was summoned to parliament
as Baron Mortimer, and Baron Mortimer, of Wigmore, from
November 20, 1348, to March 15, 1354. He at the time of his father's
death, was only three years old, and during his minority his castles
in the marches of Wales were committed to the custody of William
de Bohun, Earl of Northampton, who had married his mother, his
step-father. In the 20th year of Edward III. he accompanied the
king into France, and then received the honor of knighthood, one
of the original Knights of the Garter. In the 26th year he was
in a similar expedition, and in two years afterwards, obtaining
a reversal of the attainder of his grandfather, he was restored
to the Earldom of March, and to his forfeited lands. He was the
next year the Constable of Dover Castle, and Warden of the Cinque
Ports, and for some years afterwards he was in the wars of France.
He married Philippa Montacute, daughter of William de Montacute,
1st Earl of Salisbury, and his wife, Katherine Grandison. Philippa
died January 5, 1381/82. They had issue as follows:
-
1. Roger Mortimer, who died in his father's
lifetime in 1398, leaving by his wife Eleanor Holand a son, Edmund
Mortimer.
-
2. Edmund Mortimer, his successor. See
below.
-
3. Margery Mortimer, married John Audley,
Lord Audley.
He died at Romera, in Burgundy, in 1359, being
then commander of the English forces there, and a Knight of the
Garter. He was succeeded by his son, Edmund.
-
11. Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and
Lord Mortimer, known as "The Good," was born February
1, 1352. While yet an infant, in 1354, he was betrothed to Alice
Fitz Alan, daughter of Richard Fitz Alan, but did not marry her.
At the time of his father's death, he was in minority, yet by
reason of his singular knowledge and parts, he was employed at
eighteen years of age, to treat with the commissioners of the
King of France, touching a peace between both realms. In the
1st year of Richard II., he was sworn to the privy council, and
in two years afterwards, constituted Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
in which government he died in 1381. He married in 1368 Philippa
Plantaganet, only daughter and heir of Lionel Plantaganet of Antwerp,
Duke of Clarence (by Elizabeth, his first wife, daughter and heir
of William de Burgh, son and heir of John de Burgh, Earl of Ulster).
Philippa was born at Eltham August 16, 1355 and died before her
husband. He died December 27, 1381. They had the following children:
-
12. Roger Mortimer , 4th Earl of March,
who being but seven years old, at the decease of his father, was
committed in ward, by the king, to Richard, Earl of Arundel; and
when he came of age, found, by the care of those who had the management
of his estate, all his castles and houses in good repair, and
amply stocked with rich furniture, while his lands were completely
stocked with cattle, and in his treasury, no less than 40,000
marks. This Roger being a hopeful youth, and every way accomplished,
was, soon after his father's death, made lieutenant of Ireland;
and in parliament, held in the 9th year of Richard II., was declared,
by reason of his descent from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, heir presumptive
to the crown. He married Alianore Holland, daughter of Thomas
Holland, Earl of Kent and his wife, Alice Fitz Alan, sister of
Thomas Holland, Duke of Surrey, and sister and co-heir of Edmund,
Earl of Kent. She married (2) Edward Powys, Lord Powys; and (3)
John Dudley, Lord Dudley). They had the following children:
-
1. Edmund Mortimer, his successor, 5th Earl
of March, heir to the crown of England. This nobleman being but
six years of age, at the decease of his father, was committed
by King Henry IV., to Henry, Prince of Wales, his son; out of
whose custody he was shortly after stolen away by the Lady de
Spencer; but being discovered in Chittham Woods, they kept him
afterwards, under stricter guard, for he was the rightful heir
to the crown of England, by his descent from Lionel, Duke of Clarence.
He was frequently engaged in the wars of France, in the time
of King Henry V., and in the first year of King Henry VI. he was
constituted Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He married Anne, daughter
of Edmund, Earl of Strafford, but d.s.p., in 1424, when the Earldom
of March became extinct, but the Baronies of Mortimer, created
by the writs of Edward I., and Edward III, devolved upon his nephew,
Richard Plantaganet, Duke of York, son of his sister Anne, Countess
of Cambridge; and upon the accession of the son and heir of the
said Duke of York to the throne, as Edward IV., these baronies,
with other dignities, became merged in the crown. Thus terminated
the male line of the illustrious family of Mortimer, Earls of
March; and their great estates, with the right to the throne,
passed to Richard, Duke of York, son of the last earl's sister,
the Lady Anne Mortimer, by her husband, Richard Plantaganet, Earl
of Cambridge.
-
2. Roger Mortimer, d.s.p.
-
3. Anne Mortimer, married Richard Plantaganet,
Earl of Cambridge, younger son of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York
(5th son of King Edward III.), and conveyed the right to the crown
to the House of York, through their son, Richard Plantaganet,
Duke of York. He claimed the throne as a descendant of Lionel,
second son of King Edward III, whereas King Henry VI., then on
the throne, was from John of Gaunt, Edward's third son. This
was the origin of the Wars of the Roses. The Duke's party was
badly defeated in the battle of Wakefield in 1460, when he was
slain. He married Cecily Nevill, daughter of Ralph de Nevill,
Earl of Westmoreland and his wife, Joan Beaufort. Their eldest
son was Edward, Duke of York, who ascended the throne as King
Edward IV. Their fourth son, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, ascended
the throne as King Richard III.
-
4. Eleanor (Alianore) Mortimer, married
Edward, son of Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, but d.s.p.
Roger Mortimer was slain in battle, in Ireland,
in 1398, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Edmund.
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