Title 2nd Earl of March Spouse(s) Philippe de Montagu Nationality English | Other titles 4th Baron Mortimer Tenure 1348-1360 Name Roger 2nd | |
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Born 11 November 1328 ( 1328-11-11 ) Known for Military commander during the Hundred Years' War Died February 26, 1360, Rouvray, Yonne, France Parents Elizabeth de Badlesmere, Countess of Northampton Children Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March Grandchildren Elizabeth Mortimer, Edmund Mortimer, son of the 3rd Earl of March, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March Cousins Elizabeth de Vere, Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford, Margaret de Vere, Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford Similar People Edmund Mortimer - 3rd Earl o, Roger Mortimer - 1st Earl of, Philippa - 5th Countess, Bartholomew de Badlesm, Margaret de Clare - Baroness | ||
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.
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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, 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:
Mortimer also had at least one illegitimate child:
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.