Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March

Edmund Mortimer
Edmund Mortimer
3rd Earl of March ; Earl of Ulster
	Arms of Mortimer: Barry or and azure, on a chief of the first two pallets between two gyrons of the second over all an inescutcheon argent
Born	1 February 1352; Llangoed in Llyswen, Brecknockshire, Wales
Died	27 December 1381 (aged 29); Cork, Ireland
Noble family	Mortimer
Spouse(s)	Philippa Plantagenet (m. 1369; d. 1381)
Issue; Sir Edmund Mortimer Philippa Mortimer;
Father	Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March
Mother	Philippa Montagu

Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and Earl of Ulster (1 February 1352 – 27 December 1381) was an English magnate who was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland but died after only two years in the post.

Early life

He was the son of

Catherine Grandison

.

An infant at the death of his father, Edmund, as a

Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, the second son of Edward III.^[1]

Lionel's late wife, Elizabeth, had been daughter and heiress of

Edward, the Black Prince and his son, King Richard II of England.^[1] John of Gaunt, younger brother of Prince Edward, had become the 1st Duke of Lancaster and thus the source of the House of Lancaster

's claim to the throne.

This marriage had, therefore, far-reaching consequences in English history, ultimately giving rise to the claim of the

Edmund of Langley, the first Duke of York and the fourth adult son of Edward III. Edmund Mortimer's son Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March would become heir presumptive to the English crown during the reign of Richard II.^[1]

Political advancement

Mortimer, now styled Earl of March and Ulster, became

Marshal of England in 1369, and was employed in various diplomatic missions during the next following years. He was a member of the committee appointed by the Peers to confer with the Commons in 1373 – the first instance of such a joint conference since the institution of representative parliaments on the question of granting supplies for John of Gaunt's war in France.^[1]

He participated in the opposition to Edward III and the court party, which grew in strength towards the end of the reign, taking the popular side and being prominent in the

Edward, the Black Prince to attend the king and advise him in all public affairs.^[1]

Following the end of the Good Parliament, its acts were reversed by John of Gaunt, March's steward was jailed, and March himself was ordered to inspect Calais and other remote royal castles as part of his duty as Marshal of England. March chose instead to resign from the post.^[2]

Sent to govern Ireland

On the accession of Richard II, a minor, in 1377, the Earl became a member of the standing council of government; though as the husband of the heir-presumptive to the crown he wisely refrained from claiming any actual administrative office. The richest and most powerful person in the realm was, however, the king's uncle John of Gaunt, whose jealousy led March to accept the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1379.

March succeeded in asserting his authority in eastern Ulster, but failed to subdue the O'Neills farther west. Proceeding to Munster to put down the turbulent southern chieftains, March was killed at Cork on 27 December 1381.^[2] He was buried in Wigmore Abbey, of which he had been a benefactor, and where his wife Philippa was also interred.^[1]

Children

The earl had two sons and two daughters:^[2]

Thomas de Camoys, 1st Baron Camoys and had issue.^[3]

Roger (1374–1398), succeeded him as 4th Earl of March and Ulster; married Alianore Holland and had issue.
Edmund (1376–1409), married Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr
and had issue.

Philippa (1375–1401), married firstly
Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel; she married thirdly Sir Thomas Poynings, 5th Baron St John of Basing.^[4]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March

Catherine Montagu, Countess of Salisbury

Sibylla de Tregoz

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f McNeill 1911, p. 686.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tout
^ Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, pg 577–578.
^ Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, pg 320, 570.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: McNeill, Ronald John (1911). "March, Earls of". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 685–688.
Archer, Thomas Andrew (1886). "Camoys, Thomas de" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 8. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 306–307.
Tout, T. F. (1894). "Mortimer, Edmund de (1351-1381)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography
. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 119–121.

Peerage of England
Preceded by Roger Mortimer	Earl of March 1360–1381	Succeeded by Roger Mortimer
Preceded by Philippa Plantagenet as sole holder	Philippa Plantagenet 1369–1381	Succeeded by Roger Mortimer

[FOOTNOTEMcNeill1911686-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f McNeill 1911, p. 686.

[tout-2] Tout

[3] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, pg 577–578.

[4] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, pg 320, 570.

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