Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March
Edmund Mortimer | |
---|---|
Westmeath | |
Died | 18 January 1425 (aged 33) Trim Castle |
Buried | Clare Priory, Suffolk |
Family | Mortimer |
Spouse | Anne Stafford (m. 1415) |
Father | Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March |
Mother | Eleanor Holland |
Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, 7th Earl of Ulster (6 November 1391 – 18 January 1425), was an English nobleman and a potential claimant to the throne of England. A great-great-grandson of King Edward III of England, he was heir presumptive to King Richard II of England (both his paternal first cousin twice removed and maternal half grand-uncle) when he was deposed in favour of Henry IV. Edmund Mortimer's claim to the throne was the basis of rebellions and plots against Henry IV and his son Henry V, and was later taken up by the House of York in the Wars of the Roses, though Mortimer himself was an important and loyal vassal of Henry V and Henry VI. Edmund was the last Earl of March of the Mortimer family.
Early life
Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, was born at New Forest,
Edmund Mortimer's mother was the daughter of
Edmund Mortimer was thus a descendant of Henry III and Edward I and a half-grandnephew of Richard II through his mother, and more importantly a descendant of King Edward III through his paternal grandmother Philippa of Clarence, only child of King Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence.[4] Because King Richard II had no issue, Edmund's father, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, was heir presumptive during his lifetime, and at his death in Ireland on 20 July 1398 his place in the succession fell to his eldest son, Edmund.[5] Thus in terms of male primogeniture Edmund was heir-presumptive to the throne over and above the house of Lancaster, the children of Edward III's third son John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
However, on 30 September 1399, when Edmund Mortimer was not yet eight years of age, his fortunes changed entirely. Richard II was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke, the new Duke of Lancaster, who became King Henry IV and had his own son, the future
Rebellion against Henry IV
On 22 June 1402, Edmund's uncle, Sir Edmund Mortimer, son of the 3rd Earl, was captured by the Welsh rebel leader, Owain Glyndŵr, at the Battle of Bryn Glas. Henry IV accused Sir Edmund of deserting to Glyndŵr, refused to ransom him, and confiscated his property.[7] Sir Edmund then married Glyndŵr's daughter, and on 13 December 1402 proclaimed in writing that his nephew Edmund was the rightful heir to King Richard II.[8]
Sir Edmund's sister, Edmund's aunt, was married to
The alliance of Glyndŵr, Sir Edmund, and the Percys survived this setback. In February 1405, they agreed to a three-way division of the kingdom.
Edmund Mortimer's sisters, Anne and Eleanor, who were in the care of their mother until her death in 1405, were not well treated by Henry IV, and were described as 'destitute' after her death.[15]
Reign of Henry V
On his accession in 1413
On 9 June 1413, the King granted Edmund Mortimer livery of his estates.
Despite this momentary discord, Edmund Mortimer was entirely loyal to Henry V. He never made any claim to the throne, despite being senior in descent. He was one of Henry's most trusted counsellors.
On 16 April 1415 Mortimer was present at the council which determined on war with France,[20] and on 24 July 1415, he was a witness to the King's will.[15]
While preparations for the invasion were underway, some discontented nobles launched the Southampton Plot, to take Mortimer to Wales and proclaim him king. The chief plotter was his sister Anne's husband, the Earl of Cambridge. When Mortimer was made privy to this plan, he revealed the conspiracy to the King at Portchester on 31 July. Afterwards, he sat on the commission which condemned Cambridge and the other conspirators to death; they were beheaded on 2 and 5 August. On 7 August, the King formally pardoned Mortimer for any nominal involvement in the plot.[15]
Mortimer was deeply in debt when he accompanied Henry V's forces to France.
In February 1421 Mortimer accompanied the King back to England with his bride, Catherine of Valois, and bore the sceptre at Catherine's coronation on 21 February. He returned to France with Henry V in June 1421, and was at the Siege of Meaux, where the King fell mortally ill, dying on 31 August 1422.[21]
Final years
Henry V was succeeded by his nine-month-old son, King Henry VI, and on 9 December 1422[22] Mortimer was appointed to the Regency Council of the regency government, 1422–1437.[6]
On 9 May 1423
Mortimer had no issue, and at his death the Mortimer line of the Earls of March became extinct.[25] The heir to his estates and titles was the son of his sister Anne and the Earl of Cambridge, Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (1411–1460).[6] Richard also inherited Mortimer's claim to the throne, which he eventually raised, causing the Wars of the Roses.
His widow, Anne, married, before 6 March 1427,
The Wigmore chronicle describes Edmund Mortimer as "severe in his morals, composed in his acts, circumspect in his talk, and wise and cautious during the days of his adversity".[6]
Shakespeare and the Mortimers
Events in the life of Sir Edmund Mortimer, uncle of Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, were dramatized by Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part 1. In the play, Shakespeare accurately identifies the former as Hotspur's brother-in-law, but simultaneously conflates him with his nephew by referring to him as "Earl of March".
The Southampton Plot is dramatized in Shakespeare's play Henry V. However, its intent is misstated, and Mortimer's role in exposing it and condemning the plotters is completely omitted.
Edmund Mortimer also appears in Henry VI, Part 1. He is incorrectly depicted as an old man who has been imprisoned in the Tower of London since the rise of Henry IV. Furthermore, in an entirely fictional scene, Mortimer explains to his nephew Richard their family's claim to the throne, praises the efforts of Richard's father to make Mortimer king, and urges Richard to pursue his own claim to the throne. In reality, Richard was thirteen years old when his uncle died, and at the time was being raised in the north of England as a ward of the crown by Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland.
Ancestry
Ancestors of Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Notes
- ^ Keenan 2010, p. 509.
- ^ Cokayne 1932, p. 450; Richardson III 2011, p. 195
- ^ Richardson III 2011, p. 195; Richardson II 2011, pp. 496–8.
- ^ Richardson III 2011, pp. 193–5.
- ^ Tout 1894, p. 124.
- ^ a b c d e f Tout 1894, pp. 123–5.
- ^ Pugh 1988, pp. 14, 37.
- ^ Tout 1894, pp. 122–3.
- ^ Walker 2004; Bean 2004.
- ^ Bean 2004; Tout & Davies 2004.
- ^ Tait 1896, p. 403.
- ^ Griffiths 2004; Lock 2004; Pugh 1988, p. 78.
- ^ "PELHAM, John (D.1429), of Pevensey castle and Laughton, Suss. | History of Parliament Online".
- ^ Pugh 1988, p. 79.
- ^ a b c d e f Griffiths 2004.
- ^ Pugh 1988, p. 78.
- ^ Pugh 1988, p. 79; Cokayne 1932, p. 451
- ^ Griffiths dates the dispensation to February.
- ^ a b Richardson III 2011, pp. 196–7.
- ^ a b Cokayne 1932, p. 451.
- ^ a b c Cokayne 1932, p. 452.
- ^ Griffiths says Mortimer was appointed to the regency council in November 1422.
- ^ Griffiths dates the appointment to March 1423.
- ^ Richardson III 2011, p. 196.
- ^ McNeill 1911, pp. 686–687.
- ^ a b c d e Davies 2004b.
- ^ a b c d Holmes 2004.
- ^ a b c d e Weir 2008, p. 97.
- ^ a b c Weir 2008, p. 96.
- ^ a b c d Stansfield 2004.
- ^ a b Davies 2004a.
- ^ a b Weir 2008, pp. 92–97.
- ^ a b Barber 2004.
References
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14823. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Bean, J.M.W. (2004). "Percy, Henry, first earl of Northumberland (1341–1408)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21932. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Cokayne, G. (1932). H. A. Doubleday (ed.). The Complete Peerage. Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). London: St. Catherine Press. pp. 445–53.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19355. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Davies, R.R. (2004b). "Mortimer, Roger (VII), fourth earl of March and sixth earl of Ulster (1374–1398)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19356. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19344. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19342. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Lock, Julian (2004). "Pelham, Sir John (d. 1429)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21793. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Keenan, Desmond (2010). Ireland 1170–1509, Society and History. Xlibris Corporation LLC. pp. 509–10. ISBN 978-1-4535-8429-3.
- McNeill, Ronald John (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 685–688.
- Pugh, T.B. (1988). Henry V and the Southampton Plot of 1415. Alan Sutton. ISBN 978-0-86299-549-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4499-6638-6.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Richardson, D. (2011). Kimball G. Everingham (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1-4499-6639-3.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Stansfield, M.M.N. (2004). "Holland, Thomas, earl of Kent (c. 1315–1360)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13543. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Tait, James (1896). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 45. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 401–4.
- Tout, T. (1894). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 123–5. . In
- Tout, T. (1894). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 122–3. . In
- Tout, T.; doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19343. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Walker, Simon (2004). "Percy, Sir Henry [called Henry Hotspur] (1364–1403)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21931. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5.
Attribution:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Tout, T. (1894), "Mortimer, Edmund (IV) de, Earl of March and Ulster (1391–1425)", in Lee, Sidney (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 39, London: Smith, Elder & Co, pp. 123–5 .
External links
- For Mortimer's foundation of a college at Stoke-by-Clare, and his burial there, see British History Online, The College of Stoke by Clare