2nd Earl of March and 3rd Baron Mortimer (1355-1360)
Born 1329 Died 1360
This Roger Mortimer was the son of Edmund Mortimer and Elizabeth de Badlesmere, but perhaps more importantly he was the grandson of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March who had been executed for treason on the 29th November 1330. Edmund Mortimer did not outlive his father by much, and died certainly before the 21st January 1332, most probably sometime in the year 1331. The younger Roger was therefore the heir to the Mortimer estates and titles but unfortunately his grandfather's attainder in 1330 meant that all these had been forfeited to the crown.
His mother remarried William De Bohun, Earl of Northampton who used his influence to secure at least partial restiution to the young Roger and
in 1341 the Marcher Lordship of Radnor was returned to him, with the addition of Wigmore in the following year. However the task of fully rehabilitating the Mortimers was largely accomplished by Roger's own efforts. Young Roger appears to have been a successful tournament competitor, an accomplishment that brought him to the attention and favour of Edward III. It seems that it was for this reason only that Roger became one of the founder members of the Order of the Garter in 1344, which is rather a distinguished honour for the grandson of a condemed traitor.
In 1346 Roger accompanied the king on his expedition to France and was knighted on landing at La Hogue. A creditable performance at the Battle of Crécy earned him the return of most of the remainder of the Mortimer estates, despite the fact that he wasn't yet fully of age. Further service in France over the next few years allowed him in 1354 to obtain a reversal of the attainder passed against his grandfather, as Parliament held that the attainder passed against the 1st Earl of March was legally invalid, as he had not been allowed to speak in his own defence.
In 1355 Roger won full restoration of his estates and the confirmation of his titles as well as being appointed to the prestigous offices of Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle. Thereafter he again served with Edward in France and it was there that he died at Roveray in Burgundy, on the 26th February 1360. His remains were returned to England and interred at Wigmore Abbey.
Roger married Philippa, daughter of William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury by whom he had an only son, Edmund, who duly became the 3rd Earl of March.
SOURCES
- George Frederick Beltz Memorials of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (1861) from www.britannia.com
- The 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica entry for MARCH, EARLS OF
- Charles Arnold Baker The Companion to British History (Longcross Press, 1996)
- A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain at www.thepeerage.com