General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> [EARL OF MARCH]
A descendant of Llewellyn The Great, Prince of Wales. Roger was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland etc.

Edward II, King of England, succeeded to the throne in 1307, upon the death of his father, Edward
I, King of England. Edward II was murdered by his wife and her lover, Roger Mortimer. They did not
do the deed themselves, but rather ordered it done by others. It is known that is was Mortimer who
appointed a new trio of keepers for the deposed Edward II. He had been transferred from Kenilworth
to Berkeley Castle, and the quality of his accommodations had been drastically changed. At
Berkeley they were, to say the least, unhealthy. But Edward II, now only Edward of Caernarvon, did
not die of natural causes. His shrieks of agony were so loud that they were heard not only through
Berkeley Castle but as far away as the village. The traditional story is that, to avoid making
marks on the outside of his body, his murderers had burnt out his bowels with a red hot iron
inserted through a hollow horn.


The Mortimers were descended from Roger de Mortemer of Mortemer-sur-Eaulane in Normandy, a supporter of William the Conqueror. Their main castle was at Wigmore, eight miles west of Ludlow. They had lands mainly in Herefordshire and Shropshire, including Cleobury       (Mortimer) on the edge of the hunting forest of Wyre. By marriage to Joanna de Geneville, a later Roger Mortimer (1287-1330) secured
possession of Ludlow Castle. This became the family's principal power base for the next six generations.

Roger Mortimer was a very powerful and ambitious Marcher Lord. He was the first of several members of his
family to attempt to seize the throne of England. He fought the Scottish Wars and made attempts to remove the
King's favorites, at first with some success. In 1323 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but escaped to
France, an event he later commemorated by building St Peter's chapel in the outer bailey of Ludlow Castle.

In France, Mortimer formed an alliance with Queen Isabella, who had deserted her effeminate husband, King
Edward II of England. They raised an army, invaded England and forced Edward to abdicate in favor of his
youngest son, the future Edward III. Mortimer entertained Isabella at his castles on the Welsh borders and
they became famous lovers. Meanwhile, Edward II was cruelly murdered at Berkeley Castle in 1327.

Following Edward's death, Mortimer, acting as regent, was the virtual ruler of England, but he over-reached
himself and aroused the anger of other barons. In October 1330 he was arrested at Nottingham and sentenced
to death. He was executed at Tyburn in London.

Later, the ambitions of the Mortimers became part of the great dynastic struggles of the mid-15th century
which became known as the "War of the Roses."

The Mortimers were archetypal Marcher Lords. The latter were a class of noblemen established by the Norman kings of England to     police The Marches, which were their Welsh, and to a lesser degree, Scottish border. In return for this service the lords were allotted     vast tracts of territory in these regions. More than that, though, they were afforded wide ranging powers not available in English-based     counterparts - these in return for providing a defensive cushion between the rebellious Welsh and the shires adjacent to Wales. For     example, they were allowed to raise their own armies, exact taxes and build castles without the sovereign's consent. Marcher Lords were     by nature and took every opportunity to enlarge upon their dominions. This process took the form of either taking possession     by force or by engaging themselves or their offspring in marriages made profitable by handsome dowries of land and property.