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Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl Of March

Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March

Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and Earl of Ulster, (born 1 February 1352, at Llangoed in Llyswen, Brecknockshire, Wales; died 27 December 1381, aged 29, in Cork, Ireland) was an English magnate whose life, though relatively brief, proved to be a pivotal nexus in the intricate tapestry of medieval English succession. He held the distinguished titles of Earl of March and Earl of Ulster, and for a short, rather ill-fated period, served as the Lieutenant of Ireland before his untimely death. His lineage, already significant, was amplified by a strategically crucial marriage, inadvertently laying the groundwork for future dynastic struggles that would tear England apart.

His noble family was the prominent Mortimer dynasty. His personal arms were a distinctive display: Barry or and azure, on a chief of the first two pallets between two gyrons of the second over all an inescutcheon argent. He was married to Philippa Plantagenet in 1369, a union that lasted until his death in 1381. Together, they had several notable children: Elizabeth Mortimer, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, Sir Edmund Mortimer, and Lady Philippa Mortimer. His father was Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, and his mother was Philippa Montagu.

Early life

Edmund Mortimer entered the world on 1 February 1352, a date that promised little of the future constitutional upheaval his existence would provoke. He was the son of Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, and Philippa, who was the daughter of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and his wife Catherine Grandison. His early years were marked by the common fate of noble heirs: a childhood without a father. His father's death left Edmund an infant, making him a ward of the crown. This placed him under the direct, if somewhat distant, care of Edward III of England, who, in his infinite wisdom (or perhaps, strategic foresight), entrusted the young earl's upbringing to the capable hands of William of Wykeham and Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel.

This "wardship" was less about paternal care and more about maintaining control over a formidable inheritance. The young earl already commanded significant power through his extensive possessions and the entrenched hereditary influence of his family in the Welsh marches. This inherent authority was then amplified exponentially by his marriage on 24 August 1369. At the tender age of 17, Edmund was wed to the 14-year-old Philippa, the sole child and heiress of the late Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence. Lionel was, notably, the second son of the reigning monarch, Edward III. This was no love match, of course; it was a calculated consolidation of power and lineage.

Philippa's deceased mother, Elizabeth, had been the daughter and heiress of William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster. Her father, Lionel, had himself been granted the title of Earl of Ulster even before his marriage to Elizabeth, a clear indication of the Plantagenet family's designs on Irish territories. Upon Lionel's death, Edmund, through his marriage to Philippa, inherited the title of Earl of Ulster. This elevated the Earl of March to a position of immense influence, as he now represented one of the most significant Anglo-Norman lordships in Ireland, not merely by right of conquest, but by right of his wife's inheritance. More critically, Philippa's lineage positioned her as the second most senior line of descent in the intricate (and often deadly) succession to the English crown, trailing only behind Edward, the Black Prince and his son, the future King Richard II of England. This fact would, in time, prove to be less of a blessing and more of a curse for all involved. Meanwhile, John of Gaunt, Edward III's younger brother, had already established himself as the 1st Duke of Lancaster, thereby becoming the progenitor of the House of Lancaster's eventual claim to the throne.

This seemingly straightforward aristocratic marriage, therefore, inadvertently sowed the seeds of profound future discord in English history. It was this union that ultimately provided the foundational claim for the House of York to the English crown, a claim that would be fiercely contested in the bloody conflict known as the Wars of the Roses against the rival House of Lancaster. For context, Edward IV, a key figure in the Yorkist claim, was a direct descendant through the second adult son of Edward III, being the great-great-grandson of Philippa, Countess of March. Furthermore, in the male line, Edward IV was descended from Edmund of Langley, the first Duke of York and the fourth adult son of Edward III. The immediate beneficiary of this crucial lineage was Edmund Mortimer's own son, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, who would eventually be recognized as the heir presumptive to the English crown during the reign of Richard II. A truly fascinating web of familial obligations and ambitions, wouldn't you agree?

Political advancement

Following his marriage, Mortimer, now officially styled as Earl of March and Ulster, ascended to the prestigious office of Marshal of England in 1369. This appointment was a clear indication of his growing influence within the English court, and he subsequently found himself engaged in various diplomatic missions throughout the ensuing years. His strategic importance was further underlined in 1373 when he was selected as a member of the committee appointed by the Peers to confer directly with the Commons. This was a historically significant moment, marking the first recorded instance of such a joint conference since the establishment of representative parliaments, specifically addressing the critical issue of granting supplies for John of Gaunt's ongoing, and often unsuccessful, war efforts in France.

As Edward III's reign began its long, inglorious decline, marked by the king's increasing infirmity and the growing unpopularity of his mistress, Alice Perrers, opposition to the crown and its favoured court party swelled. Mortimer, ever the pragmatist, became a prominent figure in this opposition. He notably aligned himself with the popular faction and played a significant role in the Good Parliament of 1376. In this assembly, he stood among the influential lords who openly supported the ailing Prince of Wales and actively opposed the entrenched Court Party, most notably its powerful figurehead, John of Gaunt. The Speaker of the House of Commons during this pivotal parliament was March's own steward, Peter de la Mare, a man of considerable fortitude (born around 1294, from Little Hereford, Hereford, and died in 1387). De la Mare famously stood firm against the formidable John of Gaunt, articulately presenting the grievances of the Commons, lending his weight to the impeachment of several high-ranking court officials, and successfully advocating for the banishment of the king's notoriously influential mistress, Alice Perrers. Following the tragic death of Edward, the Black Prince, March was appointed as a member of the administrative council by the same parliament. This council's mandate was to attend the king and offer advice on all public affairs, a clear sign of the popular party's attempt to curb the power of the regressive court faction.

However, the fleeting triumphs of the Good Parliament were, as is often the case with such fleeting victories, swiftly reversed. John of Gaunt, with his characteristic ruthlessness, wasted no time in dismantling its acts. March's steward, the courageous Peter de la Mare, found himself imprisoned for his audacity. As for March himself, he was presented with a rather thinly veiled punitive assignment: an order to inspect Calais and other remote royal castles, effectively exiling him from the political centre as part of his duties as Marshal of England. March, perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, chose discretion over futile confrontation, opting instead to resign from the post. A wise move, one might concede, given the volatile political landscape.

Sent to govern Ireland

With the accession of Richard II to the throne in 1377, a king still a minor and thus requiring guidance, Edmund Mortimer found himself a member of the newly established standing council of government. Despite being the husband of the heir-presumptive to the crown—a position of immense potential influence—he shrewdly (or perhaps, wearily) chose to abstain from claiming any actual administrative office. This might have been a calculated move to avoid the direct political crossfire, or simply a recognition that his power was already sufficiently established without the added burden of day-to-day governance.

However, the richest and most powerful man in the realm remained the king's uncle, John of Gaunt. Gaunt's notorious jealousy and ambition were legendary, and the presence of a rival with a stronger dynastic claim was, predictably, an irritation he wished to remove. Thus, in 1379, March was effectively sidelined, accepting the rather unenviable office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This appointment was less an honour and more a polite exile, a convenient way to remove a potential rival from the immediate vicinity of the young king and the English court.

March's tenure in Ireland was, as many such colonial appointments often were, a struggle against insurmountable odds. He managed to assert a degree of authority in eastern Ulster, a familiar territory for his family, but his efforts to subdue the fiercely independent O'Neills further west proved utterly futile. One might wonder if he truly expected to succeed, given the long history of English futility in such endeavours. His campaign then took him to Munster, where he attempted to quell the turbulent southern chieftains, a task that was as thankless as it was dangerous. It was during this campaign that March met his end, killed at Cork on 27 December 1381. A rather abrupt conclusion to a life that had been so carefully positioned for future greatness. He was subsequently interred in Wigmore Abbey, a monastic institution he had generously supported during his life, and where his wife, Philippa, would also later be buried.

Children

The Earl of March and Ulster left behind a legacy not just of titles and lands, but of progeny who would continue to shape the course of English history, often in tumultuous ways. He had two sons and two daughters, each destined for lives of varying degrees of prominence and peril:

Ancestry

The lineage of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, is a testament to the intricate interweaving of powerful noble families in medieval England, each thread contributing to the fabric of his formidable heritage. Tracing his paternal line:

On his maternal side, through his mother Philippa Montagu:

This detailed ancestral chart illustrates the depth of Edmund Mortimer's connections to the English aristocracy, a lineage that ensured his early prominence and set the stage for his crucial role in the dynastic struggles of the late medieval period.

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.