The Mortimer Claimants and a Descent Into Madness

Transcript:

The Mortimer Claimants, a bit of a descent into madness:

Welcome to the first episode of this series that isn’t about one of Edward III’s children. Instead we’re moving onto his great-grandchildren and even their children. This episode will do a lot to cover the events that lead up to and directly followed Henry IV becoming king. With the death of John of Gaunt, Richard II lost his only protector, he had burnt all the bridges that could have saved him by banishing his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, having his uncle, Thomas of Woodstock, killed, and just in general ignoring the advice of his elder statesmen. This episode will be a bit of four mini-episodes all in one. For sources I will be taking a big dive through the Encyclopaedia Brittanica and the article ‘Widow and Ward: The Feudal Law of child Custody in Medieval England from the Spring-Summer 1976 Journal of Feminist Studies by Dr. Sue Sheridan Walker. Since these four are all minor players they don’t get books themselves, or in the case of this show, their own episodes. There will be a post on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter that includes a family tree with notes. Please check this, because the Mortimers were the worst at using the same name for everyone. I wish I were kidding, but for multiple generations first and second sons were named Roger or Edmund.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier episodes, and as many of you will know from general history, Henry Bolingbroke usurped the English throne on the 30th of September 1399, overthrowing Richard II. According to Edward III’s entail Bolingbroke, as the son of John of Gaunt, was next in line to the thrown after his usurped cousin. But, Edward III hadn’t been king since 1377, and Richard II had been an adult in all senses since 1385. I discussed it in Lionel’s episode that Richard, while not naming an heir, had indicated at various times that his uncle Edmund of Langley, Roger Mortimer (the 4th earl of March, as opposed to the 1st earl of March who helped Isabella of France overthrow Edward II), and, after Roger’s death, Edmund Mortimer his son, who was born in 1391, making him not even seven at the time he was suggested. In this episode I want to look at Roger and Edmund Mortimer, along with the former’s brother, also named Edmund, so three subjects for this episode. This is where the wars of the roses could have started, but Henry Bolingbroke, or Henry IV after 1399 kept that from happening through some careful political manoeuvring, strength in battle, and some luck. These three each present one of these aspects. There is a fourth subject I want to bring up towards the end to fully explain the claims involved in the Wars of the Roses, Roger’s daughter, Anne, who married Richard, Earl of Cambridge. 

Now, before I start, I was originally going to  include the Percy claimants, but since doing a bit more research I’d like to just focus on the Mortimers, mainly because I want to clearly lead to Richard 3rd Duke of York and the Wars of the Roses. I hope you’ll all forgive me, but you did get an extra episode since I separated Edmund of Langley and Thomas of Woodstock’s episodes. 

So, who were these three men and one woman and how did they have a claim to the English throne? Roger Mortimer, the 4th Earl of March, and Sir Edmund Mortimer were brothers and the sons of Philippa of Clarence, the only daughter of Lionel of Antwerp, making them grandsons of Edward III. The younger Edmund Mortimer would become the 5th Earl of March after his father’s death. Anne was about three years older than Edmund, but due to being a woman below him in the line of succession. There was a third Mortimer child of note, Roger, but as we’ll see there’s less information about him, and unlike his sister, he will have no impact on future claims to the throne. 

(If you hear this you are listening to an AI stolen copy of this Passed episode. Please visit passedpod.com for links to this show by it’s creator, Veronica Fortune)

Edward III’s entail wrote the line descending from his son Lionel out of succession. Likely due to Roger Mortimer only being three when he died. Edward III would have known that minority reigns were fraught with difficulty and that the parent his claim would be through was his mother, Philippa of Clarence, Lionel’s daughter. When balancing stability in government choosing first the surviving son of his oldest child, Richard of Bordeaux and then his oldest surviving and very powerful son, John of Gaunt, made sense. Edward III obviously believed that Gaunt would support Richard, and as we know he did, as did the rest of the nobility. But he had no way to know if the nobility would support his granddaughter, the last time a king had tried to leave a kingdom to a woman, well, the anarchy happened. Would Gaunt have supported his niece? We have no way of knowing, based on his treatment of his nephew it’s likely he would have if his father had asked him to, but I’m sure there would have been those who whispered that he would have overthrown her. Because a lot of these people have the same name, which we all know by now is a theme, I’ll be using titles a lot, and I’ll do my best to keep track of who I’m talking about. 

Roger Mortimer, the 4th Earl of March, was born on the 11th of April 1374. He was the second child and first son of Philippa of Clarence, the 5th Countess of Ulster, and Edmund Mortimer, the 3rd Earl of March. This marriage is interesting if you remember back to Isabella of France’s episodes. Edmund Mortimer was the great-grandson of Roger Mortimer, the 1st Earl of March, who had assisted Isabella in her overthrow of Edward II and had been cruel to Edward III throughout his early reign. After seizing power Edward III had the 1st Earl of March executed and his titles and property attained. But Edward wasn’t cruel to the 1st Earl’s family. He forgave Joan de Geneville the earl’s wife and slowly restored the attainted property to Sir Edmund Mortimer, Rogers’ son. Sir Edmund only live one year after his father’s execution, dying in 1331. The entirety of the family’s estates and titles were returned by 1354 to Roger Mortimer the 2nd Earl of March. This Roger, the 2nd Earl, was one of the founding members of the Order of the Garter and a successful military leader in the early portion of the Hundred Years’ War. Edmund, the 3rd earl and the father of this subject, shows how much Edward III didn’t hold any of the Mortimer family guilty for the crimes of one of their member’s. Philippa and Edmund were married in 1369. Marrying a princess and such a high ranking countess was probably more than could have been expected after the events of 1330. It would of course eventually lead to more bloodshed than could have been expected, but no one knows the future. Edmund would be sent to Ireland to govern when Richard II was king. He would be killed in December of 1381, when Roger was only six. Less than two weeks later, in early January 1381 he would lose his mother. With her death he became the senior claimant through the line of Lionel of Antwerp. In 1381 Richard II still would have been a minor, being only 13, well, 14, in a sad coincidence Philippa died on the 5th of January, the day before Richard’s 14th birthday. While he had been treated as an adult since his accession it’s likely a will or entail written by him wouldn’t hold up, especially not without the support of his uncle, so even if he named the young Roger his heir, Roger was unlikely to succeed. Also, Richard was young, he was still expected to have children at this point. 

Wardships are something that has come up a few times. It’s a bit odd to modern sensibilities, these days, at least in the countries of most of my listeners, when a parent dies custody of minor children is transferred to the other parent. In the absence of a will the deceased parents estate is divided based on local law, often going to their spouse and children in various percentages. But, in the middle ages this wasn’t always the case. No one is speaking about peasants, I’m talking about those with political standing, the children of the nobility and even the landed gentry. If a father died while in good standing, in the case of Roger Mortimer’s father, his son would inherit his father’s titles and properties, but instead of custody being automatically awarded to the boy’s mother the king could determine how the child was raised (in Roger’s case his mother was originally awarded his wardship, by her cousin, the king, but she died not long after her husband). This makes sense in some ways, this child wasn’t just a child, but a potential political ally or enemy to the king. By controlling who controlled the child and educated them, the king could influence the child’s politics. Often the child would stay in the custody of their mother, especially if she was of the same political thought as the king, but as we’ll see later in this episode, children would be removed from their mother if needed, and don’t even get me started on what happened when widows remarried. Now, the property of the ward was a different story. A minor then, just like now, couldn’t control their property until they came of age. Since the king was the ultimate controller of all property and titles he again had control. Wardships were a great way for the king to make money. By selling a wardship the king would get a guarantied annuity and the ward would be provided for by the holder of his or her wardship. The holder of the wardship would want to protect the property that belonged to the child because that’s how they made a return on their payments to the king. This didn’t happen when a mother predeceased her children’s father, because custody belong to the father, but son’s would inherit their mother’s titles, if applicable, and lands and not have to wait to get those through their father. 

In Roger’s case, had his mother not died so soon after his father, it’s likely he would have been raised by her with his military training overseen by one of his uncles or great-uncles. Instead his wardship, which based on birth was both valuable and politically important, was originally divided between Roger himself (a rarity in this time), his sister’s father-in-law Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, Thomas Beauchamp (bee chum), 12th Earl of Warwick (yes, one of the Appellants from Thomas’ episode) , Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel (yup, another of those Appellants), and John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville for a payment of 4,000 pounds a year in December 1383. Surprisingly, less than a year later, in August of 1384 the wardship was transferred to Thomas Holland, the 2nd Earl of Kent, the king’s half-brother, at the request of the king’s mother, Joan of Kent. Roger’s guardianship was transferred from Richard Fitzalan (who was also his brother-in-law) to Thomas Holland at this time as well. 

When he was 14, in 1388, Roger and Elleanor Holland married, Eleanor was the daughter of Richard II’s oldest half-brother, Thomas. Eleanor was four years older than Roger. They would have their first child, Anne in 1390, followed by Edmund in 1391, Roger in 1393, and Eleanor in 1395. Roger (our subject, not his, at the time, unborn son) was knighted in 1390. 

In 1392, when Roger was of age, Richard II appointed his the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Roger had acted in this role earlier in 1382, as a minor, but his illegitimate-paternal uncle, Thomas Mortimer, acted in his stead, since we don’t usually let children act in government roles, right? Like his maternal grandfather, Lionel, and his father, he struggled with the Irish leaders, because in shocking news having an external power trying to control your native land isn’t popular. Due to his presence in Ireland he had little political impact in England. Though, the one big chance he had to participate in English politics he stumbled a little. His paternal uncle, the afore mentioned Thomas Mortimer, assisted Henry Bolingbroke at the Battle of Radcot Bridge, killing one of the three casualties, Thomas Molineux. Roger was ordered to arrest his uncle in 1397 as part of Richard II’s purge of those who had stood against him. Roger apparently decided to just um, pretend the papers got lost in the post. As many of you can imagine Richard II was unimpressed by this and accused Roger of helping his uncle avoid justice. Just to avoid leaving you hanging Thomas Mortimer fled to Scotland where he likely died in 1399. 

After upsetting the king by avoiding arresting his uncle, Roger further upset Richard II by appearing in parliament. Well, not appearing in parliament, that’s expected of a member of the lords, but by being greeted by rather excited fellow-members, some even dressed in his colours. After upsetting the king, and raising the king’s growing anger he returned to Ireland where his brother-in-law, Thomas Holland, Eleanor’s brother who shared his name with their father, who was also the king’s nephew, was ordered to capture him. 

Thomas Holland failed, sadly, not due to any cunning on Roger’s behalf. Instead during a skirmish in Ireland on the 20th of July 1398, while possibly wearing Irish garb, a clear violation of the Statues of Kilkenny, Roger was killed. He was 24 and it’s likely his killer didn’t realise who Roger was. He was succeeded by his son Edmund, who I will get to in a few minutes. Roger was never likely to be king, but it does appear that he was liked and may have been a more popular king than Richard II. I think he would have been unsuccessful simply because he would have lacked the support of John of Gaunt or Edmund of Langley. Gaunt would not betray his king and Edmund wasn’t ready to back any horse until he knew they could defeat the king and Roger wasn’t the person to do that.

Roger’s younger brother, Sir Edmund, the second subject of this episode, was a very different man from his brother. This Edmund was born on the 10th of December 1376, the fourth surviving child of Philippa of Clarence and Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. Roger saw to it that his brother was financially cared for after their parents’ passing, Edmund wasn’t even six when his father died and barely six when his mother died. When Roger died, Edmund made sure to supervise his young nephew and namesake’s education. Edmund was a supported of Henry IV, at least originally.  In 1399 when Henry took power Edmund was 23, and his nephew, Edmund actually had a better claim to the English throne as the great-grandson of Lionel of Antwerp. It’s important to remember that this claim was only theoretical. If you’ve listened to my episodes about Robert Curthose and Empress Matilda the Normans pretty much became king by secure the treasury and convince a high-ranking bishop to crown and anoint them. Once Matilda’s son Henry II became king the first transition, from father-to-son Henry to Richard, was simple and straightforward, but after that it became messy. Theoretically when Richard died childless his younger brother, Geoffrey, would have been next in line, but Geoffrey predeceased both Henry and Richard. However, his son Arthur was still alive and should have become king next, but as I’ve told you in other episodes, Richard’s youngest brother, John, usurped the throne and was crowned. From John though, there had only been father-to-son inheritance of the throne, John’s son Henry III to Edward I, then to Edward II, and finally Edward III. Richard II not being usurped by his uncle was a great test of the idea of royal inheritance being passed through an heir who predeceases his father in this case Edward III through the Black Prince, to Richard II. As discussed in Lionel’s episode, when arguments occurred during Henry VI’s reign, generations after this, the ecclesiastic courts basically told the royal family to sort it out themselves. So, while there was a system for inheritance outside of royal circles, at the end of the day royalty just went with what the previous king had asked for if there wasn’t an obvious heir. It helped to have a strong regent if the heir was a child, as Henry III did with William the Marshall. Henry IV didn’t need a regent, he was a grown man, a proven warrior, and a respected noble. Edmund’s nephew would have needed a regent, and while it likely would have been Sir Edmund it appears that the elder Edmund released this might not be the right call. 

So, what was Sir Edmund’s life like after he decided not to challenge Henry IV on his nephew’s behalf? He and his brother-in-law, Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy were sent to Wales to put down a Welsh rebellion led by Owain Glyndwr, also known as Owain ap Gruffydd (I deeply apologise to all my Welsh and Welsh-speaking listeners for any mispronunciations) who had claimed the title ‘Prince of Wales’. At the Battle of Bryn Glas in October of 1402 Sir Edmund was defeated and taken hostage. Percy was able to avoid captivity, but Henry IV worried that his cousin had allowed himself to be taken and banned Percy from raising the funds for Edmund’s ransom. In October of that year Henry IV began requisitioning Sir Edmund’s wealth and property. Most nobles would not have the best time of being a hostage, Edmund wasn’t a king, this isn’t John II or David II being kept by Edward III in luxury, this was a minor noble being held by a rebel leader in probably less-than comfortable confinement. Somehow though, Edmund made-off better than most in November of 1402 he married Glyndwr’s daughter Catrin ferch Owain Glyndwr (ferch means ‘daughter of’ the same was ap means ‘son of’ in Welsh). If Sir Edmund hadn’t been rebelling against Henry IV before the Battle of Bryn Glas Henry’s treatment of him after lead Sir Edmund straight into the arms of rebellion. Sir Edmund and Catrin had one son, Lionel, and three unnamed daughters.

Percy and his father, the Earl of Northumberland and uncle, the Earl of Worcester rebelled against the king on behalf of Sir Edmund in the summer of 1403. They were defeated at the Battle of Shrewsbury on the 21st of July 1403. Percy died that day, his uncle was executed two days later, but his father survived due to delaying his departure for the battle. Henry IV’s oldest son an heir, Henry of Monmouth also known as Hal, was severely injured in this battle, Patrons will learn more about him in a special episode next year. This is one of the many rebellions Henry IV’s faced.

Less than two years later, in February of 1405, Sir Edmund, the Earl of Northumberland, and Owain Glyndwr sealed the Tripartite Indenture an agreement to usurp Henry IV’s throne and divide England and Wales between the three of them. Glyndwr would receive Wales, and parts of the west of England, Northumberland would get most of the north of England, and Sir Edmund and his family would receive southern England. They planned to abduct young Edmund 5th earl of March to use as a figurehead. 

As you may be able to guess this plan came to nothing. The younger Edmund was abducted, but recovered without issue. And Sir Edmund died in 1409 while under siege in one of Glyndwr’s castles. The siege had lasted eight months and had been led by Hal. He was only 32. His wife, Catrin and their surviving children were taken to London and held by Henry IV. Catrin and at least two of their daughters died before 1413. I do not know what happened to young Lionel nor the third daughter. I imagine Henry IV didn’t want anyone knowing what was going on, whether it was malicious or accidental. Owain Glyndwr lived until, well, no one actually knows, he disappeared in 1412. Dates for his death vary between 1415 and 1416. 

Now, onto the second Edmund in this story, Edmund 5th Earl of March, the son of Roger and nephew of Sir Edmund. This Edmund was only a child through the exciting events that highlighted his father and uncle’s lives and his own life would be full. Edmund was born in Ireland on the 6th of November 1391 to Roger Mortimer and Eleanor Holland. Through his father he was a great-grandson of Edward III, making him a second cousin to Richard II, through his mother he was also the half-great nephew to the king. He had one younger brother, Roger (please, consider carefully what you name your children if only for the sake of future historians, history educators, and podcasters, thanks), an older sister, Anne, and a younger sister Eleanor. Edmund would become the 5th Earl of March on the 20th of July 1398 when his father died in Ireland. 

With his father’s death he also became Richard II’s presumed heir, or the person Richard threatened to make his heir when challenged by the nobles. Richard was basically telling his nobles ‘it’s me or this really young kid’. While Henry IV would just ignore this suggestion in 1399, it was a valid threat. The king, in theory, could announce his heir and the nobles could be made to swear. This was a rather religious time, and many took their oaths seriously. on the 30th of September 1399 Henry IV reminded everyone that in some cases ‘might equals right’ when he usurped his cousin’s throne. Henry IV didn’t need Edmund as an heir, he had four sons, including his heir, Henry of Monmouth. Interestingly Henry of Monmouth and Edmund had spent time together, Henry had been brought to Ireland with Richard II at various times. 

Henry IV could have easily had Edmund and his younger brother killed, history is filled with examples. Henry I locked Robert Curthose away for decades, and continued to fight Curthose’s son until said son’s death, King John had his nephew Arthur murdered, years later Richard III will be accused of ordering the death of his nephews (though, some historians think this isn’t the case, I’m still on the fence). Instead, he had his two young cousins moved into the custody Sir Hugh Waterton, where they were raised with two of Henry’s children, John and Philippa. 

Edmund didn’t participate in any of the rebellions instigated by his uncles (Sir Edmund and Percy), he was 14 in 1405 and it probably would have been obvious if he had been involved.  While he was abducted and quickly returned, Henry IV needed to make sure he was better protected and placed him under the care of Sir John Pelham until 1409 at which point he and his brother were given into Henry of Monmouth’s care. Sadly, Edmund’s sisters were not well cared for, they had remained in their mother’s custody until her death in 1405. After that they were not kept in circumstances befitting the daughters of an earl. 

In 1413, when Edmund was 22 Henry of Monmouth succeeded his father as Henry V. He released his cousin and granted him control of his estates. Sometime in that same year his younger brother Roger died. In 1415 he married his second cousin (matchmaking at family reunions again) Anne Stafford. Anne was the daughter of Anne of Gloucester, making Anne Stafford the granddaughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Edward III’s youngest child. While the couple had received papal dispensation they hadn’t received royal approval and Henry V fined them a large sum. Anne and Edmund wouldn’t have any children, though she would have two children during her second marriage. Oddly, it seems the couple wouldn’t have the chance to have children as we’ll see in a moment. 

Edmund was loyal to his cousin throughout Henry V’s reign. He supported Henry’s resumption of war with France in 1415. He was informed of a plot, the Southhampton Plot, in that same year. The plotters, including his brother-in-law, Richard Conisbrough, the 3rd Earl of Cambridge (Anne Mortimer’s husband), planned to take Edmund to Wales and declare him king there before invading England while the king was in France. On the 31st of July Edmund informed the king of the plot. The conspirators were captured, tried, and executed on the 2nd and 5th of August. Mortimer was pardoned, though it appears that Henry never doubted his loyalty. Henry V then sailed for France, and a date with history. 

From late 1415-1420 Edmund was on the continent with the king. He returned in February of 1421 with the king and his new bride, Catherine of Valois, before returning to France in June. Hence my comment about not having a chance to have children with his wife. Henry V would die in France on the 31st of August 1422 and be succeeded by his infant son, Henry VI. A child king can open the door for a powerful royal cousin, but Edmund didn’t take the chance. Henry VI’s upbringing has been described as one by committee. While Edmund wasn’t on the committee it does appear he got along well enough with the king’s three uncles, at least at first. He was appointed lieutenant in Ireland in 1423 but remained in England. That is until he began arguing with Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, one of Henry VI’s uncles. He was sent to Ireland to remove him from the English political scene and died there of the plague on the 18th or 19th of January 1425. He was 33. 

These first three subjects have been interesting to cover, and make great ‘what-if’s’, but I’ve intentionally buried the lede a bit. A few of you are probably smiling right now as I start Anne Mortimer’s story because you know how important she is. Yes, her father would probably have been a good leader, and her uncle was an interesting character. Her younger brother had a tiny a chance of being king, but Anne, well, through Anne we get the Wars of the Roses. Sadly, because she’s a woman her story isn’t as detailed or as long as her male relatives, both because women aren’t written about enough and because of biology. Anne was the oldest child of Roger Mortimer and Eleanor Holland making her a great-great grandchild of Edward III and the great-grand daughter of Lionel of Antwerp, Edward’s second surviving son. She was born on the 27th of December 1388. As I mentioned in her brother’s story, after the death of her mother in 1405 her circumstances were much diminished and she lived in something similar to poverty. She would have been an adult, but not able to make her own decision, due to being a woman, but she didn’t let that stop her. In January of 1408 she secretly married Richard Conisburgh the 3rd Earl of Cambridge, the younger son of Edmund of Langley the fourth surviving son of Edward III. 

This marriage was, like her brother’s, without the king’s consent, it also lacked parental consent, and papal dispensation. The couple received retrospective dispensation on the 23rd of May 1408.Anne and Richard would have three children, Isabel of York in 1409, Henry of York, likely in 1410, but I can’t find a precise date, he would die young, and Richard of York on the 22nd of September 1411. 

Sadly for Anne, and many women throughout history, her third pregnancy was her death. She died on the 22nd of September, not long after her youngest son’s birth. This youngest son, though, who became the 3rd Duke of York 1425. he would restored to his father’s titles a year later. I’ll stop myself before I completely spoil his episode, which will be coming in the new year after I had a visit to France (on the show, not in real life sadly). 

While these four were highly unlikely to ever rule, they were interesting to explore. Sir Edmund was the one who most surprised me. I knew there had been Welsh uprisings throughout the period of the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses, but it was fascinating reading his story and I’m glad I’ve gotten to share it with you. I really hope this has set-up the Wars of the Roses well, I was always interested in how the claims that created the Yorkist claimants and the Lancastrian claimants came about. I wanted to make sure this was shared before I jump into the Richard of York. Next week though, I’ll be taking a break from people, and giving you all an episode about chivalry. I hope you’ll join me for this. I want to let you know my plans for the coming weeks. The chivalry episode will be my last of the year. I need to get ready for Christmas and the New Years, with three young children this can be a lot of work. Plus, I have a plan to expand this show a little that I need to get started on. You will like this plan, at least I hope you will, and you’ll learn all about it in the new year. Patrons, you will get a sneak preview of everything I’m working on over the coming weeks, including early releases! I’m really excited for this next step. Don’t worry, normal subject episodes will still be coming, on a weekly basis, because this is what I love doing.