Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March

Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March (c.1328 – February 26, 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War.

He was the son of Sir Edmund de Mortimer (died 1332) and Elizabeth de Badlesmere. His paternal grandparents were Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Geneville (1286–1356), daughter of Piers de Geneville and Jeanne of Lusignan.

Inheritance

The Mortimer family lands and titles were lost after the first Earl of March's revolt and death by hanging in 1330, which was followed the next year by the death of Roger's father. Roger thus grew up with uncertain prospects, and re-acquired the family honours only gradually.

Around 1342, he received back Radnor, and the next year the old family baronial seat at Wigmore, Herefordshire.

Military career

As a young man he distinguished himself in the wars in France, fighting at Crécy and elsewhere in the campaign of 1347. Afterwards he was given livery of the rest of his lands, was one of the original Knights of the Garter, and was summoned to parliament as a baron in 1348.

Earldom

In 1354, the sentence passed against Mortimer's treacherous grandfather, the first earl, was reversed, and the next year he was summoned to parliament as Earl of March. Also in 1355 he received a number of important appointments, including Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports, and accompanied Edward III's expedition to France.

Other honours

Around this time his grandmother, Joan de Geneville, widow of the first earl, died, and Roger inherited her large estate, including Ludlow Castle, which was thereafter the Mortimer family seat and power base.

In the following years he became a member of the Royal Council, and was appointed Constable at the castles of Montgomery, Bridgnorth in Shropshire, and Corfe in Dorset.

In 1359, and continuing into 1360, he was Constable of Edward III's invasion of France, fighting in the failed siege of Reims and capturing Auxerre. The English forces then moved into Burgundy, where Roger died suddenly at Rouvray near Avallon.

Roger married Philippa Montacute, daughter of William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury and had by her three children:
* Roger Mortimer, who died young;
* Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March;
* Margery Mortimer, who married John Touchet, "Lord Audley".

References

*DNB entry - R. R. Davies, ‘Mortimer, Roger (VI), second earl of March (1328–1360)’, first published Sept 2004, 1010 words