The Mortimer History Society

The Mortimers - A Medieval Family

NEWSFLASH FEBRUARY 2012
[click on 'Newsflash' above to enter Newsflash page]
           Main Menu

Home Page
The Aim of the Mortimer History Society is to provide a forum for all those who are interested in the medieval Mortimer dynasty, both to study, enjoy and to publicise its eventful history.

This would involve an academic and a practical appreciation of the local and national history associated with the Mortimer family; looking at buildings, artefacts and documents linked with them. This may be extended to include aspects of the history of the Marcher Lords, and the medieval history of the border area.

The activities of the Society would be aimed at a wide and diverse audience with a special emphasis on Herefordshire, Shropshire, Powys, and in particular young people. 


A Brief Survey of the Mortimers

The main Mortimer family took its surname from Mortemer in Normandy.  This was held from the dukes of Normandy who were virtually independent rulers within the kingdom of France.  The first man known as a Mortimer, Roger, apparently never visited England, but he was instrumental in winning a battle for Duke William of Normandy in 1054.  Unfortunately he subsequently failed in his feudal obligations and lost his castle of Mortemer to his brother Ralph Warenne, the ancestor of the earls of that name.

Roger Mortimer's son, Ralph, came to England after the battle of Hastings and soon granted Wigmore castle, Herefordshire. The ‘strange, eventful history' of the Wigmore branch lasted in the male line until 1425, although it can be said that through the female line came the Yorkist kings Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III and again through the female line from them came the Tudors.

The story of the family is a microcosm of English and Welsh medieval history, and includes the new family seat at Ludlow castle.  Mortimers were friends of King John, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III and Richard I, and enemies of Henry I, Henry II, Edward II and Henry IV.  In 1155 Hugh Mortimer stood alone against the military might of England and after a brutal three month war made terms with the great King Henry II which were the envy of many a baron.

There were marriages into the English and Welsh royal families. Earl Roger Mortimer of March, at the high point of his career, became the de-facto Regent of England. He also made an abortive peace settlement with Scotland and even had an affair with Queen Isabelle before being involved in the strange affair of the removal of husband, Edward II, from the throne of England. It is a story involving lords, estates, castles, abbeys, battles, marriages, intrigues and struggles for power that well illustrate every aspect of medieval life, and the fortunes of the ruling classes of the period.