Mortimer History Society |
History | |||
Written by John Grove | |||
Saturday, 21 November 2009 11:57 | |||
The Mortimers - The main Mortimer family began as vassals of William, Duke of Normandy in a castle at Mort de Mer in France. Roger Mortimer’s son Ralph, came over with the Conqueror and soon settled at Wigmore castle, Herefordshire. The ‘strange, eventful history’ of the family lasted in the male line until 1425, although it can be said that through the female line came the Yorkist kings Edward IV and Richard III.
The story of the family is a microcosm of English and to some extent Welsh medieval history, and includes the new family seat at Ludlow castle, Mortimers who were friends of Edward I, and Edward III, marriages into the English and Welsh royal families, and Roger, the de-facto Regent of England, who had an affair with Queen Isabelle. 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.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 December 2009 13:01 |