Edmund Mortimer

“ If Edmund Mortimer would not take part in the scheme, it was intended to bring in the pseudo-Richard II from Scotland. The plot was to take effect after the king's departure to France, and some authorities suggest that the conspirators were actually bribed by the French (Walsingham, Hist. Angl. ii. 306; Gesta Henrici, p. 10 n.) In July 1415, when the king was at Southampton, preparing to sail for France, the plot was revealed to Mortimer. Mortimer declared that such a matter needed time for consideration, but on the following morning revealed the conspiracy to the king. ”

“ MORTIMER, Sir EDMUND (III) de (1376–1409?) , was the youngest child of Edmund de Mortimer (II) , third earl of March [q. v.] , and his wife Philippa, the daughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence, and heiress of Ulster. He was born at Ludlow on Monday, 9 Nov. 1376. Portents attended his birth. At the very moment he came into the world it was believed that the horses in his father's stables were found standing up to their knees in blood (Monk of Evesham, p. 179 ; Ann. Hen. IV, apud Trokelowe, p. 349) . These stories are very generally but erroneously transferred to Owen Glendower [q. v.] ”

“ Edward, this Mortimer aims at thy life! O fly him, then! but, Edmund, calm this rage,20 Dissemble, or thou diest; for Mortimer And Isabel do kiss, while they conspire: And yet she bears a face of love forsooth. Fie on that love that hatcheth death and hate! Edmund, away; Bristow to Longshanks' blood Is false; be not found single for suspect: Proud Mortimer pries near unto thy walks.
Enter the Queen, Mortimer, the Young Prince, and Sir John of Hainault.
Queen. Successful [291] battle gives the God of kings [Pg 197] To them that fight in right, and fear his wrath. ”

“ Fair blows the wind for France: blow, gentle gale, Till Edmund be arriv'd for England's good! Nature, yield to my country's cause in this! A brother? no, a butcher of thy friends! Proud Edward, dost thou banish me thy presence? But I'll to France, and cheer the wronged queen, And certify what Edward's looseness is. Unnatural king, to slaughter nobleman And cherish flatterers! Mortimer, I stay Thy sweet escape. ”

“ The daughters all married into powerful families, chiefly of Marcher houses. His eldest son, Edmund, was father of Roger Mortimer (c. 1328–1360) , who was knighted by Edward III. in 1346, and restored to his grandfather’s title as 2nd earl of March.
Edmund de Mortimer (1351–1381) , 3rd earl of March, was son of Roger, 2nd earl of March, by his wife Philippa, daughter of William Montacute, 1st earl of Salisbury. Being an infant at the death of his father, Edmund, as a ward of the crown, was placed by Edward III. under the care of William of Wykeham and Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel. ”

“ Mortimer's close association with the Prince of Wales and his old guardian, William of Wykeham, necessarily involved an attitude of hostility to John of Gaunt. Ancient feuds between the houses of March and Lancaster still had their effects, and Edmund's dislike of Gaunt was strengthened by a feeling that Lancaster was a possible rival to the claims of his wife and son to the succession. Accordingly he took up a strong line in favour of the constitutional as against the court party, and was conspicuous among the aristocratic patrons of the popular opposition in the Good parliament of 1376. ”

“ While Earl Edmund was governing across the sea, his little son Roger grew in health and stature under the loving care of his grandmother at Wigmore. The Earls of March had many castles and seats, but Wigmore Castle was the family seat of the Mortimers. The old Countess was extremely anxious that the boy should grow up a good man ”

“ What traitor have we there with blades and bills? First Sold. Edmund the Earl of Kent. K. Edw. Third. What hath he done? First Sold. 'A would have taken the king away perforce, As we were bringing him to Killingworth. Y. Mor. Did you attempt his rescue, Edmund? speak. Kent. Mortimer, I did: he is our king, And thou compell'st this prince to wear the crown. Y. Mor. Strike off his head: he shall have martial law. Kent. Strike off my head! base traitor, I defy thee! K. Edw. Third. My lord, he is my uncle, and shall live. Y. Mor. My lord, he is your enemy, and shall die. Kent. Stay, villains! ”

“ The turbulent lord marcher now strove with all his might to uphold the king's peace. He put down a threatened rising in the north of England (Flor. Hist. iii. 32) . He succeeded in punishing Andrew, the former prior of Winchester, who violently strove to regain his position in the monastery. Mortimer did not scruple to disregard ecclesiastical privilege and imprison Andrew's abettor, the archdeacon of Rochester (Winchester Ann. in Ann. Mon. ii. 117) .
Mortimer took a conspicuous part in Edward I's early struggles against Llywelyn of Wales. ”

“ Oh, the heat! There is no air!"
Followed a hideous gurgling; then:
"The earth is dissolving beneath my feet! It is the end. Creation is returning to its original atoms! Oh, my God!" There was a sickening scream that rapidly grew fainter with the effect of fading on radio.
"Williams!" shouted Mortimer. "What happened?"
There was no answer.
"Williams! Williams!" Mortimer was on his feet, fairly shrieking into the instrument. "Do you hear me?"
The only response was utter silence.
Mortimer clutched me by the arm and dragged me with him from the laboratory and down the hall. ”

“ Wherefore Mortimer was something in disgrace even before we got there, and when our story was told he was called up before the king and prince. And all our old forest rights have been restored to us--nay, have been widened and increased, and that at the expense of Mortimer. Ye should have seen his face when that mandate was brought forth and duly signed and sealed with the royal seal and delivered to our father! ”

“ From the Admiral to the last ne'er-do-weel of a noble house all sprang to their feet. "God!" said one, under his breath, and another's tankard fell clattering from his shaking hand. Nevil, the calm accustomed state, the iron quiet of his nature quite broken, advanced with agitation. "Mortimer, Mortimer!" he cried, and would have put his arms about his friend, but Ferne stayed him with a gesture and a look that none might understand. Behind him came Robin-a-dale, slipped beneath his outstretched arm, then with head thrown back and wild defiant eyes faced the little throng of adventurers. ”

“ Freelove. He knew, he said, it was tenderness to him which had prevented him ere this from adopting such a plan; but he besought him to let no further consideration on his account make him delay fulfilling immediately the claims of honor and justice. He besought him to believe his tranquillity was more precious to him than anything in life; that the restoration of his peace was far more estimable to him than the possession of the most brilliant fortune—"a possession which,” continued Lord Mortimer deeply sighing, “I am well convinced will not alone yield happiness. ”

“ In the early winter Mortimer felt the full force of the assault. Leicester, taking the king with him, marched to the west, united with Llywelyn, ravaged Mortimer's estates, and penetrated as far as Montgomery (Rishanger, De Hello, pp. 35-40) . So hard pressed were the marchers that they were forced to sue for peace, which they only obtained on the hard condition that those of their leaders who, like Mortimer, had abandoned the baronial for the royal side should be exiled (ib. p. 41; cf. Ann. Londin. in Stibbs, Chron. Edward I and II) . Mortimer was to betake himself to Ireland. ”

“ There was one of them—Maudie—with whom he had flirted in his holidays; he wondered at that, especially when a relentless memory told him that Mrs. Mortimer must have been at the parties where the thing went on. He felt very much older, so much older that Mrs. Mortimer became at once a contemporary; why then should she begin, as she now did, to talk to him, in quasi-maternal fashion, about his prospects? Men don’t have prospects, or, anyhow, are spared questionings thereon. ”

“ The girl was chatting merrily to the young man, and he listened to her and laughed every now and then, but his bright eyes were not fixed to her, but were here, there, and everywhere, where metal attractive to such eyes might be found. The discursive mood of the eyes somehow pleased Mrs. Mortimer. Just as the young man came opposite her, he glanced in her direction. Mrs. Mortimer wore the curious, half-indifferent, half-expectant air of one ready for recognition but not claiming it as a right. At the first glance, a puzzled look came into the young man’s eyes. ”

“ Poor gentleman, the world pressed hard upon him.” “Had he no tender friend about him?” asked Lord Mortimer. “Were neither of his children with him?” “Oh! yes my lord, poor Miss Amanda.” “She was with him!” said Lord Mortimer, in an eager accent. “Yes, my lord, she returned here about ten days ago, but so sadly altered, I think she won’t stay long behind him. Poor thing, she is going fast, indeed, and the more’s the pity, for she is a sweet creature.”
Lord Mortimer was inexpressibly shocked. He wished to hide his emotions, and waved his hand to Johnaten to depart ”

“ It is more probable that his royal cousin wished to have him nearer, and considered that the presence of his heir presumptive would be of service to himself in that thorny and difficult path which it had been the lot of Richard of Bordeaux to tread from his early youth. And now all that remained of Roger Mortimer was coming home indeed, but to another home and a longer rest than those which his royal cousin had designed for him. His crown was no longer a future possibility: it had come. He should never see evil any more. ”

“ Mortimer's fidelity, already perhaps wavering, was altogether shaken by the king's : vigorous action. The weariness of captivity, or fear of death, or some more recondite and unknown cause {Ann. Hen. IV. p. 349) , now led him to make common cause with his captor. About 30 Nov. (Monk of Evesham, p. 182) he married Glendower's daughter, with great pomp and solemnity (ib. p. 182 ; Ann. Hen. IV, p. 349: ' Nuptias satis humiles et suss generositati impares,' cf. Adam of Usk, p. 75) . Early in December Mortimer was back in Melenydd as the ally of Owen, and on 13 Dec. ”

“ He often, indeed, dropped hints about it, which he always found either neglected, or purposely misunderstood; and from these circumstances was pretty sensible of the disinclination Lord Mortimer felt to his wishes. He knew he entertained high notions of the independence which a rational mind has a right to maintain, and that in an affair of such consequence, as Mortimer frequently said he considered a matrimonial connection to be, he would neither be controlled by the opinion of others or merely allured by the advantages of fortune. ”

“ But both his Welsh and Irish estates were in a disturbed condition, and their affairs occupied him so completely for the first few years of Edward II's reign that he had comparatively little leisure for general English politics.
Ireland was Mortimer's first concern. In 1308 he went to that country, and was warmly welcomed by his wife's uncle, Geoffry de Genville, who surrendered all his own estates to him, and entered a house of Dominican friars, where he died (Worcester Ann. p. 560) . Yet Mortimer's task was still a very difficult one. ”

“ He was always a tool in some stronger hands than his own. His tragic fate precipitated the fall of the wicked government that had lured him to his ruin. In vain did the queen and Mortimer endeavour to set themselves right by explanations and justifications of their conduct, addressed to the pope and to the English people. Before the year was out Henry of Lancaster was urged, by the fall of his fickle ally, to drive Mortimer from power. Before his own execution Mortimer acknowledged that Kent's sentence was unjust. ”

“ He had the wiry frame and strong jaw without which no explorer is complete, and Mortimer, beside him, seemed but a poor, soft product of our hot-house civilization. Mortimer, I forgot to say, wore glasses; and, if there is one time more than another when a man should not wear glasses, it is while a strong-faced, keen-eyed wanderer in the wilds is telling a beautiful girl the story of his adventures. ”

“ Thus did she deem a union requisite to rouse him to exertion; to restore his peace, and in all probability to save his life. She joined in her brother’s arguments and entreaties, with tears she joined in them, and besought Mortimer to accede to their wishes. She called him the last hope of their house. He had long, she said, been the pride, the delight of their days; their comfort, their existence were interwoven in his; if he sunk, they sunk with him.
The yielding soul of Mortimer could not resist such tenderness, and he gave a promise of acting as they wished. ”

“ Robin-a-dale swung himself to and fro in an ecstasy of terror. "He rides--he rides so high!" he shrilled. "Higher than the gallows-tree! And he stands so quiet while he rides!"
Upon the poop young Sedley, standing beside his Captain, veiled his eyes with his hand; then, ashamed of his weakness, gazed steadfastly at the lifted figure. Arden, drumming with his fingers upon the rail, looked sidewise at Sir Mortimer Ferne. ”

“ Edmunds to appease one of the constant quarrels between the abbey and the townsmen (ib. p. 334) . He was bribed to accept the rule of Isabella and Mortimer by lavish grants of the forfeited estates of the Despensers and others, and was so closely attached to Mortimer that he married his son Edward to Beatrice, Mortimer's daughter, and attended the solemn tournament at Hereford with which they celebrated the match (Murimuth, p. 578; G. Le Baker, p. 42) . But he soon became discontented with the rule of Isabella and Mortimer, and joined the conference of magnates which met on 2 Jan. ”