Mortimer

Who he is

Name

Roger Mortimer (Roger de Mortemer)

Title

Lord of Wigmore, Cleobury and Maelienydd

Since

Succeeded his father Hugh in 1181; Maelienydd conquered from 1195

Born

Before 1153

Family

Wife Isabel de Ferrers, daughter of Walkelin de Ferrers of Oakham (married before 1196). Sons Hugh (married Annora de Braose), Ralph, Philip; daughter Joan. Imprisoned until June 1182 at Winchester for the killing of Cadwallon ap Madog by his men in 1179.

Confidence

high

Wikipedia (Roger Mortimer of Wigmore; Maelienydd).

Overlord

King John (Wigmore and Cleobury); by conquest in Maelienydd

What it holds

• Wigmore castle and borough and the Mortimer manors of north Herefordshire
• Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire
• Maelienydd with Cymaron castle (by conquest from 1195)
• Saint-Victor-en-Caux in Normandy (outside this sheet)

How it was acquired

Inheritance (1181) and conquest (1195).

Allies and rivals

Allies: Braose (his son will marry Braose's daughter). Enemies: the house of Cadwallon ap Madog; the Lord Rhys's sons.

How things stand that morning

Holds Wigmore and Cleobury firmly; holds Maelienydd from Cymaron against a dispossessed dynasty in the hills.

Wealth

The Teme valley manors, Wigmore borough, the upland renders of Maelienydd.

Military

Wigmore, Cleobury and Cymaron castles; his knights. Lost some forty knights at Radnor in 1196 (the chroniclers' figure, as reported by Wikipedia).

Threats

• Welsh raids into Maelienydd
• The coming loss of Normandy (1204)

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1200 (day not pinned)Charter of liberties to Cwm Hir abbey.Depends on: His hold on Maelienydd Stopped by: A Welsh rising

Places of note

• Wigmore castle: Caput
• Cymaron castle: Rebuilt 1195
• Cleobury Mortimer: Mortimer castle and manor

Where the sources disagree

• Whether the Cwm Hir charter is before or after 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

Evidence: Wikipedia and the chronicles; his whereabouts in winter 1199-1200 are not recorded.

On the map: Mortimer's real hold in Maelienydd was the castle and the Ithon lowland.

Primary sources for March of Wales

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Wales, Anonymous (St Davids and other Welsh houses) (10th to 13th centuries; the B and C texts continue to 1286 and 1288). Short Latin annals whose later versions are kept at St Davids and Cistercian houses. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
• Monastic Annals (Margam, Tewkesbury, Burton, Winchester, Waverley, Dunstable, Bermondsey, Worcester, Osney) (12th to 14th centuries). Nine sets of house annals, each with a short entry for 1200. Read online
• The History of William Marshal, Anonymous (a poet called John, writing for the Marshal family) (about 1224 to 1226). A knight's view of the Angevin succession: the council at Vaudreuil in April 1199 where the Marshal and Hubert Walter argued for John over Arthur, the Marshal's crossing to secure England, John's coronation, and the Marshal's part in Normandy in 1199 and 1200 as holder of Longueville and Orbec and a go-between with Philip. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Charter Rolls of King John (1199 to 1216, at the royal chancery). The enrolled charters of John's first years, beginning with his accession in 1199: confirmations to towns, bishoprics and abbeys, grants of land and office, and the great grants to men like William Marshal and the king's new allies in Poitou. Read online
• The Great Rolls of the Pipe for 1199 and Michaelmas 1200 (1199 and 1200, at the Exchequer). The audited accounts of every sheriff and farmer for the Exchequer year ending Michaelmas 1200: county farms, the scutage of 1199, the carucage of 1200, debts of magnates and towns, wardships, and the fines offered to the new king.

3 more in the sources library for The British Isles.