The Greatest Traitor

by Ian Mortimer

  2. Each head of the family had named his first-born son after his father since the mid-twelfth century. See Complete Peerage, ix, pp. 266–85. This custom seems to have held true for the Mortimers from the mid-twelfth century to the fifteenth. It was also true for the inter-related family of Berkeley, for almost exactly the same period (until the death of the fifth lord in 1404).

  3. See ‘Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs’, in English Historical Documents 1189–1327 (1975), p. 183, for details of de Montfort’s testicles.

  4. Roger Mortimer’s epitaph, 1282, appears in Dugdale, Baronage, 1, p. 143.

  5. Dugdale, Monasticon, vi, part i, p. 351.

  6. The date of Edmund Mortimer’s marriage is given as the ‘feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ in the Wigmore Annals transcribed in B.P. Evans, ‘The Family of Mortimer’. See the caveat mentioned in the note concerning Roger’s birth regarding the accuracy of the dates of this chronicle.

  7. According to the Complete Peerage, Joan de Geneville was born on 2 February 1286. She was thus fifteen and a half at the time of her marriage to Roger. Her younger sisters, Beatrice and Maud, were born in 1287 and 1291 respectively.

  8. Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem Edward I, iv, p. 161. The date of the demise of the estates was 3 May 1300.

  9. See the Wigmore Annals transcribed in Evans’s unpublished Ph.D. thesis, ‘The Family of Mortimer’ (original: John Rylands Library, Latin MS 215) for the details of the marriage. See also Holmes, Estates of the Higher Nobility, p. 11, n. 5.

  10. See Appendix 2.

  11. The prince’s five other guards were John de St John, Robert de Tony, Henry le Tyeys, William Latimer and William de Leyburn. See Johnstone, Edward of Carnarvon, p. 51.

  12. Larking, ‘Inventory of the Effects of Roger Mortimer’ discussed in Chapter 9, and Swynnerton, ‘Certain Chattels of Roger Mortimer of Wigmore’. For Roger’s borrowing books, probably on behalf of his wife (see Chapter 10), see Vale, Edward III and Chivalry, p. 169. For the king’s similar books in French, see Johnstone, Edward of Carnarvon, p. 18.

  13. Johnstone, Edward of Carnarvon, pp. 7–8.

  14. Complete Peerage, ix, p. 283. B.P. Evans has 16 July, derived from the Wigmore annalist.

  2: Youth

  1. The evidence for Roger being able to read is touched on later in the book. The fact he was the son of an educated man is an indication that his reading may have started in youth. In 1322 his wife was in possession of books of romances at Wigmore, and Roger was issued with four similar books in early 1327 which he may have used himself or may have sent to his wife. There are several direct references to him reading, one in a court case of 1331 which appears transcribed in Tout, ‘Captivity and Death’, pp. 109–10, in which Roger is supposed to have ‘shown’ a private letter to his man William de Ockley; the other, more explicit one, is in Brie (ed.), The Brut, ii, p. 265, where Roger reads a letter aloud. It is unlikely that Roger or Edward ever themselves wrote, however, and it should be noted that, although Edward’s son certainly could write, we only have two words in his hand, ‘Pater Sancte’ on a letter to the Pope. This in itself shows that the fact that a man could write did not mean that he actually did so. For Edward III’s writing see Crump, ‘Arrest of Roger Mortimer’, p. 332. Having said this, it is possible that Roger himself wrote the secret letters to the monastic clergy smuggled out of the Tower by him in 1323 (see Chapter 8).

  2. PRO E101/370/9, E101/371/8/97.

  3. CPR 1301–1307, p. 244.

  4. Roger’s cousins were members of the de Fiennes family who were also at court. See Tout, Chapters, ii, p. 172.

  5. A full discussion of the relationship between Gaveston and Edward is given in Chaplais, Piers Gaveston, pp. 6–22.

  6. PRO E101/371/8/97.

  7. See the Wigmore Abbey chronicle of the Mortimer family, quoted in Complete Peerage, viii, p. 433.

  8. CPR 1301–1307, p. 308.

  9. BL Harley 1240 f62v.

  10. Roger’s son, Edmund, was probably born before 1303, as he was using his own seal at the time of his marriage in 1316. See PRO DL 27/93, or, alternatively, the Appendix to the 35th Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, 31–32. In this context it is worth noting that, according to the Complete Peerage, Joan’s ancestors, the Counts of the March in Gascony, customarily came of age at fourteen.

  11. See Appendix 2.

  12. The old DNB notes Roger and Joan both travelling to Ireland to take seisen of Geoffrey de Geneville’s property on 28 October 1308; Joan also accompanied Roger on his 1310 trip to Ireland, and was present at the coronation with him and his mother. See CPR 1307–1313, p. 282, and CCR 1307–1313, p. 52. It is also highly likely that she accompanied him on his trip to Gascony in 1313, where her family held lands.

  13. Roger’s love of the tournament is shown several times later in his life, but most strongly in his deserting the royal army in October 1306 to take part in a tournament along with Piers Gaveston, Sir Giles d’Argentein and several other notable tournament fighters. He also in later life encouraged tournaments, holding many of his own.

  14. CCR 1303–1307, p. 377.

  15. Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1304, no. 235.

  16. Shaw, Knights of England. Gaveston was not actually knighted on the same day but four days later, on 26 May. Chaplais, Piers Gaveston, p. 21.

  17. For Edward’s speech see Wright (ed.), Langtoft, p. 368; Hutchinson, Edward II, p. 46; and Johnstone, Edward of Carnarvon, p. 108.

  18. See, among other commentators, Johnstone, Edward of Carnarvon, p. 116; Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, p. 33. Tout’s assertion in the old DNB that it was Lord Mortimer of Chirk who deserted is wrong.

  19. Chaplais, Piers Gaveston, pp. 20–2.

  20. Johnstone, Edward of Carnarvon, p. 121; Rothwell (ed.), Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough, p. 382.

  3: The King’s Friend

  1. Hamilton, Piers Gaveston. pp. 44–5.

  2. Fifteen weeks was not an abnormally long period. The body of Isabella, Edward II’s consort, waited the same period before burial, and that of Philippa, consort of Edward III, waited even longer. See Blackley, ‘Isabella of France, Queen of England (1308–1358), and the Late Medieval Cult of the Dead’, p. 27.

  3. Thomas of Lancaster also acquired the earldom of Lincoln after the death of Henry de Lacy in 1311. From this date his income from all five earldoms amounted to about £11,000. Thomas of Lancaster’s disposable income was approximately fifteen times that of Roger Mortimer’s.

  4. CCR 1307–1313, p. 46.

  5. CPR 1307–1313, p. 28. It is not clear which Roger Mortimer is intended here but it was probably Roger, as his uncle, being made Justiciar of Wales just after this, would have had responsibilities in that country which prevented him from leaving for France, even for a week.

  6. The evidence for Roger’s appointment as seneschal comes from Renouard (ed.), Gascon Rolls, no. 9. This reference to ‘Roger Mortimer’ is a single isolated entry, and therefore probably reflects an intention which was never carried out. That it refers to Roger of Wigmore and not his uncle is evident in the fact that the uncle had no estates in Gascony whereas by 1308 it was clear that Guy de Lusignan, Count of La Marche, would die with no children, making Joan’s mother an important landholder in the region. These lands eventually formed the lordship around Couhé which was settled on Geoffrey, Roger’s and Joan’s son, in 1323. Roger was also associated with Gascony in 1313.

  7. Lord Mortimer of Chirk was almost certainly with the king at Dover on 19 January 1308 as he witnessed a grant there of that date. PRO, C53/94.

  8. See Chaplais, Piers Gaveston, pp. 41–2, for a good example of how Gaveston avoided controversy.

  9. See the passage in Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, pp. 45–6 where he suggests that this regency was only superficially the zenith of Gaveston’s authority.

  10. See Phillips, Aymer de Valence, pp. 25–7 for a discussion of the Boulogne agreement.

  11. Menache, ‘Isabelle o
f France, Queen of England – a Reconsideration’, p. 118.

  12. Blackley, ‘Isabella of France, Queen of England (1308–1358), and the Late Medieval Cult of the Dead’, p. 26.

  13. CCR 1307–1313, pp. 52–3. With Joan and Margaret was Joan Wake, Margaret’s sister, another French noblewoman.

  14. Chaplais, Piers Gaveston, pp. 42–3.

  15. Most writers state the giving away of the wedding presents occurred back in England; but Doherty states in his thesis that the presents were sent from France to Gaveston. See Doherty, ‘Isabella’, p. 26, where he quotes BL Cottonian MS Nero D X, f108.

  16. On 16 March, in the midst of Edward’s preparations, he obtained a pardon for murder for one of his associates, William d’Esturmy. See CCR 1307–1313, p. 52.

  17. Bishop Walter Reynolds is the only other person known to have acted with Gaveston, in the previous year. See CPR 1307–1313, p. 56; Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, p. 155, n. 53.

  18. See Maddicott, Thomas of Lancaster, p. 87, for the five others who are known to have remained at court.

  19. Chaplais, Piers Gaveston, p. 48.

  20. With regard to Duleek, see Justiciary Rolls of Ireland 1305–1307, pp. 188, 241, 277, 307.

  21. O’Donovan, Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters.

  22. Gilbert (ed.), Chartularies of St Mary’s Abbey, Dublin: With the Register of its House at Dunbrody and Annals of Ireland.

  23. Charlton was King’s Chamberlain from 1310 to 1318, and replaced only by the king’s second great favourite, Hugh Despenser. See Tout, Place of Edward II, p. 315. Regarding his being a yeoman of Gaveston’s, see Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, p. 88.

  24. On the question of Gaveston’s influence resulting in de Thornbury’s appointment, see Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, p. 63. De Thornbury had been a close friend of Roger’s father, and was the executor of his father’s will. See CPR 1301–1307, p. 260.

  25. De Hothum remained a supporter of Gaveston’s until his death, being associated with the favourite in the Ordinances of 1311. See Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, pp. 76, 88, 92, and Phillips, ‘John de Hothum’, in Lydon (ed.), England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages (Dublin, 1981), pp. 64, 77. That de Hothum was a lifelong supporter of Roger Mortimer is evident throughout his career; but it is worth noting how close a companion he became through contact with Roger in Ireland, for Roger made him an executor of his own will in 1316. For more contemporary evidence of their association it is also worth noting that de Hothum loaned Roger money in October 1309 after Roger had returned to England. See CCR 1307–1313, p. 197.

  26. John de Sapy was also one of those who, along with John de Hothum and John de Charlton, were specifically noted in 1311 for a past close association with Gaveston. See Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, p. 88.

  27. Curtis (ed.), Calendar of Ormond Deeds, p. 172. The precise date is 12 April.

  28. Maddicott states that Roger was at the Dunstable tournament on the strength of the heraldic roll. This tournament he dates to the end of March or the beginning of April 1308. However, there is only one Roger Mortimer noted on this roll; and although the arms stated are those of Roger, this must be a mistake. The fact that Roger was with Gaveston in Ireland on 12 April, and had been in Ireland before this date, rules out his attending this tournament unless it was held later in the summer. See Maddicott, Thomas of Lancaster, p. 100.

  29. Parliamentary Writs, iv, p. 1203.

  30. CPR 1307–1313, p. 231.

  31. BL Harley 1240, f42v, f54v.

  32. The date of Roger’s landing is given in Gilbert (ed.), Chartularies of St Mary’s, Dublin, p. 339.

  33. CPR 1307–1313, pp. 282–3.

  34. In December 1309 he had obtained a pardon for all his men in Ireland who had committed murder and burnt houses ‘in repelling and pursuing John FitzThomas and other malefactors and breakers of the peace of the king’s land of Carbury, who invaded Trim lands, committing manslaughter, destroying by fire and other damages’. See CCR 1307–1313, p. 188.

  35. The entry in the Annals of Clonmacnoise is quoted in O’Donovan, Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, iii, p. 405. In 1317 Roger marched against Geoffrey O’Farell again.

  36. Lydon, ‘The Impact of the Bruce Invasion 1315–1317’, in Cosgrove (ed.), Medieval Ireland, p. 276.

  37. Denholm-Young (ed.), Vita, p. 12.

  38. See Maddicott, Thomas of Lancaster, pp. 140–1, for a full discussion of the events concerning Welshpool.

  39. Roger Mortimer of Wigmore is commonly said to have been involved with this. As may be seen from his itinerary, and from the patent and closed letters sent to the Justiciar of Wales, there is no doubt that Roger was not directly involved in this attack as he was in Ireland, fighting the de Verdon brothers. It was rather his uncle, Lord Mortimer of Chirk, who was the agent responsible. The writers who have him taking part in the conflict have taken their information from the fifteenth-century chronicle of the family printed in Dugdale’s Monasticon (1817–30), vi, part i, p. 351, which seems to have confused its earlier sources.

  40. Conway Davies, Baronial Opposition, p. 213.

  41. Otway-Ruthven, Medieval Ireland, p. 223; Lydon, in Cosgrove (ed.), New History of Ireland, p. 280; Chartularies of St Mary’s, Dublin, pp. 340–1; Calendar of Close Rolls 1307–1313, pp. 525–6.

  42. Wood et al (eds), Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls, Ireland, pp. 237–9. A year later he showed clemency and obtained a pardon for them, on condition they went to fight in Scotland.

  4: Bannockburn and Kells

  1. Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, p. 98.

  2. Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, p. 103.

  3. Denholm-Young (ed.), Vita, p. 30.

  4. CCR 1307–1313, p. 522.

  5. Phillips, Aymer de Valence, p. 53.

  6. Tout, Place of Edward II, p. 349.

  7. Barrow, Robert Bruce, pp. 204, 207.

  8. Barrow, Robert Bruce, p. 209. The author of Vita Edwardi Secundi says twenty leagues. Denholm-Young (ed.), Vita, p. 50.

  9. Denholm-Young (ed.), Vita, p. 51.

  10. Barbour, The Bruce, p. 301.

  11. There is no definite proof that Roger was at Bannockburn, but that is not very surprising as the names of men most frequently reported by chroniclers to have fought in a battle were those killed. Thus some discussion is required of the evidence. Firstly, Roger was summoned to perform service in person, and he only seems to have ignored summonses when he was in Ireland or already had permission to visit Ireland, as in 1310. Secondly, he was at York with the king very shortly after the king arrived there on his retreat from Scotland, thus suggesting that he travelled back with the king. Thirdly, there is the evidence of the Trivet continuator discussed later in Note 15. Against this there is the fact that a confirmation of a grant made by Roger’s father was supposedly made by Roger at Wigmore on 17 June 1314 (see BL Harley 1240 f58v). Normally one would suppose this indicated his presence at Wigmore, far too far behind the army to be able to meet the battle six days later. However, it is noticeable that the grant is a confirmation of a charter whose text would only have been found at Wigmore, and that it is a grant to the men of Maelienydd. A hundred of Roger’s men from Maelienydd were summoned to Scotland, and it is possible that this confirmation is a response by Roger to their grievances en route to the battle. If so, this would actually confirm his presence in the army marching against the Scots, as he would have had personally to authorise the charter at Wigmore to be sought, copied and regranted, and to send his seal so that the confirmation could take place. As for the Mortimers’ position in the battle, the knights most closely associated with the king’s person in this battle, such as Pain Tibetot, Sir Giles d’Argentein and Robert Clifford, were part of a hardly changing royal bodyguard, with whom Lord Mortimer of Chirk had certainly been associated in 1300 at the Battle of Caerlaverock. Although older now, it is possible that this group was still performing a similar role in 1314. Even if Lord Mortimer of Chirk was considered too old for the duty of protecting the king, it is still probabl
e that he maintained his position of dignity close to the royal personage, if only to offer advice or to take orders for the men of Wales. In addition, five of the six bodyguard of 1300 (with the exception of Lord Mortimer of Chirk) were with Roger in leaving Edward I’s army in 1306 to attend a tournament. Thus it may be supposed that this group, including Roger, represented the diehard military elite, and that most of these men, if not all, were with the king’s person at Bannockburn.

  12. In view of Roger’s status and experience he was most probably with the king during the battle, as mentioned above. His capture is thus most easily explained by participation in a defence of the king’s retreat. It is unlikely that he was among the knights who were captured with the Earl of Hereford for two reasons: (a) the chroniclers do not mention him with Hereford, although they mention several men of lesser rank; and (b) Roger was soon back with the king at York, and was probably sent with the seal and the body of Gilbert de Clare. See Note 15.

  13. Phillips, Aymer de Valence, p. 75.

  14. Gilbert de Clare (d. 1314), Earl of Gloucester, was a second cousin of Bruce, Bruce’s grandmother on his father’s side being Isabel de Clare, sister of Richard de Clare, Gilbert’s grandfather. Richard and Isabel’s mother was Isabel Marshal, Roger’s great-great-aunt. See Table 2.