Thomas Mortimer
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Sir Thomas Mortimer (c. 1350–1399) was a medieval English soldier and statesman who served briefly in several important administrative and judicial state offices in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and played a part in the opposition to the government of King
Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...
. He was an
illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
member of the
Mortimer family The Mortimer brothers are a rugby league football family. First generation Hailing from Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia: Chris Mortimer, Peter Mortimer and Steve Mortimer. The brothers are best known for their relationship with the C ...
, who were one of the leading noble houses of England and Ireland, and he helped to manage the Mortimer lands during the minority of the family heir, his nephew Roger, earl of March. Sir Thomas was also a close associate of the
Lords Appellant The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II, who, in 1388, sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word ''appellant'' — still u ...
, the powerful faction of nobles who opposed the administration of King Richard II. Sir Thomas took part in the Lords Appellants' rebellion in 1387 against the king, and fought at the
Battle of Radcot Bridge The Battle of Radcot Bridge was fought on 19 December 1387 in medieval England between troops loyal to Richard II, led by court favourite Robert de Vere, and an army captained by Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby. It took place at Radcot Bridge, ...
, during which he killed Sir Thomas Molineux, one of the royal commanders. 10 years later, when the king took his revenge against the rebels, this act led to his conviction for
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
. He fled for his life and died in
exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
.


Background

Thomas was an illegitimate son of
Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March Sir Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, 4th Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, KG (11 November 132826 February 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was the son of Sir Edmund Mortimer (d. 1331) an ...
(1328–1360). He was described as an esquire in 1367, pointing to a birth date of around 1350. He seems to have been treated by his father and his brother very much as one of the family. Nothing is known of his mother. By 1380, he had acquired considerable military expertise, and had been
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
. When his legitimate brother
Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March Edmund de Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and ''jure uxoris'' Earl of Ulster (1 February 135227 December 1381) was the son of Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, by his wife Philippa, daughter of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Catherine Gr ...
was made
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...
in 1379, Thomas went with him to Ireland and acted as his Deputy, holding in his name a Great Council at
Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...
. Edmund was charged with the task of subduing the Gaelic clans in
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
and
Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
, but he had only limited success in this task.


Lord Deputy of Ireland

Edmund's sudden death in December 1381 left the
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
Government in a quandary since there were very few men willing or qualified to assume the office of Lord Lieutenant, at a time of exceptional political turbulence in Ireland. Richard Wyre,
Bishop of Cloyne The Bishop of Cloyne is an episcopal title that takes its name after the small town of Cloyne in County Cork, Republic of Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is a separate title; but, in the Church of Ireland, it has been united with other ...
, proposed that Thomas Mortimer should be appointed Lord Lieutenant, both for his military experience and his ability to retain the loyalty of his brother's
retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', it ...
. In the event King
Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...
appointed Thomas's nephew,
Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, 6th Earl of Ulster (11 April 137420 July 1398) was an English nobleman. He was considered the heir presumptive to King Richard II, his mother's first cousin. Roger Mortimer's father, the 3rd Earl of Marc ...
, a child of seven, as Lord Lieutenant. The obvious absurdity of this choice was lessened to some extent by the appointment of Thomas as Lord Deputy and
Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
.


Return to England

On the appointment of Sir Philip Courtenay as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in February 1383, Thomas returned to England. His nephew's
wardship In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court". Overview The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient jur ...
had been entrusted to a group of magnates which included
Richard FitzAlan, 4th Earl of Arundel Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel, 9th Earl of Surrey, KG (1346 – 21 September 1397) was an English medieval nobleman and military commander. Lineage Born in 1346, he was the son of Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of L ...
, of whom Thomas was an intimate friend. It was probably Arundel who appointed Thomas to the position of steward of the Mortimer estates during Roger's minority, thus greatly enhancing his political standing. As Roger grew older he and his uncle became close, going hunting together and exchanging gifts of wine: Dunn suggests that Thomas was the closest Roger ever knew to a father.


The Appellants

Arundel was a key member of the group of nobles called the
Lords Appellant The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II, who, in 1388, sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word ''appellant'' — still u ...
, who had emerged as opponents of Richard II and the royal favourite
Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, KG (16 January 1362 – 22 November 1392) was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England. He was the ninth Earl of Oxford and the first and only Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin. He ...
. Mortimer was closely associated with them and is known to have visited Arundel's house regularly during 1387, the critical year in the Appellants' rise to power.


The Battle of Radcot Bridge

In December 1387, at
Radcot Bridge Radcot Bridge is a crossing of the Thames in England, south of Radcot, Oxfordshire, and north of Faringdon, Oxfordshire which is in the district of that county that was in Berkshire. It carries the A4095 road across the reach above Radcot L ...
, the Appellants clashed with the royal army, headed by Robert de Vere and Sir Thomas Molineux, Constable of
Chester Castle Chester Castle is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is sited at the southwest extremity of the area bounded by the city walls. The castle stands on an eminence overlooking the River Dee. In the castle complex are the remaining par ...
; de Vere was defeated and forced to flee the country. Mortimer himself killed Molineux, who was one of the few casualties of the fight. According to Thomas Walsingham, Molineux, who had attempted to flee, pleaded for his life, but Mortimer pulled off Molineux's
helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...
and stabbed him in the head with a
dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...
. During the brief rule of the Appellants, Mortimer was in high favour. He was appointed Justiciar of Ireland, but Richard, despite his temporary loss of power, somehow managed to countermand the appointment (no doubt he feared surrendering control of Ireland entirely to his enemies) and it never took effect. Despite the King's mistrust of them, Thomas and his nephew Roger, with troops, accompanied him on his Irish expedition in 1394; and when Roger was reappointed Lord Lieutenant in 1396, Thomas went to Ireland with him.


Downfall

In 1397 the King moved to destroy the surviving Lords Appellant. Arundel, Mortimer's patron, was convicted of treason and executed. Mortimer was "appealed for" (i.e. charged with) treason, in that his killing of Sir Thomas Molineux, the King's commander ten years earlier was deemed in law to be an attempt to
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
the King himself. Mortimer was not permitted to stand trial, but ordered to surrender himself within three months. Unsurprisingly Mortimer instead chose to flee the country: the King accused Roger, probably with good reason, of conniving at his uncle's escape. Thomas was declared a traitor and his lands were forfeited to the Crown. He took refuge in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
where he probably died in 1399.


Marriage

He married Agnes de Poynings, daughter of
Michael de Poynings, 1st Baron Poynings Michael de Poynings, 1st Baron Poynings, Knt. (c.1318 – 7 March 1369), of Bures St. Mary, Suffolk, was an English nobleman and soldier. He was present at the Battle of Crécy. Michael de Poynings was summoned to Parliament by writs direct t ...
and his wife Joan Ruxley, and widow of
William Bardolf, 4th Baron Bardolf William Bardolf, 4th Baron Bardolf and 3rd Baron Damory (21 October 1349 – 29 January 1386) of Wormegay, Norfolk, was an extensive landowner in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Surrey. He was the son of John Bardolf, 3rd Baron Bardolf a ...
. They had no children. She was described as a widow on 9 January 1403, indicating that Sir Thomas Mortimer was dead by then. She died the following summer.


Character

Although the details (if they were accurately reported) of his killing of Sir Thomas Molineux show him in a rather sinister light, Mortimer had the respect and esteem of many who knew him, including his brother and his nephew. The chronicler
Adam of Usk Adam of Usk ( cy, Adda o Frynbuga, c. 1352–1430) was a Welsh priest, canonist, and late medieval historian and chronicler. His writings were hostile to King Richard II of England. Patronage Born at Usk in what is now Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy), ...
, who knew him personally, praised him as "a vigorous
knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
".


Footnotes


References

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External links


The Mortimer Family and Medieval Ireland
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mortimer, Thomas 14th-century births 1399 deaths 14th-century English people 14th-century Irish politicians Military personnel of the Kingdom of England Justiciars of Ireland Lords chief justice of Ireland
Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...
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