Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March

Roger Mortimer
Earl of March Baron Mortimer
15th-century manuscript illustration depicting Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabella in the foreground. Background: Hugh Despenser the Younger on the scaffold, being emasculated.
Spouse(s)	Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville
Issue Margaret Mortimer Katherine Mortimer Beatrice Mortimer Sir Edmund Mortimer Roger Mortimer Geoffrey Mortimer John Mortimer Agnes Mortimer Joan Mortimer Maud Mortimer Isabella Mortimer Blanche Mortimer
Noble family	Mortimer
Father	Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer
Mother	Margaret de Fiennes
Born	25 April 1287 Wigmore Castle, Wigmore, Herefordshire, England
Died	29 November 1330(1330-11-29) (aged 43) Tyburn, London
Buried	Wigmore Abbey

Roger de Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marriage to the wealthy heiress Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville. In November 1316, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1322 for having led the Marcher lords in a revolt against King Edward II in what became known as the Despenser War. He later escaped to France, where he was joined by Edward's queen consort Isabella, whom he took as his mistress. After he and Isabella led a successful invasion and rebellion, Edward was subsequently deposed; Mortimer allegedly arranged his murder at Berkeley Castle. For three years, Mortimer was de facto ruler of England before being himself overthrown by Edward's eldest son, Edward III. Accused of assuming royal power and other crimes, Mortimer was executed by hanging at Tyburn.

Mortimer, grandson of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer and Maud de Braose, Baroness Mortimer, was born at Wigmore Castle, Herefordshire, England, the firstborn of Marcher Lord Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer, and Margaret de Fiennes. He was born on April 25, 1287, the Feast of Saint Mark, a day of bad omen. He shared this birthday with King Edward II, which would be relevant later in life. Edmund Mortimer was a second son, intended for minor orders and a clerical career, but on the sudden death of his elder brother Ralph, Edmund was recalled from Oxford University and installed as heir. According to his biographer Ian Mortimer, Roger was possibly sent as a boy away from home to be fostered in the household of his formidable uncle, Roger Mortimer de Chirk. It was this uncle who had carried the severed head of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Wales to King Edward I in 1282.