Thomas Mortimer

Sir Thomas Mortimer (c. 1350-1403) was an English soldier, statesman and judge of the late fourteenth century who served briefly as Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He is mainly remembered now for his killing of Sir Thomas Molineux, the royal commander at the Battle of Radcot Bridge, a crime which ultimately led to his conviction for treason and death in exile.

He was an illegitimate son of Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March. He seems to have been treated by his father and 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. When his legitimate brother Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1379, Thomas went with him to Ireland and acted as his Deputy, holding in his name a Great Council at Clonmel. Edmund was charged with the task of subduing the Gaelic clans in Ulster and Munster, but he had only limited success in this task.

Edmund's sudden death in December 1381 left the Dublin Government in a quandary, since there were very few men willing to assume the office of Lord Lieutenant, at a time of exceptional political turbulence in Ireland. Richard Wyre, Bishop of Cloyne, 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. In the event King Richard II appointed Thomas's nephew, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, a child of seven, as Lord Lieutenant. The absurdity of this choice was lessened to some extent by the appointment of Thomas as Lord Deputy and Lord Chief Justice.

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