Mortimer

The Mortimers were a Norman family named after Mortemer in Normandy. After the Conquest they became marcher lords at Wigmore Castle. In 1301 Roger Mortimer married the heiress Joan de Geneville, gaining Ludlow and lands in the Welsh Marches and Ireland.

Roger led a war against Edward II in 1322, escaped the Tower of London and returned from France with Queen Isabella, his lover. They deposed Edward in 1327. Created Earl of March in 1328, Roger was overthrown by Edward III and hanged in 1330, leaving the house attainted and its heir underage in 1337.

His grandson recovered the earldom. Marriage into Lionel of Antwerp's line made the Mortimers heirs presumptive to Richard II. Their claim passed to the House of York; the direct Mortimer line ended in 1425, and Edward IV won the throne at Towton in 1461.