Edmund de Mortimer, 2nd Baron Wigmore
Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Wigmore (
1251 â€"
July 17,
1304) was the second son and eventual heir of
Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore. As a younger son, Edmund had been intended for clerical or monastic life, and had been sent to study at
Oxford University. He was made Treasurer of
York in
1265. But the sudden death of his elder brother, Ralph, in 1276, made him heir to the family estates.
He returned in
1282 as the new Baron Mortimer of
Wigmore and immediately became involved in
Welsh Marches politics. Together with his brother
Roger Mortimer of Chirk,
John Giffard, and Roger Lestrange, he devised a plan to trap
Llywelyn the Last. Edmund sent a message to Llywelyn telling him he was coming to Llywelyn's aid and arranged to meet with him at
Builth. But Edmund's brothers secretly forded the river behind Llywelyn's army and surprised the Welsh. In the resulting battle Llywelyn was killed and beheaded. Edmund then send his brother
Roger Mortimer of Chirk to present Llywelyn's severed head to King
Edward I of England.
In September
1285, he married Margaret de Fiennes, the daughter of
William II de Fiennes and Blanche de Brienne (herself the granddaughter of
John of Brienne). Their children were:
#
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March# Maude Mortimer, married
Theobald II de Verdun# John, yeoman, died 1318# Joan, nun at
Lingbrook# Elizabeth, nun at
LingbrookEdmund was knighted by King Edward at Winchester, and served in the king's Gascon and Scottish campaigns. He was mortally wounded in a skirmish near Builth, and died at
Wigmore Castle.
Mortimer, Ian.
The Greatest Traitor, 2003.
