Background
He was the son of Sir Edmund Mortimer (d 1331) and Elizabeth de Badlesmere, and grandson of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Roger thus grew up with uncertain prospects, and re-acquired the family honours only gradually.
He was the son of Sir Edmund Mortimer (d 1331) and Elizabeth de Badlesmere, and grandson of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Roger thus grew up with uncertain prospects, and re-acquired the family honours only gradually.
The Mortimer family lands and titles were lost after the first Earl of March"s revolt and death by hanging in 1330, which was followed the next year by the death of Roger"s father. Around 1342, he received back Radnor, and the next year the old family baronial seat at Wigmore, Herefordshire. As a young man he distinguished himself in the wars in France, fighting at Crécy and elsewhere in the campaign of 1347.
In 1354, the sentence passed against Mortimer"s treacherous grandfather, the first earl, was reversed, and the next year he was summoned to parliament as Earl of March.
Also in 1355, he received a number of important appointments, including Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports, and he accompanied an expedition of Edward III to France. Heraldic Coat of: Barry Or and azure, on a chief of the first three pallets between two gyronnies based on the second, over all an inescucheon argent.
On 19 October 1356, his grandmother Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville, widow of the first earl, died, and Roger inherited her vast estates, including Ludlow Castle, which was thereafter the Mortimer family seat and power base. In the following years, he became a member of the Royal Council and was appointed Constable at the castles of Montgomery, Bridgnorth in Shropshire, and Corfe in Dorset. In 1359, and continuing into 1360, he was Constable of Edward III"s invasion of France. He fought in the failed siege of Reims and captured Auxerre. The English forces then moved into Burgundy, where Roger died suddenly at Rouvray, near Avallon.
In the following years, he became a member of the Royal Council and was appointed Constable at the castles of Montgomery, Bridgnorth in Shropshire, and Corfe in Dorset.
