Mortimer Matters Archive

This page includes links to all the newsletters produced by the Society since its foundation in 2009. NB Generally, hyperlinks within the newsletters will no longer function.

Mortimer Matters 56 – April 2024   (Download)
Snodhill: Wigmore’s forgotten rival – Snodhill Castle Preservation Trust
The scribe at the heart of a thriving literary culture – Dr Matt Lampitt
MA Researcher re-examines a Welshman’s role in Edward IV’s rule – Katie Dungate
What to look for when visiting Anglo Saxon churches – Kathy Cowell
Obituary for John Robert Kenyon, FSA, historian, academic and friend – Andrew Pike FSA

Mortimer Matters 55 – January 2024   (Download)
Hugh Despenser the Younger: Marcher lord, pirate, extortionist and royal favourite – Kathryn Warner
Rediscovering the medieval women of Wales – Dr Erin Lloyd Jones
MHS Chair embarks on PhD – Philip Hume
Mortimer church finds friends – David Swatton
Joan de Geneville steps out of the shadows – Anne O’Brien
A tribute to Hugh – Philip Hume

Mortimer Matters 54 – October 2023   (Download)
Anne, the Mortimer link to England’s modern royal family – Dr Joanna Laynesmith
Managing the Marcher Lordships – John Fleming
‘Private’ charters and regional society, c.1000-1307 – Hannah Boston
You’re probably descended from the Medieval Mortimers (Part 2) – Hugh Wood
Sponsorship of International Medieval Congress – Philip Hume
Medieval Documents Group meets at Hereford Cathedral – Yve James

Mortimer Matters 53 – July 2023   (Download)
A successful medieval marriage: Roger and Maud Mortimer of Wigmore, 1246-1282 – Dr Emma Cavell
Regicide or rexit? The mysterious fate of Edward II – Kathryn Warner
You’re probably descended from the Medieval Mortimers – Hugh Wood
A summer evening at Powis Castle (John Grove Memorial Lecture) – Dr David Stephenson

Mortimer Matters 52 – April 2023   (Download)
Patrons, patronage and material culture in the Marches – Natasha Coombs
Childhood in Medieval England – Nicholas Orme
Gerald of Wales: A Twelfth-Century Writer and Cleric – Dr Georgia Henley
A refresh for the Mortimers at Ludlow Museum – Hugh Wood

Mortimer Matters 51 – January 2023   (Download)
Elizabeth de Burgh, “Give me back my inheritance 2” – Kirsten Lawton-Smith
The Account Roll of the Honour of Wigmore 1387-8 – Yve James
Marcher lordships in South-West Wales – John Fleming
Education in Medieval Wales and the Marches – Dr David Thomson

Mortimer Matters 50 – October 2022   (Download)
The Welsh March, its culture, its politics and its unique identity – Helen Fulton
The joys of medieval sex – Kathryn Warner
Elizabeth de Burgh, “Give me back my inheritance 1” – Kirsten Lawton-Smith
The Marcher lordship of Narberth – John Fleming
International Medieval Congress, July 2021 – Society President, Paul Dryburgh

Mortimer Matters 49 – July 2022   (Download)
Daffyd Prince of Wales, Edward I and the Marcher lords – David Pilling
Mortimer treasures underfoot at Bredon, Worcestershire – Hugh Wood
Edward I’s Regent, Edmund Earl of Cornwall – Michael Ray

Mortimer Matters 48 – April 2022   (Download)
The Fall of Normandy and the Collapse of the Angevin Empire – Daniel Power
John of Gaunt – family man, loyal friend, affectionate lover – Kathryn Warner
Writing Transnational History – David Green
Passion and Power in the Marches – a review of the recent conference
A Mortimer Who’s Who – Ian Mortimer’s ‘Outline Genealogy’

Mortimer Matters 47 – January 2022   (Download)
Obituary of John Grove, founder of the Society – Hugh Wood
A Royal Claim Subverted: the Mortimers in 1399 – Matt Lewis
Telling Friend from Foe: The Welsh in the March of Wales during the reign of Henry III – Alastair Ayton
Church Chests – Rachel Sycamore

Mortimer Matters 46 – October 2021   (Download)
A Policy of Suppression: Edward I and the Marcher Lords – David Pilley
The Tomb of Thomas Beauchamp and Katherine Mortimer – Tim Clark
Introducing the Mortimers of Wigmore – Paul Dryburgh and Philip Hume
Murder at Evesham: a review of our Autumn conference – Connor Williams
MHS sponsorship at the International Medieval Congress- Paul Dryburgh
Summer study visit to Much Marcle and Kempton – Fran Norton

Mortimer Matters 45 – July 2021   (Download)
Mortimer Connections at Boxgrove Abbey in West Sussex – Hugh Wood
Women and Power in the Middle Ages – Joanna Laynesmith
Castles in the Central and Northern Marches – Philip Hume
A medieval Welsh view of the Shropshire March – Deborah Gentry
A life in Academia – Dr David Stephenson

Mortimer Matters 44 – April 2021   (Download)
Women in Welsh Law: it’s a man’s world – Dr Sara Elin Roberts
The Hereford Family: 12th century Marcher Lords – Kirsten Lawton-Smith
Politics, Policy and Power: The Marcher Lords and the English Crown in the March of Wales 1254-1272 – Dr Alastair Iain Ayton
John Grove reviews Sir John Oldcastle of Hereford by Andy Johnson

Mortimer Matters 43 – February 2021   (Download)
The Lordship of Clare and the mystery at the Swan Inn – Hugh Wood
The Law of the March – Dr Sara Elin Roberts
The Uses and Abuses of Wardship: Edward III to Henry IV – Connor Williams
Decorated in Glory – a report on our recent conference by Connor Williams
John Cherry reviews Royal Seals by Dr Paul Dryburgh
Paul Dryburgh reviews The Marcher Lordships: Central and North by Philip Hume
John Grove reviews Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady of Clare by Frances A Underhill

Mortimer Matters 42 – October 2020    (Download)
The Clifford Family – by John Fleming
Taxing Virginity: The amobr payment – by Dr Sara Elin Roberts
Interview with Prof. Nigel Saul – author of Decorated in Glory: Church Building in Herefordshire in the 14th century
A Comital Empire: The Mortimer Lordship at War 1360-1425 – a progress report from the author
The Welsh Marcher Lordships I: Central and North – pre-publication offer on this first MHS book by Philip Hume

Mortimer Matters 41 – July 2020    (Download) 
The White Rose of York……….or Mortimer?
Like Kings in their own Domain – the Liberties of the Marcher Lords
Mortimer arms around a window – Martley church in Worcestershire
Parallel Lives – Roger Mortimer (d.1330) and Richard III (d.1485)
Demystifying Cwmhir Abbey – a new community heritage project
Review – ‘The Clare Sisters’ by Kathryn Warner
Researching the Mortimers – examining medieval documents

Mortimer Matters 40 – April 2020    (Download) 
The Emergence of the Marcher Lordships
Medieval horse studs in England
Horses in the medieval military
Important find – The Mortimers in Dorset?
Discovering Mortimer’s Cross
Review – ‘The Brothers York: An English Tragedy’ by Thomas Penn

Mortimer Matters 39 – February 2020    (Download) 
Introduction to the Medieval Welsh Marcher Lordships 1
Links between Chaucer and the Mortimers
Review – Lost Heirs of the Medieval Crown – J F Andrew
Review – The Song of Simon de Montfort – Sophie Ambler

Mortimer Matters 38 – October 2019    (Download) 
Introducing the Mortimers 10:  Sir Edmund Mortimer (d1409) and Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March (d1425)
Some Medieval English Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela
An Early Mortimern Charter to Abbey Cwm Hir

Mortimer Matters 37 – July 2019    (Download)
Introducing the Mortimers 9:  Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March and his uncle Sir Thomas Mortimer
Who killed Richard III?
Little Malvern Priory: querying the guidebook
Adam of Usk

Mortimer Matters 36 – February 2019    (Download)
New Online Shop
Introducing the Mortimers 8:  Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March
Clothes in 14th century Pembridge – and the people who wore them

Mortimer Matters 35 – November 2018    (Download)
Introducing the Mortimers 7:  Edmund Mortimer (d.1331) and Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March
The Mortimers in Maelienydd: Cefnllys castle and Abbey Cwm Hir

Mortimer Matters 34 – September 2018    (Download)
Introducing the Mortimers 6:  Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (executed 1330)
Ewyas Lacy and the Mortimers
Report on the visit to Cefnllys castles and Abbey Cwm Hir

Mortimer Matters 33 – May 2018    (Download)
Who was Gwladus Ddu?
Introducing the Mortimers 5: Edmund Mortimer (d1304) and Roger Mortimer of Chirk (d1326)
Ribbesford House and its Mortimer connections
Interested in Mortimer Heraldry?

Mortimer Matters 32 – February 2018    (Download)
The Marriage of Edward II and Queen Isabella
Introducing the Mortimers 4: Roger Mortimer (d.1282) – the slayer of Simon de Montfort

Mortimer Matters 31 – November 2017    (Download)
Castles and Rebellions in Anglo-Norman England
The Wedding of David Bruce and Joan of the Tower
Introducing the Mortimers 3: 1181 to 1246
Open Day at Clifford Castle
The Tomb of Blanche Mortimer
Mortimer’s Cross Battlefield

Mortimer Matters 30 – August 2017    (Download)
Some Welsh Reactions to the March
Katherine Mortimer, Countess of Warwick
Introducing the Mortimers 2: The First Two Mortimer Lords of Wigmore
The Ludlow Castle Heraldic Roll goes into schools

Mortimer Matters 29 – May 2017    (Download)
The Marcher Lordships Project
The Wigmore Centre
Introducing the Mortimers 1: Origins in Normandy
Two Mortimer Ladies in Shakespeare
The Black Book of Wigmore

Mortimer Matters 28 – February 2017    (Download)
Results of the 2016 Essay Prize
Sir Edmund Mortimer and the Battle of Bryn Glas (1403)
Maud Fitzalan and the fight for Scottish Independence
A Mortimer effigy in Kings Pyon church, Herefordshire?
Earl Mortimer??

Newsletter 27  – November 2016    (Download) 
Notes from the Autumn Symposium
Mortimer Heraldry in a small Shropshire village
Eastern Wales in the 13th century – what was really happening?
The Last of the Mortimer stars – a woman
The tourneying society of the Middle Ages

Newsletter 26 – August 2016    (Download) 
Details of the 2016 Autumn Symposium in Ludlow
Prince Arthur – the Tudor king who never was
Maud Mortimer and the fall of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd
Isabella Mortimer – Lady of Clun and Oswestry
The ancient earldom of Arundel
Ancestors of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March

Newsletter 25 – April 2016    (Download)
Publication of ‘On the Trail of the Mortimers’
Launch of the MHS Essay Prize
The MHS Local History Programme for Schools
Cleobury Mortimer and the Mortimers
The Ludlow Castle Heraldic Roll
Mortimer’s Deep
Notes on the publication of ‘Wigmore Castle – Excavations 1996 & 1998’

Newsletter 24 – December 2015    (Download)
16th century roll of arms of Ludlow castle
Presteigne and the Mortimers
Joan de Geneville
Early Papal Bulla found at Wigmore

Newsletter 23 – October 2015    (Download)
The Fatal Quarrel of Simon de Montfort
Dolforwyn Castle
The Ludlow Parhelion 2015
Progress on the Mortimer History Trail

Newsletter 22 – July 2015    (Download)
A special edition dedicated to our 2015 Spring Conference – “Law and Order in Early Medieval England – The Road to Magna Carta”
The Anglo-Norman Aristocracy 1066-1215 – Daniel Power, Professor of Medieval History, University of Swansea
King John and William Marshal – Elizabeth Chadwick, award-winning author of historical fiction
The Magna Carta Project – David Carpenter, Professor of Medieval History, King’s College, London
Women and the Law in the Age of Magna Carta – Matthew Stevens, Senior Lecturer, University of Swansea

Newsletter 21 – April 2015    (Download)
Leintwardine and the Mortimers
The Mortimers and the Warennes
Mortimer Cadency – the coats of arms of the children of Roger Mortimer (d1282)

Newsletter 20 – March 2015    (Download)
The Wigmore Chronicle
What is the correct coat of arms for Simon de Montfort?
Introduction to Ian Mortimer’s new Genealogy of the Mortimers

Newsletter 19 – December 2014    (Download)
Report on the Society’s visit to Dublin and Trim Castle
The battle of Evesham window in Fladbury church, Worcestershire
A proposed Mortimer trail in Herefordshire and Ludlow

Newsletter 18 – September 2014    (Download)
Report on field trip to Stapleton Castle
Roger Mortimer (d1282), a queen and a carbuncle
Wigmore Abbey by Ruth Richardson
The three Elizabeth de Burghs

Newsletter 17 – July 2014    (Download)
Report on the Spring Conference: Britain and Ireland 1200-1500: Conquest and Colonisation
Report on the Study Day: Using History for Fact and Fiction
Details of Day Conference: Richard III, Ludlow and the House of York
Seven new articles on the website
The Secret Life of Blanche Mortimer
Celebrating the completion of the restoration of Blanche’s tomb
Notes on Mortimer Heraldry
Sir Reginald Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham

Newsletter 16 – 1st May 2014    (Download)
Spring Conference – Britain and Ireland 1200-1500: Conquest and Colonisation
Society and Kingship in Pre-Norman Ireland
List of members’ interests
A new genealogy of the Mortimers of Wigmore on the website
Pembridge village history
Knucklas Castle Community Land Project

Newsletter 15 – 26th March 2014    (Download)
Encouraging members to write articles for the website
Send in details of other talks and courses you know of
Report on Duncan James’s talk on medieval houses in Pembridge
Mortimer arms on the Prince of Wales’ Sword of State
Mortimer arms at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth I

Newsletter 14 – 2nd March 2014    (Download)
Discovery of the coffin of Blanche Mortimer
Dr Ian Mortimer’s Outline Genealogy of the Mortimers
Mortimer Castles & Churches

Newsletter 13 – November 2013    (Download)
Report on the Heraldry Day
Report from the Dress & Textile Group
Forthcoming Events:
– AGM at Pembridge (A Mortimer manor)
– Spring Conference – Britain & Ireland: Conquest & Colonisation
– Visit to Stapleton Castle, Presteigne
– Visit to Trim Castle in Ireland

Newsletter 12 – June 2013    (Download)
Report on the Spring Conference
Field visit to Usk Castle
Report on the activities of the Dress and Textiles Group
Heraldry Group visit to Martley and Ribbesford

Newsletter 11 – March 2013    (Download)
Report of the 2013 AGM
New Translation of the Mortimer Chronicle
Report on the Blanche Mortimer Dress Project and the Study Day at Much Marcle
Information about the Spring Conference on May 11th – Changing Society in the Time of Richard II

Newsletter 10 – October 2012    (Download)
Visit to Wigmore Abbey guided by our President, John Challis
Visit to Herefordshire Museums Resources & Educational Centre
The Blanche Mortimer Dress Project

Newsletter 9 – June 2012    (Download)
Spring Conference Report – Marc Morris, Katherine Ashe, Tim Porter & John Davis on the time of Edward I, Simon de Montfort & Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
Field Visit to Tedstone Wafre with Martin Toms & Tim Hoverd
Activities of the Dress & Textiles Group

Newsletter 8 – March 2012    (Download)
Spring Conference briefing and introductions to the speakers, Marc Morris, Katherine Ashe, Tim Porter and John Davis
Blanche Mortimer dress project
Translation of the Wigmore Chronicle
Is the effigy in Wolferlow church that of Lucy de Wafre?

Newsletter 7 – November 2011    (Download)
Autumn Conference at Ewyas Harold – Paul Dryburgh on Mortimer Ladies – Steven Blake on the Herefordshire school of scupture – field visit to Kilpeck.
Field visit to New Radnor with Paul Remfry.
First meeting of the Dress & Textiles Group
The heraldry of the Mortimers

Newsletter 6 – June 2011    (Download)
Spring Conference – Ian Mortimer on the Mortimers and the Royal Family – Alison Weir on Queen Isabella, She-Wolf of France – The Border Waites
The establishment of a Dress & Textiles group

Newsletter 5 – Jan 2011    (Download)
Introducing Ian Mortimer & Alison Weir, speakers at the Spring Conference
Andrew Talbot-Ponsonby on Wigmore Abbey in Leintwardine church
Field visit to Much Marcle

Newsletter 4 – Oct 2010    (Download)
Autumn Conference – Martin Toms on Tedstone Wafre, a Mortimer Manor – Prof. David Carpenter on Roger Mortimer (d1282) supporter of Edward I.
Tina Negus on the Herefordshire school of sculpture and the Mortimers

Newsletter 3 – July 2010    (Download)
Spring Conference on Prince Llywelyn, Owain Glendwr, Shakespeare and the Mortimers – Dr David Stephenson on Prince Llywelyn and the Marcher Lords – Paul Remfry on the Battle of Bryn Glas 1402 – John Grove on the Battle of Usk – Teme Players with excerpts from Henry IV Part 1
Blanche Mortimer – is it her effigy in Much Marcle Church?

Newsletter 2 – January 2010    (Download)
Field trip to Wigmore Castle with Paul Remfry
First AGM

Newsletter 1 – October 2009    (Download)