Ralph de Mortimer

  General Notes:

~Weis' Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition,
136:24, Ralph de Mortimer, living 1104, lord of Wigmore, Herefordshire, Seigneur of St. Victor-en-Caux in Normandy, by his first wife, Millicent, daughter Hawise de Mortimer who married Stephen, count of Aumale. ¹⁶⁰

  Noted events in his life were:

• Dates & Events. ⁴⁸⁹
Ralph's paternity is proved by his son's charter to Saint-Victor-en-Caux 35, and his mother known from their joint grant to Amiens abbey 30. He succeeded his father as Lord of Wigmore, and of other land in Herefordshire and Shropshire.

Ralph married first Melisende (-before 30 Mar 1088). She is named as Ralph's deceased wife in the (1100) charter of his son-in-law Etienne Comte d'Aumâle. He married second (before 30 Mar 1088) Mabel. She is named as Ralph's wife in her attestation of a charter for the abbey of Jumièges 30 Mar 1088 for Ralph Fitz Ansered, also attested by her husband.

• Background Information. ⁸⁷⁵
Ralph de Mortemer, to whom William the Conqueror gave the manor of clebury, was son of Roger de Mortemer of Castle Mortemer in Pays de Caux. Roger was a cousin in the second degree of affinity to Robert of Normandy, the father of William the Conqueror. Ralph's brother was Hue who was present at the battle of Hastings.

Ralph was a Domesday baron. He succeeded to his father's estates in Normandy, and upon the forfeiture of Earl Roger de Britolio, he acquired an extensive fief in Shropshire and Herefordshire, which he held in capite of the king. Ralph was related to Earl Roger de Montgomery in much the same way as he was to the king. All three descended from Gunnora, wife of Richard I, count of the Normans, and her two sisters. Mortemer held the office of seneschal to the Norman earls, yet he shared neither in the rebellion nor the subsequent forfeiture of Roger de Beléseme.

~Shropshire: Its Early History and Antiquity, pp. 277-278

• Background Information. ⁸¹⁴
Ralph de Mortimer, the first of this line to arrive in England at the time of the Normand conquest. He obtained, by force or arms, the castle of Wigmore, in the Marches of Wales. This area a numerous manors in divers counties, all of which he possessed at the time of the Domesday servey.

~Baronia Anglica Concentrata, Vol. I, p. 335

• Background Information. ¹⁴¹
Ralph de Mortimer, son and heir of Roger by Hawise, succeeded his father before 1086, when he appears in Domesday Book as tenant in chief in twelve counties. His possessions lay largely in Herefordshire and Shropshire, Wigmore in the former county being the caput of the honour. Both Wigmore and Cleobury, in Shropshire, had belonged to William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford, and the grant must therefore have been later than the forfeiture of William's son Roger in 1074. He attested a notification by William I between 1078 and 1087. On 30 March 1088 he witnessed a grant made by his man Ralph Fitz Anseré to the abbey of Jumiegès. In that year he, Bernard de Neufmarché, and Roger de Lacy, at the head of a large body of English, Norman and Welsh fighting men, attacked Worcester with the avowed intention of burning the town and pillaging the church. The Bishop's men marched out and defeated them on the other side of the Severn. In 1089 he was one of the barons of Eastern Normandy who sided with William Rufus against Robert Curthose, but between 1091 and 1095 he is found, at Lisieux, witnessing with Duke Robert a charter for Jumièges. He made a grant to the monks of Worcester with the assent of his sons (unnamed) and his men. In 1104, he adhered to Henry I against Duke Robert. This is the last mention found of him, and the date of death is unknown.

Ralph de Mortimer married, 1^st, Melisande, who was dead before 30 March 1088, and, 2^nd, Mabel. Stephen, Count of Aumale, by a charter circa 1100, with the consent of Hawise, his wife, and of Ralph de Mortimer her father, granted the church of Airaines (Somme) of the inheritance of Ralph and Hawise to the priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, Paris, mentioning Melisande, Ralph's deceased wife. The charter of 30 Mar 1088 referred to above is subscribed 'Signum Radulfi Filii Rogeri Morte maris Signum Mabilie uxoris eius'. Hawise was clearly the daughter of Melisande, and as she must have been born before 1088, Melisande would be Ralph's first wife. William, brother of Hugh, witnesses his charter for Saint-Victor, but he occurs low in the list of witnesses and was probably illegitimate. There is no evidence as to which wife was mother of Hugh.

~Cokayne's Complete Peerage, 2nd Edition, (Mortimer of Wigmore), Vol. IX, pp. 267-268

Ralph married Melisande.¹⁴¹ (Melisande died before 30 Mar 1088 ¹⁴¹.)

Ralph next married Mabel. ¹⁴¹