3Ranulph de Mortimer (Ralf de
Mortemer, Ralph, Raoul) (d. c. 1104), was Lord of
Wigmore,
Herefordshire, England and Seigneur of
St. Victor-en-Caux in
Normandy. He was the founder of the English House of
Mortimer of
Wigmore in the
Welsh Marches, in what is today the county of Herefordshire.
Marcher lord and rebel
Ranulph was a
Marcher Lord and was granted his lands in the Welsh Marches by
William the Conqueror. He had holdings in Herefordshire and
Shropshire[1]. Most notably, he acquired Wigmore Castle after
William Fitz Osbern's son
Roger de Breteuil joined the
Revolt of the Earls of 1075. Before 1086 he had been granted Wigmore
[2].
Like many of the Marcher Lords, Ranulph took part in the
Rebellion of 1088 against
William Rufus. In 1089 he took money from William Rufus for support against
Robert Curthose[3]. He had presumably submitted to the king when the 1088 revolt failed, for he did not lose his lands. In 1090 he was backing William with his castles in Normandy[4]. A few years later, wavering, he did give support to Robert[5].
In the 1090s he was instrumental in conquering the Welsh district of
Rhwng Gwy a Hafren and founding the
castles of
Dinieithon (near present
Llandrindod Wells, not lasting out the twelfth century
[6], and
Cymaron (1093, between
Llanbister and
Llangunllo)
[7] in
Maelienydd (old
Radnorshire, now in
Powys).
He rebelled against the Crown twice again under
Henry I of England, trying to replace him by his son-in-law Stephen.[
citation needed]
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edit]
Background and family
Ranulph de Mortimer was born in
Normandy before 1070 and died soon after 4 August 1137. He was the son of the
Norman baron Roger de Mortemer ("Roger filii Episcopi Mortimer"); his mother was Advisa. His father had originally possessed the
castle of Mortemer in Normandy, but had lost it after angering
William the Conqueror after the
Battle of Mortemer, in 1054. Roger was an uncle of
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, and a descendent of a sister of
Gunnor, the wife of
Richard I of Normandy.
He married Millicent, whose parentage is currently unknown, and their daughter
Hawise de Mortimer (died after 1127) married
Stephen, Earl of Albemarle before 1100
[8].
Ranulph's son Hugh de Mortimer rebuilt Cymaron Castle in 1144. Wigmore Castle remained the Mortimer dynasty's family home. His grandson Hugh II married Maud (Matilda) de Meschines.