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Katherine Mortimer, Countess of Warwick

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Katherine Mortimer, Countess of Warwick (c. 1314 – 4 August 1369) was the wife of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick KG, an English peer, and military commander during the Hundred Years War. She was a daughter and co-heiress of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Geneville, Baroness Geneville.

Katherine Mortimer
Countess of Warwick
Tomb effigies of Katherine Mortimer and Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, St. Mary's Church, Warwick
Born1314
Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, England
Died4 August 1369 (aged 55)
BuriedCollegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick, Warwickshire, England.
Noble familyMortimer
Spouse(s)Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick KG (m. 1319)
Issue
See details		Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick
William de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Bergavenny
Maud de Beauchamp, Baroness de Clifford
Philippa de Beauchamp, Countess of Stafford
Alice de Beauchamp, Baroness Beauchamp and Lady Gournay
FatherRoger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March
MotherJoan de Geneville, Baroness Geneville

Sometime before 1355, she became an important figure at the royal court of King Edward III.

Family and lineage

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Katherine Mortimer was born at Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, England, in 1314, one of the twelve children and a co-heiress of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, and his wife Joan de Geneville, Baroness Geneville. Her paternal grandparents were Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer and Margaret de Fiennes, and her maternal grandparents were Sir Piers de Geneville, of Trim Castle and Ludlow, and Jeanne of Lusignan.

Her father was de facto ruler of England together with his mistress Isabella of France, Queen consort of King Edward II, until his eventual capture and execution by the orders of King Edward III, eldest son of Isabella and King Edward II. The latter had been deposed in November 1326, and afterwards cruelly murdered by assassins acting under the orders of Mortimer and Queen Isabella. Katherine was sixteen years old when her father was hanged, Tyburn, London on 29 November 1330.

Marriage

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On 19 April 1319, when she was about five years-old, Katherine was married to Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, eldest son of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick and Alice de Toeni.[1] Their marriage required a Papal dispensation as they were related within the prohibited third and fourth degrees.

Beauchamp had succeeded to the earldom at the age of two, therefore Katherine was styled Countess of Warwick from the time of her marriage until her death. The marriage had been arranged in July 1318 to settle a quarrel between the two families over the lordship of Elfael, which was thus given to Katherine as her marriage portion.[2] For the term of his minority, Beauchamp's custody had been granted to Katherine's father, Roger Mortimer.[3]

Katherine later became an important personage at the court of King Edward III. As a sign of royal favour she was chosen to stand as one of the godmothers, along with Queen Philippa of Hainault, to the latter's granddaughter, Philippa, Countess of Ulster, in 1355. This honour bestowed on Katherine is described by 19th century author Agnes Strickland according to the Friar's Genealogy: "Her [Philippa, Countess of Ulster] godmother also was of Warwick Countess, a lady likewise of great worthiness".[4]

Issue

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Katherine and Beauchamp together had sixteen children:[5][6]

Death and effigy

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Katherine Mortimer died on 4 August 1369 at the age of about fifty-five. Two years before her death, in 1367, Katherine was a legatee in the will of her sister Agnes de Hastings, Countess of Pembroke.[8]

Katherine was buried in the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick, Warwickshire.[9] She lies alongside her husband,[10] who died three months after her of the Black Death. Their tomb with well-preserved, alabaster effigies can be seen in the centre of the quire. Katherine is depicted wearing a frilled nebulée headdress with a honeycomb pattern and she is holding hands with Beauchamp.[11] The sides of the tomb chest are decorated with figures of mourners, both male and female, in a variety of fashionable clothing.[9]

Ancestry

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Images

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Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick & Katherine Mortimer effigies in Warwick St. Mary's church
 
Drawing of effigies of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick & Katherine Mortimer in Warwick St. Mary's church
 
The stained glass at the Beauchamp Chapel at the College Church of St. Marys displays seven different Beauchamp coats of arms. Note the banner with Warwick's arms partially in view on the right

References

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  1. ^ a b c Tuck, Anthony (4 October 2008) [23 September 2004]. "Beauchamp, Thomas, eleventh earl of Warwick (1313/14–1369), soldier and magnate". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53085. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Holmes, George Andrew. Estates of the Higher Nobility in Fourteenth Century England. p13
  3. ^ Costain, Thomas Bertram (23 November 2011). The Three Edwards. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-307-80056-5.
  4. ^ Strickland, Agnes (2009). Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest: With Anecdotes of the Courts: First Published From Official Records and Other Authentic Documents, Private as Well as Public. Volume II. p.295. Google Books. Retrieved 6-11-10
  5. ^ Lipscomb, George (1847). The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham. J. & W. Robins. p. 174.
  6. ^ Warner, Kathryn (21 September 2022). Sex & Sexuality in Medieval England. Pen and Sword History. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-3990-9835-9.
  7. ^ Summerson, Henry (3 January 2008) [23 September 2004]. "Clifford, Roger, fifth Baron Clifford (1333–1389), magnate". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5660. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. ^ Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011 (2nd ed.). Douglas Richardson. 2011. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-4610-4520-5.
  9. ^ a b "Tomb of Katherine Mortimer and Thomas de Beauchamp". Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index, The University of Iowa Libraries. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  10. ^ Barker, Jessica (2020). Stone Fidelity: Marriage and Emotion in Medieval Tomb Sculpture. Boydell & Brewer. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-78327-271-6.
  11. ^ Dressler, Rachel (1 January 2015). "Identity, Status, and Material: Medieval Alabaster Effigies in England". Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture. 5 (2): 65–96. ISSN 1554-8678.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Mortimer 2003, p. 338.
  13. ^ a b c d e Mortimer 2003, p. 339.
  14. ^ a b c d e Mortimer 2003, p. 341.
  15. ^ a b c d Mortimer 2003, p. 340.

Sources

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