Anne de Mortimer
| Anne de Mortimer | |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Richard of Conisburgh, later 3rd Earl of Cambridge |
| Issue | |
| Isabel Plantagenet, Countess of Essex Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York |
|
| Father | Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March |
| Mother | Alianore Holland |
| Born | 27 December 1390 New Forest, Westmeath, Ireland |
| Died | c. 21 September 1411 (aged 20) |
Anne de Mortimer, Countess of Cambridge (27 December 1390[1] – c. 21 September 1411) was an English noblewoman in line of succession for the throne of England. She was the mother of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and through him she was the grandmother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III
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[edit] Birth and lineage
Lady Anne was born on 27 December 1390 in New Forest, Westmeath, Ireland, the eldest daughter and child of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (1373–1398) and Lady Alianore Holland. She had two younger brothers, Edmund and Roger, and two younger sisters, Eleanor and Alice. She was thus granddaughter of Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster, the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, second (surviving) son of Edward III of England, and hence represented a Plantagenet line senior to that of her husband or the Lancastrian kings. It was through her that Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York claimed the throne.
[edit] Marriage and issue
In May 1406, she married Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, who was also descended from Edward III through a younger son Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York.
They had two children:
- Isabel (1409 - 2 October 1484), married Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, by whom she had eleven children.
- Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), married in 1429 Cecily Neville, by whom he had thirteen children.
[edit] Death in childbirth
It is believed that Anne died giving birth to her son Richard on 21 September 1411 or shortly after. She was buried in Kings Langley Church, Hertfordshire.[2]
[edit] The Southampton Plot
In 1415 Anne's widower Cambridge plotted with Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham to depose Henry V, Anne's cousin and the reigning king of England, and place her brother, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March on the throne. (The Earl of March had been the heir presumptive of Richard II. In 1399 Richard was forced to abdicate in favour of Henry IV, and for the next few decades Mortimer served as a focal point for conspiracies aimed at removing Henry IV and his heirs from the throne). The plot failed and Cambridge was duly executed in August 1415. His then four-year old son, Richard Plantagenet, ultimately championed his father's cause, which evolved into the Wars of the Roses and the Yorkist claimants achieving the throne.
The Earl of March was not involved in the Southampton Plot which, despite its failure, successfully promoted the claim of Anne's descendants, especially the Yorkists, to the throne of England.
