Roger Mortimer de Chirk (* c. 1256, † 3 August 1326) was a younger brother of Edmund Mortimer and a paternal uncle of Roger Mortimer. He fought with Edward I in Wales and at Falkirk against the Scots. The king granted him extensive Welsh possessions, which made him one of the most powerful Marcher Lords. Edward II appointed him justiciar of Wales, which Mortimer ruled almost royally without gaining any particular popularity among the Welsh. When conflict arose between the Marcher Lords and Hugh Despenser, Mortimer was at the forefront of the battle against the royal favourite, but was forced to surrender with his nephew to Edward II in January 1322. Roger Mortimer de Chirk was imprisoned in the Tower, where he died in 1326.
Edward II
In [Scene 4] Mortimer the Elder is sent to Scotland, from where he does not return during the play. Before leaving, he has an interesting conversation with his nephew Mortimer. As the noble opposition and the king have just come to an agreement, Mortimer asks his nephew not to oppose Edward II just because he fancies Gaveston. After all, there have been a number of eminent men who felt the same way, for which Mortimer brings some historically sometimes dubious examples from Antiquity.1 Mortimer surprises with the answer"Unckle, his wanton humor greeves not me,"2. Rather, he is distressed by Gaveston’s undeserved social advancement, the political tasks that the king neglects because of his favourite, and the extravagance of the two. This conversation shows a refreshing Elizabethan view of the supposed homosexual escapades of rulers: let them do what they like, as long as their affairs do not affect politics and the budget.
