Edmund Mortimer

When Henry Bolingbroke decided in 1399 to return from exile in France and force his cousin, King Richard II, to return to him the properties and titles of Henry's deceased father, John of Gaunt, he gained so much popular support that his ambitions expanded to take the Crown from Richard as well. In doing tis, Richard's chosen heir-presumptive was knocked out of the running. That man was Edmund Mortimer.He was "heir-presumptive" because his position was potentially temporary if Richard had born a son. Who was Edmund? Why was he considered appropriate as a potential king of England? What happened to him after 1399?Edmund's father was Roger Mortimer, the 4th Earl of March. Roger's mother was Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster, the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp, son of Edward III (and first "boss" of the page Geoffrey Chaucer). Edmund's parents and grandparents on both sides raced back to kings of England. Edmund's father had been made heir-presumptive, but his death in the Ireland campaign…