Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March

Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March, was an English nobleman and powerful marcher lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his marriage to the wealthy heiress Joan de Geneville. In November 1316 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 1322 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for leading the marcher lords in a revolt against King Edward II known as the Despenser War. He later escaped to France, where he was joined by Edward's wife, Queen Isabella, with whom he had an affair; after they led a successful invasion and rebellion, Edward was deposed and Mortimer allegedly arranged his murder at Berkeley Castle. For three years Mortimer was de facto ruler of England before being overthrown by Isabella and Edward's eldest son, Edward III, and was executed by hanging at Tyburn on charges of assuming royal power and other crimes.