# Edmund Mortimer — Henry VI, Part I character guide

> Edmund Mortimer in Henry VI, Part I by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mortimer Richard Plantagenet, Mortimer, dying Mortimer, false Plantagenet, Nestor

**First appearance:** 0013-act-ii-scene-v

## Snapshot

A dying prisoner who has spent his life in a dungeon for a royal claim, Mortimer passes his dangerous inheritance to Richard Plantagenet.

## Who they are

Mortimer has been caged since youth for the crime of being closer to Edward III's throne than the Lancastrians who took it. In his final scene he unspools the genealogy that legitimizes Richard's claim, warning his nephew to be 'wary' and 'politic' because Lancaster sits 'like a mountain.' His death converts a private grievance into a dynastic time bomb, and his funeral is the first stone laid in the road to civil war.

## In the story

### [Scene IV: The Temple Garden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_vi_part_i_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-iv)

Referenced by Warwick as Plantagenet's grandfather (Lionel Duke of Clarence), establishing Plantagenet's royal lineage.

### [Scene V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_vi_part_i_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-v)

Dying in prison, he recounts the family's royal claim and names Richard his heir.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_vi_part_i_se/characters/mortimer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_vi_part_i_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/henry_vi_part_i_se/characters