Talk:Mortimer

Shakespeare

In one of Shakespeare's histories, doesn't a Mortimer attribute his family name to an ancestor's heroism in the Crusades? That is, the ancestor took the name "Mort-mer" from the French for Dead Sea to memorialize his exploits there? Is this true? Ellsworth 23:38, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

I was raised believing this story (A French Knight given the title after valiant exploits by the Dead Sea). Alas there's no evidence to support it, and it's almost certainly a romanticised version, as there were no battles anywhere near the Dead Sea during the crusades. The provenance of the name is now acknowledged to be from the the swamp land at the Abbaye de Mortemer Pimdip 22:49, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes you're right, that's a pure English legend, unknown in France. Another reason: There is no evidence that we used to say "la morte Mer" instead of "la Mer morte", I never heard that and never read that. If they had invented this poetical expression "la morte mer", people wouldn't certainly have understood, what it meant. As far as I know, "Mer" was and is always set before the adjective. For example "rouge" = red, like all the colour adjectives, could be easily placed before the noun in the middle-ages (still today for a poetical purpose, but not with "mer": it does not sound poetical , but strange.), but I never heard or read "la rouge Mer" instead of "la Mer rouge". Sure, we can say "les mortes eaux" (the "dead waters") but only plural or "la morte saison", but that is different. Nortmannus (talk) 23:02, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

</L0rd>.

At the end of the article is says

More recently the name has become synonymous with the </L0rd>.

What does this mean? MortimerCat 22:09, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Favell Lee Mortimer

According to the article on her she left England no more than twice, not her own home. There is nothing there about her being agoraphobic. -childoferna — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.234.102.17 (talk • contribs) 22:23, 26 May 2007

RHaase

There is also a Cartoon pen named Mortimer that Bill Cosby sold in the 80's. I was looking for an article about it and I did not find any information here about it (the first time that ever happened. Maybe some one who knows more about it could make an article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.227.35.166 (talk • contribs) 02:01, 9 August 2007

Origin of the Placename

My sources indicate quite the opposite for the original Mortemer placename.

The Mortimer family predates the founding of the abbey more than a century. Roger de Mortemer held Mortemer castle back in the 11th century (see Ralph de Mortimer). The castle was located, my sources indicate, by the village of Mortemer-en-Brai, "in the Pays de Caux, situated at the source of the little river Eaulne" (Tout, T.F. "Ralph (I) de Mortimer". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. pp. 130–131.) Loren Rosen 00:00, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

The place name "Mortemer" is first recorded in 1035 in a Latin written charta as Mortuum mare, a long time before the first crusade and the foundation of the abbey! This is a village that is located far away from the abbey, near Neufchâtel-en-Bray. Mortemer-sur-Eaulne or Mortemer-en-Bray ( ill written Brai ) means that it is located in the Pays de Bray, not in the Pays de Caux nearby.

Its origin is not the Latin word mare > French "mer" = sea, but the corresponding Germanic word •mari, may be here Frankish or Saxon ( meri > old English mere = lake, pond. Today in place names -mere ). We can find this element in several place names in the north of France, for example: Cambremer, etc... The -mare place names in Normandy have the same Germanic origin, but old Norse. Norman "mare" > French "mare" = pond.

Mortemer abbey is located near Lyons-la-Forêt, in the Lyons forest, that is the limit of the Pays de Bray. There is a source near Mortemer abbey too, the Fouillebroc stream. "Fouillebroc" means Fulbroc in old English ( Fulbrook, GB). The old English place name element brōc can be found in another place name of the Pays de Bray: Bruquedalle ( Brokedale 1185-89)

Nortmannus (talk) 22:25, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Given the above comments, I've acknowledged the disputed origin, and added the oft-quoted story of a Norman crusader who fought near the Dead Sea Pimdip (talk) 21:41, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Good! but your article could be more precise about the location, because the presentation is quite confusing. Both Mortemer are located in the Norman Pays de Bray (There is also a picard one, see Creation of Normandy 911). Mortemer-sur- Eaulne is located in the Seine-maritime département. Mortemer Abbey, in the département Eure, I would say, between Rouen and les Andelys. Nortmannus (talk) 11:41, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Emily Lord

In the course of adding some notable Mortimers, I've deleted a line which read: "Emily Lord, Countess of Durham" There was no Wiki-link to Emily Lord and I couldn't find her using Search. Seems like a mistake but please revert if it isn't (and briefly explain her relevance to Mortimer). OldSpot61 (talk) 15:32, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Christopher J. Mortimer

I've deleted "Christopher J. Mortimer, Fortune 500 company owner". There was no link to a current WP page on this person and I couldn't find any Christopher J. Mortimer (or indeed Christopher Mortimer or Chris Mortimer) associated with a Fortune 500 company using Google. If CJM should be included, please create a page about him and revert this deletion. OldSpot61 (talk) 09:13, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Nathaniel Mortimer, Ashton Mortimer

I have updated the list of "Other People" And Inserted my name and date of birth and my sons name Ashton mortimer and his date of birth. It is accurate and current — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.227.12.73 (talk) 22:28, 6 March 2013 (UTC)