Editing March (territory) (section)

==British Isles==
{{refimprove section|date=November 2010}}
{{further|Welsh Marches|Scottish Marches}}

The name of the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] kingdom in the midlands of England was [[Mercia]]. The name "Mercia" comes from the [[Old English]] for "boundary folk", and the traditional interpretation was that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the [[Welsh people|Welsh]] and the Anglo-Saxon invaders, although P. Hunter Blair has argued an alternative interpretation that they emerged along the frontier between the Kingdom of Northumbria and the inhabitants of the [[River Trent]] valley.

Latinizing the Anglo-Saxon term ''mearc'', the border areas between England and Wales were collectively known as the [[Welsh Marches]] (''marchia Wallia''), while the native Welsh lands to the west were considered Wales Proper (''pura Wallia''). The [[Normans|Norman]] lords in the Welsh Marches were to become the new [[Marcher Lord]]s.

The title ''[[Earl of March]]'' is at least two distinct [[Feudalism|feudal title]]s: one in the northern marches, as an alternative title for the [[Earl of Dunbar]] (c. 1290 in the [[Peerage of Scotland]]); and one, that was held by the family of [[Mortimer]] (1328 in the [[Peerage of England]]), in the west [[Welsh Marches]].

The [[Scottish Marches]] is a term for the border regions on both sides of the border between England and Scotland. From the [[Norman Conquest]] of England until the reign of [[King James VI of Scotland]], who also became [[King James I of England]], border clashes were common and the monarchs of both countries relied on [[Marcher Lords]] to defend the frontier areas known as the Marches. They were hand-picked for their suitability for the challenges the responsibilities presented.

[[Patrick Dunbar, 8th Earl of Dunbar]], a descendant of the [[Earls of Northumbria]] was recognized in the end of the 13th century to use the name March as his earldom in Scotland, otherwise known as Dunbar, Lothian, and Northumbrian border.

[[Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March]], [[Regent]] of England together with [[Isabella of France]] during the minority of her son, [[Edward III of England|Edward III]], was a usurper who had deposed, and allegedly arranged the murder of, King Edward II. He was created an earl in September 1328 at the height of his ''[[de facto]]'' rule. His wife was [[Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville]], whose mother, [[Jeanne of Lusignan]] was one of the heiresses of the French [[Count of La Marche|Counts of La Marche]] and [[Count of Angouleme|Angouleme]].

His family, [[Mortimer]] Lords of [[Wigmore Castle|Wigmore]], had been border lords and leaders of defenders of Welsh marches for centuries. He selected ''March'' as the name of his earldom for several reasons: Welsh marches referred to several counties, whereby the title signified superiority compared to usual single county-based earldoms. Mercia was an ancient kingdom. His wife's ancestors had been Counts of La Marche and Angouleme in France.

In [[Ireland]], a hybrid system of marches existed which was condemned as barbaric at the time.{{efn|"In distant Westminster, where it was impossible to imagine the stress of life in the Irish marches, march law (like Irish law, which Edward I had once described as 'detestable to God and contrary to all laws') was outrightly condemned," notes James F. Lydon{{sfn|Lydon|1998 |p=81}} }} The Irish marches constituted the territory between English and Irish-dominated lands, which appeared as soon as the English did and were called by King John to be fortified.{{sfn|Neville|p={{page needed|date=August 2014}} }} By the 14th century, they had become defined as the land between [[The Pale]] and the rest of Ireland.{{sfn|Lydon|1998 |p={{page needed|date=August 2014}}}} Local Anglo-Irish and Gaelic chieftains who acted as powerful spokespeople were recognised by the Crown and given a degree of independence. Uniquely, the keepers of the marches were given the power to terminate indictments. In later years, wardens of the Irish marches took Irish tenants.{{sfn|Gwyn|p={{page needed|date=August 2014}} }}{{sfn|Moore|p={{page needed|date=August 2014}} }}{{sfn|Otway-Ruthven|p={{page needed|date=August 2014}} }}