At the time that William obtained the crown of England, he rewarded Roger de Berkeley with the manor of Berkeley. Roger was an ancient Saxon nearly allied in blood to King Edward the Confessor, and who supported William at the battle of Hastings. Roger, thus, assumed the name of Roger de Berkeley. Roger de Berkeley founded the family of Berkeley in England at the Norman Conquest. He was a leading chief in the army of William the Conqueror. He is styled, in the 20th year of King William, as "Roger Senior of Berkeley" from the possession of Berkeley Castle, co. Gloucester. "The castle." says Rudder, "was began in the 17th year of Henry I., by Roger de Berkeley the 2nd, and finished by Roger the 3rd, in the reign of King Stephen. Further additions were made during the reign of King Edward III." This Roger bestowed several churches upon the priory of Stanley, with the tithes and lands, and being shorn a monk there, in 1091, restored the lordship of Stoteshore, which he had long detained from that convent. Since he had no issue, he was succeeded at his death by his nephew, William.
From "The Peerage, Baronetage,
and Knightage of the British Empire", "The Earl of Berkeley", pp 70-71
(1882). Also Burke's "Peerage and Baronetage", pp 232-233.
"The history of the peerage of the Earl of Berkeley, unquestionably feudal in its origins, which has been more or less recognized in its territorial character at various epochs, is of exceptional importance in bearing upon the history of English dignities, and the gradual obsolescence and final extinction of barony by tenure.""Harding of Bristol, said by genealogists to have been the son of a king of Denmark and companion to the Conqueror, has been conjectured by a modern historian to be identical with Harding (a contemporary of Harold and William, son of Eadnoth the Staller, an officer of Edward the Confessor, who survived the Conquest; but this identification can only be regarded as `not improbable.' His son, Robert FitzHarding, of Bristol, obtained from Henry, Duke of Normandy, afterwards Henry II, a grant of the hundred of Berkeley, called Berkeley Herness. He granted all the churches in Berkeley Herness to St. Augustine's Abbey, Bristol (now the cathedral), of which he is the reputed founder, and where he was buried, 1171. His only surviving son, Maurice de Berkeley, obtained in 1189 confirmations from King Richard I., and from Queen Eleanor of Berkeley Herness. `to be held in barony by the service of five knights.' He married Alice, daughter of Roger de Berkeley, of Dursley, the former Lord of Berkeley. Their eldest son, Robert de Berkeley, obtained a charter of confirmation from King Richard I., in 1199. He was one of the Barons at war with King John, and died May 13, 1219. He was succeeded by Thomas, his brother, whose grandson, Thomas de Berkeley, 6th Baron by tenure, had writs of summons to parliament from June 24, 1295 (the 23rd year of King Edward I.), to May 15, 1321 (the 14th year of King Edward II.). In 1301, 1302, and 1305 he was serving in the Scottish wars with Maurice and John his son; prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn, in June 1314; Justice of West Wales, 1317. He died July 23, ???. His younger son, James, was Bishop of Exeter, 1326."
(1)
William de Berkeley, 2nd feudal lord
of Berkeley Castle (at right), founder of the Abbey of Kingswood in 1139,
was succeeded by his son and heir, Roger.
(2) Roger
de Berkeley, Lord of Dursley, adhering to the Empress Maud (an
adherence, however, denied by Smith and Fosbroke, in the Lives of the Berkeleys,
page 11), "underwent", says Dugdale, "a very hard fate, through the perfidiousness
and cruelty of Walter, brother of Milo, Earl of Hereford, his seeming friend
(and kinsman by consanguity), being treacherously seized on, stripped naked,
exposed to scorn, put into fetters, and thrice drawn by rope around his
neck, on a gallows, at his own castle gates, with threats that if he did
not deliver up his castle to the Earl, he would suffer a miserable death;
and when he was, by this barbarous usage, almost dead, carried to prison,
there to endure further tortures." He was succeeded by his son, Roger.
(3) Roger de Berkeley, living in 1165, in the 11th year of King Henry II., the last of the original family of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle, had a son and daughter as follows:
- Robert, married Helena, daughter of Robert FitzHarding.
- Alice
(4) Alice Berkeley, heiress to Roger de Berkeley, married, at the instigation of King Henry II., Maurice, son of Robert FitzHarding, son of Harding, called Robert Lord Berkeley, and his wife, Eva, daughter of Estmond, Earl of Mercia, and his wife, Godiva, sister of William the Conqueror. One source shows the grandfather of Maurice as Eadnoth, a wealthy merchant of Bristol. Alice founded the religious house called Magdalen's, near Bristol, and was its patroness; dying in March 12, 1170-71, she was buried beside her husband, between the stalls of the Abbot and the Prior. He founded the Abbey of St. Augustine's in Bristol, and dying, February 5, 1170-71 (one source has the death as June 11, 1190), was buried in the quire thereof. He is supposed to have been a canon in the Abbey. This Robert FitzHarding was conferred, for his attachment to the Empress Maud, the lordship of Berkeley and Berkeley-Hernesse, the confiscated possessions of the above Roger de Berkeley, the adherent to King Stephen; but, to reconcile the parties, King Henry, who had restored to Roger his manor and castle of Dursley, caused an agreement to be concluded between them that the heiress of the ousted lord should be given in marriage to the heir of the new baron; and thus passed the feudal castle of Berkeley to another chief, Maurice, who assumed the surname of Berkeley and became the feudal lord of Berkeley upon the death of his brother, Henry. He was the first of his family to dwell in the Berkeley Castle. He fortified the castle and founded two hospitals, one at Lowring between Berkeley and Dursley, and that at Longbridge to the north of Berkeley, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. He was born in 1120. Maurice died on June 16, 1189, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert. (Ref: The Ligon Family). Alice and Maurice had six sons and one daughter as follows:
- Robert, who, in the turbulent times of King John, forfeited his castle and lands by his participation in the rebellious proceedings of the barons, but upon submission, and paying the king a fine of 1,000 pounds had livery of his lands, and had all restored except the castle and town of Berkeley, in the 1st year of King Henry III. Robert married (1) Julianna, daughter of William de Pontlarch and niece to the great Earl of Pembroke, Earl Marshal of England and afterwards Protector of King Henry III.; (2) Luci, who afterwards married Hugh de Gournay. He died May 13, 1219, without issue from either marriage, and was succeeded by his brother, Thomas.
- Thomas, mentioned below
- Maurice, married and had Thomas; d.s.p.
- William. No details known.
- Henry, with his brother, Richard, accompanied William, King of Scotland, into that country when he returned from being a prisoner in England, became the ancestors of many eminent families in Scotland, France, and Ireland.
- Richard
- an only daughter, married Osbert Gifford; and dying, according to the Abbot Newland, in the year 1190, was interred in the church of Brentford, co. Middlesex in the building of which he (Gifford) had been a great benefactor.
(5) Thomas
de Berkeley was born in 1170. In the 8th year of Henry III.
(1223-24), upon giving his two nephews as pledges for his fidelity, he
had restitution of Berkeley Castle in 1223. He married, circa 1217, Joan,
daughter of Ralph de Somery, Lord of
Campden, co., Gloucester, and niece of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke.
Thomas died on November 29, 1243, aged seventy-three, and was buried in
the south aisle of St. Augustine's abbey. Thomas was succeeded by his eldest
son, Maurice. He and his wife left six sons and one daughter as follows:
- Maurice
- Thomas, d.s.p.
- Robert.
- Henry, d.s.p.
- William
- Richard
- Margaret, married Anseleme Basset, of Basset's Court in Uley, Gloucestershire.
(6) Maurice de Berkeley, paying 100 pounds had livery of his inheritance, accompanied his father in the wars of France, in the 41st year of Henry III., and was in the expedition with Prince Edward against the Welsh. In the 42nd, 43rd, 44th, and 47th year of Henry III., he was summoned to attend to the king against Llewellyn ap Griffith, Prince of Wales, then in arms. He appears to have joined the insurrectionary lords, for which his lands were seized by the crown. He married in 1240 Isabel, daughter of Maurice de Credonia, alias Creoun, a great baron in Lincolnshire, and his wife Isabel, sister of William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke (uterine sister and brother of Henry III.). He died seized of his barony of Berkeley, April 4, 1281, and was buried in the north aisle of St. Augustine's abbey in Bristol. He and his wife had four sons and one daughter as follows:
- Maurice, was killed in a tournament in Kenilworth Jousts while his father was living.
- Thomas, the successor
- Simon, died unmarried.
- Robert, of Alkington, died 1315; married (1) Joan ____.
- Maud. No details known.
(7) Thomas de Berkeley, 2nd oldest son, 1st Lord Berkeley, known as "The Wise", was born at Berkeley Castle in 1245, was a very wise and provident person, keeping exact accounts with all his bailiffs and stewards. He had 200 attendants in his family, of knights, esquires, yeomen, grooms, and pages, besides husbandmen. He was with the king at the siege of Kenilworth Castle, October, 1266, and afterwards in the Welsh wars, for which service he had a special grant, in the time of King Edwards I., for hunting with his own dogs in the king's forest of Mendip and chase of Kingswood. In short, he was in most of the battles fought in Wales, Scotland, and France. He participated in the victory of Falkirk and the siege of Caerlaverock, won July 23, 1298, and he was taken prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, and paid a large sum for his ransom. He was summoned to parliament as a Baron from June 24, 1295, to May 15, 1321. He was ambassador to Rome; one of the commissioners to treat of peace between England and France; and Constable of England. He married circa 1267 Joane (Jane), daughter of William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. Thomas died July 23, 1321, and was buried at St. Augustine's abbey. His wife, Jane, died March 19, 1309. They had the following children:
- Maurice
- Thomas, ancestor of the Berkeleys of Wymondham, co. Leicester; married the daughter and heir of John Hamelin, Lord Wymondham.
- John, d.s.p. 1316, married Hawise ________.
- James, who was rector of Slimbridge, and in the year 1326, consecrated Bishop of Exeter.
- Isabel, died unmarried.
- Margaret, died unmarried.
(8) Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Lord Berkeley, the eldest son, known as "The Magnanimous," said to be born in April 1281 (must have been 1271, otherwise his son was born when he was only 12 years of age!) and died on May 31, 1326, having married in 1289 (1), both being very young, Eva (Eve), daughter of Eudo (Eudes) le Zouche, a descendant of Saire de Quincy, sister of Willard Lord Zouche of Harringworth; (2) Isabel Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, and his first wife, Alice le Brun. He received, in his father's lifetime, summons to parliament from August 6, 1308 to May 15, 1321. In 1312, he was made Governor of Gloucester and, in 1314, Governor of the town and castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed. He distinguished himself in the Scottish wars from 1295 to 1318, and was present at the siege of Carlaverock in July 1300. In 1315, he was constituted Justice of South Wales and had custody of all the castles there. In 1319, by the title of the king's beloved kinsman, he was made steward of the duchy of Aquitaine; but in 1321, joining Thomas Plantaganet, Earl of Lancaster, he was committed prisoner to Wallingford Castle, where he died December 5, 1314. Isabel d.s.p. 1333. The children by the first marriage were as follows:
- Thomas
- Maurice, who died at Calais, in the 21st year of Edward III., having married Margaret Berkeley, daughter and heiress of Maurice Berkeley, of Uley, by whom he was the ancestor of the family of Stoke-Gifford. See below for the continuation of this lineage.
- John, Constable of Bristol Castle, from whom the Berkeleys of Shropshire are descended.
- Eudo, rector of Llanbeder, co. Caernarvon.
- Peter , a dignitary in the church of Wells.
- Isabel, married (1) Robert Clifford, Lord Clifford; (2) Thomas Musegrove (Musegrave), Lord Musegrove.
(9) Thomas
de Berkeley, 3rd Lord Berkeley, known as "The Rich," was born
in 1293. In 1327 he was made joint custodian of the deposed King Edward
II, whom he received at Berkeley Castle, but being commanded to deliver
over the government to his fellow custodians, Lord Maltravers and Sir Thomas
Gournay, he left there to go to Bradley "with heavy cheere perceiving what
violence was intended." As an accessory to the murder of the deposed king,
he was tried by a jury of 12 knights in the 4th year of King Edward III.,
but was honorably acquitted. He married about 1320 (1) Margaret Mortimer,
daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, and in 1347, (2) Catherine,
widow of Peter le Veel, of Tortworth, co. Gloucester, and daughter of John
Cliveton, of Charfield.. This lord having adhered to the interests
of the Queen, Mortimer, and Prince Edward, afterwards the third of that
name, furnished "the only precedent," says Smith, "of a peer being tried
by knights, as the peers would have been both judges and jurors." He first
assumed a miter for his crest. He was summoned to parliament from June
14, 1329 to November 20, 1360. Thomas de Berkeley died October 27,
1361, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Maurice, of the first marriage.
He and his first wife, Margaret,
had the following children:
- Maurice, his successor
- Thomas, d.s.p.
- Roger, d.s.p.
- Alphonsus, d.s.p.
- Joan, wife of Reginald Cobham, Knight.
- Thomas, born June 7, 1348, d.s.p.
- Maurice, born May 27, 1349, d.s.p.
- Edmund, born July 10, 1350, d.s.p.
- John, ancestor of the Berkeleys of Beverstone.
(10) John de Berkeley was born 21 January 1351 in Wotton, Gloucestershire, England, christened 23 January 1251/2, and died in 1428 in Beverstone, Gloucestershire. He married first Elizabeth, born about 1353 in Beverstone, Gloucestershire, England, daughter of Sir John and Lady Goda Betteshorne.
- Elizabeth, born in Beverstone, Gloucestershire, England, died shortly before 8 December 1478, buried St. James Priory, Dudley, Stafford, England. She married about 1420, John Sutton, Baron Dudley, born 25 December 1400 at Dudley Castle, Stafford, England, christened in Barton, Derbyshire, England, and died 30 September 1487 in Stafford, England, buried at St. James Priory, Dudley, Stafford, England.