Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley

Coat of arms of the Berkeley family

Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (called the Wise ) (* 1245 in Berkeley , † July 23, 1321 in Berkeley ) was an English nobleman.

origin

Thomas de Berkeley came from the Berkeley family , one of the most powerful families in the southern Welsh Marches and Gloucestershire since the 13th century . The family came from a Bristol merchant who had been in the service of King Henry II in the mid-12th century . He and his descendants had succeeded in building a great barony. Not far from the mouth of the Severn , the family built Berkeley Castle, a mighty castle. Thomas de Berkeley was the eldest son of Sir Maurice de Berkeley and his wife Isabel FitzRoy . Thomas was a great-grandson of King Johann Ohneland through his mother . Before 1265 his mother inherited her father Richard of Chilham's estates in Kent .

Military service

As a young knight, Berkeley took part in the Battle of Evesham , the decisive battle of the Second War of the Barons, on the side of the royal party in 1265 . After his father's death in 1281, he inherited the family's estates. He was appointed to a parliament on June 28, 1283 by writ of summons . This calling was recognized in the Mowbray Case in 1877 as a baron elevation. During the Great Cause , the question of the succession regulation for the Scottish royal throne , Berkeley was appointed to a commission in June 1292, which should examine the claims of the English king to the Scottish throne. By writ of Summons he was called to parliament again on June 24, 1295, making him Baron Berkeley . During the Franco-English War he set up foot soldiers for the war with France from 1294, and in January 1296 he was a member of an embassy to France. Berkeley had been friends with William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke . In 1297 he concluded an agreement with his son Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , according to which he should do the earl against payment in case of war. As a result, Berkeley and his entourage took part in campaigns to Flanders and Scotland as a follower of Pembroke . When Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford , the hereditary Constable of England refused in 1297 to muster the army that had been called up for a campaign in Flanders for the war with France, Berkeley took over this office on his behalf. During the Scottish War of Independence , he took part in the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298 and in the siege of Carlaverock Castle in July 1300 . In July 1307 he was a member of a delegation to Pope Clement V to. During the war with Scotland, he took part in the wake of the Earl of Pembroke in the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314 , during which he and his son Thomas were captured in Scotland. He was only released after paying a large ransom.

Feud with the Earl of Pembroke

Berkeley had served the Earl of Pembroke in the arms for nearly twenty years. In January 1316 he had testified to a document from Pembroke and supported it in July 1316 in the siege of Bristol . A little later, however, there must have been a break between Pembroke and Berkeley. The dispute finally culminated in a raid by Berkeley's sons on a Pembrokes hunting park near Painswick in Gloucestershire. The attackers are said to have killed over 200 deer and wreaked havoc. Pembroke turned to King Edward II , who on August 8 appointed four royal judges to investigate the case. On December 30, 1318, Pembroke complained to the royal chancellor John Hotham that nothing had been done in the case. Thereupon Pembroke was assured on January 11, 1319 that he would receive compensation from the possessions of the responsible culprits, and on January 14 a new judicial commission was appointed. That commission quickly named 22 of the attackers, and on April 18, 30 additional names were named who were involved in the attack. These included Berkeley's sons Maurice and Thomas, as well as other members of the family such as Thomas de Berkeley of Beoly and Robert de Berkeley of Arlingham . The reason the Berkeleys suddenly and deliberately attacked Pembroke was not cleared even by the 1319 judicial inquiries. Thomas de Berkeley Senior was apparently no longer actively involved in this feud because of his age, he died shortly after his son Maurice had supported an attack by the Marcher Lords on the property of the royal favorite Hugh le Despenser in the spring of 1321 the Despenser War .

Family and offspring

Berkeley had married Joan de Ferrers , daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby , in 1267 . He had several children with her, including:

• Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1271-1326)
• Thomas de Berkeley
• Margaret de Berkeley († after 1320)

1. ⚭ Thomas fitz Maurice (around 1261–1298)
2. ⚭ Reynald Russel

• Alice Berkeley ⚭ ​​Ralph de Stourton

His son Maurice became his heir.

Web links

• Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley on thepeerage.com , accessed July 15, 2018.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 41
2. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 224
3. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 260
4. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 255
5. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 420
6. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 75
7. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 261
8. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 262

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baron Berkeley 1295-1321	Title rests