Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Thomas de Berkeley

Male Abt 1251 - 1321  (~ 70 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Thomas de Berkeley 
    Born Abt 1251  Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 23 Jul 1321 
    Person ID I7222  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family Joan de Ferrers,   d. 19/19 Mar 1309/10 
    Married 1267 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F3081  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
      "THOMAS DE BERKELEY, Knt., of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, Wendon, Essex, etc., Vice-Constable of England, 2nd but 1st surviving son and heir, born at Berkeley about 1251 (aged 30 in 1281). He married in 1267 JOAN DE FERRERS, daughter of William de Ferrers, Knt., 5th Earl of Derby, by his 2nd wife, Margaret (or Margery), daughter and co-heiress of Roger de Quincy, Knt., 2nd Earl of Winchester, hereditary Constable of Scotland [see FERRERS 7 for her ancestry]. Her maritagium included the manors of Coston, Leicestershire and Eynesbury Berkeley, Huntingdonshire. They had four sons, Maurice, Knt. [2nd Lord Berkeley], Thomas, Knt., John, and [Master] James [Bishop of Exeter], and two daughters, Margaret and Isabel [Prioress of Buckland Priory]. In the period, c.1254-60, Robert de Ferrers granted the manor of Easton, Leicestershire to his sister, Joan de Ferrers. He was present at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. He and his wife, Joan, presented to the church of Coston, Leicestershire in 1277. He served in the first expedition against Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, in 1277, and again in the second invasion under the king in 1282. In 1284 he was ordered by the Bishop of Worcester against distraining the cattle of the tenants of the church of Cam. He was on the commission to inquire into claims to the Scottish crown in 1292. In 1292 John Tarbaud brought the Replegiare against him; Thomas avowed the taking by reason that he and his ancestors had held the hundred of Berkeley of the king in fee farm, in which hundred all those within the precinct of the hundred ought to come at two Lawdays in the year to present hue and cry. He was summoned to Parliament 24 June 1295 by writ directed Thome de Berkelegh', whereby he may be held to have become Lord Berkeley. He was employed on an embassy to France in 1296, and to Pope Clement V in 1307. He fought at the Battle of Falkirk 22 July 1298, and was present at the Siege of Caerlaverock in 1300. He signed the Barons' letter to Pope Boniface VIII in 1301 as D'n's de Berkele. In 1303, while Thomas and his son, Maurice, were with the king in Scotland, Maurice's officers seized and imprisoned a Bristol burgess named Richard Cornwall at Redcliffe on a charge of murder. The men of Bristol liberated their fellow townsman, and, according to a complaint lodged by Maurice, they made away with goods to the value of 500 marks. This resulted in open conflict with the burgesses of Bristol, in which the burgesses alleged that the Berkeleys' men beat and assaulted them, so that they were not able to venture outside the town on legitimate business. The justices appointed to deal with the case gave judgment against the Berkeleys. A heavy amercement was levied on them which was commuted for service in the Scottish war, but the liberties of the manor and hundred of Bedminster were taken into the king's hands. In 1303 he purchased the reversion of the manor of Frampton on Severn, Gloucestershire from Richard de Clifford son and heir of John de Clifford, Knt.; he subsequently conveyed the manor in 1305 to Robert Fitz Payn, 1st Lord Fitzpayn, and his wife, Isabel, for an annual rent of 22 marks. In 1306 he obtained a license to alienate in mortmain two shops in Wells, Somerset to the Prioress and sisters of Buckland Priory. He was summoned to attend the Coronation of King Edward II in 1308. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Bannockburn 24 June 1314, paying a large sum for his ransom. His wife, Joan, died 19 March 1309/10, and was buried at St. Augustine's, Bristol. In 1321 the king directed him and 70 others to arrest those that disturb the peace and spread false reports. SIR THOMAS DE BERKELEY, 1st Lord Berkeley, died 23 July 1321.
      Dugdale Baronage of England 1 (1675): 348; 2 (1676): 349-369 (sub Berkeley). Brydges Collins' Peerage of England 3 (1812): 591-627 (sub Earl of Berkeley). Rpt. on the Procs. on the Claim to the Barony of L'Isle (1829). Year Books of Edward I: Years XX & XXI (Rolls Ser. 31a) 1 (1866): 338-339. Hardy Syllabus (in English) of the Docs. Rel. England & Other Kingdoms 1 (1869): 211. Turner Cal. Charters & Rolls: Bodleian Lib. (1878): 57 (charter of Thomas de Berkeley dated 1301). Genealogist 4 (1880): 50-58. Burke Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited & Extinct Peerages (1883): 43 15 (sub Berkeley). Smyth Berkeley MSS 1(1883): 153-222 (Thomas styled "cozen" by King Edward I of England). Doyle Official Baronage of England 1 (1886): 169-170 (sub Berkeley). Tresswell & Vincent Vis. of Shropshire 1623, 1569 & 1584 1 (H.S.P. 28) (1889): 30 (1623 Vis.) (Barkley ped.: "Thomas Lo. of Barkley mar. Isabell da. of Wm. Ferrers E. of Derby"). Birch Cat. Seals in the British Museum 2 (1892): 497 (seal of Thomas de Berkeley, [1st Lord Berkeley?] dated early 14th cent. - A shield of arms, a chevron between ten crosses crosslet, six in chief four in base, BERKELEY. Suspended by a strap from a hook, and between two wyverns. Legend: * SIGLLVM : THOME DE *BERKELE. Beaded borders.). Jeayes Desc. Cat. of the Charters & Muniments in the Possession of the Rt. Hon. Lord Fitzhardinge (1892): xxii-xxiii (chart), 118 (charter of Robert de Ferrers dated c.1254-60 to his sister, Joan de Ferrers). C.P.R. 1307-1313 (1894): 385. C.P.R. 1301-1307 (1898): 466. Giffard Episc. Reg. Diocese of Worcester, Reg. of Bishop Godfrey Giffard 2(3) (Worcester Hist. Soc. 15) (1900): 234. Genealogist n.s. 18 (1902): 188-189. Howard de Walden Some Feudal Lords & Their Seals (1903): 74 (biog. of Thomas de Berkeley). Wrottesley Peds. from the Plea Rolls (1905): 386-387. D.N.B. 2 (1908): 339-343 (Berkeley, Fam. of). Weaver Cartulary of Buckland Priory (Somerset Rec. Soc. 25) (1909): xxiv, xxvii. C.P. 2 (1912): 127-128, 145 (sub Berkeley); 5 (1926): chart foll. 320. Year Books of Edward II 13 (Selden Soc. 34) (1918): 31-32. Davis Rotuli Ricardi Gravesend Episcopi Lincolniensis 1258-1279 (Lincoln Rec. Soc. 20) (1925): 160. VCH Huntingdon 2 (1932): 274, 276. Richardson & Sayles Rotuli Ped. Anglie Hactenus Inediti 1274-1373 (Camden Soc. 3rd Ser. 51) (1935): 18-19. Bristol Charters 2 (Bristol Rec. Soc. 11) (1946): 38-41. Lawrance Heraldry from Military Monuments before 1350 (H.S.P. 98) (1946): 3-4. Trans. Bristol & Gloucs. Arch. Soc. 71 (1952): 100-121; 84 (1965): 31-43. Dunham Lord Hastings' Indentured Retainers 1461-1483 (Trans. Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences 39) (1955): 56-57. Davis Anc. Of Nicholas Davis (1956): 185-187. Paget Baronage of England (1957) 55: 1-2 (sub Berkeley). Sanders English Baronies (1960): 13. Saltman Cartulary of Tutbury Priory (Colls. Hist. Staffs. 4th Ser. 4) (1962): 83-84. Haines Cal. Reg. of Wolstan de Brantford (Worcestershire Hist. Soc. n.s. 4) (1966): xxxv-xxxvi. VCH Gloucester 10 (1972): 143-148. Ellis Cat. Seals in the P.R.O. I (1978): 7 (seal of Thomas de Berkeley dated c.1300 - Hung from a hook, between two wyverns, a shield of arms: a chevron between ten crosses paty. Legend: SIGILLVM: THOME DE BERKELE); 2 (1981): 10 (seal of Thomas, Lord Berkeley dated 1273 - In a cusped circle, a shield of arms, couché: a chevron between ten crosses formy; helm above with mantling and crest: a mitre, patterned with crosses formy; on right a mermaid with comb and mirror. Legend: SIGILLVM. THOME. D.....). Sutton Rolls & Reg. of Bishop Oliver Sutton, 1280-1299 8 (Lincoln Rec. Soc. 76) (1986): 87-88. Brault Rolls of Arms Edward I 2 (1997): 47-48 (arms of Thomas de Berkeley: Gules, crusily and a chevron argent; he sealed with a crusily and a chevron in 1273 and c.1300). Online resource: http://www.briantimms.net/era/lord_marshals/Lord_Marshal02/Lord%20Marshal2.htm (Lord Marshal's Roll - arms of Thomas de Berkeley: Gules a chevron argent).
      Children of Thomas de Berkeley, Knt., by Joan de Ferrers:
      i. MAURICE DE BERKELEY, Knt., 2nd Lord Berkeley fsee next].
      ii. THOMAS DE BERKELEY, Knt., of Coston, Leicestershire, Wick (in Arlingham), Gloucestershire, Eynesbury, Huntingdonshire, etc., and, in right of his 1st wife, of Wollaston, Northamptonshire, 2nd son. He married (1st) before 1310 MARGERY LE BRAY, daughter and heiress of Robert le Bray, Knt., of Wollaston, Northamptonshire. They had one son, Thomas, and one daughter, Katherine (wife of ___ de la Dale and Richard Chamberlain, Knt.). He married (2nd) before 12 June 1318 (date of grant) ISABEL HAMELYN, daughter and heiress of John Hamelyn, Knt., of Wymondham, Leicestershire. They had one son, John, Knt. SIR THOMAS DE BERKELEY died 15 Feb. 1346. Fosbroke Berkeley Manuscripts (1821): 114 (Berkeley ped.). Burke Gen. & Heraldic Hist. of tbe Extinct & Dormant Baronetcies (1844): 58-59 (sub Berkeley). Jeayes Desc. Cat. of the Charters & Muniments in the Possession of the Rt. Hon. Lord Fitzhardinge (1892): xxii-xxiii (chart). Arch. Cantiana 26 (1904): 326 (Berkeley-Livesey ped.). C.C.R. 1346-1349 (1905): 215. VCH Buckingham 4(1927): 338-343. VCH Northampton 4 (1937): 29-39, 58. Ellis Cat. Seals in the P.R.O. 2 (1981): 10 (seal of Thomas de Berkeley the younger dated 1316- A shield of arms: a chevron between ten sexfoils. Legend: *S'.THOME.DE.BERKELEYE). Berkeley Castle Muniments, BCM/A/1/11/11 (grant dated 12 June 1318 by Thomas de Berkeley, lord of Berkeley, to his son, Thomas de Berkeley, and his wife, Isabel) (available at www.a2a.org.uk/search/index.asp).
      iii. [MASTER] JAMES DE BERKELEY, derk, prebendary of Corsley, prebendary of Waltham, Sussex, Chaplain to the Pope, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, Bishop of Exeter, younger son. He died 24 June 1327. Rymer Fædera 2(1) (1818): 358, 369 (Master James de Berkeley, "sacræ theologiæ doctor" styled "kinsman" by King Edward II). Hardy Syllabus (in English) of the Docs. Rel. England & Other Kingdoms 1(1869): 198 (Date: 1318. March 20. - "The King recommends his relative James de Berkele to the pope."), 199 (Date: 1318. July 29.- "The King agains ask the pope to favour his relative James de Berkele."). Jeayes Desc. Cat. of the Charters & Muniments in the Possession of the Rt. Hon. Lord Fitzhardinge (1892): xxii-xxiii (chart). Grandisson Reg. of John de Grandisson Bishop of Exeter 1 (1894): 29 (instances of Master James de Berkeley styled "kinsman" [consanguineous] by King Edward II in 1318). Gandavo Reg. Simonis de Gandavo Diocesis Saresbitiensis 2 (Canterbury & York Soc. 41) (1934): 609. Paget Baronage of England (1957) 55: 1-2 (sub Berkeley). Fasti Ecclesia Anglicana 1300-1541 7 (1964): 46-47.
      iv. MARGARET DE BERKELEY, married (1st) shortly before 7 Feb. 1283/4 THOMAS FITZ MAURICE, Keeper of Ireland, son and heir of Maurice Fitz John, by Maud de Berry. He was born about April 1261. They had three sons, Thomas, Maurice, Knt. [1st Earl of Desmond], and John, and one daughter, Joan. In 1292 the king gave Thomas and his wife, Margaret, all the land of Decies and Desmond and custody of the castle of Dungarvan at a rent of 200 marks a year. He was summoned for military service, 1294-7, by writs directed Thome filio Mauricii. THOMAS FITZ MAURICE died 4 June 1298 at Knockainy, co. Limerick, and was buried in the Dominican Friary at Tralee. His widow, Margaret, married (2nd) before 5 April 1299 (date of fine for marrying without license) REYNOLD RUSSELL (or ROSEL), Knt. In 1314 Reynold and his wife, Margaret, leased property at Wyke on Severn, Gloucestershire from her brother, Thomas de Berkeley, Knt, at an annual rent of 10 marks a year. They were both living 4 May 1320. Cal. Does. Rel. Ireland 2 (1877): 563-564; 3 (1879): 18,464-465. Smyth Berkeky MSS 1 (1883): 171. Jeayes Dem. Cat. of the Charters & Muniments in the Possession of the Rt. Hon. Lord Fitzhardinge (1892): xxii-xxiii (chart), 147-148. C.Ch.R. 2 (1906): 416-417 (Margaret styled "king's kinswoman"). CCR. 1296-1302 (1906): 170 (Margaret styled "king's kinswoman"). English Hist. Rev. 29 (1914): 302-315. C.P. 4 (1916): 234-236 (sub Desmond). Richardson & Sayles Rotuli Ped. Anglie Hactenus Inediti 1274-1373 (Camden Soc. 3rd Ser. 51) (1935): 35-36. Paget Baronage of England (1957) 55: 1-2 (sub Berkeley). Frame English Lordship in Ireland 1318-1361 (1982): 50,342 (chart), 343 (chart). Moody etal. New Hist. of Ireland 9 (1984): 168 (chart). Berkeley Castle Muniments, BCM/A/1/11/10 (lease dated 1 June 1314 by Thomas de Berkeley, Knt. to Reynold Russell, Knt. and his wife, Margaret) (available at wwvv.a2a.org.uk/search/index.asp).
      Children of Margaret de Berkeley, by Thomas Fitz Maurice:
      a. MAURICE FITZ THOMAS, Knt, Justiciar of Ireland, 1355-6, 2nd son, born in 1293. He was heir in or before 1309 to his older brother, Thomas Fitz Thomas. He married at Green Castle, co. Down, Ireland 5 August 1312 KATHERINE DE BURGH, daughter of Richard de Burgh, Knt, 3rd Earl of Ulster, lord of Connacht, by his wife, Margaret [see BURGH 5 for her ancestry]. In 1314 he had livery of his lands. He was present at a Parliament in Dublin in 1324. In 1327 he was admonished for refusing to obey the Justiciar. On 27 August 1329 the king gave him all the royal liberties in co. Kerry, except the four usual pleas and the profits from the crosses, by the service of a knight's fee, by the name and honour of Earl of Desmond. In 1330 he assisted John Darcy the Justiciar in subduing the O'Nolans and O'Mores. He was prohibited from attacking the Earl of Ulster in 1330; both earls were taken in custody, but Desmond escaped. The same year he was ordered to appear before the king and Council to receive justice in a certain matter. He was arrested at Limerick 16 August 1331, and sent to Dublin Castle. He was imprisoned for about 18 months, when he was released. His wife, Katherine, died at Dublin about 1 Nov. 1331. He is said to have married (2nd) MARGARET O'BRIEN, daughter of Conor O'Brien, of Thomond. He was summoned for military service against the Scots in 1335. Later in 1335 he accompanied John Darcy the Justiciar in his expedition to Arran and Bute. He married (3rd) before 20 April 1344 AVELINE, said to have been the daughter of Nicholas Fitz Maurice, of Kerry. By his 2nd or 3rd wives, he had three sons, Maurice [2nd Earl of Desmond], Nicholas, and Gerald (or Garrett) 39 [3rd Earl of Desmond, Justiciar of Ireland]. He was summoned for military service in France in 1344. In 1345, having absented himself from a Parliament in Dublin, Ralph de Ufford the Justiciar seized his lands and besieged and took his castles. The earl escaped and could not be found. In June 1346 he received a special protection in order that he might come to England to answer his accusers. He remained in custody a long time. He was released 18 Feb. 1347/8. In 1349 he was pardoned for all treasons, acts of war, etc. In 1351 he received a special protection against his enemies in Ireland. SIR MAURICE FITZ THOMAS, 1st Earl of Desmond, died in Dublin Castle 25 Jan. 1335/6, and was buried in the Dominican Friary at Tralee. His widow, Aveline, was living 14 March 1358/9. C.P. 4 (1916): 237-240 (sub Desmond). Mills Cal. Gormanston Reg. (1916): 2-3.
      b. JOAN FITZ THOMAS, married RICHARD DE CLARE, Knt. [see BADLESMERE of Thomond in Connacht, Ireland, Tarrant Rushton, Dorset, Plashes (in Stanton), Hertfordshire, etc., Steward of the Forest of Essex, Sheriff of Cork, Sheriff of Limerick, 1311, 2nd son of Thomas de Clare, Knt., of Thomond in Connacht, Ireland, by Juliane, daughter of Maurice Fitz Maurice, Knt., Justiciar of Ireland [see BADLESMERE 8 for his ancestry]. They had one son, Thomas. He was heir in 1307 to his older brother, Gilbert de Clare, Knt. He had livery of his brother, Gilbert's lands 30 Jan. 1307/8. He was almost continuously engaged in the wars of Thomond, supporting Clan Brian Roe O'Brien against the son of Torlough O'Brien. He was summoned to Parliament 26 October 1309, but never afterwards, by writ directed Ricardo de Clare, whereby he is held to have become Lord Clare. In 1314 he granted the manor of Plashes (in Standon), Hertfordshire to his brother, Master Richard de Clare, for life. SIR RICHARD DE CLARE, Lord Clare, was caught in an ambush and slain at Dysert O'Dea in Ireland 7 June 1318. His widow, Joan, was living 22 April 1322. Hutchins Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset 3 (1868):462-463. Council Book of the Corporation of Youghal (1878): xxxv-xli. C.P.R. 1317-1321 (1903): 166, 217, 239, 523, 593. Begley Diocese of Limerick, Ancient & Medieval (1906): 215-216. Jour. Royal Soc. of Antiqs. of Ireland 5th Ser. 15 (1906): 50. VCH Hertford 3 (1912): 347-366. C.P. 3 (1913): 246-247 (sub Clare). Gandavo Reg. Simonis de Gandavo Diocesis Saresbiriensis 2 (Canterbury & York Soc. 41) (1934): 750, 753, 775. Schwennicke Europäische Stammtafeln 3(1) (1984): 156 (sub Clare).
      Child of Joan Fitz Thomas, by Richard de Clare, Knt.:
      1) THOMAS DE CLARE, son and heir. In Nov. 1320, although still a minor, he was granted his lands, Maurice Fitz Thomas his uncle and Maurice de Rochford his kinsman being appointed his guardians.* He died shortly before 10 April 1321. He left no issue. On 3 October 1328 Maurice Fitz Thomas was ordered not to intermeddle further with the Castle, manor, and town of Ardrahin, co. Connacht, a messuage in Rothba, a moiety of the half cantred of Siglare, co. Connacht, two parts of the borough of Kinsale, co. Cork, the manor of Mountanenagh, the Castle and manor of Inchiquin, co. Clare, and the rents and profits in the town of Youghal, co. Cork, certain lands in the city of Limerick, and the cantred of Tirconil, if any of them are in his custody and to deliver the issues since 23 March 1327 to Margaret, late the wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, aunt and co-heiress of Thomas son of Richard de Clare. Hutchins Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset 3 (1868):462-463. Council Book of the Corporation of Youghal (1878): xxxv-xxxviii. C.CR. 1327-1330 (1896): 322, 486, 563-564. C.P.R. 1317-1321 (1903): 523 (Maurice Fitz Thomas styled "uncle" and Maurice de Rochfort styled "kinsman" of Thomas de Clare, son and heir of Richard de Clare). VCH Hertford 3 (1912): 347-366. C.P. 3 (1913): 246-247 (sub Clare). National Archives, SC 8/4/182 (petition dated 1320 by Thomas [de Clare], son and heir of Richard de Clare to the king stating that the Clare lands, manors, and castles in Ireland were destroyed by his Irish enemies and that, though his kinsmen and friends are still defending them, they can do no more without aid and some expenses for them. He therefore requests that the king grant him his lands in Ireland so that he is able to have and defend them as the king is not able to have any profit from them, the second part of his inheritance being in the hands of ladies as dower. He requests Maurice son of Thomas his uncle and Maurice de Rochford be made his guardians) (available at www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp).
      (* Note: Thomas de Clare's kinsman, Maurice de Rochford, mentioned in the 1320 petition was doubtless Maurice de Rochford, of Tobernea, co. Limerick, living 1315, for whom see Begley Diocese of Limerick, Ancient & Medieval (1906): 215-216. Maurice de Rochford was half-brother of Thomas de Clare's grandmother, Juliane Fitz Maurice. In 1302 Maurice was granted free warren in all his demesne lands, including Tobemea, co. Limerick, and Enniscorthy, the Duffry, and Killafgy, co. Wexford (see Brooks Knights' Fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow & Kilkenny (1950): 137, 139, 140). He recovered the advowson of Beauver, co. Cork from the Bishop of Cork in 1311-1312, as heir of his mother, Maud de Prendergast (see Jour. Kilkenny & SE Ireland Arch. Soc. n.s. 5 (1867): 311).)
      v. ISABEL BERKELEY, nun. In 1311 Thomas de Berkeley was granted a license to alienate a rent of L4 issuing out of lands in Ham, Somerset to the Prioress and sisters of Buckland Priory for the sustenance of his daughter, Isabel, a sister of the hospital, and for the term of her life. She was Prioress of Bucldand Priory, 1330-7. Jeayes Desc. Cat. of the Charters & Muniments in the Possession of the Rt. Hon. Lord Fitzhardinge (1892): xxii-xxiii (chart). C.P.R. 1307-1313 (1894): 385. Weaver Cartulary of Buckland Priory (Somerset Rec. Soc. 25) (1909): xxvii. Paget Baronage of England (1957) 55: 1-2 (sub Berkeley).”