(Jody Gray): our 27th GGF, Ralph Fitz Stephen b. 1122, is said to have married an “unknown” de Berkeley of Berkeley Castle; sometimes reported as the daughter of Roger de Berkeley III.
It is possible that the spouse of this Ralph Fitz Stephen, was the daughter of Roger de Berkeley III. The marriage of Ralph Fitz Stephen and “Unknown” de Berkeley could have occurred around the time [1152] of her father being dispossessed by King Stephen. She would have been one of the last of the original de Berkeley’s to live in the Berkeley Castle.
The 1st castle at Berkeley was built around 1067, subsequently held by three generations of the first Berkeley family, all called Roger de Berkeley. William the Conqueror, had granted the manor of Berkeley to Roger Berkeley I, of Dursley. Alliances: Ralph’s great-grandfather, Airard Fitz Stephen was the commander of “the Mora”, William’s flagship in the Battle of Hastings; he rewarded Airard with land; the descendants of Airard remained in close alliance with the throne of England. The Berkeley ancestors also arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066; William granted the manor of Berkeley to Roger de Berkeley, he became the 1st Baron of Berkeley.
Roger de Berkeley III b. 1094 Berkeley, Gloucestershire d. 1170 Berkeley, Gloucestershire. Note (Jody Gray), Roger de Berkeley was basically “caught-in-the-crosshairs”: The last Roger de Berkeley was dispossessed in 1152 for withholding his allegiance from the House of Plantagenet during the conflict of The Anarchy. Henry had no living heir when he died in 1135; he’d made arrangements for his daughter, “Empress” Matilda to succeed him; but after his death, his nephew, Stephen “of Blois” claimed the crown. Empress Matilda challenged him and the battles that ensued became known as The Anarchy. Henry II, son of Empress Matilda and Geoffrey Plantagenet (great-grandson of William I.), succeeded King Stephen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Berkeley Baron Berkeley. His son Roger II (d. about 1131) and grandson Roger III (d. after 1177) also held the manor of Dursley in-chief of the king.
In 1152 Roger III was deprived of the farm of Berkeley during the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud. He was later restored to Dursley, and founded the family of “Berkeley of Dursley”, but Berkeley Castle was granted by barony to Robert FitzHarding, a native Englishman and royal financier of Bristol, whose family also took the name “de Berkeley”. To mollify the ill-feelings of Roger of Dursley, Henry II encouraged each family to marry their respective male heirs to the eldest daughters of the other, which was successfully accomplished.
Note (Jody Gray): The Berkeley Castle was granted by barony to Robert FitzHarding, whose family took the name “de Berkeley”; consequently, the descendants of Robert FitzHarding using the surname “de Berkeley” are not of the blood lineage of the original “de Berkeley’s” granted the manor of Berkeley by William the Conqueror. The main resource for these “de Berkeley's” appears to be John Smyth of Nibley (d. 1641) steward of the Berkeley estates, the biographer of the family and author of “Lives of the Berkeleys” published 1618.
https://www.houseofnames.com/berkeley-family-crest Berkeley Family Crest. The name Berkeley arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Berkeley family lived in the county of Gloucestershire, where the family held the distinguished title of the Lords of Berkeley Castle.
Roger de Berkeley, a near relative of Edward the Confessor, and lord of Dursley, from whom the earliest authentic pedigree of the Berkeley family is deduced. Berkeley, notwithstanding the residence of the oldest branches of the family in their castle at Dursley, was a market-town; and had a nunnery endowed with the large manor. A few years afterwards, William the Conqueror, professing high regard for all the relatives of Edward the Confessor, granted the manor of Berkeley to Roger Berkeley, of Dursley, by whose descendants it was held till the reign of Henry II. [dispossessed by King Stephen in 1152].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Castle Berkley Castle -
A castle in the town of Berkeley, the origins date back to the 11th century; it remained within the Berkeley family since they reconstructed it in the 12th century, except for a period of royal ownership by the Tudors. It is traditionally believed to be the scene of the murder of King Edward II in 1327.
The first castle at Berkeley was a motte-and-bailey, built around 1067 by William FitzOsbern shortly after the Conquest; subsequently held by three generations of the first Berkeley family, all called Roger de Berkeley. The last Roger de Berkeley was dispossessed in 1152 for withholding his allegiance from the House of Plantagenet during the conflict of The Anarchy, and the feudal barony of Berkeley was then granted to Robert Fitzharding, a wealthy burgess of Bristol and supporter of the Plantagenets. He was the founder of the Berkeley family which still holds the castle.
Noteworthy: Adjoining the Great Hall is one of two of the original chapels, that includes painted wooden vaulted ceilings and a biblical passage, written in Norman French. This room also contains an illustrated vellum book of plainsong that was used in Catholic rites, before the family converted to Protestantism in the 16th century.
During the English Civil War, the castle still held sufficient significance for it to be captured in 1645… for the Parliamentarian side and after a siege… the Royal garrison surrendered. As was usual, the walls were left breached after this siege but the Berkeley family were allowed to retain ownership on condition that they never repaired the damage to the Keep and Outer Bailey, still enforced today by the original Act of Parliament drawn up at the time… the breach is partially filled by a subsequent ‘modern’ rebuild… amounts to a low garden wall, to stop people falling 28’ from the Keep Garden, the original Castle “motte”.
Modern times. The castle is the third oldest continuously occupied castle in England after the royal fortresses of the Tower of London and Windsor Castle, and the oldest to be continuously owned and occupied by the same family… The Berkeley family divide their time between the Castle and their other home, Spetchley Park, just outside Worcester, which has been in the family’s ownership since 1606. The areas open to the public are managed by the Berkeley Castle Charitable Trust.
Other Resources
Ancestry.com “Hints” for Unknown de Berkeley
Netherlands, Genealogieonline Trees Index: Sedzilla De Berkeley, b. 1135 d. 1192. Mother, Hawise Beaumont. Father, William Earl Gloucester Fitz Robert. Note (Jody Gray): google search results for Hawise de Beaumont b. 1120 m: William Fitz Robert, would have been 15 when Sedzilla was born. I have “unknown” de Berkeley b. 1126, Hawise could not have been her mother.
(Jody Gray): These de Berkeley’s are of the aforementioned, Robert FitzHarding, who took the name “de Berkeley”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_de_Berkeley,_3rd_Baron_Berkeley Thomas de Berkely, 3rd Baron Berkley
Thomas de Berkeley b. 1293 or 1296 d. 10/27/1361, wealthy, feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England. Eldest son and heir of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley and Eve la Zouche.
In 1327 he was made joint custodian of the deposed King Edward II, whom he received at Berkeley Castle. He was later commanded to deliver custody of the king to his fellow custodians… The king as murdered at Berkeley Castle during his absence. As an accessory to the murder of the deposed king, he was tried by a jury of 12 knights in 1330 and was honorably acquitted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_de_Berkeley,_4th_Baron_Berkeley Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley b. ca 1330 d. 6/8/1368 “The Valiant”; feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle.
Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley b. 1/5/1352/53 d. 7/13/1417, “The Magnificent”; was an English peer and an admiral. 1367, married Margaret de Lisle, 3rd Baroness Lisle, daughter of Warine de Lisle, 2nd Baron Lisle and Margaret Pipard. He had no male progeny, only a daughter and sole heiress: Elizabeth de Lisle who married Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick.
In 1417 he enfeoffed at Berkeley Castle, shortly before his death, several feoffees to hold all his lands in trust, due to the fact he had no male children as his heirs and that the course of succession then seemed unclear… These were very significant positions of trust granted to his feoffees as Berkeley died leaving only a daughter and the succession to the vast Berkeley lands, including the castle itself, became a matter of much dispute amongst his possible heirs resulting in a series of feuds which led in 1470 to the last private battle fought on English soil at the Battle of Nibley Green, between Lord William Berkeley and Viscount Lisle, and there followed the longest dispute in English legal history, which did not end until 1609.
Died 7/13/1417; buried in the Church of St Mary the Virgin within his manor of Wotton-under-Edge; his large chest tomb with Monumental brass on top survives in that church.
William de Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley b. 1426 d. 2/14/1492; was an English peer, given the epithet “The Waste-All” by the family biographer and steward John Smyth of Nibley. He was born to James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley and Lady Isabel Mowbray at Berkeley Castle. Married, 1st (1466) to Elizabeth West, daughter of Reginald West, 6th Baron De La Warr; he obtained a divorce 11/20/1467. Married, 2nd (Nov. 1468) Joan Strangeways, daughter of Sir Thomas Strangeways and Lady Katherine Neville. Married, 3rd (1486) Anne Fiennes, sister of Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron Dacre.
1438, invested as a Knight; he assumed the title of Baron Berkeley by writ after the death of his father, James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley, 10/22/1463. Invested as Knight Bachelor, 4/18/1475. Styled as Viscount of Catherlough (now County Carlow) between 1481 and 2/10/1485. Created Viscount Berkeley 4/21/1481, as Privy Counsellor (P.C.) 3/5/1482 or 83. Earl of Nottingham 6/28/1483. He assumed the life office of Earl Marshal and Great Marshal of England 2/19/1485 or 86. Created Marquess of Berkeley 1/28/1488 or 89.
He had no surviving male issue, thus the marquesate and his other non-inherited titles became extinct on his death, but he had a younger brother, Maurice Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley. He disinherited Maurice, as having brought shame on the noble House of Berkeley by marrying beneath his status Isabel Mead, daughter of Philip Mead of Wraxall an Alderman and Mayor of Bristol in 1459, 1462 and 1469. In order to achieve this, the castle, lands and lordships composing the Barony of Berkeley he settled on King Henry VII and his heirs male, failing which to descend to his own rightful heirs. Thus, in 1553 on the death of King Edward VI, the unmarried grandson of Henry VII, the Berkeley inheritance returned to the family. Therefore, on the death of the 1st Marquis, only the barony title was passed on to his younger brother Maurice; he was Baron Berkeley by right, (even though) not actually in possession of the baronial property. The 4th, 5th and 6th barons were also de jure only, with Henry (d. 1613) becoming de facto 7th Baron in 1553.
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