Margaret Mortimer, Baroness Berkeley (2 May 1304 – 5 May 1337) was the wife of Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley. She was the eldest daughter of

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful marcher lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marr ...

, the ''de facto'' ruler of England from 1327 to 1330, and his wife Joan de Geneville, Baroness Geneville.

Family

Margaret Mortimer was the eldest of the twelve children of

and Joan de Geneville, Baroness Geneville. Her paternal grandparents were Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer and Margaret de Fiennes. Her maternal grandparents were Piers de Geneville, of

Trim Castle Trim Castle () is a castle on the south bank of the River Boyne in Trim, County Meath, Ireland, with an area of 30,000 m2. Over a period of 30 years, it was built by Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter de Lacy, ...

and

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

, and Jeanne of Lusignan.

Marriage and death

Her father Roger proposed the marriage of his eldest daughter Margaret to

Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1281 – 31 May 1326), ''The Magnanimous'', English feudal barony, feudal Berkeley family, baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England, was a Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. H ...

's son and heir Thomas. From Roger's point of view, the marriage was meant to secure an earlier alliance with an important lord of the Welsh Marshes. Margaret was duly married to Thomas de Berkeley (d. 1361) in May 1319. He succeeded his father as 3rd Baron Berkeley in 1326. The couple had three sons and one daughter who survived childhood. Their eldest son Maurice married Elizabeth le Despenser, despite the fact that it had been his grandfather Roger Mortimer that was largely responsible for the execution of Elizabeth's father Hugh le Despenser in 1326.

Later life

After her father's fall from power in 1322, Margaret was arrested. In 1324, she was sent to

Shouldham Priory Shouldham Priory was a priory in the village of Shouldham, Norfolk, England. It was founded about 1190, and was surrendered in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. History The priory, dedicated to the Holy Cross and the Blessed Virgin, ...

. Her marriage to Berkeley was confirmed, and her offspring declared legitimate by

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Papacy, Avignon Pope, elected by ...

in 1329. Margaret died on 5 May 1337. She was buried at St. Augustine's Abbey, Bristol, Gloucestershire. After her death, her husband married again to Catherine born Clivedon.

Ancestry

References

;Works cited * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Margaret Mortimer, Baroness 1304 births 1337 deaths Daughters of British earls

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

Berkeley 14th-century English nobility 14th-century English women