Thomas Berkeley, 6th Baron Berkeley (c. 1505 – 19 September 1534) was an English peer and member of King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

's court.

Family

Thomas Berkeley, sometimes called Thomas the Hopeful, was born at

Hovingham Hovingham is a large village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the edge of the Howardian Hills and about south of Kirkbymoorside. History The name 'Hovingham' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appe ...

in Yorkshire around 1505. He was the son of

Thomas Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley Thomas Berkeley, ''de jure'' 5th Baron Berkeley, (1472 – 22 January 1532) was an English soldier and aristocrat. He was born to Sir Maurice Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley, Maurice Berkeley, ''de jure'' 3rd Baron Berkeley, and Isabel Meade, in ...

and his first wife, Eleanor Constable of Flamborough (d. 1525). At around the age of 10 he was adopted by his childless uncle, Maurice Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley, and taken by him to Calais, where he was educated. He returned to England following the death of his uncle in 1523 and the succession of his father to the barony made him the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

rather than the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

, who could be supplanted. Following his return to England, his father began negotiations for the marriage of Thomas to Katherine, one of the daughters of

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, (10 March 1473 – 25 August 1554) was an English politician and nobleman of the Tudor era. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were beh ...

and his second wife Elizabeth Stafford. John Smyth speculated that this marriage did not occur, because Katherine died (which she did not until after 1529), that they were too closely related or that they disliked each other. It is more likely that Katherine was below the canonical age for marriage and his father was keen that Thomas should marry quickly. Hence in 1525/26 Thomas married Katherine's older cousin Mary, the daughter of

George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, KB (148824 March 1544) was an English nobleman. Family George Hastings, born in 1488 at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was the son of Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, and Mary Hungerford, daughter and heiress ...

and Anne Stafford. He succeeded his father as Lord Berkeley in January 1533. His wife died around six weeks later. Shortly after, he married Anne Savage, one of Anne Boleyn's gentlewomen. The speed of the marriage led to speculation that it was Anne's reward for having been a witness to the queen's wedding. He was created a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

at Anne's coronation. In the spring of 1534 he used his armed retainers to force the monastic community of

Croxton Abbey Croxton Abbey, near Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire, was a Premonstratensian monastery founded by William I, Count of Boulogne. History Croxton Abbey was founded by William, Count of Boulogne and Mortain, who donated the land for the abbey ...

to pay him a substantial sum of money to be allowed to choose their own abbot. In the summer of 1534 he and Anne leased Stone Castle, Kent, a convenient stopping point for travelers between the English court and France. He died at Stone in September after a short illness, caused according to family tradition from a surfeit of cherries.Smyth, ''Lives of the Berkeleys'', vol. 2, p. 258. His first marriage was childless. By his second marriage he had two children: *

Elizabeth Butler (née Berkeley), Countess of Ormond Elizabeth Butler may refer to: *Elizabeth Thompson (1846–1933), British painter who married Lieutenant General Sir William Butler * Elizabeth Beardsley Butler (1885–1911), social investigator of the Progressive Era * Elizabeth Golcher Butler (1 ...

Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley, KB (26 November 1534 – 26 November 1613) was an English peer and politician. He was Lord Lieutenant and Vice-Admiral of Gloucestershire. He was the grandfather of George Berkeley, 8th Baron Berkeley. F ...

, who was born after his father's death.

References

Sources

* Smyth, John (1567–1640). ''The Lives of the Berkeleys, Lords of the

Honour Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself ...

, Castle and Manor of Berkeley from 1066 to 1618'', ed. Maclean, Sir John, 3 vols., Gloucester, 1883–1885 {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Thomas Berkeley, 6th Baron 1500s births 1534 deaths Year of birth uncertain Barons Berkeley People from Hovingham