William de Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley (1426 – 14 February 1492) was an English peer, given the epithet "The Waste-All" by the family biographer and steward John Smyth of Nibley. He was buried at "St. Augustine's Friars, London" according to one source, cites . but most likely in the Berkeley family foundation of

St Augustine's Abbey St Augustine's Abbey (founded as the Monastery of Ss Peter and Paul and changed after its founder St Augustine of Canterbury's death) was a Benedictine monastery in Canterbury, Kent, England. The abbey was founded in 598 and functioned as a mon ...

, Bristol.

Descent and Marriages

William of Berkley was born to

James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (c. 1394 – 22 October 1463), also known as "James the Just", was an English Peerage, peer. Berkeley was the son of Sir James de Berkeley (d. 1405) and his wife Elizabeth (née Bluet) and by 1410 accepted as ...

, and Lady Isabel Mowbray at Berkeley Castle in

Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stroud (district), Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway. The t ...

, in 1426. cites . His first marriage was in 1466 to Elizabeth West, daughter of Reginald West, 6th Baron De La Warr, but he obtained a divorce on 20 November 1467. cites . In November 1468, he married Joan Strangeways, daughter of Sir Thomas Strangeways and Lady Katherine Neville. After the death of his second wife, he married Anne Fiennes, sister of Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron Dacre, in .

Titles

William was invested as a knight . William assumed the title of Baron Berkeley by writ after the death of his father

on 22 October 1463. He was invested as a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

on 18 April 1475. He was styled as

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

of Catherlough (now known as

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by area, second smallest and t ...

, Ireland) between 1481 and 10 February 1485. William was created

Berkeley on 21 April 1481, as a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

(PC) on 5 March 1482/83, and as

Earl of Nottingham :''See also Earl of Winchilsea'' Earl of Nottingham is a title that has been created seven times in the Peerage of England. It was first created for John de Mowbray, 1st Earl of Nottingham, John de Mowbray in 1377, at the coronation of Richard ...

on 28 June 1483. He assumed the life office of Earl Marshal and Great Marshal of England on 19 February 1485/86. Finally, he was created

Marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

of Berkeley on 28 January 1488/89.

Disinherits brother

He had no surviving male issue, thus the marquessate 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, to 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 ''de jure''

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

y title was passed on to his younger brother Maurice, that is to say, he was Baron Berkeley ''by right'', if 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.Debrett's Peerage 1968, p. 139, Berkeley, Baroness, Predecessors

Accomplishments

On 20 March 1469/70, he was challenged by Thomas Talbot, 2nd Viscount Lisle, to settle the claims to his great-uncle Thomas's estates by combat. Thomas was killed in the combat. The battle, known as the Battle of Nibley Green, is notable for being the last battle fought in England entirely between the private armies of

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, William de Berkeley, 1st Marquess of 1426 births 1492 deaths M 41 Marquesses in the Peerage of England Members of the Privy Council of England Earls Marshal People of the Tudor period 15th-century English nobility

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

People from Berkeley, Gloucestershire Burials at Austin Friars, London Knights Bachelor