William de Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley

{{Short description|English peer}} {{Use British English|date=February 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} [[File:Berkeley arms.svg|thumb|200px|Arms of Berkeley: ''Gules, a chevron between 10 crosses pattée 6 in chief and 4 in base argent'']] '''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.<ref>Smyth, John, The Lives of the Berkeleys, Lords of the Honour, Castle and Manor of Berkeley, in the County of Gloucester, from 1066 to 1618. First published 1618. Smyth attributed to each Berkeley lord a nickname, some favourable, some less so. Shortened to William 'the Wass all'(Lundy, 2011, p2795, citing Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage'', vol. 2, p. 133)</ref> He was buried at "St. Augustine's Friars, London" according to one source,<ref name="p135">{{harvnb|Lundy|2011|p=2795}} cites {{harvnb|Cokayne|2000|p=135}}.</ref> but most likely in the Berkeley family foundation of St Augustine's Abbey, Bristol.

==Descent and Marriages== William of Berkley was born to James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley, and Lady Isabel Mowbray<ref>{{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p1695.htm#i16949 |title= Lady Isabel Mowbray |publisher= The Peerage}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=August 2012}}</ref> at Berkeley Castle<ref>{{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/pd76.htm#i5169 |title= pd76.htm#i5169 |publisher= The Peerage}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=August 2012}}</ref> in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, in 1426.<ref name="p133">{{harvnb|Lundy|2011|p=2795}} cites {{harvnb|Cokayne|2000|p=133}}.</ref> His first marriage was in 1466 to Elizabeth West,<ref>{{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p4171.htm#i41707 |title=Elizabeth West |publisher= The Peerage}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=August 2012}}</ref> daughter of Reginald West, 6th Baron De La Warr, but he obtained a divorce on 20 November 1467.<ref name="p134">{{harvnb|Lundy|2011|p=2795}} cites {{harvnb|Cokayne|2000|p=134}}.</ref> In November 1468, he married Joan Strangeways,<ref>{{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p12965.htm#i129641 |title= Joan Strangeways |publisher= The Peerage}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=August 2012}}</ref> daughter of Sir Thomas Strangeways and Lady Katherine Neville. After the death of his second wife, he married Anne Fiennes,<ref>{{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p12965.htm#i129643 |title= Anne Fiennes |publisher= The Peerage}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=August 2012}}</ref> sister of Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron Dacre, in {{circa|1486}}.<ref name="p135"/>

==Titles== William was invested as a knight {{circa|1438}}.<ref name="p133"/> William assumed the title of '''Baron Berkeley''' by writ after the death of his father James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley on 22 October 1463.<ref>Burke, Bernard. ''A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire.'' London: Harrison, 1866. (p. 44) [https://books.google.com/books?id=1ysWkXKSrpIC&pg=PA44&dq=James+Berkeley,+1st+Baron+Berkeley#PPA45,M1 googlebooks.com] Accessed 7 July 2007</ref>

He was invested as a Knight Bachelor on 18 April 1475.<ref name="p133"/> He was styled as '''Viscount of Catherlough''' (now known as County Carlow, Ireland) between 1481 and 10 February 1485.<ref>Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 348.</ref>

William was created '''Viscount Berkeley''' on 21 April 1481, as a Privy Counsellor (PC) on 5 March 1482/83, and as '''Earl of Nottingham''' on 28 June 1483.<ref name="p133"/> He assumed the life office of Earl Marshal and Great Marshal of England on 19 February 1485/86. Finally, he was created '''Marquess of Berkeley''' on 28 January 1488/89.<ref name="p133"/>

==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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Council-Democracy/Democracy-Elections/mayors-of-bristol-since-1216.en|title=Mayors of Bristol since 1216|publisher=Bristol City Council|access-date=6 December 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010175605/http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Council-Democracy/Democracy-Elections/mayors-of-bristol-since-1216.en|archive-date=10 October 2009}}</ref>

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'' barony 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.<ref>Debrett's Peerage 1968, p. 139, Berkeley, Baroness, Predecessors</ref>

==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.<ref name="p133"/> 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 magnates.{{sfn|Cooke|loc=Chapter V}}

==Notes== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==References== *{{cite book |editor-first=G.E. |editor-last=Cokayne |year=2000 |title=The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant |edition=new ed., 12 volumes in 13 (1910–1959) |location=London |publisher=St. Catharine's Press|volume=II |pages=133}} * {{cite book |last=Cooke |first=James Herbert |url=http://www.rotwang.co.uk/hob_chapter_05.html |chapter=Chapter V. The Battle of Nibley Green |title=A Sketch of the History of Berkeley, Its Castle, Church, and the Berkeley Family |publisher=Gloucester: John Bellows; Bristol and Clifton: R. W. Bingham; Berkeley: G. Sinderby |access-date=24 August 2012}} * {{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |date=2 February 2011 |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p2795.htm#i27950 |title= William de Berkeley, 1st and last Marquess of Berkeley |publisher= The Peerage |page=2795|access-date=24 August 2012}}

{{S-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title=Earl Marshal | before=The Duke of Norfolk | after=The Duke of York | years=1486–1492}} {{s-reg|en}} {{s-new | rows = 3 | creation}} {{s-ttl | title = Marquess of Berkeley | years = 1489–1492 }} {{s-non | rows = 3 | reason = Extinct}} {{s-break}} {{s-ttl | title = Earl of Nottingham | creation = 4th creation | years = 1483–1492 }} {{s-break}} {{s-ttl | title = Viscount Berkeley | years = 1481–1492 }} {{succession box | title = Baron Berkeley | before = James Berkeley | after = Maurice Berkeley | years = 1463–1492}} {{s-reg|ie}} {{s-new| creation}} {{s-ttl | title = Viscount of Catherlough'''<br /><small>''probably only as style''</small>''' | years = 1481–1485 }} {{s-non | reason = Extinct}} {{S-end}} {{British marquessates}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, William de Berkeley, 1st Marquess of}} Category:1426 births Category:1492 deaths 202 41 Category:Marquesses in the Peerage of England Category:Members of the Privy Council of England Category:Earls Marshal Category:People of the Tudor period Category:15th-century English nobility William Category:People from Berkeley, Gloucestershire Category:Burials at Austin Friars, London Category:Knights Bachelor