Maurice (FitzRobert) de Berkeley (abt. 1120 - 1189)

Born about 1120 in Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Alice (Berkeley) FitzHarding — married 1153 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England

Descendants

Died 15 Jun 1189 at about age 69 in Berkeley Castle, Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England

Biography

Maurice, the son of Robert, was the lord of Berkeley from 1170 to 1189. He was called Maurice "the make peace" (by John Smyth in the 17th century). He was born in Bristol, the son of Robert and the grandson of Harding. Not long after the death of his father he obtained from the king, in about 18 Henry II (1172), a confirmation of his manor of Berkeley, which had become the caput (chief manor) of a barony in his father's time.^[1] Maurice confirmed parts of the manor of Berkeley to his younger brothers, Nicholas and Robert, that had been granted to them by their father.

During King Stephen's reign there was a civil war known as the Anarchy. Henry of Anjou, who eventually claimed the throne as Henry II, lived in Bristol for several years. He and Maurice became lifelong friends from that time.

In about 1153, Robert Fitzharding and Maurice his son were witnesses to a grant by Henry Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count of Anjou (he became King Henry II in 1154). This would put Maurice's birth at about 1120-30.^[2]

Probably starting in the 1170s he enlarged and fortified the Castle of Berkeley, and made it his home. From this time he was called Mauritius de Berkelei or Maurice of Berkeley rather than filius Roberti or Fitz Robert. For example, in a charter of (date estimate 1171 x 90) he is Mauricius de Berchel' or Maurice de Berkeley.^[3] In another charter, dated 1175, Mauricius de Berkele was one of the witnesses.^[4]

His wife was Alice the eldest daughter of Roger de Berkeley of Durseley. Married at Bristol, they had six sons and one daughter: Robert, Thomas, Maurice, William, Henry, Richard, and an unnamed daughter who married Osbert Gifford.

He died on 15 June 1189 and is buried in the parish church of Braynford (Brentford), seven miles west of London.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Sanders, English baronies, p.13.
2. ↑ https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/65b4c507-eb8f-4a5f-b022-b052f3b5fb0d
3. ↑ The Cartulary of St Augustine's Abbey, Bristol, edited by David Walker No. 75, page 45
4. ↑ Ibid. Add. Doc. 14, page 397
5. ↑ John Smyth: The Berkeley Manuscripts, Lives of the Berkeleys, Volume 1, pages 62-76 https://archive.org/details/berkeleymanuscri01smyt/page/62/mode/2up?view=theater

See also:

• The Plantagenet Ancestry, by William Henry Turton, 1968. Page: 120
• Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles Mosley Editor-in-Chief, 1999 Page: 254
• Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom, by G. E Cokayne, Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2000 Page: II:125-6
• Smyth, John. The Berkeley Manuscripts (J. Bellows, Gloucester, 1883-85) Page 3-4