Margaret Mortimer, Baroness Berkeley

Margaret Mortimer
Baroness Berkeley
File:MargaretMortimerBaronessBerkeleyBristolCathedral.jpg Effigy of Margaret Mortimer at right hand of her son Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley(d.1368), St Augustine's Abbey, Bristol
Spouse(s)	Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley
Issue Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley Thomas de Berkeley Roger de Berkeley Alphonsus de Berkeley Joan de Berkeley
Father	Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March
Mother	Joan de Geneville, Baroness Geneville
Born	2 May 1304
Died	5 May 1337 (age 33)
Buried	St. Augustine's Abbey, Bristol, Gloucestershire

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, 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 Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March 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 and Ludlow, 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'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 in May 1319. He succeeded his father as 3rd Baron Berkeley in 1326. They had the following issue:

• Maurice de Berkeley (born 1320, date of death unknown), who succeeded his father as Baron de Berkeley.
• Thomas de Berkeley (born c. 1325, date of death unknown)
• Roger de Berkeley (born 1326, date of death unknown)
• Alphonsus de Berkeley (born 1327, date of death unknown)
• Joan de Berkeley (born 1330 - 1369), married Sir Reginald Cobham.

Their eldest son Maurice married Elizabeth le Despenser, despite the fact that it had been his grandfather Roger Mortimer that was namely 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 Sholdham Priory. Her marriage to Berkeley was confirmed, and her offspring declared legitimate by Pope John XXII in 1329.

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

Ancestry

Family of Margaret Mortimer, Baroness Berkeley

Ralph de Mortimer               Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer                       Gladys the Dark               Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Wigmore                             William de Braose               Maud de Braose                       Eva Marshal               Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March                                   Infelram de Fiennes               William de Fiennes                       Isabelle Conde               Margaret de Fiennes                             Jean de Brienne, Grand Butler of France               Blanche de Brienne                       Jeanne, Dame de Chateaudun               Margaret Mortimer                                         Simon de Joinville               Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville                       Beatrix d'Auxonne               Peter de Geneville                             Gilbert de Lacy, of Ewyas Lacy               Maud de Lacy                       Isabel Bigod               Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville                                   Hugh XI of Lusignan, Count of La Marche               Hugh XIII, Count of La Marche                       Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthièvre and of Porhoet               Joan of Lusignan                             Raoul III, Sire de Fougères               Jeanne de Fougères                       Isabelle de Craon

References

Works cited