English noblewoman and heiress
Elizabeth de Berkeley
|
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|
Drawing of Elizabeth from the Beauchamp Pageant, c. 1483-1494
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Born
| 1386
Berkeley Castle
,
Berkeley, Gloucestershire
, England
|
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Died
| 28 December 1422 (aged 35?36)
|
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Buried
| Kingswood Abbey
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Spouse(s)
| Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick
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Issue
| Margaret Beauchamp, Countess of Shrewsbury
Eleanor Beauchamp, Duchess of Somerset
Elizabeth Beauchamp, Baroness Latimer
|
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Father
| Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley
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Mother
| Margaret de Lisle, 3rd Baroness Lisle
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Elizabeth de Berkeley, Countess of Warwick and Baroness Lisle
(1386 ? 28 December 1422), was an English noblewoman and heiress. She was the only child of
Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley
, and Margaret de Lisle,
3rd Baroness Lisle
.
With her father's death in 1417, Elizabeth and her husband
Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick
, became involved in an inheritance dispute with her cousin
James Berkeley
, initiating one of the longest lawsuits in English history.
Marriage and issue
[
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]
Elizabeth de Berkeley was the only child born to
Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley
, by his wife Margaret de Lisle, 3rd Baroness Lisle.
As such, Elizabeth was their sole heir, and was to inherit the baronies of Lisle and Tyes from her mother. Margaret died near 1392, but Elizabeth did not succeed to them until the death of Thomas in 1417, as he held the lands by tenure of courtesy.
In September 1392, Baron Berkeley negotiated Elizabeth's marriage to
Richard de Beauchamp
, eldest son and heir to
Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick
. Elizabeth married him sometime before 5 October 1397, and became the Countess of Warwick in 1403.
The marriage remained unconsummated for at least six years. Elizabeth gave birth to three girls:
- Lady
Margaret Beauchamp
(1404 ? 1467/1468); married
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
- Lady Eleanor Beauchamp
(c. 1408 ? 1467); married (1)
Thomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros
(2)
Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset
(3) Walter Rokesley
- Lady Elizabeth Beauchamp (c. 1417
? died before 2 October 1480); married (1)
George Neville, 1st Baron Latimer
(2) Thomas Wake
Inheritance dispute
[
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Elizabeth's level of education and literacy is evident from a 1410 commission asking John Walton to translate
Boethius
'
De consolatione philosophiae
; he dedicated it in her name.
An inheritance dispute erupted with her father's death in 1417. Thomas had named her his heir, but many of his lands and estates, including
Berkeley Castle
, were entailed through the male line to Elizabeth's cousin
James Berkeley
.
Elizabeth and her husband refused to accept the entail, thus "initiat[ing] one of the longest lawsuits in England", which lasted until 1609.
After Lord Thomas' death, the Earl and Countess of Warwick quickly took control of the castle and gained the temporary permission of
King Henry V
to maintain it. James was unable to seize control of the castle, as Warwick and the king were then fighting in France.
To gain support in the dispute, Elizabeth sought the help of
John, Duke of Bedford
while James successfully bribed
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
, each one of the king's brothers. By 1425, Elizabeth was dead and James had been given Berkeley Castle along with most of the entailed lands.
Elizabeth died on 28 December 1422. She was buried at
Kingswood Abbey
, and a marble tomb was later placed over her grave through a provision in her husband's will.
The following year, the Earl of Warwick remarried to
Lady Isabel le Despenser
, the widow of his cousin
Richard de Beauchamp, 1st Earl of Worcester
.
Ancestry
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Ancestors of Elizabeth Berkeley, Countess of Warwick
|
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| | | | | | | | | 16.
Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley
| | | | | | | 8.
Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley
| | | | | | | | | | 17. Eva La Zouche
| | | | | | | 4.
Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley
| | | | | | | | | | | | 18.
Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March
| | | | | | | 9.
Margaret Mortimer
| | | | | | | | | | 19.
Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville
| | | | | | | 2.
Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20.
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester
| | | | | | | 10.
Hugh Despenser the Younger
| | | | | | | | | | 21.
Isabella de Beauchamp
| | | | | | | 5.
Elizabeth le Despenser
| | | | | | | | | | | | 22.
Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford
| | | | | | | 11.
Eleanor de Clare
| | | | | | | | | | 23.
Joan of Acre
| | | | | | | 1.
Elizabeth de Berkeley, Countess of Warwick
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 24. Warin de Lisle
| | | | | | | 12.
Gerard de Lisle, 1st Baron Lisle
| | | | | | | | | | 25. Alice de Tyeys
| | | | | | | 6. Warin de Lisle, 2nd Baron Lisle
| | | | | | | | | | | | 26.
Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel
| | | | | | | 13. Eleanor FitzAlan
| | | | | | | | | | 27.
Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel
| | | | | | | 3. Margaret de Lisle, 3rd Baroness Lisle
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 14. Sir William Pipard
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7. Margaret Pipard
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 15. Margery
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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References
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]
Works cited
- Carpenter, Christine (2004). "Beauchamp, Richard, thirteenth earl of Warwick (1382?1439)".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/1838
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- Harriss, G.L. (2004). "Berkeley, James, first Baron Berkeley (c.1394?1463)".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/50214
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- Jambeck, Karen K. (1996).
"Patterns of Women's Literary Patronage: England, 1200 – ca. 1475"
. In June Hall McCash (ed.).
The Cultural Patronage of Medieval Women
. University of Georgia Press.
ISBN
9780820317021
.
- Ward, Jennifer C.
(2004).
"Berkeley, Elizabeth, countess of Warwick (c. 1386?1422), magnate"
.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online) (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/56573
. Archived from
the original
on 16 February 2019.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)