Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley ( ) is a small town and parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway, within the Stroud administrative district. The town is noted for Berkeley Castle, where the imprisoned Edward II was murdered, as well as the birthplace of the physician Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The parish also includes the village of Berkeley Heath, which runs along the A38 Bristol to Gloucester road and the adjacent B4066 towards Berkeley. Berkeley lies midway between Bristol
Maurice Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley was disinherited by his elder brother William Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1426–1492), who died without surviving progeny. As he never therefore possessed Berkeley Castle, he had no claim to the ancient feudal barony of Berkeley, which was dependent on landholdings. It was assumed (according to a very unusual legal rationale) that the barony by writ created in 1412 was also held dependent on the tenure of Berkeley Castle (that is to say it was deemed a feudal barony or barony by tenure), and that it had thereby been forfeited by association, and thus Maurice never assumed