Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley (c. 1330 – 8 June 1368), "The Valiant", feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, was an English peer. His epithet, and that of each previous and subsequent head of his family, was coined by John Smyth of Nibley (died 1641), steward of the Berkeley estates, the biographer of the family and author of "Lives of the Berkeleys". He was born in Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, the eldest son and heir of Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley by his wife Lady Margaret Mortimer. In August
Edward II of England regime collapsed and he fled to Wales, where he was captured in November. The king was forced to relinquish his crown in January 1327 in favour of his 14-year-old son, Edward III, and he died in Berkeley Castle on 21 September, probably murdered on the orders of the new regime. Edward's relationship with Gaveston inspired Christopher Marlowe's 1592 play "Edward II", along with other plays, films, novels and media. Many of these have focused on the possible sexual relationship between the two men. Edward's contemporaries criticised his performance as king, noting his failures in Scotland and the oppressive regime of