Berkeley family Constable (Alnod), a high official under King Edward the Confessor. Berkeley Castle, the "caput" of the barony, and the adjoining town of Berkeley are located in the county of Gloucestershire and are situated about five miles west of Dursley and eighteen miles southwest of Gloucester, and northeast of Bristol. The location has conferred various titles on the family over the centuries, including Baron Berkeley (barony by writ), Earl of Berkeley, and Marquess of Berkeley. Berkeley Castle was originally granted by William the Conqueror to the Norman Roger de Berkeley, feudal baron of Dursley, under the feudal tenure of fee-farm. However,
James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley cousin Elizabeth, daughter of the fifth Baron Berkeley and wife of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick. He was unable initially to claim Berkeley Castle, as it was taken in possession by the Earl and Countess of Warwick. In 1421, when the Warwicks finally gave up Berkeley Castle, James was summoned to Parliament by writ as Lord Berkeley. The feud did not end there as his third wife Isabel was captured by the Countess of Warwick's son-in-law the Earl of Shrewsbury, and held imprisoned until her death in 1452. Lord Berkeley was succeeded by his son from his third