Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (April 1271 – 31 May 1326), "The Magnanimous", feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England, was a peer. He rebelled against King Edward II and the Despencers. 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 at Berkeley Castle, the eldest son and heir of Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245–1321),
Berkhamsted Castle the growing wool trade. Richard died at the castle in 1272, and it passed to his son Edmund. The castle passed on through Edward I, who found the castle in an apparently poor condition, and his second wife, Margaret, to Edward II. Edward II gave it to his royal favourite, Piers Gaveston, whom he made Earl of Cornwall. Gaveston was married there in 1307, with Edward in attendance. Edward II and Gaveston fell from power in 1327 and John, Edward's second son, took possession as the new Earl of Cornwall. When John died, Edward III reclaimed Berkhamsted Castle; a survey