James Berkeley James Berkeley James Berkeley (died 1327) was Bishop of Exeter for a period of three months in 1327, which term was cut short by his death or possible murder. Berkeley was a younger son of Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245-1321), "The Wise", feudal baron of Berkeley of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, by his wife Joan de Ferrers, a daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby by his wife Margaret de Quincy, a daughter of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester. Berkeley was elected bishop on 5 December 1326 and was consecrated on 22 March 1327.
Berkeley Castle (as they themselues confessed) praied heartilie to God to receiue his soule, when they vnderstood by his crie what the matter ment.Christopher Marlowe's tragedy "Edward II" ("The troublesome raigne and lamentable death of Edward the second, King of England", first published 1594) depicts the murder at Berkeley Castle, using props mentioned in Holinshed, and popular stories of a red hot poker or suffocation continue to circulate. The cell where Edward is supposed to have been imprisoned and murdered can still be seen, along with the adjacent 11 m (36 ft) deep dungeon, which supposedly echoes the events of the murder