James Berkeley

James Berkeley (died 1327) was Bishop of Exeter for a period of three months in 1327, a term of office cut short by his death.

Origins 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.

Career Berkeley was elected bishop on 5 December 1326 and was consecrated on 22 March 1327. having been murdered and having suffered the destruction and despoliation of his manors, according to the account by his successor John de Grandisson.

Burial

Berkeley was buried in Exeter Cathedral, against the north wall of the south ambulatory, where survives his chest tomb. It is devoid of the monumental brass which originally adorned the Purbeck marble ledger stone top, in the form of a demi-effigy of a bishop wearing a mitre, the indent of which is still visible. on the orders of the Cathedral authorities. The antiquarian John Leland (c. 1503-1552) saw the monument complete and recorded in his writings that it bore inscribed Latin verse of which one line was: In Barkley natus, jacet hic Jacobus tumulatus