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William Berkeley

Type Figure Region Virginia Time 1605–1677 Also known as Sir William Berkeley、威廉·伯克利爵士

William Berkeley was one of the longest-lived and most influential governors of seventeenth-century colonial Virginia, serving over thirty years acro…

Timeline

  1. 1605–1641England · EnglandBerkeley came from a Somerset gentry family, studied at Oxford, and later served as a courtier under Charles I. He went into exile in Europe during the English Civil War and was appointed Governor of Virginia by Charles I in 1641.
  2. 1641–1676Jamestown and Greenspring Estate · Virginia colonyBerkeley served as governor twice, promoting tobacco exports, encouraging the expansion of large plantations, and maintaining the fur trade with friendly Indian tribes. He long controlled legislative nominations, forming a planter-elite oligarchy, while using Greenspring Estate as his power base.
  3. 1676–1677Virginia colony · Virginia colonyDuring Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 Berkeley twice fled Jamestown; after Bacon's death he led royal forces to recover lost territory and carried out severe executions of participants. Charles II considered his reprisals excessive and recalled him to England in early 1677; Berkeley died in London that summer, never returning to Virginia.

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