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Simon SanlisAnglo-Norman baron, Earl of Northampton.
Country:
 Great Britain |
Content:
- Simon de Senlis, Count of Northampton
- Marriage and Inheritance
- Legacy in Northampton
- Death and Contested Legacy
Simon de Senlis, Count of Northampton
Simon de Senlis, an Anglo-Norman baron and first Earl of Northampton, rose from humble origins as the son of an obscure Norman knight named Ranulf. He arrived in England during the reign of William II and swiftly gained royal favor.
Marriage and Inheritance
William II attempted to arrange Simon's marriage to Judith of Lens, a wealthy and aristocratic English noblewoman. However, Judith refused and left England, enraging the king, who seized her English lands. Undeterred, Simon married Judith's daughter, Matilda of Huntingdon, around 1090. This marriage restored much of the former earldom of Waltheof, including lands in Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, and possibly Cambridgeshire. Simon de Senlis assumed the title Earl of Northampton on behalf of his young children.
Legacy in Northampton
Simon de Senlis is renowned for his contributions to Northampton. He constructed a castle (now lost) and town walls, and is believed to have designed the iconic Holy Sepulchre Round Church. The design was inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which Simon reportedly visited during the First Crusade in 1096.
Death and Contested Legacy
Simon de Senlis embarked on a second pilgrimage in 1109, but died shortly after leaving England. His widow, Matilda of Huntingdon, married David, future King of Scotland, in 1113. After Matilda's death, King Henry I of England granted her lands and the earldom to David's son, disinheriting Simon's children.
This decision sparked a prolonged struggle between the Scottish monarchs and Simon de Senlis' descendants for control of the Midlands. It became a catalyst for heightened Anglo-Scottish tensions and renewed warfare between the two nations.
