Simon II de Senlis, Earl of Huntingdon-Northampton

Simon II de Senlis (or Senliz, St. Liz, etc.), 4th Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton (c. 1098 – 1153) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He was the son of Simon I de Senlis, Earl of Huntingdon-Northampton and Maud, Countess of Huntingdon. He married Isabel, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester and they had a son Simon.

He was prominent in the Anarchy, fighting for Stephen of England in 1141 at the Battle of Lincoln. He continued to support Stephen's side; R. H. C. Davis calls him 'staunch' and 'consistently loyal'[1] and surmises that Simon calculated that if the Empress Matilda won, his earldom of Northampton would be taken over by her uncle David I of Scotland.[2]

Simon was rewarded by becoming Earl of Huntingdon. He died in 1153 just before Henry II of England took over, whereupon the king restored the Earldom of Huntingdon-Northampton to his ally Malcolm IV of Scotland.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ R.H.C. Davis, King Stephen, 1st edition (Longman, London 1977), p.112, p.135.
  2. ^ Davis, King Stephen, p.70.
  3. ^ D. Crouch, The Image of Aristocracy: In Britain, 1000-1300 (Routledge 2005), page=49 (Google).

Source edit

  • K. Stringer, 'Senlis, Simon (II) de, earl of Northampton and earl of Huntingdon (d. 1153)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004), accessed 20 May 2007.
Preceded by Earl of Huntingdon
1152–1153
Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Simon I de Senlis
Earl of Northampton
?1140–1153
Vacant
Title next held by
William de Bohun