Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Simon de Senlis

Male Abt 1138 - 1184  (~ 46 years)


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  • Name Simon de Senlis 
    Born Abt 1138 
    Gender Male 
    Died Jun 1184 
    Buried Saint Andrew's Priory, Northamptonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I6113  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Simon de Senlis,   b. Abt 1103 
    Mother Isabel or Elizabeth of Leicester 
    Married Bef 1138 
    Family ID F2618  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Alice de Gant,   d. 1185 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F2643  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
      “SIMON DE SENLIS, Knt., advocate of the Priory of St. Andrew's, Northampton, Sheriff of Huntingdonshire, son and heir, born c.1103. He was a ward of his step-father, King David I, until 1124. He married before 1138 ISABEL (or ELIZABETH) OF LEICESTER, daughter of Robert of Meulan, Knt., 1st Earl of Leicester, by Amice, daughter of Raoul, seigneur of Gael in Brittany and Breteuil in Normandy [see LEICESTER 6 for her ancestry]. They had one son, Simon [Earl of Huntingdon and Northampton], and three daughters, Amice, Hawise, and Isabel. By an unknown mistress, he had an illegitimate son, Simon. He witnessed the Oxford charter of King Stephen in 1136. He was recognized as Earl of Northampton previous to 1140. About 1140, as "Earl Simon," he granted three bovates and two tofts in Barton on Humber, Lincolnshire to William his chamberlain. He fought for King Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, and was one of the three earls who remained faithful to Queen Maud during her husband's captivity. About 1145 he exchanged various rents from the mills of Earl's Barton and Great Doddington, Northamptonshire with the Prior and convent of St. Andrew's, Northampton, in return for lands in Hardingstone, Northamptonshire. After the death of his half-brother, Henry of Scotland, in 1152, he obtained the earldom of Huntingdon. He appears five times in the charters of his brother-in- law, Robert, Earl of Leicester, including treaties with the Bishop of Lincoln and Earl of Chester. In 1152-3 he granted Merton, Oxfordshire to the Templers. He founded the nunnery of De la Pré, near Northampton, and Sawtry Abbey, Huntingdonshire. SIMON DE SENLIS, Earl of Huntingdon and Northampton, died August 1153. Sometime before 1158, his widow, Isabel, and her son, Simon, granted to the nuns of Eaton two carucates of land with pasture for 300 sheep in Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire. His widow, Isabel, married (2nd) GERVASE PAYNELL, of Dudley (in Sedgley), Staffordshire, Churchill, Worcestershire, son and heir of Ralph Paynell, of Dudley, Staffordshire. They had one son, Robert. In the period, c.1158-66, he and his wife, Isabel, presented to the church of Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire. In the period, 1158-66, he and his wife, Isabel, gave a mansura in Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire to Nuneaton Priory, Warwickshire. In 1173 he was among the supporters of Prince Henry in his rebellion. In 1182 he confirmed to the monks of Tickford the chapel of Astwood, Buckinghamshire. In 1187 Gervase confirmed to Tickford Priory, with the consent of his wife, Isabel, Countess of Northampton, the gifts of his father and grandfather. He issued two other charters to Tickford, one giving a house and messuage in Newport, and the other giving his land in Chicheley, Buckinghamshire. GERVASE PAYNELL was living as late as May 1188 (date of letter), and died before Michaelmas 1194, and was buried in Tickford Priory. At some unknown date, Isabel was granted a bovate of land in Groby, Leicestershire by her brother, Robert, Earl of Leicestershire, which sometime in or after 1190 she gave to Nuneaton Priory. At an unknown date, she also granted four bovates in Waltham [on the Wolds], Leicestershire to Belvoir Priory.
      Baker Hist. & Antiqs. of Northampton 1 (1822-30): 563 (Beaumont-Quincy ped.). Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum 5 (1830): 213 (charter of Simon de Senlis, brother of Earl Simon [de Senlis] to the Abbey of De la Pré), 521, 522-523 (charter of Simon, Earl of Northampton, names his parents, Earl Simon and Countess Maud, and his grandparents, Earl Waltheof and Countess Judith, niece [neptem] of King William the Conqueror); 5 (1825): 203 (charter of Gervase Paynell to Tickford Priory); 6(2) (1830): 1093 (charter of Robert, Earl of Leicester confirming the former gift of his wife, Amice, Countess of Leicester; charter witnessed by Earl Simon and Isabel his wife). Burke Hist. of the Commoners 1 (1834): 651-652 (sub St. Liz/Sheffield). Hodgson Hist. of Northumberland Pt. 2 Vol. 3 (1840): 6-8 (ped.). Doyle Official Baronage of England 2 (1886): 612 (sub Northampton) (biog. of Simon de Senlis II). Remarks & Colls. of Thomas Hearne 3 (Oxford Hist. Soc.) (1889): 104 (ped. chart). Round Feudal England (1895): 575 (ped.). Round Cal. Docs. Preserved in France 1 (1899): 376-377 (charter of Robert, Earl of Leicester to Fontevrault Abbey dated 1155-59 confirms gift of his daughter, Isabel, and her son, Earl Simon). Ratcliff Hist. & Antiqs. of the Newport Pagnell Hundreds (1900): 175, 177, 241-244, 257-259. Warner & Ellis Facsimiles of Royal & Other Charters in the British Museum 1 (1903): #26 (charter of Simon [de Senlis], Earl of Northampton dated c.1145-50). MSS of the Duke of Rutland 4 (Hist. MSS Comm. 24) (1905): 165 (charter of Isabel, Countess of Northampton to Belvoir Priory). VCH Worcester 3 (1913): 43-45. English Hist. Rev. 32 (1917): 245-248 Stenton Docs. illus. of the Social & Economic Hist. of the Danelaw (1920): 245, 246 (charter of Isabel, Countess of Northampton), 251-259, 347 (charter of Earl Simon dated c.1140). G.H. Fowler 'Shire of Bedford and the Earldom of Huntingdon' in Pubs. Bedfordshire Hist. Rec. Soc. 9 (1925): 23-34. C.P. 6 (1926): 643 (sub Huntingdon); 9 (1936): 663-664 (sub Northampton). Pub. of Bedfordshire Hist. Rec. Soc. 11(1927): 49 (charter of "Symon comes Norhant" dated 1138/47). Stenton Facsimiles of Early Charters from Northamptonshire Colls. (1930): 144-145. VCH Rutland 2 (1935): 213-221. VCH Huntingdon 3 (1936): 203-212. Early Yorkshire Charters 6 (1939): 48-50. Leys Sandford Cartulary 2 (Oxfordshire Rec. Soc. 22) (1941): 279-280 (charter of Simon, Earl of Northampton dated 1152-3). Hatton Book of Seals (1950): 307 (charter of Simon de Senlis, brother of Earl Simon [de Senlis], dated 1174-84). Cronne Reign of Stephen, 1135-54 (1970): 141. Stringer Earl David of Huntingdon, 1152-1219 (1985). King Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign (1994): 56-57. Franklin Medieval Ecclesiastical. Studies in Honour of Dorothy M. Owen (1999): 138. Kerr Religious Life for Women, c.1100-c.1350 (1999): 78. Tanner Fams., Friends, & Allies (2004): 291 (chart), 313 (Scotland ped.). Crouch Beaumont Twins (2008): 84.
      Children of Simon de Senlis, by Isabel of Leicester:
      i. SIMON DE SENLIS, Earl of Northampton, son and heir, born about 1138. He was a minor at his father's death and remained in ward to the king for about five years. He married ALICE DE GANT [see GANT 2.i.a], daughter and heiress of Gilbert de Gant, Earl of Lincoln, by Rohese, daughter of Richard Fitz Gilbert [de Clare] [see GANT 2.i for her ancestry]. They had one son, Simon, who died young. Sometime before 1163 he confirmed his father's grant in Merton, Oxfordshire to the Templars. He and his wife, Alice, issued two confirmation charters to Stixwould Priory c.1155-60. In 1174 he was recognized as Earl of Huntingdon. As Simon, Earl of Huntingdon, he granted to the monks of Wardon, Bedfordshire a certain road as they had it on the day he came to the Siege of Huntingdon. SIMON DE SENLIS, Earl of Huntingdon and Northampton, died in June 1184. He was buried in St. Andrew's Priory, Northampton, to which he was a benefactor. His widow, Alice, died in 1185. She gave the mills of Folkingham, Lincolnshire to Sempinghan Priory, Lincolnshire in order that she might be buried there, but it appears she was instead buried at Bridlington Priory, Yorkshire. Anderson Genealogical Hist. of the House of Yveg 2 (1742): 50-58. Pleuitorum in Domo Capitulari Westmonarteriensi Asservatorum Abbrevatio (1811): 50. Baker Hist & Antiqs. of Northampton 1 (1822-30): 440 (Gaunt ped.). Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum 5 (1825): 212, 491 (Gant ped.). Bowles & Nichols Annals & Antiqs. of Lacock Abbg (1835): 79-80. Top. & Gen. 1 (1846): 301-320. Atkinson Cartularium Abbathia de Rievalle (Surtees Soc. 83) (1889): 48 (undated charter of Earl Simon; charter granted with consent of his wife, Alice), 114-115 (confirmation charter of Earl Simon and Countess Alice his wife), 115 (confirmation charter of Countess Alice de Gant; charter names her father, Gilbert de Gant; charter witnessed by Simon brother of the Earl), 116 (confirmation charter of Countess Alice de Gant). Lincolnshire Notes & Queries 5 (1898): 122-123. Holmes Chartulag of St. John of Pontefract 2 (Yorkshire Arch. Soc. Recs. 30) (1902): 480-482, 520 (undated charter of Earl Simon; charter names his "antecessor," Gilbert de Gant), 525 (charter of Countess Alice, daughter of Gilbert de Gant). Clay Extinct & Dormant Peerages (1913): 83-85 (sub Gaunt). VCH Yorkshire N.R. 1 (1914): 240. Farrer Early Yorkshire Charters 2 (1915): 432-436, 436-138 (confirmation charter of Countess A[lice] daughter of Gilbert Earl of Lincoln dated c.1180-5), 461-465 (confirmation charter by Countess Alice daughter of Earl Gilbert dated 1160-76), 472-473 (charter of Simon, Earl of Northampton dated 1156-74; charter witnessed by Simon brother of the Earl), 473-474 (confirmation charter of Earl Simon dated 1160-c.1175), 474 (confirmation charter of Countess A[lice] de Gant dated 1160-c.1175), 474-475 (grant by Earl Simon dated 1156-84), 492-493 (confirmation charter of Countess Alice de Gant daughter of Gilbert de Gant dated 1184-5; charter names Robert Scrope of Barton, son of Richard Scrope and Agnes her aunt [matertera]), 498-499 (confirmation charter of Earl Simon dated 1166-80), 499 (confirmation charter of Earl Simon dated c.1170-80), 502-503 (confirmation charter of Earl Simon and Countess Alice his wife dated c.1170-84; charter witnessed by his brother, Simon son of the Earl). C.P. 6 (1926): 645-646 (sub Huntingdon); 7 (1929): 673 (sub Lincoln); 9 (1936): 664 (sub Northampton). Leys Samford Cartulary 2 (Oxfordshire Rec. Soc. 22) (1941): 280 (charter of Simon son of Simon Earl of Northampton dated 1153-7). Hatton Book of Seals (1950): 60-61. Dalton Conquest, Anarchy & Lordship: Yorkshire, 1066-1154 (2002): 291. Tanner Fams., Friends, & Allies (2004): 313 (Scotland ped.). Nottinghamshire Archives: Savile of Rufford: Deeds & Estate Papers, DD/SR/102/59; DD/SR/102/142; DD/SR/102/143; DD/SR/102/X/11 (available at www.a2a.org.uk/search/index.asp).
      ii. ISABEL DE SENLIS [see next].”