Hawise de St. Liz

Simon married Isabel (Elizabeth) de Beaumont in 1141/1186 in of Leicestershire, England. Isabel (daughter of 1st Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont, Count Meulan I and Isabel (Elizabeth ) de Vermandois) was born in 1098 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England; died on 6 Jan 1147 in Tunbridge, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Simon married Maud Huntingdon in 1090 in Huntington Castle,, Huntingdonshire, England. Maud (daughter of Earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland Waltheof Siwardsson and of Lens Judith) was born about 1072 in Huntingdon, Northumberland, England; died on 23 Apr 1130 in Scone, Perthshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Maud, m. 1st, to Simon de St. Liz, and 2ndly, to David, brother of Alexander, King of Scotland. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 467, St. Liz, Earls of Huntingdon]

Notes:

ROBERT DE BEAUMONT

The Conqueror and His Companions
by J. R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874..

"Rogier li Veil, cil de Belmont, Assalt Engleis el primier front." Roman de Rou, 1. 13,462.

Thus sings the Prebend of Bayeux in direct contradiction, as I have already observed, of the Archdeacon of Lisieux, who as distinctly asserts that Roger de Beaumont was left in Normandy, president of the council appointed by the Duke to assist his Duchess in its government. There is more reason, however, to discredit Wace in this instance than even in the former one, as Orderic corroborates the statement of the Archdeacon that it was Robert, the eldest son of Roger de Beaumont, who was the companion of the Conqueror in 1066, and whom he describes as "a novice in arms." Mr. Taylor, in his translation of the poem, has mentioned also that in the MS. of Wace, in the British Museum, the name is Robert, though the epithet "le Viel" is not appropriate to his then age. Might not "le Viel" be a clerical error for "de Vielles," the name of Roger's father, which is latinized into "de Vitulis"? Roger de Beaumont would of course have been de Vielles as well as his father. The latinizing of proper names cannot be too much deplored and deprecated.

Of Roger, Count de Beaumont, it is unanimously recorded that he was the noblest, the wealthiest, and the most valiant seigneur of Normandy, and the greatest and most trusted friend of the Danish family. Son of Humphrey de Vielles, and grandson of Thorold de Pontaudemer, a descendant of the Kings of Denmark, through Bernard the Dane, a companion of the first Norman Conqueror, Duke Rollo, illustrious as was such as origin in the eyes of his countrymen, he considered his alliance with Adelina, Countess of Meulent, sufficiently honorable and important to induce him to adopt the title of her family in preference to that of his own.

We have already heard of his first great exploit, when, as a young man, in the early years of Duke William, he defeated the turbulent Roger de Toeni, who with his two sons were slain in that sanguinary conflict (vide p. 19, ante). Towards the invading fleet he contributed, according to Taylor's List, sixty vessels, and being at that time advanced in years, and selected to superintend the affairs of the duchy, sent his young son Robert to win his spurs at Senlac.

In that memorable battle he is said to have given proof of courage and intelligence beyond his years, and promise of the high reputation he would eventually obtain, and which won for him the surname of Prudhomme. "A certain Norman young soldier," writes William of Poitou, "son of Roger de Bellomont, and nephew and heir of Hugh, Count of Meulent, by Adelina, his sister, making his first onset in that fight, did what deserves lasting fame, boldly charging and breaking in upon the enemy with the troops he commanded in the right wing of the army."

His services were rewarded by ninety manors in Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Wiltshire, and Northamptonshire. In 1080 he, with his brother Henry, afterwards Earl of Warwick, were amongst the barons who exerted themselves to reconcile King William to his son Robert Court-heuse, and in 1081 he subscribed a charter of confirmation in favour of the Abbey of Fécamp. This was the last document he signed inn the name of Beaumont, for his mother dying in year, he thenceforth wrote himself Comte de Meulent, and did homage to Philip I, King of France, for the lands to which he succeeded in that kingdom, and in 1082 sat as a Peer of France in a parliament held by the said King at Poissy.

On the death of the Conqueror, the Comte de Meulent and his brother sided with William Rufus; their father, Roger de Beaumont, leaving also the ducal court and retiring to his estates. The late King had given the Castle of Ivri jointly to Roger de Beaumont and Robert his son; but during the absence of the latter in England, Robert Court-heuse, having become Duke of Normandy, exchanged, in 1090, that castle for the Castle of Brionne with Roger de Beaumont, without obtaining the consent of Robert de Meulent. The latter, having a quarrel with the monks of Bec, whose monastery was in the territory of Brionne, was greatly angered by this transaction, and repairing to the Duke at Rouen, boldly demanded of him the restoration of Ivri. The Duke answered that he had given his father the Castle of Brionne for it, which was a fair exchange. The Count replied, "I was no party to that bargain, and repudiate it; but what your father gave to my father that will I have, or by Saint Nicaise I will make you repent your conduct to me." The Duke, highly incensed, had him immediately arrested and imprisoned, and seizing the Castle of Brionne, gave it into the keeping of Robert, son of Baldwin de Meules. Roger de Beaumont, on receipt of these tidings, sought the Duke, and with the skill of an old courtier contrived to pacify his resentment, and obtain the release of his son and the restoration of Brionne; but Robert de Meules, who was in charge of it, refused to surrender it, and the Count de Meulent was obliged to resort to force. Siege was laid to the castle in regular form, and the garrison stoutly holding out, Gilbert du Pin, commanding the beleaguering forces, caused arrows, with their steel heads made red-hot in a furnace, to be shot over the battlements, and which, falling on the roofs of the buildings within the walls, set them on fire. The conflagration spreading, the place became no longer tenable, and Brionne remained from that period in the hands of the Counts of Meulent.

The monks of Bec now found it necessary to patch up their quarrels with the Count, who behaved generously on the occasion, confirming their privileges and those also of the Abbey of Préaux, of Jumiéges, and St.t. Vaudrille, remitting certain imports due to him from the wine-growers of Mantes. I mention these circumstances, which have no interest for the general reader, only to notice a singular condition the Count attached to the franchise, namely, that the masters of all boats passing the Castles of Meulent and Mantes should play on the flageolet as they shot the bridges!

On the departure of Robert Court-heuse for the Crusades, William Rufus, to whom he had confided the government of Normaudy, as a pledge for the repayment of the money the King had lent to him for the expenses of his expedition, considered it a good opportunity to recover from France the province of the Vexin. The Count of Meulent found himself awkwardly situated between the two contending parties. He owed fealty to both sovereigns: to the King of France for the Comté of Meulent, and to thee King of England for his large estates, both in that country and Normandy. He decided in fayour of the latter, received into his castle the forces of the Red King, and so opened for him an entrance into France. The war ended without advantage to either side, and was followed by another between Rufus and Hélie de la FlÈche, Comte du Maine. After vainlyly attempting to reduce the Castle of Dangueul, the King withdrew from the siege, leaving the Count of Menlent to carry on the operations. On the 28th April, 1098, Hélie was drawn into an ambush by Count Robert, and,, after a desperate defence, made prisoner, and conducted by him to the King, who was at Rouen, and who consigned his captive immediately to a dungeon in the great tower of that city.

The incidents and results of this campaign are not sufficiently connected with the personal history of Robert de Meulent to require notice here. He was one of the royal hunting party in the New Forest on the 2nd of August, 1100, when William Rufus received his mysterious death-wound, and hastened on the instant with Prince Henry to Winchester, in order to secure the royal treasure, as well as the succession to the throne of England.

Under the reign of the new King he retained the favour and influence he had enjoyed during those of the two Williams, and commanded the English army, which achieved the conquest of Normandy by Henry I in 1106, who acknowledged himself indebted for it to the advice and valour of the Earl of Leicester, to which dignity Robert de Meulent had been advanced by him at some period not distinctly ascertained, but most probably in the first year of his reign.

Orderic Vital gives the following account of the mode by which he obtained the earldom: -- "The town of Leicester had four masters -- the King, the Bishop of Lincoln, Earl Simon" (Simon de St. Liz, Earl of Huntingdon), "and Ivo, the son of Hugh" (de Grentmesnil). The latter had been heavily fined for turbulent conduct, and was in disgrace at Court. He was also galled by being nicknamed "the Rope-dancer," having been one of those who had been let down by ropes from the walls of Antioch. He therefore had resolved to rejoin the Crusade, and made an agreement with the Count of Meulent to the following effect: -- The Count was to procure his reconciliation with the King, and to advance him five hundred silver marks for the expenses of his expedition, having the whole of Ivo's domains pledged to him as a security for fifteen years. In consideration of this, the Count was to give the daughter of his brother Henry, Earl of Warwick, in marriage to Ivo's son, who was yet in his infancy, and to restore him his father's inheritance. This contract was confirmed by oath, and ratified by the King, but Ivo died on his road to the Holy Land, and Robert de Meulent, by royal favour and his own address, contrived to get the whole of Leicester into his own hands, and being in consequence created an English earl, his wealth and power surpassed those of any other peer of the realm, and he was exalted above nearly all his family." (Book xi, c. 2)

This great warrior and able man is said to have died of sorrow and mortification, caused by the infidelity of his second wife Elizabeth, otherwise Isabella, daughter of Hugh the Great, Comte de Vermandois and of Chaumont in the Vexin. He had married -- the date at present unknown -- Godechilde de Conches, daughter of Roger de Toeni, Seigneur de Conches, but had separated from her before 1096, as in that year she, who could not then have been seventeen, became the wife of Baldwin, son of Eustace de Boulogne, who was King of Jerusalem after the decease of his brother Godfrey. Robert de Meulent, then being between fifty and sixty, and without issue, sought the hand of Elizabeth de Vermandois, who was in the bloom of youth, and was accepted by the lady; but Ivo, Bishop of Châtres, forbade the magiage on the ground of consanguinity; the Count off Vemandois and the Count of Meulent being both great-grandsons of Gautier II, surnamed "Le Blanc," Count of the Vexin. A dispensation was obtained, however, from the Pope, on condition that Count Hugh should take the Cross, and the marriage was celebrated on the eve of his departure for the Holy Land, the same year in which Robert's first wife married Baldwin de Boulogne.

The issue of Robert de Meulent by his second wife was a daughter named Emma, born, according to Orderic, in 1102; two sons (twins), baptised Waleran and Robert, born in 1104; a third son, known as Hugh the Poor, afterwards Earl of Bedford, and three other daughters, Adeline, Amicia, and Albreda, all of whom must have been born after 1104, when their father, then Earl of Leicester, was well stricken in years. Orderic, indeed, says he had five daughters, the fifth being named Isabel, after her mother.

All these children being born in wedlock, were of course in the eyes of the law legitimate, but William de Warren, Earl of Warren and Surrey, second of that name, son of the mysterious Gundred, had supplanted the Earl of Leicester for some years in the affections of his wife, and her ultimate desertion of him for his young rival affected his mind, and hurried hhn to the grave, June 5, 1118.

Henry of Huntingdon, in his "Letter to Walter," gives the following account of his last moments: -- "I will mention the Earl of Meulent, the most sagacious in political affairs of all who lived between this and Jerusalem. His mind was enlightened, his eloquence persuasive, his shrewdness acute; he was provident and wily; his prudence never failed; his counsels were profound; his wisdom great. He had extensive and noble possessions, which are commonly called honours, together witIx towns and castles, villages and farms, woods and waters, which he acquired by the exercise of the talents I have mentioned. His domains lay not only in England but in Normandy and France, so that he was able at his will to promote concord between the sovereigns of those countries, or to set them at variance and provoke them to war. If he took umbrage against any man, his enemy was humbled and crushed, while those he favoured were exalted to honour. Hence his coffers were filled with a prodigious influx of wealth in gold and silver, besides precious gems and costly furniture and apparel. But when he was in the zenith of his power it happened that a certain earl carried off the lady he had espoused, either by some intrigue or by force and stratagem. Thenceforth his mind was disturbed and clouded with grief, nor did he to the time of his death regain composure and happiness. "After days abandoned to sorrow, when he was labouring under an infirmity which was the precursor of death, and the Archbishop (of Rouen) and priests were performing their office for the confessional purification, they required of him that as a penitent he should restore the lands which by force or fraud he had wrung from others, and wash out his sins with tears of repentance, to which he replied, 'Wretched man that I am! If I dismember the domains I have acquired, what shall I have to leave to my sons?'

"Upon this the ministers of the Lord answered, 'Your hereditary estates and the lands which you have justly obtained are enough for your sons; restore the rest, or else you devote your soul to perdition.'

"The Earl replied, 'My sons shall have all. I leave it to them to act mercifully, that I may obtain mercy.'"

"Assuming the monastic habit, he then breathed his last, and was buried near his father at Préaux, his heart being sent to the monastery off Brackley in Northamptonshire, which he had founded, and there preserved in salt.

William of Malmesbury says of him, that his advice was regarded as though the oracle of God had been consulted; that he was the persuader of peace, the dissuader of strife, and capable of speedily bringing about whatever he desired by the power of his eloquence; that he possessed such mighty influence in England as to change by his single example the long established modes of dress and diet. Limiting himself on the score of his health to one meal a day, in imitation of Alexius, Emperor of Constantinople, the custom was adopted generally by the nobility. In law, he was the supporter of justice; in war, the insurer of victory; urging his lord the King to enforce the statutes vigorously, he himself not only respecting those existing, but proposing new. Ever loyal to his sovereign, he was the stern avenger of treason in others.

It is a relief to read such a character of a man in these darkest days of feudalism, imperfect civilization, and demoralizing superstition.

A word or two respecting his children.

The twins, Waleran and Robert, were carefully brought up by King Henry I from the time of their father's death, "for the King loved him much, because in the beginning of his reign he had greatly aided and encouraged him." On their arriving at the proper age they received knighthood at his hands, and Waleran was put in possession of all his father's domains in France and Normandy, his brother Robert receiving the earldom of Leicester and the lands and honours in England. Three of their sisters were given in marriage by Waleran: -- Adeline to Hugh, 4th Sire de Montfort-sur-Risle, Amicia to Hugh de Château-neuf in Thimerais; andd Albreda (or Aubrey) to William Louvel or Lupel, son of Ascelin Goel, Lord of Ivri. ( Vide vol. ii, p. 223)

Isabel became, according to the chronique scandaleuse of that day, one of the many mistresses of Henry I, and subsequently married Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Pembroke. What became of Emma, the eldest born, we know not. According to Orderic she was betrothed, when only a year old, to Aumari, nephew of William, Count of Evreux, but from some impediment which occurred the marriage never took place. She probably died in infancy, or entered a convent. The author of "L'Art de Vérifier less Dates," besides Hugh, Earl of Bedford, already mentioned, gives Robert, a fourth son, whom he calls Dreux, Sire de Boisemont.

Robert married Isabel (Elizabeth ) de Vermandois in 1096. Isabel (daughter of Hugh "The Great" Capet, Duke of France and Burgundy and Adelaide de Vermandois) was born on 13 Feb 1081 in Vermandois, Normandy, Bretagne, France; died on 13 Feb 1131 in Sens, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France; was buried in St. Nicaise, Meulan, France-Sens, Saone-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Laudry married Ermengarde about 1045 in Ermenonville, Oise, Picardie, France. Ermengarde was born about 1025 in Crépy-en-Valois, Oise, Picardie, France; died about 1079 in Chantilly, Oise, Picardie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Life and Times of Waltheof, Earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland By Geoff Boxell
STOLEN GLORY
Waltheof, Earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland

Unlike his contemporary and fellow resistance leader, Edric the Wild, the life of Waltheof is reasonably well documented. The youngest son of one of Canute's Danish jarls, Siward, and Aefled, the daughter of the English Earl of Northumberland, he appears to have been prepared as a child for a life in the Church. This all changed when Siward, with the encouragement of King Edward the Confessor and the Witan, led an expeditionary force in 1054 to Scotland in support of Malcolm, son of Dunstan, King of Scots, against King Thorfinn Macbeth. In the resultant campaign Siward's eldest son, Osbarn, was killed, thus leaving Waltheof at the likely age of 10, as Siward's heir. Siward died from natural causes in 1055. The earldom was given to Tostig Godwinson as Waltheof was obviously too young to control a vital marcher region.

For a variety of reasons, Northumberland revolted against Tostig in 1065 and the thegns demanded that the earldom be given to Morcar, brother of the Earl of Mercia, Edwin. The lower part of the earldom, what had been Middle Anglia, was passed to Waltheof and his title is now given sometimes as Earl of Huntingdon and sometimes that of Northampton. Given that the earldoms in England at that time were awarded on a combination of family mana and personal ability, this granting of a minor earldom to the young and inexperienced Waltheof can be seen as a wise and shrewd move.

The young Earl's involvement in the battles of 1066 is subject to much speculation. The reliable English sources are silent but various Icelandic sources contain garbled and, at times contradictory, story of him being involved in the battles of Fulford, Stamford Bridge and Hastings. Be that as it may, by late 1066 he had made his peace with William the Bastard and retained his earldom. This in itself suggests that he was not involved at Hastings, as William had proclaimed all who fought against him there traitors and their land confiscated. This presumptuous proclamation was made despite the fact that he had not being proclaimed King by the Witan until much later!

Waltheof was one of the hostages, including Edwin, Morcar and Archbishop of Canterbury Stigand, taken to Normandy in 1067 and kept there till mid 1068. The North of England at this time was still out of William's grasp, though he had appointed Copsi, a henchman of Tostig Godwinson, to rule in the absence of the hostage, Morcar. This may have been a very cunning move as the North then seethed with disputes between the various thegns appointed by King Harold, Earl Morcar and William the Bastard. Another unsettling element was the presence of Edgar Aetheling who had, after King Harold's death, been declared King by the Witan. Over this fermenting brew of self-interest there hovered the vinegar fly of Gospatric, a descendent of the old Northumbrian kings and a cousin of the King of Scots. At an opportune moment Gospatric bought the earldom of Northumberland from the money hungry William.

1068 saw the first uprising in Northumberland against the new Norman king, but the split leadership ensured it fizzled out before the flames of revolt could catch. 1069 and there were four uprisings in the area. Waltheof appears in the last and most important of them. The first uprising had been caused by the appointment of Robert of Comings as Earl of Northumberland to replace Gospatric, who had fled to Scotland when the previous year's risings had collapsed. The northerners had found it hard enough to accept a southerner such as Tostig as Earl, and they certainly didn't want a Frenchman. They killed Robert and his whole force of 500-900 men (accounts vary) at Durham, allowing only one to escape and tell the tale. Encouraged by this the City of York revolted, slaying the Norman governor, but failing to take the newly erected castle. Eastertide and the whole North erupted, but William soon brought up an army and broke the Northumbrian force that was besieging York castle. However, it was the arrival of the Danish fleet in September 1069 that caused the Normans to suffer their heaviest defeat in the North.

King Swegyn Astrithson of Denmark had a strong claim on the English throne. An appeal to him by the English to pursue that claim, and revenge his cousin, King Harold, had been made during William's absence in Normandy in 1067. Ever cautious, Swegyn did not make a move until two years later. Even then he sent his brother, Asbjorn, to lead the fleet. It was an act that, rather than uniting the English behind one war leader, as they might have behind Swegyn, just added yet another strand to the cloth of confused leadership.

Raiding the East Coast on their way North, the fleet of Danes and other elements met little success until they entered the River Humber. Here Waltheof and those who had fled earlier to Scotland, including Edgar Aetheling and Gospatric met them. The Anglo Danish force moved on York, which by this time now had two castles to keep it subservient to Norman wishes. On the arrival of the allies the Normans fired houses near the castles to clear their view and destroy any material that may have been used to fill the defensive ditches surrounding the castles. This act was done with the normal Norman delicacy, with the result that almost the entire city was burnt down! In the resultant fight the Norman garrisons left their castles to attack and then die at the hands of the allies. Waltheof's exploits of beheading many of the Normans with his long axe as they came through the gates was recorded in sagas and remembered for years after.

William's reaction was immediate and he personally hastened North with a large army. With York having been burnt and unable to provide sustenance, the allied army broke up; the Danes to the Humber where they wintered over and the English to more northern parts of the earldom. This revolt and its tying down of William and so many of his military resources led to an explosion of uprisings elsewhere. William took what was left of York and began pursuing the scattered elements of English and Danes but very quickly he was obliged to turn his attention elsewhere, leaving lieutenants to meanwhile contain the northern revolt. But they were not up to the job.

As a result of his men's failure, William then had to move back North from his base at Nottingham, only to be blocked by the flooded River Aire. Despite this and constant harassment from the locals and the Danes, he continued to move North after one of his knights found a usable ford. York was still a devastation so, given his normal priorities, the first thing William did was rebuilt the castles. He then commenced to teach the Northumbrians what it meant to upset a Norman King by starting the harrowing of the North, killing anything animate and destroying anything not. Those who could fled. The wealthy fled to the North of the Earldom or Scotland, the rest to the Camp of Refuge at the Isle of Ely, where Hereward the Wake was defying the Normans. Few made it through the winter weather and their unburied corpses littered the countryside. Having lost their Northumbrian allies, the Danes allowed themselves to be bought off. Only Waltheof and a small number of followers fought on, holding out near Coatham on the coast. However, even they eventually saw the hopelessness of their situation and submitted to King William.

It was after this that William, possibly trying to buy loyalty, married Waltheof to his own niece, Judith, in 1070. After behaving himself for 2 years, Waltheof was granted the Earldom of Northumberland as a replacement for the disgraced Gospatric. He also retained those lands he had held as Earl of Huntingdon, though it would appear he transferred the ownership of his personal holdings in the area to Judith, in the English manner of providing a wife with land of her own.

A blot on Waltheof's character now appeared in his renewing an old family feud that had its origins in 1016. Waltheof sent some of his huscarls to kill the brothers Carlson and their kin. He did this despite the fact that they, and Waltheof and his kin had earlier been fighting side by side against the Normans. Balancing this dark side of Waltheof's character is his support of the Church, including the financing of several new foundations. He also played a part in the Church's attempt to restore the northern lands that William had harrowed. Aldwin, Prior of Winchcombe, recruited two monks from Evesham, Elfwi and a former Norman knight, Reinfrid, to join him in establishing the Church's presence in the harrowed land. They based themselves at Jarrow, and it was here that Waltheof granted them the Church at Tynemouth and all its lands. He also gave them his nephew Morcar, to be educated.

From his being made Earl of Northampton in 1072 to 1075 Waltheof spen this time ruling his earldom, giving to the Church, begetting children and serving on a royal commission looking into the losses suffered by the Church at Ely.

It was in 1075 that the half English - half Breton Ralf, Earl of East Anglia, married the sister of Roger Earl of Herefordshire and, at the wedding feast, began weaving the sticky web of intrigue that was to ensnare and prove fatal to Waltheof. Just what his involvement was will never be known. Some sources, such as the Anglo Saxon Chronicle and the Book of Hyde, indicate that he was intimately involved. Others, such as Orderic Vitalis and William of Malmesbury, claim that he refused to take part but had to swear an oath not to betray the plot.

The desirability of their wishing to involve Waltheof, in what became known as the Revolt of the Earls, is easy to see. His lands in the Midlands would provide a corridor between those of Roger in the West and Ralf in the East, effectively cutting England in half. Waltheof must have quickly had second thoughts about being involved as, the day after the Bridal Ale, he rushed to London and confessed his share of guilt to Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Lanfranc absolved him and advised him to go to Normandy and throw himself on William's mercy. This Waltheof did, together with presenting some expensive gifts that he knew would appeal to William's avarice.

William made light of the matter, but had his agents in England move against the other two Earls. An Anglo-Norman force crushed Roger who then spent his remaining years a prisoner. Another Anglo-Norman force defeated Ralf and then penned him up in Norwich. From here Ralf went to Denmark, to gather reinforcements, whilst his new bride held the city. After three months Norwich was compelled to surrender, just before the arrival of the Danish fleet. After sporadic raiding, the Danes returned home, leaving Ralf to join his wife in Brittany and thenceforth continue his war against William.

With the revolt now broken, William placed Waltheof under close arrest. The reason for this action is unknown, though some sources say that Waltheof was betrayed by his wife, Judith, William's niece, who passed on information that she had been privy to. Waltheof was kept in close confinement for several months before he was sentenced by the King to be beheaded for treason.

The execution took place on 31 May 1076 on St. Giles Hill, Winchester. After giving away his clothes to the poor, Waltheof's last moments were spent in prayer. Feeling he was taking too long, the executioner drew his sword and struck just as Waltheof got to: "Lead us not into temptation." According to witnesses, the severed head was then heard in a clear voice to complete the prayer with: "but deliver us from evil. Amen"

After lying in unconsecrated ground for a fortnight, Abbot Ulfkettle of Crowland, a foundation that Waltheof had been a patron of, asked for and was granted permission to take the body away for reburying. To his dying day, Archbishop Lanfranc insisted Waltheof was guiltless of the crime he had been accused of. It is also recorded that the English and Normans alike at William's court were horrified at the King's actions.

One fate of traitors was the confiscation of all their possessions to the crown. In this case it didn't happen. All of Waltheof's personal holdings passed to his wife, Judith, who also continued to oversee the Earldom of Huntingdon. A consideration for a beloved niece? Or a reward for providing information on her husband that allowed William the Bastard to remove the last of the native English nobility from the scene?

It was not long before the English began to treat Waltheof as a martyr in the ilk of St Edmund King and Martyr and miracles were soon being reported at his tomb. Waltheof may only have been a pseudo-Saint, more a symbol of a people's suffering and longing, but his grandson, also Waltheof, was later canonized.

Waltheof was a man who, in more peaceful times, would have been a national figure, and if needed, a powerful warrior. But he did not have the personality needed to lead the English resistance to the Norman Conquest. Often he failed to see the woods for the trees, and allowed his opportunities to be stolen from him.

Geoff Boxell is author of the novel: "Woden's Wolf" that deals with the English resistance to the Norman Conquest.

Waltheof married of Lens Judith in 1070 in Artois, France. Judith (daughter of Count of Lens Lambert II von Boulogne and of Normandy Countess of Aumale Adeliza) was born in 1054 in Lens, Artois, France; died after 1086. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Seigneur of Beaumont, Pontaudemer, Brionne and Vatteville, Normandy.

Roger was nicknamed Barbatus or La Barbe because he wore a moustache and beard while the Normans usually were clean shaven. This peculiarity is recognized in the forty-first panel of the Bayeux Tapestry where he is depicted sitting at a feast with Duke William on his left hand, Odo brother of William and Bishop of Bayeux in the centre.

Planché tells us that "he was the noblest, the wealthiest, and the most valiant seigneur of Normandy, and the greatest and most trusted friend of the Danish family." There is an explanation for this - as an older cousin who had never rebelled against the young Duke, he was part of the kinship group of noblemen that William relied upon in governing Normandy and fighting off frequent rebellion and invasions. The historian Frank McLynn notes that William relied on relatives descended via his mother (namely his half-brothers and brothers-in-law) and on relatives descended from the Duchess Gunnora's sisters, since his own paternal kin had proved unreliable.

Wace, the 12th century historian, says that "at the time of the invasion of England, Roger was summoned to the great council at Lillebonne, on account of his wisdom; but that he did not join in the expedition as he was too far advanced in years." Although Roger could not fight, he did not hesitate in contributing his share of the cost, for he provided at his own expense sixty vessels for the conveyance of the troops across the channel. Furthermore, his eldest son and heir fought bravely at Hastings as noted in several contemporary records. As a result, Roger's elder sons were awarded rich lands in England, and both eventually were made English earls by the sons of the Conqueror.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Died:
Abbey of Preaux, Pont-Audemer, Eure, France

Roger married Adeline de Meulan in 1040. Adeline (daughter of Waleran de Meulan and Ode de Conteville) was born about 1025. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hugh married Adelaide de Vermandois in 1064 in France. Adelaide (daughter of Count of Vermandois Herbert IV de Vermandois and Adela de Valois) was born about 1048 in Valois, Isle de France, France; died on 23 Sep 1120 in Meulan, Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]