Maud, Countess of Huntingdon ( 1074 – 1130/1131), or Matilda, was Queen of Scotland as the wife of

King David I David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Malcol ...

. She was the great-niece of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

and the granddaughter of Earl Siward.

Biography

Maud was the daughter of Waltheof, the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The medieval title (1065 creation) was associated with the ruling house of Scotland ( David of Scotland). The seventh and most recent creation dates t ...

and

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...

, and his

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

wife Judith of Lens. Her father was the last of the major Anglo-Saxon earls to remain powerful after the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...

in 1066, and the son of

Siward, Earl of Northumbria Siward ( or more recently ) or Sigurd ( ang, Sigeweard, non, Sigurðr digri) was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname ''Digri'' and its Latin translation ''Grossus'' ("the stout") are given to him by near-c ...

. Her mother was the niece of

, which makes Maud his grand-niece. Through her ancestors the Counts of Boulogne, she was also a descendant of

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bo ...

and

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a se ...

and a cousin of

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...

. She was married to Simon de Senlis (or St Liz) in about 1090. Weir, Alison (1995). ''Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised Edition''. London: Random House. . p. 192 Earlier, William had tried to get Maud's mother, Judith, to marry Simon. He received the honour of Huntingdon (whose lands stretched across much of eastern England) probably in right of his wife from

William Rufus William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...

before the end of the year 1090.Matthew Strickland, "Senlis, Simon (I) de", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. G. W. S. Barrow, "David I (1085–1153)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2006 ; Maud (d. 1131): She had three known children by him: # Matilda of St Liz (Maud) (d. 1140); she married

Robert Fitz Richard __NOTOC__ Robert Fitz Richard (1064–1136) was an Anglo-Norman feudal baron of Little Dunmow, Essex and constable of Baynard's Castle in the City of London. His feudal barony, the caput of which was at Little Dunmow in Essex, was granted to hi ...

of Tonbridge; she married secondly Saer De Quincy. # Simon of St Liz (d. 1153) # Saint Waltheof of Melrose ( 1100–1159/1160) Her first husband died some time after 1111 and Maud next married

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, the brother-in-law of

Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...

, in 1113. Through the marriage, David gained control over his wife's vast estates in England, in addition to his own lands in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

and

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

. They had four children (two sons and two daughters): # Malcolm (born in 1113 or later, died young) # Henry ( 1114–1152) # Claricia (died unmarried) # Hodierna (died young and unmarried) In 1124,

became King of Scots. Maud's two sons by different fathers, Simon and Henry, would later vie for the Earldom of Huntingdon. She died in 1130 or 1131 and was buried at

Scone Abbey Scone Abbey (originally Scone Priory) was a house of Augustinian canons located in Scone, Perthshire (Gowrie), Scotland. Dates given for the establishment of Scone Priory have ranged from 1114 A.D. to 1122 A.D. However, historians have long be ...

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nort ...

, but she appears in a charter of dubious origin dated 1147.

Depictions in fiction

Maud of Huntingdon appears as a character in Elizabeth Chadwick's novel ''The Winter Mantle'' (2003), as well as

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

's novel ''

Voice of the Fire ''Voice of the Fire'' is the first novel from Alan Moore, acclaimed comic book writer. The twelve-chapter book was initially published in the United Kingdom in 1996. The narratives take place around Moore’s hometown of Northampton, England, ...

'' (1995) and Nigel Tranter's novel ''David the Prince'' (1980).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntingdon, Maud, Countess of 1070s births 1130 deaths Maud Maud, Countess of Huntingdon English countesses Medieval Scottish nobility 11th-century Scottish people 12th-century Scottish people 11th-century Scottish women 12th-century Scottish women 11th-century English women 11th-century English people 12th-century English women 12th-century English people 12th-century women rulers