Maud, Countess of Huntingdon ( 1074–1130) or Matilda, was Queen of Alba as the wife of King David I. She was the great-niece of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

and the granddaughter of Earl Siward.

Biography

Maud was the daughter of Waltheof, the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

Earl of Huntingdon and

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, and his French wife

Judith of Lens Judith of Lens (born Normandy, between 1054 and 1055 - died Fotheringhay, c. 1090) was a niece of William the Conqueror. She was a daughter of Lambert II, Count of Lens and Adelaide of Normandy (Countess of Aumale), the sister of William the ...

. 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 Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

in 1066, and the son of

Siward, Earl of Northumbria Siward ( or more recently ; ) or Sigurd (, ) 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-contemporary texts. It is possibl ...

. 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 ( ; – 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 both died when Alfr ...

and

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, 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 series of civil wars during t ...

and a cousin of

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (; ; ; ; 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as pri ...

. 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 (; – 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 son of William the Co ...

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 of Tonbridge; she married secondly

Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester (c. 1155 – 3 November 1219) was one of the leaders of the baronial rebellion against John, King of England, and a major figure in both the kingdoms of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of England, ...

. * Simon II 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") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, the brother-in-law of

Henry I of England Henry I ( – 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 1087, Henr ...

, 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 county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

and

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

. They had four children (two sons and two daughters): # Malcolm (born in 1113 or later, died young) #

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

( 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 in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, 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 (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

's novel '' Voice of the Fire'' (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 12th-century Scottish nobility 11th-century Scottish people 11th-century Scottish women 12th-century Scottish women 11th-century English women 11th-century English nobility 12th-century English women 12th-century English nobility