Matilda Huntingdon

Matilda was the only child of Waltheof , Count of Northumbria , and Judith Lansky , daughter of Lambert II , Count Lance , and Adelaide of Normandy , sister of William the Conqueror . In 1075, Walteof became one of the organizers of the " uprising of three graphs " against the English king, after the defeat of which he was executed, and his titles and possessions confiscated. Nevertheless, King William II recognized the title of Countess of Huntingdon for her. In 1090, Matilda was married to Simon de Senlis , Earl of Northampton , whom Mathilda’s mother Judith Lansky had previously refused to marry. Simon de Senlis was an associate of King William II and received as a result of this marriage a significant part of the former possessions of Walteof in Middle and East England.

Simon de Senlis died in 1109. Four years later, Matilda married again: the Scottish Prince David , the younger brother of King Alexander I, became her husband. David was brought up at the English court in the traditions of the Norman feudal culture and was the main instrument of influence of the Anglon-Norman monarchy in Scotland. Under pressure from King Henry I, David received from his brother in full possession a large part of southern Scotland, including Lothian , the valley of Clyde and Cumbria . Anglo-Norman culture and customs, as well as English, began to quickly penetrate this principality. David's relationship with England became even stronger in 1113, when he married Matilda Huntingdon. Matilda’s possessions in Huntingdonshire , Northamptonshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and six other counties of England came under the control of David. The marriage with Matilda made David one of the largest magnates of England, and her descent from Waltheof gave him reason to claim the vast county of Northumbria in the northern part of the country. In 1124, after the death of Alexander I, David was crowned king of Scotland, and Matilda became the Scottish queen.

The political consequences of the marriage of David and Matilda of Huntingdon appeared fully after the death of Matilda, which, according to the reports of John Fordunsky , followed in 1130. Bypassing Matilda’s children from her first marriage, her possessions and the title of Count of Huntingdon were retained by David I, in conjunction with whom the English king Henry I needed. As a result, the kings of Scotland, starting with David I, were deeply involved in the internal political life of England. Being owners of extensive possessions in Central England, they were vassals of the English kings, which, given the vagueness of the wording of homage , created a dangerous excuse for claiming suzerainty over Scotland itself. On the other hand, the rights of the descendants of Matilda and Simon de Senlis were often used by the English monarchs to put pressure on the Scottish kings: the title of Count Huntingdon and the Middle English lands accompanying him were periodically confiscated and transferred to representatives of the Senlis family, which provoked new rounds of Anglo-Scottish diplomatic and military confrontation. Another aspect of the consequences of the marriage of Matilda and David I was a close acquaintance of the king and his successors with the Middle English nobility and chivalry. Later immigrants from Northamptonshire , Huntingdonshire , Cambridgeshire and other counties of Central England were massively allocated land in Scotland, reinforcing the Anglo-Normandy character of the new Scottish feudal aristocracy.

From marriage (1090) with Simon de Senlis , 1st Earl of Northampton , Matilda had several children, including:

• Matilda de Senlis , married to Robert Fitz-Richard (1064–1136), the younger brother of Gilbert de Kler , the founder of the house de Clair;
• Simon de Senlis (died in 1153), 2nd Earl of Northampton , Earl of Huntingdon ;
• Walteof the Holy (c. 1095-1159), abbot of the monastery of Melrose in Scotland .

From marriage (1113) with David I , King of Scotland , Matilda had one child — Heinrich (1114–1152), Count Huntingdon , father of the Scottish kings Malcolm IV, and Wilhelm I Leo .

Matilda Huntingdon, her parents and her first marriage are the main actors and events of the historical novels of the modern British writer Elizabeth Chadwick :

• Winter Mantle ( The Winter Mantle ), released in 2002 and published in Russian in 2005;
• “The Falcons of Montabard” (published in 2002 and not published in Russian).

• John Fordunsky. Chronica gentis Scotorum.
• Duncan, AAM Scotland: Making of the Kingdom. - Edinburgh, 1975, ISBN 978-0-901824-83-7
• McKenzie, A. The birth of Scotland. - SPb, 2003. ISBN 5-8071-0120-0

• The Genealogy of Matilda Huntingdon