THE EARLS OF HUNTINGDON

Loxleys connection with the "Earldom of Huntingdon" is through Waltheof, (a.k.a. Waldef meaning "Forest Thief"). He was the Earl of Huntingdon and was the Lord of the manor of Hallam overlooking Loxley. In 1070 AD Waltheof, the Earl of Huntingdon, married William the Conqueror’s niece, Judith de Lens. Their children were three girls. After the execution of Waltheof, Earl of Huntingdon, King William offered Judith, his niece, the deceased earl's widow, in marriage to Simon St.Liz, a noble Norman, but the lady peremptorily rejected the alliance, owing, Dugdale says, to St. Liz's halting in one leg, which refusal so displeased the Conqueror that he immediately seized upon the castle and honour of Huntingdon, which the countess held in dower, exposing herself and her daughters to a state of privation and obscurity in the Isle of Ely and other places, while he (William) bestowed upon the said Simon St. Liz the town of Northampton and the whole hundred of Falkeley, then valued at £40 per annum, to provide shoes for his horses. St. Liz thus disappointed in obtaining the hand of the Countess of Huntingdon, made his addresses with greater success to her elder daughter, the Lady Maud, who be came his wife, when William conferred upon the said Simon de St. Liz, the Earldoms of Huntingdon and Northampton. (See note 1)

 

When Simon de Senlis died in France, returning from pilgrimage, Maud married David, King of Scots making her the Queen of Scots. At the same time the earldom of Huntingdon was transfered to David, the King of Scots, making him the tenant in chief of Hallamshire including Loxley. Ever since then the Senlis family always believed the earldom of Huntingdon was rightfully theirs on the grounds that Simon-de-Senlis was Matilda’s first husband. As a result of their claim, they successfully recovered most of the Huntingdon lands, although some possessions remained with the Scots along with the title 'Earl of Huntingdon.' Even so the title to the Earldom of Huntingdon remained in dispute, switching between the Senlis family and the Scots as can be seen below.

Earldom of Huntingdon
1. Earl Waltheof "Earl of Huntingdon" married Judith de Lens, the niece of William the Conqueror. They had three daughters, the eldest of whom was Maud/Matilda.

2. At Waltheofs death his eldest daughter Maud married Simon de Senlis who became the new Earl of Huntingdon. The honour was recognised around the year 1089AD. They had a child called "Robert Fitz Waltheof de SAINT LIZ" whose birthright was the Earldom of Huntingdon.

3. When Maud’s first husband Simon de Saint Liz died, Maud married secondly Prince David who became King of Scots. On the occasion of their marriage the Earldom of Huntingdon passed to Prince David, bypassing "Robert Fitz Waltheof de SAINT LIZ" who lost his inheritance.

 

4. Events took over and in March of 1136AD King David resigned the Earldom of Huntingdon to his son Prince Henry.

5. During the “Anarchy” the Earldom of Huntingdon was given to "Robert Fitz Waltheof de SAINT LIZ" by Stephen as an inducement for Simon’s support while Stephen made his bid for the English throne in opposition to Matilda the Empress who was supported by her uncle David, king of Scots. The two factions opposed each other in the Anarchy, and both parties were contenders for the honour of Huntingdon. By the end of the conflict the earldom had reverted to Prince Henry of the Scots, who did homage to Stephen for the earldom, whilst pursuing his claim for the earldom of Northumbria also. This was later granted to him after the Treaty of Durham in 1139AD along with the borough of Doncaster and Carlisle as an augmentation thereof.

6. When Prince Henry died in 1152AD, "Robert Fitz Waltheof de SAINT LIZ" stepped forward and took control of Huntingdon again.

7. When "Robert Fitz Waltheof de SAINT LIZ" died shortly afterwards, King Henry II in 1153AD, granted the earldom of Huntingdon back to Henry's son Malcolm the Maiden as part of an overall settlement with the Scottish king that involved him in surrendering his claims on Northumbria. This happened at Peveril Castle in Derbyshire.

8. On Malcolm’s death, the earldom of Huntingdon passed to his brother William the Lion in 1165.

9. William however, supported the rebellion of Henry's sons in 1173AD and as a result Simon of Senlis III (the grandson of the original) was permitted to seize control of Huntingdon and was recognised as Earl of Huntingdon in 1174AD.

10. The Canmore's however did not give up and when Simon de Senlis III died without issue in 1184 the earldom was re-granted to William the Lion. William held it for a short while before he passed it to his brother David in 1185AD who resigned the title in 1219AD to his son John, otherwise known as John the Scot or more properly “John the Prince of Scotland.” John also subsequently became Earl of Chester. When John the Scot died childless in 1237AD the earldom reverted to the crown to prevent the estates being divided up amongst the three sisters of John le Scot who had married into the Bruce, Balliol and Hastings families. The Hastings family later gained the title “Earls of Huntingdon” and ever since Henry VIII christened George Hasting's son in 1529 as [Hon] Aubrey Craven Theophilus Robin Hood Hastings, the male children have always been given the middle names “Robin Hood.”

Note 1.
[Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p.467-8, St. Liz, Earls of Huntingdon]