Lady Judith de Lens of Boulogne 1
- Born: 1054, Lens, Artois/Pas-de-Calais, France
- Married (1): 1070, Artois, France
- Married (2): After 1076
- Died: After 1086, Walthamstow, West Ham, Essex, England
 Research Notes:
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 dau. to a state of privation and obscurity in the Isle of Ely and other places, while he 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 dau., the Lady Maud, who became his wife, when William conferred upon the said Simon de St. Liz, the Earldoms of Huntingdon and Northampton. 2
NOTE: The parentage of Judith of Lens has come under critical study since the early 1970's, when Enguerrand II was thought by some to be her father. The currently acceptable parentage among most scholars is as stated, i.e., Lambert of Boulogne. 3
---------------------------------
The foundation charter of Saint-Martin d’Auchy narrates the church’s foundation by “Guerinfrido qui condidit castellum…Albamarla” and names “Engueranni consulis qui filius fuit Berte supradicti Guerinfridi filie et Adelidis comitisse uxoris sue sororis…Willelmi Regis Anglorum” and “Addelidis comitissa supradicti Engueranni et supradicte Adelidis filia…Judita comitissa domine supradicte filia”. The Vita et Passio Waldevi Comitis records that “Waldevus” married “rex Willelmus…neptem suam Juettam filiam comitis Lamberti de Lens, sororem…Stephani comitis de Albemarlia”. A manuscript records that “Juditha comitissa…uxor Waldevi comitis Huntingdon, et neptis Gulielmi Conquestoris” founded Elstow priory. Orderic Vitalis records that King William I granted "comitatum Northamtoniæ" to "Guallevo comiti filio Sivardi" and "Judith neptem suam" in marriage. Orderic Vitalis records that "Judith uxoris suæ" betrayed “Guallevus comes” to the king in relation to the conspiracy with the earls of Hereford and Norfolk of which he was accused. 4
Marriage Information:
Judith married Waltheof II Siwardsson of Huntington, Earl of Northumbria, son of Siward "Digera" Bjornsson, Earl of Northumbriao and Ælfled (Elfleda) of Bernicia, in 1070 in Artois, France. (Waltheof II Siwardsson was born about 1046 in Huntington, Northumberland, England, died on 31 May 1076 in St. Giles Hill, Winchester, England and was buried in Crowland Abbey, Crowland, Lincolnshire, England.
Marriage Information:
Judith also married Ives de Taillebois, 1st Baron of Kendal, son of Foulques III "Nerra" d' Anjou, 5th Count of Anjou, and Ctse Hildegarde d' Anjou et Lorraine, after 1076. (Ives de Taillebois was born about 1036 in Cristot, Calvados, Normandy, France and died in 1094 in Kendal, Cambria, England.)
|
