Simon de Tosny
Abstract.
Generations of historians and atiquarians have struggled to determine even a simple detail, such as the correct family name of Simon, Bishop of Moray (1171-1184). This short biography reveals the essential details of Simon's life. Unfortunately, many students pass by in ignorance of the fact that Simon was one of the great church leaders of his time, without whom the Church in Scotland would have been simply subsumed within the territory of the archbishops of York. This bishop of Moray deserves a very special place when telling the history of the Church in the north.
Simon, himself, deserves to be better known, but his illustrious family of "de Tosny" is even more worthy of regard of the highest order. Members of this family, including Simon's father and grandfather, carved out military careers that were on a par with "el Cid" in Moorish Spain. They were in the van of the Norman 'conquest' of southern Italy, and commanded the greatest respect within the Norman territories of the Cotentin. To crown it all, they were hereditary standard-bearers (gonfaloniers) of Normandy, ever at the side of the Dukes. So much needs to be told that a number of papers have been prepared on this website recounting the history of the Tosnys. They lay out the details of the family's history - its antecedents, its royal wives, and its ultimate demise for lack of male children - a story that it is bound to enthral even the most casual of readers!
