Simon de Manning

I found this on the Internet and cannot vouch for its authenticity or veracity:

Simon de Manning, 12th Century

Baron, Knight, Crusader and Lord of the Castle at village of Bertrey.

He was the seventh great-grandfather of Phebe Manning, wife of James Waters of London.According to Walter Nathan Waters in his unpublished notes entitled "The Waters Family of West Sutton, Mass. 1720-1935": Simon de Manning lived about 1230. Quoting Walter: "The first Simon de Manning, said by one authority to be a grandson of Rudolph of Mannheim (970), was the first English baron to take up the cross and go with King Richard I, Coeur de Lion, (1189-1199) to the Holy Wars in the Second Crusade, when he was knighted. He died during the reign of King Henry III (1217-1261).

Simon was the grandson of Gilbert de Maminot, born about 1050, whowas a Norman, a member of William the Conqueror's people who came from Normandy, France.The French invasion of England occurred in 1066 when Gilbert was about 16.Perhaps he fought in the battle for England.

The battle was fought at Hastings in the southern tip of England. Harold, the English king had been up in the northernmost part of England (Scotland) fighting the Norse King. The English King won the battle with the Vikings. Hearing that the French invaders
were raping the English women, he and his English army made a forced march all the way down through England. It's no wonder the Frenchman, William, killed Harold at Hastings. Immediately after their king's death, the English surrendered.