Leofwin, nephew of Leofric, Earl of Mercia (husband of Lady Godiva). After the Conquest, the land around Monks Kirby came into the ownership of Geoffrey de la Guerche, a Breton knight who married Aelgifu, Leofwin's daughter. Geoffrey rebuilt the Anglo Saxon church which had "burst asunder", possibly in fighting between Saxons and Normans in the immediate post-Conquest period. Geoffrey endowed the rebuilt church with lands (notably the village of Copston Magna), and gave it as a priory to the Benedictine Abbey of St Nicolas in Anjou in France. The Priory was named in honour of the Virgin Mary and St Denis. Unusually, the text of the founding Charter for the Priory survives: The dedication took place on 1 July 1077 and the Charter tells us the names of the first monks – Geoffrey, Ranulf, Stephen, Maurice, Roger and Herman. After Geoffrey's death, his estates, including the lands around Monks Kirby reverted to the King, who subsequently granted them to Nigel d'Aubigny, the father of Roger de Mowbray whose descendants were to become Earls of Nottingham and Dukes of Norfolk. The Newnham family (who took their name from the estate) are recorded as holding the Newnham Paddox Estate under the Mowbrays from the 1100s. 1100-1500 The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were Monks Kirby's highpoint. The monks produced at least one beautiful illuminated book and many miracles were apparently wrought at the Priory (see Monks Kirby Priory). In 1266 Henry III granted the monks a fair at Midsummer and a weekly market, a result of Monks Kirby's growing importance. The name of one of the village streets, Bond End, reflects the boundary between the feudal tenant farmers ("bondsmen") and the properties of the traders and craftsmen who operated around the Priory Church. Through the fourteenth and early fifteenth century the Hundred Years War with France caused major problems for French-led priories like Monks Kirby. Money was short - the priory's estates were intermittently confiscated by the King - and discipline was poor: in 1330 Monks Kirby's Benedictines had needed to be reminded of basic rules such as the non-admission of women to the monastery, and their duty to the poor. Having nearly fallen into ruin, the church was substantially rebuilt in around 1380. The basic structure and shape of the church today dates from this reconstruction, as well as one of the church's current eight bells. In 1415 Henry V agreed that