Enrico Pescatore

Enrico Pescatore (* before 1200; † 1230 ), and Enrico il Pescatore (Heinrich Fischer '), born as Arrigo de Castro or Enrico de Castillo , was an adventurer and privateer in the early 13th century, with Pescatore his nickname was .

In 1203 or 1204, Enrico Pescatore received the title of Count of Malta . The title was bestowed on Margaritone di Brindisi in 1192 by Tankred of Lecce , King of Sicily from 1190 until his death in February 1194 . After the removal of Tankred's son Wilhelm III. as king in December 1194 and assumption of rule over Sicily by the Hohenstaufen the title under Henry VI. , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily, to the Admiral of Sicily , Guglielmo Grasso . Enrico acquired the title of Count of Malta because of his relationships as the son-in-law and heir of Guglielmo Grasso.

In 1206 Enrico was able to occupy large parts of Crete as an ally of the Republic of Genoa , where he established several fortifications such as Belvedere , Bonifacio near Kasteli in the municipality of Kofinas , Bonriparo , Castel Nuovo , Mirabello near Agios Nikolaos , Malvesin , Mylopotamos near Panormos , Pediada near Kastelli , Temene and possibly Serakina (Kales) in Ierapetra built or expanded. Until 1210 he was driven off the island by the Venetians who made their claims on Crete.

At the beginning of 1221, Enrico / Heinrich was confirmed in the office of admiral by the young king and emperor Friedrich II, and thus entrusted with the supervision of a comprehensive fleet building program for the purpose of independent trade and the preparation of a crusade. Already in the summer of 1221 Heinrich set out with a fleet of 40 galleys on the Damiette crusade , which had been raging for three years. However, he reached the Egyptian port city of Damiette , which had been conquered by the crusaders, too late , because they had already set out on the march against Cairo . At al-Mansura the crusaders fell into a trap of the Egyptian sultan and had to surrender in September 1221, Heinrich could no longer rush to their aid. Because of his supposed failure he fell out of favor with the emperor in 1223, which resulted in the loss of his office and the county of Malta. But a short time later he was again accepted by grace and his title recognized again, but without jurisdiction over the castrum of Malta.

In August 1225 Heinrich transported Bishop Jacob from Capua to Acre , who represented the emperor there in his long-distance marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem . He then transferred the bride to Brindisi , where she was personally married to the emperor on November 9th. In the following years Heinrich worked diplomatically for the emperor, especially during his crusade (1228–1229) with the pope who was enemies with him. In the last days of April 1229, he led the emperor in the Holy Land with a reinforcement fleet of 20 galleys, which had already been requested in October of the previous year. However, the emperor ended his crusade in May 1229, so that Heinrich was able to transport him back to Sicily immediately.

literature

• Wolfgang Stürner : Friedrich II . 3. Edition. Primus, Darmstadt 2009, ISBN 978-3-89678-664-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Stanley Fiorini: The De Malta Genoese Counts of Malta: c.1192 - c. 1320. (No longer available online.) Mhs.eu.pn, archived from the original on May 4, 2014 ; accessed on August 5, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Stephen Abela: The di Brindisi family. www.maltagenealogy.com, November 14, 2013, accessed August 5, 2014 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Roberto Damiani: Enrico Pescatore. www.corsaridelmediterraneo.it, accessed on August 5, 2014 (Italian). 
4. ↑ Antonis Thomas Vasillakis: The Ancient Cities of Crete. Panormos. Kairatos Editions, June 16, 2014, accessed August 5, 2014 . 
5. ↑ Ierapetra - Sights. Kales. (No longer available online.) Www.ierapetra.net, 2002, archived from the original on September 4, 2007 ; accessed on August 5, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ^ Ellis L. Knox: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Frederick II. The ORB, August 28, 2003, accessed August 5, 2014 . 

Web links

• Roberto Damiani: Enrico Pescatore. www.corsaridelmediterraneo.it, accessed on August 5, 2014 (Italian). 
• Hubert Houben: Enrico di Malta. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 42 (1993). www.treccani.it, accessed on August 5, 2014 (Italian).