Henry Fitz-Count, 1st Earl of Cornwall

Henry Fitz-Count, 1st Earl of Cornwall (also Fitz-Earl , Latin Henricus filius Comitis , † 1222 ) was an English nobleman .

He was an illegitimate son of Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall and thus grandson of King Henry I of England .

After his father's death in 1175, the Earldom of Cornwall was withdrawn from the Crown for lack of legitimate heirs. In the following years Henry served as governor of Portchester Castle in Hampshire . In 1211 he was sheriff of Cornwall and constable of Launceston Castle . In 1216 King John Ohneland gave him the use of all domains of the County of Cornwall. After Johann's death he was on February 7, 1217 by the Regency Council for the minor King Heinrich III. installed in all dignities of his father and henceforth carried the title Earl of Cornwall . Whether this title was effectively awarded to him is controversial in the literature.

In the following years disputes arose over the duties to be paid by him to the crown, which escalated to such an extent that the Regency Council set up an army of knights that reached Exeter on September 1, 1220 . Henry then agreed with the Regency Council that he would hand over Cornwall County and Launceston Castle to the Crown for the time being and receive an immediate compensation payment of 500 marks and the promise of a further payment of at least 600 marks. About Henry's claims to the Earldom should from King Henry III. to be decided as soon as he becomes of legal age.

Henry then joined the Fifth Crusade and traveled to Outremer , where he died in 1222. His death preceded a decision on his earldom; since he left no children, his claim expired with his death.

literature

• George Edward Cokayne (Ed.): The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant . Volume 2, George Bell & Sons, London 1889, p. 361 f.
• Marlis Zeus: Provence and Occitania in the Middle Ages. A historical foray. Köster, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3895743356 , p. 353.
• Beatrice Nina Siedschlag: English Participation in the Crusades, 1150-1220. The Collegiate Press, Menasha 1939, p. 139.
• Dunstanville - Earl of Cornwall. In: John-Bernard Burke: A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland and Scotland, Extinct, Dormant and in Abeyance. Henry Colburh, London 1846, p. 185 f.
• David A. Carpenter: The Minority of Henry III. University of California Press, Berkeley 1990, ISBN 0520072391 .