Henry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo

Who was Henry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo?

Henry was the Count of Monte Sant'Angelo, with his seat at Foggia, from November 1081.

He was the second son of Robert, Count of Lucera, and Gaitelgrima, daughter of Guaimar IV of Salerno. The identity of his father is disputable. He was either the same person as a Robert who was Count of Devia between 1054 and 1081 or he was a son of Asclettin, Count of Aversa, and brother of Richard I of Capua. Henry's mother is known from one of his documents of 1098 which calls Guaimar IV avi mei.

Henry had an elder brother named Richard who served as count between 1072 and 1077 and was dead by March 1083. He also had a younger brother named William and a sister named Gaita who married Rao of Devia.

Henry was the perhaps the same Henry as rebelled between 1079 and 1080 against Robert Guiscard. He certainly participated in the revolt in Apulia in 1081, on the eve of the Guiscard's first Balkan campaign. This revolt was led by Geoffrey, Count of Conversano, and supported by Alexius I Comnenus but quashed by 1083. Nonetheless, Henry had, in during the insurrection, transferred his allegiance to the Byzantine Empire. Between March 1083 and June 1086, he dated his charters by the reign of Alexius I.