Henry, Count of Montescaglioso

Henry (before 1144–1173×77), born Rodrigo, was a son of the Navarrese king García Ramírez and his wife, Margaret of L'Aigle, and brother of the Sicilian queen dowager Margaret, who made him Count of Montescaglioso (1166) and then Count of the Principate (1168).

The chief primary source for Henry's life is the Sicilian court chronicler known as Hugo Falcandus. He is an extremely unfriendly source to Henry. He reports the rumour that Henry was never acknowledged as a son by the Navarrese king and was considered a bastard, the product of one the queen's affairs. This is contradicted by the actions of his sister, who always treated him as a full brother of royal blood. Henry's birth name, also, is evidence of legitimacy, for he was probably named after King García's illustrious grandfather, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid. Falcandus sums up Henry's appearance (short and swarthy) and character thus:

This Henry was low in stature, had a thin beard and a disagreeably dark complexion. He was rash and maladroit in conversation, a man interested only by dice and gambling, and he had no other desire than to have a playmate and money to lose.

Upon his arrival in Sicily Margaret made him change his name from Rodrigo (Latin Rodericus), which sounded strange to the local nobility, to the more palatable Henry (Latin Henricus).

Henry arrived in the kingdom of Sicily between May and September 1166. His sister had been, since the death of her husband, William I of Sicily, regent in the name of her young son, William II. In May or a short time after, perhaps before his arrival, he was married to an illegitimate daughter of Roger II and thus his sister's sister-in-law. On this occasion he was invested with Montescaglioso on the mainland, probably to keep him out of court politics. He was also given the fiefs of Noto, Sclafani and Caltanissetta on the island, territories which had been governed by Geoffrey, the previous Count of Montescaglioso, before his imprisonment for taking part in the rebellion of 1155–56.

...
Wikipedia