Henry, Count of Malta

Henry, Count of Malta was a Genoese Lord of Candia ( at birth count Enrico de Candia in the Canavese, Piedmont), adventurer, privateer and pirate active in the Mediterranean at the beginning of the thirteenth century. He is known as Enrico or Henrico Pescatore (Pescatore, 'fisherman' in Italian, being a nickname), or Pistore in reference to his fiefdon and family branch of the Normand counts of Prato Pistoia "dei conti de Candia Pistoia" of the House of Candia.

The title Count of Malta was created by Tancred of Sicily some years before, for Margaritus of Brindisi and then was taken over by Emperor Henry VI, Tancred's opponent in Southern Italy and Sicily. Henry’s irregular acquisition of the title is attributed to his relationship as son-in-law to the previous holder, Guglielmo Grasso, Henry VI's and then Emperor Frederick II’s admiral, around 1204.

He took control of large parts of Crete from 1206, but was pushed out a few years later by the Venetians. The Genoese held onto Chania, and in 1211 his fellow Genoese, Alamanno da Costa, began a campaign against Crete.

He was employed with imperial galleys in the Eastern Mediterranean, in particular in 1225 transporting Yolande of Jerusalem to marry the Emperor Frederick.