Henry of Almain

Henry of Almain, also known as Henry of Cornwall, was the eldest son of Richard, Earl of Cornwall who later became King of the Romans, and his first wife Isabel Marshal. His surname, Almain, originates from a phonetic shift in the pronunciation of d’Allemagne, meaning ‘of Germany’, attributed to his father’s position as the elected German King of Almayne.

Henry was knighted following his father’s coronation as King of the Romans. He initially showed indecision during the Barons’ War, oscillating between support for his uncle Henry III and Simon de Montfort, but ultimately sided with the royalists. Captured after the Battle of Lewes, he was eventually released. In 1268, he vowed to partake in a crusade but was sent back from Sicily to address unrest in Gascony. His life was cut short when he was assassinated by his cousins in Viterbo, Italy, while attending mass. His marriage to Constance of Béarn produced no offspring, leaving his half-brother Edmund as their father’s heir.