 The first Count of Malta was Margerito de Brindisi, a sailor of Greek descent or origin from the city of Brindisi (south Italy), who was granted the fief by Tancred of Lecce then King of Sicily, for his service as admiral for the Kingdom, known at the time as ammiratus ammiratorum, in 1192, perhaps for his unexpected success in capturing Empress Constance the contender for Sicilian crown against Tancred.Margerito de Brindisi then lost his fiefs including Malta in 1194 when Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor husband of Constance took control of the kingdom by military invasion.In 1197 on the death of Henry VI the title was given to Guglielmo (William) Grasso a Genoese pirate which was one of many North Italian and German warlords who had great interests in the new territory that was now open to them.