Born in
Piove di Sacco, near
Padua, he was descended from a
Spanish noble family and was the youngest son of Antonio Davila, Grand Constable of
Cyprus. His name was given in honour of
Henry III of France and
Catherine de' Medici. His immediate ancestors had been
constables of the
Kingdom of Cyprus for the
Venetian republic since 1464. In 1570 the island was taken by the
Turks; and Antonio Davila, the father of the historian, had to leave for Padua, despoiled of all his possessions. In 1583 Antonio took this son to France, where he became a page in the service of
Catherine de' Medici, wife of
King Henry II. In due time he entered the military service and fought through the French civil wars until the peace in 1598. In 1599, he returned to Padua where he stayed until 1606. Subsequently, he travelled to
Parma,
Rome and
Rovigo and finally settled to
Tinos (1609–1615) where he held the post of governor. At Tinos he met and married his wife Ursula delli Ascuffi. Later in his life Enrico was assigned as a governor of the Venetian possessions of
Cattaro (1618–1621) and
Zara (1623–1628). Also in 1621, he participated in a Venetian diplomatic mission to
Florence, under the leadership of Alvise Valaresso. Enrico Davila was murdered, while on his way to take possession of the government of
Cremona for Venice in May 1631, by a ruffian, with whom a dispute arose about relays of horses ordered for his use by the Venetian government. Davila was killed by a pistol bullet; the murderer's aides also killed the family
chaplain but the murderer was killed by Enrico's son 'Antonio' and the rest of the attackers were captured and then publicly executed in Verona. ==The
Istoria==