Tancred of Hauteville or Tancred of Antioch prince of Galilee (1099–1101) and regent of the principality
of Antioch (1101-1103
and 1104–1112).
Tancred was born around 1076, a scion of the Normandynasty
of Hauteville in southern Italy.
His parents were Odo “the Good Marquis” and Emma, a daughter of Robert Guiscard,
duke of Apulia and Calabria.
Tancred de Hauteville by his splendid character amply
compensated the defects of Bohemond, his kinsman. In history and romance he is
celebrated as the type of the perfect soldier:
"Than whom
is no nobler knight,
More mild in manner, fair in manly bloom,
Or more sublimely daring in the fight"
Dissatisfied with even the ideals of Chivalry, Tancred
hailed the new lustre that might be given to arms when wielded only in the
cause of justice, mercy, and faith, which, perhaps too sanguinely, he foresaw
in the crusade. Thus nobly seconded by Tancred, Bohemond took the field with
one hundred thousand horse
and twenty thousand foot.
In 1096 Tancred joined his maternal uncle, Bohemund of
Taranto, in taking part in the First Crusade (1096–1099) and very soon
distinguished himself as one of its chieftains, especially in the fighting at Nicaea (mod. Ωznik, Turkey) and
Dorylaion (near mod. Eskiflehir,
Turkey), to the
point that his uncle gave him the command of a company of knights. He then
penetrated into Cilicia, where he clashed with
Baldwin of Boulogne, brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, over the possession of
Tarsos (mod. Tarsus, Turkey). Tancred rejoined the
main armies at Antioch (mod. Antakya, Turkey),
where he played a significant role in the siege and the conquest of the city. After
the establishment of Bohemund’s principality at Antioch
(1098), Tancred continued toward Jerusalem,
joining first Raymond of Saint-Gilles and then Godfrey of Bouillon. Tancred
became one of the most important chiefs of Godfrey’s army; in June 1099 he
conquered Bethlehem on Godfrey’s behalf and, having joined him at
the siege of
Jerusalem, he commanded
raids to obtain materials for
building siege machines and ladders. During
the conquest of
the Holy City (15
July 1099), he seized the mosques
of the Temple Mount and claimed the lordship of the
area.
References:
William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. Krey (A. C.) and other, Columbia University Press, 1943.
Fulcher of Chartres, A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, 1095-1127, University of Tennessee Press, 1969.