Tancred, Prince of Galilee

Tancred
Tancred of Galilee
Regent of Antioch
Reign	1100–1103, 1105–1112
Predecessor	Bohemond I
Successor	Roger of Salerno
Prince of Galilee
Reign	1099-1101
Predecessor	Position established
Successor	Hugh of Saint Omer
Born	1075
Died	5 December 1112 (aged 37) Principality of Antioch
Burial	Church of Saint Peter, Antioch
Spouse	Cecile of France
House	Hauteville family
Father	Odo the Good Marquis
Mother	Emma of Hauteville

Tancred (1075 – December 5 or December 12, 1112) was an Italo-Norman leader of the First Crusade who later became Prince of Galilee and regent of the Principality of Antioch. Tancred had a great-grandfather with the same name, Tancred of Hauteville; since both Tancreds were from the house of Hauteville, they may be confused.

Tancred was a son of Emma of Hauteville and Odo the Good Marquis. His maternal grandparents were Robert Guiscard and Guiscard's first wife Alberada of Buonalbergo. Emma was also a sister of Bohemond of Taranto.

In 1096, Tancred joined his maternal uncle Bohemund on the First Crusade, and the two made their way to Constantinople. There, he was pressured to swear an oath to Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, promising to give back any conquered land to the Byzantine Empire. Although the other leaders did not intend to keep their oaths, Tancred refused to swear the oath altogether. He participated in the siege of Nicaea in 1097, but the city was taken by Alexius' army after secret negotiations with the Seljuk Turks. Because of this, Tancred was very distrustful of the Byzantines.

In 1097 the Crusaders divided their forces at Heraclea and Tancred entered the Levant by passing south through the Cilician Gates. He displayed the skills of a brilliant tactician by seizing five of the most important sites in Cilicia Pedias, which included the ancient cities of Tarsus and Adana, the great emporium at Mopsuestia, and the strategic castles at Sarvandikar and Anazarbus. The last three settlements were annexed to the Principality of Antioch. During their fourteen-year occupation of Anazarbus the Crusaders built the magnificent donjon atop the center of the fortified outcrop. At Sarvandikar, which controlled the strategic Amanus Pass, Tancred imprisoned Raymond of Saint-Gilles in 1101/02.