Tancred/Bio & Battles

Tancred was the 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 the 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 of 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 distrustful of the Byzantines.

In 1097, the Crusaders divided their forces at Heraclea and Tancred entered the Levant by passing throught the Cicilian Gates. He displayed the skills of a brilliant tactician by seizing five of the most important sites in Cicilian Pedias, which included the ancient cities of Tarsus and Adana, the great emporium of 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, Tacred imprisoned Raymond of Saint-Gilles in 1101/02.