TANCRED of Hauteville. – Prince of Antioch, b. ca. 1072, d. at Antioch 12 Dec. 1112.
He followed his uncle BOHEMOND in the First Crusade (1096); he fought valiantly at Nicaea, Jerusalem, and Ascalon. He aspired to the crown of Jerusalem, but in vain, though his candidacy could be supported by the inestimable treasure of the Mosque of Omar, which he had seized at the fall of Jerusalem. He held the title of Prince of Galilee and defended valorously the domains of himself and his uncle Bohemond against infidels and Christians alike. T. TASSO immortalized him in the *Gerusalemme Liberata*, extolling him as the type of the Christian knight.
BIBL.: Rodulfus Cadensis, *Gesta Tancredi*, in *Recueil des hist. des Croisades, Hist. occid.*, III, Paris 1880, pp. 603-716 (also in *PL* 155, 491-540); L. Bréhier, *L'Église et l'Orient au moyen âge. Les Croisades*, 6th ed., Paris 1928 (q.V. index); F. Chalandon, *Essai sur le règne d'Alexis Comnène*, ibid. 1900; R. Grousset, *Histoire des Croisades*, II, ibid. 1936 (q.V. index).