TANCREDI DI LECCE

TANCREDI di LECCE. - Principe normanno, figlio naturale di Ruggero di Puglia e di Emma dei conti di Lecce, insignito egli stesso dal 1149 del titolo di conte di Lecce.
TANCREDI di LECCE. - Principe normanno, figlio naturale di Ruggero di Puglia e di Emma dei conti di Lecce, insignito egli stesso dal 1149 del titolo di conte di Lecce.

In 1154 he took refuge in Constantinople fearing the machinations of William I, who suspected him of being a possible pretender to the crown, despite his illegitimacy. He returned to his homeland after 1166 and, favored by William II, won the sympathy of the nobility of the Kingdom for his moral qualities, despite his unfortunate appearance. In 1189, they opposed him to Henry VI, who was to inherit the crown and the Kingdom of Sicily through his wife Constance. Crowned in Palermo in 1190, Tancred sought allies among the enemies of Henry VI in Italy, Germany, England, and the East. The armies that Henry VI raised against him suffered heavy losses from epidemics and military setbacks, but Tancred’s death in 1194 and the succession of the young William III favored Henry VI’s final success.

Bibl.: H. Tocche, Kaiser Heinrich VI., Leipzig 1867; F. Chalandon, La domination normande en Italie, Paris 1937; F. De Stefano, Storia della Sicilia dal sec. XI al XIX, Bari 1948, and the bibliography cited therein.

Gina Fasoli

TANGANICA - 1) [Colonial boundaries; 2) ecclesiastical circumscription boundaries; 3) railways.]