Tancred was a minor landowner in Normandy.
Goffredo Malaterra says that he was a knight of very noble lineage, who inherited the village of Hauteville (probably
Hauteville-la-Guichard, north-west of
Coutances, in
Normandy) from his ancestors. On the other hand,
Anna Komnene, in the
Alexiad, describes his son
Robert as of insignificant origin. In his youth, Tancred dedicated himself to his military abilities, and jumped through a number of different
courts. Supposedly, while residing at the court of
Richard II, Duke of Normandy, he went hunting with him, and heroically killed a boar. Instead of being punished (as it was medieval custom that only the duke could slay the hunt’s target), Tancred was praised for his actions. From then on, he served in the duke’s court, commanding a small group of ten knights on his behalf. Aside from this tale, little else is known about him, and he doesn't seem to have had any exceptional characteristic, aside from his persistent fecundity. His first wife was a certain Muriella, whom Malaterra records being "distinguished for her morals and noble birth". When Muriella died, Tancred married
Fressenda, whom, according to Malaterra, "in birth and morals was by no means inferior to his first wife". Malaterra specifies the reasons of Tancred's choice to remarry: ==Issue==