Editing Tancred, King of Sicily (section)

== Early career ==
After the death of Duke Roger, to prevent any future trouble, King Roger II kept Tancred and his younger brother William in close custody in Palermo.<ref>F. Giunta, ''Magnus comito Tancredus, Storiografia e storia, Studi in onore di Eugenio Dupré Theiseider II'', Roma 1976, 648.</ref>

On 9 March 1161, Tancred joined his uncle [[Simon, Prince of Taranto]], in invading the palace, detained the king and queen, [[William I of Sicily|William I]] and [[Margaret of Navarre (Sicilian queen)|Margaret]], and their two sons, and incited a massacre of Muslims. Originally, the older of these two sons, [[Roger IV, Duke of Apulia]], was destined to be crowned in place of William, but soon the populace supported the accession of Simon himself. Before Simon could put himself forward as a candidate, however, the rebellion had broken down and the people were restless. The insurrectionists were forced to free the king and retreat to their castles. Pardon was given them on condition of exile and many, including Tancred, took the offer. Tancred was exiled to [[Constantinople]] and returned to Sicily in 1166 upon the accession of the new king, his cousin [[William II of Sicily|William II]].

In 1174, a large fleet, led by Tancred on behalf of William II, sailed to Egypt and [[Siege of Alexandria (1174)|briefly besieged]] the city of [[Alexandria]]. The Sicilians realised that their expected allies would not be coming (due to King [[Amalric I of Jerusalem]]'s death) and with [[Saladin]]'s army approaching they returned to their ships and sailed home.<ref>[[Steven Runciman]], ''A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East 1100-1187'', Penguin Books, 1990, p. 403.</ref>

As William II was heirless, Tancred had a chance to claim the throne; to prevent this, in October 1184 William released his aunt [[Constance I of Sicily|Constance]] from monastery, approved her marriage and designated her as his heir.<ref>''Gisleberti chronicon Hanoniense'', c. 33, ed. L. Vanderkindere, Bruxelles 1904, 66.</ref>

In June 1185, Tancred led a huge Sicilian fleet of 300 ships under the command of [[Richard, Count of Acerra]] his brother-in-law to Durazzo to attack the core of the Byzantine Empire. In August, surrounded by navy and army, Thessaloniki was occupied and looted. The Sicilian army was then heavily damaged by the army of the Byzantine emperor [[Isaac II]] and was annihilated on the way back to the Balkans, while the fleet of Tancred returned to Sicily unharmed.

In June 1186, Tancred and [[Margaritus of Brindisi]] led the Norman fleet to Cyprus, whose Byzantine governor, [[Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus|Isaac Comnenus]], had rebelled against Isaac II. They swiftly defeated the expeditionary force which Isaac II had sent against the rebels, capturing 70 warships. Margaritus was later made Count of [[Zakynthos]], [[Cephalonia]], and [[Ithaki]].

Tancred was the governor of Lecce, where he built the Church of St. Nicholas in Catado (1180), the St. Maria church complex near [[Squinzano]] and the important works in [[Otranto Cathedral]].