TANCARVILLE Tancrède

Bef 0890 -

• Name	TANCARVILLE Tancrède
  Birth	Bef 0890	Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark
  Gender	Male
  Death	Tancarville, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France
  Notes	The Normans, or Norsemen, raided the shores of England and France from their homes in Scandinavia. The most prominent of these Norsemen was Hrólf, the Viking. whose name was Latinized to "Rollo" ... Rollo and his followers eventually seized Normandy in northern France, and their possession of the land was formalized by the Treaty of St Clair-sur-Epte between Charles III of France and Rollo, in the year 911. One of the foremost of the Vikings under Rollo was Tancrède. He was with Rollo at St. Clair-sur-Epte, and receiving his reward of the land of and surrounding what was to becomes Tancarville, settled there and eventually was built a fortified Castle on his demesne, le Ville de Tancrède, on the first promontory guarding the mouth of the Seine River. Tancarville was an "allodium", signifying absolute ownership by Tancrède, as contrasted with a "fief". signifying lands held subject to the King or another Noble. Tancrède is first recorded as holding his land in 912 and lacking much more information on same, we must speculate that only his Manor House (la Ancien Manoir) and probably, at least some, if not all of the structure(s) along the length of Rabels Fossé, existed in the first two generations, until Raoul FitzGerald fortified it substantially, with massive walls all around (6 to 18 feet thick), adding "le Tour Carrée" (the Square Tower), "le Chambre Aux Chevaliers" (the Knights Chamber), and much more, transforming it into one of the most respected Château Forts in the Pays de Caux and beyond. "Tancarville castle was the seat of one of the most powerful lineages of the Pays de Caux ... This family, grand officers of the crown, were as mentioned, early landowners in the Lillebonne region. Infamous in Knightly accomplishments and during the ducal epoch, becoming that of the Hereditary Chamberlains of Normandy." The castle was located on the extremity of a triangular spur, detached from the hillsides of the Seine with a large deep ditch separating it from the plateau and a huge Fossé between the structure and le Boulevard Coquésant. A first castle was founded for a lord named Tancredi who gave his name to the castle fort built on a spur overlooking the Seine to Raoul de Tancarville, Chamberlain of William the Conqueror in the 11th century.[3] Sources ↑ Colonial England, 1066-1215, by J. C. Holt, p. 228 ↑ Histoire du château et des sires de Tancarville by Achille Deville ↑ Des Forts, Philippe - Ministère de la Culture France Des Forts, Philippe - Ministère de la Culture France - le Château Fort de Tancarville Histoire du château et des sires de Tancarville" by Achille Deville, N. Périaux, 1834 - Histoire de Tancarville Châteaux-forts et fortifications en France, Paris, J. Mesqui 1997, p. 370-372. WASHBURN FAMILY FOUNDATIONS in Normandy, England and America, by Mabel Thacher Rosemary Washburn http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89062009634;view=1up;seq=7 The Battle Abbey Roll with Some Accounts of the Norman Lineages, by Duchess of Cleveland, publ. 1889 by John Murray, London, England. http://www.1066.co.nz/library/battle_abbey_roll3/subchap117.htm
  Person ID	I60185	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Family
  Children	1. TANCARVILLE Rabel,   b. Abt 0915, Tancarville, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France  [Father: natural]
  Family ID	F347634	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026