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Hauteville

Hauteville coat-of-arms

The House of Hauteville was a medieval family that originated in Norway with Hiallt, a Norseman who settled in Manche, in the Cotetin Peninsula of France. It evolved into a Norman family and later became a Sicilian family, finally becoming the Kings of Jerusalem in the Crusades era.

History[]

Hiallt founded the House of Hauteville when he settled in the Cotetin Peninsula of France, building Hauteville, a village. His descendant Tancred of Hauteville, now known as a Norman rather than a Norwegian, had many sons, including Robert Guiscard ("The Cunning"), who invaded Apulia in southern Italy and conquered the land for the House of Hauteville and the Normans. The House of Hauteville expanded into Italy as well, with his marriage to an Apulian princess creating an Italian branch to the family as well as a French and Norse branch. The House of Hauteville soon became a Jewish family when Tancred of Lecce and Baldwin of Le Bourcq invaded the Holy Land in the First Crusade and became Kings of Jerusalem, while some stayed behind. A future descendant included Frederick II of Germany, who was the son of Constance of Sicily, a daughter of Roger II of Sicily who married Henry VI of Germany. The rest of the Holy Roman emperors related to Frederick were of Hauteville, the Kings of Sicily were as well, and unidentified people in Norway.

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