Tancred (Latin: Tancredus, 349 – 408 CE) was a Frankish chieftain, military commander and eventual “Overlord of Gaul”, during the waning days of the Western Roman Empire. After usurping power from his pagan brother, Merovaeus with the assistance of Roman consul Marcus Flavius Venator, Tancred served as a frontier vassal of Rome. After a series of victories against Germanic incursions, most famously at the Albis River, Tancred was named “Overlord of Gaul” by the Western Emperor, marking him as a king in all but name.
After the death of Venator and subsequent decline of the Western Empire’s borders, Tancred used the opportunity and power vacuum to expand his influence and independence. Waging war against the Ostrogoths in the east and steadily coercing Romano-Gallic cities into his sphere, Tancred eventually rose to a position of semi-independence from the capital in Ravenna. However, Rome would eventually retaliate, sending a large army into Transalpine Gaul to restore Roman control. Tancred would crush this army at the battle of Cabillonum. His revolt would sever Imperial control over Gaul, founding the Kingdom of Franconia, although it was not a totally unified state. The last decade of his reign would be spent repelling Roman, Hunnic and Germanic incursions, as well as attempting to centralise authority within his disparate kingdom.
As his reign marked the end of Roman authority north of the Alps, and lead to the rise of many post-Roman states, Tancred in often considered the "father of Northern Europe".
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Tancred was born in 349, the son of Chlodio, one of the most powerful Frankish chieftains to inhabit the region to the west of the Rhine. Although he was not openly hostile to Rome, Chlodio refused to submit to Roman alliance. The third of five sons, Tancred was never to be in consideration for leadership of the "Pannonian Franks" as their group was named. Tancred's eldest brother, Merovaeus, inherited the position of war chief in 366 after the sudden death of Chlodio.
Around this time, Tancred seems to have entered into a secret alliance with Rome, very likely influenced by the Roman consul Marcus Flavius Venator, who played an active role in securing the empire's borders in response to barbarian incursions. Tancred also converted to Christianity, although the voracity of his faith is the subject of much debate, with the general consensus being that it was a purely political move, inspired by a desire for relations with Rome and to take advantage of the new religion that was swiftly taking root within Transalpine tribes. With support from Rome, Tancred waged war on his brother. The details of the conflict are hazy, but a great battle is said to have taken place in 370 along the Visurgis river, with Tancred emerging victorious after slaying Merovaeus and his younger brother Chariomerus.
Chief of the Franks[]
Tancred spent the next few years securing his position, both by reinforcing his alliance with Rome and replacing local Pagan leaders with Christian-converts that supported him. Although his early reign was marked by near constant suppression of rebellions, it quickly became clear that between Roman support and Tancred's innate ability, Frankish territory was more secure under his rule. In 374, he captured his younger brother, Rodulf, and had him converted to the new religion. Tancred also Romanised his army, training many tribal forces in the style of the Late Roman Army. He did this by removing the required yearly levy tributes from his vassals, instead replacing it with a smaller tribute every decade to a professional Frankish army, directly under his control. Whilst at first this was met with disapproval from many chieftains, it soon became clear that the annual salaries paid to these troops were to be partially held by those who provided them, effectively making the army a source of income for those who contributed to it. However, he did not disband the traditional heerbann troops (roughly translated as “called by the chief/king for military service”), instead settling his most veteran forces near his capital. Here, whilst they were not required to operate full-time military service, they could be called upon in times of need. This provided an elite, loyal force that also protected and worked the lands near the capital.
Under Tancred's leadership, the Frankish forces numbered somewhere between five and eight thousand professional troops, with a few additional thousand auxiliaries from surrounding lesser clans. Provided with a stipend from Rome itself, Tancred armoured his forces with Roman lorica hamata and oval scutum, as per the standard for the late Roman army. In tandem, they were armed with pilum javelins and spatha swords, although it was highly likely that not all of these would have been Roman-made, with a proportion of armaments being produced locally and thus bearing more resemblance to traditional Gallo-Germanic armour and weapons.