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ATL:-A Tale of the First Crusade

((This is a tale set during the First Crusade beginning in 1096. Most of the characters in the initial part of the TL are OTL characters. I am attempting to change only minor events in the initial phase to keep maximum realism in the story. I hope it does provide for some interesting analytical reading. I thank all the readers who have helped me with their thoughtful responses so far both here and on my other TL. Please continue to do so. Most of the historical events in this TL in the initial phase continue as in the OTL and I have tried my best to keep historical accuracy through the copious research I have undertaken on the subject of the Crusades for the past several years. Please forgive any errors on my part in spite of it. Thanks.....

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1096

Tancred waited outside the premises. It was a hot day in April. His uncle, the great Bohemond de Hauteville was meeting with his brother Roger here at Taranto. Tancred's mother Emma was back home with his father Odo. But she had sent Tancred in their stead. Tancred was a virile young man full of vitality but had little else in terms of wealth and heritage. He was grandson of Robert Guiscard and had inherited his grandfather's physicality but little else.

Towering over most men, Tancred was deemed to follow in his uncle Bohemond's battling footsteps. It was after all, his only choice to derive a legacy for himself. Southern Italy and Sicily was filled with internal strife and squabbling nobility. Tancred was too distant in the line of succession for all the provinces here, having only maternal descent from Robert Guiscard.

Bohemond himself had no legitimate heirs yet and Tancred was his favorite nephew. With the Pope having given his blessings for a Crusade, Tancred knew it was only a matter of time before they would set out for the Holy Land. Bohemond was gathering all possible support from his relatives, the various nobles of Sicily. Bohemond was planning to join the Frankish and German crusaders in the East.
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