# Tancred — The Decameron character guide

> Tancred in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** major

**First appearance:** 0040-the-first-story

## Snapshot

A prince of Salerno whose possessive love for his widowed daughter turns savage when he discovers her secret lover.

## Who they are

Tancred rules Salerno with the easy authority of a man who believes his household mirrors his will. His tenderness for his daughter Ghismonda curdles into jealous surveillance, and when he catches her with a lover of lesser birth, his fury produces one of the Decameron's most gruesome acts of vengeance. He matters because his story forces readers to weigh paternal love against tyrannical control, and to see how a heart delivered in a goblet can indict a father more than a daughter.

## In the story

### [Day the Fourth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/day-the-fourth)

Ghismonda's father, whose actions lead to tragedy.

### [The First Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-first-story)

Prince of Salerno, a humane but cruel father who slays his daughter's lover.

### [The Fourth Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-fourth-story)

King Guglielmo of Sicily; grandfather of Gerbino; gives his glove as a pledge to the King of Tunis; orders Gerbino's execution to keep his word.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters/tancred
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters