Fressenda (Latin:Frensendis or Fredesendis) was an 11th-centuryNorman noblewoman and the wife ofTancred of Hauteville. She is known as the mother ofRobert Guiscard andRoger I of Sicily.

Goffredo Malaterra recorded her name asFrensendis^[1] andOrderic Vitalis asFredesendis^[2] in latin. Her name has been anglicized asFresenda^[3] orFressenda^[4][5] in English literature.

Fressenda's origin is not known. Contemporary historian Goffredo Malaterra, wrote that she was "a lady who in birth and morals was by no means inferior to his first wife." in reference toTancred's first marriage who was of reputable birth.^[3]

Some historians have suggested that Fressenda was aillegitimate daughter ofRichard II of Normandy.^[6][7] HistorianElisabeth van Houts dismisses this claim as a 16th-century myth without evidence.^[8]

HistorianGraham Loud wrote thatGirard of Buonalbergo might have been related to Fressenda to explain his unwavering loyalty towardsRobert Guiscard, her son, despite Robert's divorce of Gerard'spaternal aunt. He admits that it is only speculation.^[9]

Fressenda's early life is unknown but at some point she marriedTancred of Hauteville in Normandy. He was a widower petty lord ofHauteville-la-Guichard in western Normandy. Tancred's first wife was close to him but died when he was still young enough to remarry.^[10]

With Tancred, Fressenda had at least seven sons and one daughter. Tancred had already got five sons from his first marriage. She is said to have raised all her sons and stepsons fairly.^[5]

Since Tancred’spatrimony was too small to divide equally between all of their 12 sons, it became necessary for them to seek fortune elsewhere.^[11] At first Fressenda's older stepsons left for Italy inc.1035.[12] Upon hearing of their success in securing thecounty of Apulia and Calabria, her oldest sonRobert Guiscard was called to join them soon followed byMauger,William, the youngest sonRoger. Her daughter Fressenda also left with the brothers and married a Norman lord,^[11]Richard I of Capua.^[13] Her remaining sons, Aubrey, Humbert, and Tancred appears to have stayed behind in Normandy and faded out of history. Fressenda herself left for Italy after the death of her husband at an unknown date.^[11]

It is unknown when Fressenda died, but she was buried in the Abbey ofSainte-Eufemia that Duke Robert, her son, founded in 1062 for the abbotRobert de Grandmesnil who fled from Normandy.^[14] Fressenda's legacy survived through her sons,Robert Guiscard andRoger I of Sicily, both remembered as rulers in mainland Italy and the island ofSicily respectively.^[15]

• Robert Guiscard (d. 1085),duke of Apulia and Calabria^[15][13][5]
• Mauger (d. 1064)^[5][13]
• William (d. 1080)^[5][13]
• Aubrey^[5][13]
• Humbert^[5][13]
• Tancred^[5][13]
• Frumentin
• Roger (d. 1101),grand count of Sicily^[5][15][13]
• Fressenda (d. 1078), wife ofRichard I of Capua^[5][13]

• Ordericus Vitalis (1840). "Liber III". In Le Prévost, Augustus (ed.).Orderici Vitalis Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ (in Latin). Vol. 2. Paris. p. 90.
• Goffredo Malaterra (2007). "Incipit liber primus".De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae comitis et Roberti Guiscardi Ducis fratris eius (in Latin). Eulotech.

• Brown, Gordon S. (2003).The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily. McFarland & Company. pp. 28–30.ISBN 9780786414727.
• Loud, Graham A. (2000).The Age of Robert Guiscard: Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest. London: Routledge.ISBN 9781315846224.
• Luscombe, David; Riley-Smith, Jonathan, eds. (2004). "Appendix: genealogical tables".The New Cambridge Medieval History: Part 2. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 760.
• Stasser, Thierry (1990). "'Mathilde, fille du Comte Richard.' Essai d'identification".Annales de Normandie (in French). Vol. 40. pp. 49–64.doi:10.3406/annor.1990.1855.
• Schwennicke, Detlev (1984). "Die ausserdeutschen Staaten: Die regierenden Häuser der übrigen Staaten Europas" [The States Outside of Germany: The Reigning Houses of the Remaining European States].Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten (in German). Vol. 2. Marburg: J.A. Stargardt. pp. Tables 79, 205.
• Van Houts, Elizabeth (2000).The Normans in Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 1–320.ISBN 9780719047510.

• 11th-century Normans
• 11th-century Norman women
• Hauteville family
• Mothers of Sicilian monarchs

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Latin-language text
• CS1 Latin-language sources (la)
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• Date of birth unknown
• Date of death unknown