The name Guiscard, or Wiscard, was a Norman epithet used to designate an adroit or cunning person. One theory is that it was
conferred on a Danish soldier named Tancred Visk Hard, probably for distinguished service in Rollo's army in the 11th century.
He took a fief at St. Lo and married twice into the French nobility, and thereafter he was known as Tancred de Hauteville La
Guichard of St. Lo. Another theory is that he was born in Normandy about 955 and died about 1041. He married Fredistina de Normandie who was born about 960 in Normandy.
The Guichard (or Guiscard) family owned estates at Coutances in Normandy where there are still to be found the ruins of their
residence and a cathedral that contains Guiscard statues. The name Guiscard became common in Normandy and throughout
France, and there is small town called Guiscard near Noyon, north of Paris. Tancred's son Robert Guiscard, afterwards Duke of
Calabria, founded the Kingdom of Sicily and his descendants were the Norman kings of Apulia (Sicily and Southern Italy) in the 12th and 13th centuries.
The family was also known as Hauteville, meaning high village or town in France, or Alta Villa in Italy. This was because they were a noble family who built their castles on high ground.
The Guichard coat of arms is understood to contain two thunderbolts (white) on a red background. With a little imagination the ancient
There are many beautiful remains of European and Arab architecture in Sicily
On a modern note, the former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, known simply as
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and Italy that were built by the Guichard monarchs.
One theory is that a Guichard (or Guiscardo) migrated from Sicily to Scotland in the 13th century, when the family was routed by Henry VI of Germany. However, we think it is more probable that a Guiscard came to
Scotland from Normandy before the 13th century, pehaps following the Norman Conquest when it was commonplace for the junior sons of French noblemen to be granted titles and lands in Britain.
