Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Châtillon, also known as Reynald, Reginald, or Renaud, was Prince of Antioch—a crusader state in the Middle East—from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain—a large fiefdom in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem—from 1175 until his death, ruling both territories iure uxoris. The second son of a French noble family, he joined the Second Crusade in 1147, and settled in Jerusalem as a mercenary. Six years later, he married Princess Constance of Antioch, although her subjects regarded the marriage as a mesalliance.
Always in need of funds, Raynald tortured Aimery of Limoges, Latin Patriarch of Antioch, who had refused to pay a subsidy to him. He launched a plundering raid in Cyprus in 1156, causing great destruction in Byzantine territory. Four years later, Manuel I Komnenos, the Byzantine Emperor, led an army towards Antioch, forcing Raynald to accept Byzantine suzerainty. Raynald was raiding the valley of the river Euphrates in 1160 or 1161 when the governor of Aleppo captured him at Marash. He was released for a large ransom in 1176 but did not return to Antioch, because his wife had died in the interim. He married Stephanie of Milly, the wealthy heiress of Oultrejordain. Since King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem had also granted Hebron to him, Raynald became one of the wealthiest barons in the kingdom. After Baldwin, who suffered from leprosy, made him regent in 1177, Raynald led the crusader army that defeated Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, at the Battle of Montgisard. In control of the caravan routes between Egypt and Syria, he was the only Christian leader to pursue an offensive policy against Saladin, by making plundering raids against the caravans travelling near his domains. After Raynald's newly constructed fleet plundered the coast of the Red Sea in early 1183, threatening the route of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, Saladin pledged that he would never forgive him.
Raynald was a firm supporter of Baldwin IV's sister, Sybilla, and her husband, Guy of Lusignan, during conflicts regarding Baldwin's succession. Sybilla and Guy were able to seize the throne in 1186 due to Raynald's co-operation with her uncle, Joscelin III of Courtenay. In spite of a truce between Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Raynald attacked a caravan travelling from Egypt to Syria in late 1186 or early 1187, claiming that the truce was not binding upon him. After Raynald refused to pay compensation, Saladin invaded the kingdom and annihilated the crusader army in the Battle of Hattin. Raynald was captured on the battlefield. Saladin personally beheaded him after he refused to convert to Islam. Many historians have regarded Raynald as an irresponsible adventurer whose lust for booty caused the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On the other hand, the historian Bernard Hamilton says that he was the only crusader leader who tried to prevent Saladin from unifying the nearby Muslim states.
Early years
Raynald was the younger son of Hervé II, Lord of Donzy in France. In older historiography, Raynald was thought to have been the son of Geoffrey, Count of Gien, but the historian Jean Richard demonstrated Raynald's kinship with the lords of Donzy. They were influential noblemen in the Duchy of Burgundy, who claimed descent from the Palladii, a prominent Gallo-Roman aristocratic family during the Later Roman period. Raynald's mother, whose name is not known, was a daughter of Hugh the White, Lord of La Ferté-Milon.Born around 1124, Raynald inherited the lordship of Châtillon-sur-Loire. Years later, he would complain in a letter to Louis VII of France that a part of his patrimony was "violently and unjustly confiscated". The historian Malcolm Barber says that probably this event prompted Raynald to leave his homeland for the crusader states. According to modern historians, Raynald came to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in LouisVII's army during the Second Crusade in 1147, and stayed behind when the French abandoned the military campaign two years later. Early in 1153, he is known to have fought in the army of Baldwin III of Jerusalem during the siege of Ascalon.
The 12th-century historian William of Tyre, who was Raynald's political opponent, describes him as "a kind of mercenary knight", emphasising the distance between Raynald and Princess Constance of Antioch, whom Raynald unexpectedly engaged to marry before the end of the siege. Constance, the only daughter and successor of Bohemond II of Antioch, had been widowed when her husband, Raymond of Poitiers, fell in the Battle of Inab on 28June 1148. To secure the defence of Antioch, BaldwinIII led his army to Antioch at least three times during the following years. He tried to persuade Constance to remarry, but she did not accept his candidates. She also refused John Roger, whom the Byzantine emperor, Manuel I Komnenos, had proposed to be her husband. Raynald and Constance kept their betrothal a secret until Baldwin gave his permission for their marriage. According to the historian Andrew D. Buck, they needed a royal permission because Raynald was in Baldwin's service. The early-13th-century chronicle known as the Estoire d'Eracles states that Baldwin happily consented to the marriage because it freed him from his obligation to "defend a land" "which was so far away" from his kingdom.
Prince of Antioch
After Baldwin granted his consent, Constance married Raynald. He was installed as prince in or shortly before May 1153. In that month, he confirmed the privileges of the Venetian merchants. William of Tyre records that his subjects were astonished that their "famous, powerful and well-born" princess married a man of low status. No coins struck for Raynald have survived. According to Buck, this indicates that Raynald's position was relatively weak. Whereas Raymond of Poitiers had issued around half of his charters without a reference to Constance, Raynald always mentioned that he made the decision with his wife's consent. Raynald did control appointments to the highest offices: he made Geoffrey Jordanis the constable and Geoffrey Falsard the duke of Antioch.The Norman chronicler Robert of Torigni writes that Raynald seized three fortresses from the Aleppans soon after his accession, but does not name them. Aimery of Limoges, the wealthy Latin patriarch of Antioch, did not hide his dismay at Constance's second marriage. He even refused to pay a subsidy to Raynald, although Raynald, as Barber underlines, "was in dire need of money". In retaliation for Aimery's refusal, Raynald arrested and tortured him in the summer of 1154, forcing him to sit naked and covered with honey in the sun, before imprisoning him. Aimery was only released on BaldwinIII's demand, but he soon left Antioch for Jerusalem. Surprisingly, Raynald was not excommunicated for his abuse of a high-ranking cleric. Buck argues that Raynald could avoid the punishment because of Aimery's previous disputes with the papacy over the Archbishopric of Tyre. Instead, Aimery excommunicated Raynald on the demand of the papacy in 1154 as a consequence of a conflict between Antioch and Genoa.
Emperor Manuel, who claimed suzerainty over Antioch, sent his envoys to Raynald, proposing to recognize him as the new prince if he launched a campaign against the Armenians of Cilicia, who had risen up against Byzantine rule. He also promised that he would compensate Raynald for the expenses of the campaign. After Raynald defeated the Armenians at Alexandretta in 1155, the Knights Templar took control of the region of the Syrian Gates that the Armenians had recently invaded. Although the sources are unclear, Runciman and Barber agree that it was Raynald who granted the territory to them.
Always in need of funds, Raynald urged Manuel to send the promised subsidy to him, but Manuel failed to pay the money. Raynald made an alliance with the Armenian lord Thoros II of Cilicia. They attacked Cyprus, plundering the prosperous Byzantine island for three weeks in early 1156. Hearing rumours of an imperial fleet approaching the island, they left Cyprus, but only after they had forced all Cypriots to ransom themselves, with the exception of the wealthiest individuals, whom they carried off to Antioch as hostages.
Taking advantage of the presence of Count Thierry of Flanders and his army in the Holy Land and an earthquake that had destroyed most towns in Northern Syria, BaldwinIII of Jerusalem invaded the Muslim territories in the valley of the Orontes River in the autumn of 1157. Raynald joined the royal army, and they laid siege to Shaizar. At this point, Shaizar was held by the Shi'ite Assassins, but before the earthquake it had been the seat of the Sunnite Munqidhites who paid an annual tribute to Raynald. Baldwin was planning to grant the fortress to Thierry of Flanders, but Raynald demanded that the count should pay homage to him for the town. After Thierry sharply refused to swear fealty to an upstart, the crusaders abandoned the siege. They marched on Harenc, which had been an Antiochene fortress before Nur ad-Din captured it in 1150. After the crusaders captured Harenc in February 1158, Raynald granted it to Raynald of Saint-Valery from Flanders.
Emperor Manuel unexpectedly invaded Cilicia, forcing ThorosII to seek refuge in the mountains in December 1158. Unable to resist a full-scale Byzantine invasion, Raynald hurried to Mamistra to voluntarily make his submission to the emperor. On Manuel's demand, Raynald and his retainers walked barefoot and bareheaded through the streets of the town to the imperial tent where he prostrated himself, begging for mercy. William of Tyre stated that "the glory of the Latin world was put to shame" on this occasion, because envoys from the nearby Muslim and Christian rulers were also present at Raynald's humiliation. Manuel demanded that a Greek patriarch be installed at Antioch. Although his demand was not accepted, documentary evidence indicates that Gerard, the Catholic bishop of Latakia, was forced to move to Jerusalem. Raynald had to promise that he would allow a Byzantine garrison to stay in the citadel whenever it was required and would send a troop to fight in the Byzantine army. Before long, BaldwinIII of Jerusalem persuaded Manuel to consent to the return of the Latin patriarch, Aimery, to Antioch, instead of installing a Greek patriarch. When the emperor entered Antioch with much pomp and ceremony on 12April 1159, Raynald held the bridle of Manuel's horse. Manuel left the town eight days later.
Raynald made a plundering raid in the valley of the river Euphrates at Marash to seize cattle, horses and camels from the local peasants in November 1160 or 1161. Majd ad-Din, Nur ad-Din's commander of Aleppo, gathered his troops, and attacked Raynald and his retinue on the way back to Antioch. Raynald tried to fight, but he was unhorsed and captured. He was sent to Aleppo where he was put in jail.