by Jeffrey Lee
Reynald’s death was holy and heroic: not only did he resist conversion to Islam, but, in the face of doom, he attempted to convert Saladin to Christianity! ‘If you believe in him [Jesus],’ Peter of Blois has Reynald tell Saladin, ‘you can avoid the tortures of eternal damnation which you know are prepared for you.’23
As a member of Henry II’s entourage around the time of Reynald’s death, Peter was in touch with Henry’s queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and later became her secretary. It is tempting to conjecture that Eleanor remembered Reynald from the days of the Second Crusade half a century before. Perhaps Peter heard some (no doubt embroidered) stories from the queen, reminiscing about the handsome young knight she might have laughed with in her youth, in that heyday of courtly love. Maybe this is the source of Peter’s (highly unlikely) romantic tale that the youthful Reynald abandoned a wealthy fiancée in favour of the crusade.
Reynald, the embodiment of the traditional crusading spirit, was a hero famous all over Europe and, if posterity had turned out differently, he might well have ended up a saint, rather than a villain. During the Third Crusade the chances of a St Reynald looked good – his reputation had the sympathy of the great King Richard himself. When he arrived in Outremer, Richard embraced Reynald’s faction and backed the claim of Guy de Lusignan to the disputed crown of Jerusalem. But Richard’s rival on crusade, King Philip of France, espoused the party led by Reynald’s bitter enemy, Balian of Ibelin, and supported Conrad of Montferrat for the throne. Back in Europe after the crusade, the differences between Philip Augustus and the Plantagenet kings of England flared into open war. After the death of the invincible Richard, Philip overcame his weaker brother, the ill-fated King John. The historian Joel Gourdon sees this defeat of Reynald’s Plantagenet sympathizers as a turning point for Reynald’s reputation.24
The most common way in which Christian contemporaries understood the loss of Jerusalem was as God’s punishment on the Franks of Outremer for their evil deeds. This made it hard for any of the Frankish leaders to win too holy a reputation. Then there was the prevalence of Reynald’s critics, like William of Tyre and Ernoul, in mapping out crusader history. There was also the idealization in the West of Saladin as a chivalric hero. All this – and the need for a simple storyline for the crusader adventure – helped to cast Reynald as the scapegoat and relegate him to the lower levels of hell.
In more recent times, Reynald’s reputation has suffered even further. His resolute and belligerent opposition to Saladin has not sat well in an age riddled with guilt over colonialism and doubts over Western military interventions in the Middle East.
Reynald was certainly no saint, but neither was he a cruel, irredeemable villain. He was a man brought up to kill, and who did so with devotion and skill, usually – though often tenuously – in the name of God. He could be reckless, brutal, vengeful and rapacious. In his youth the ambitious knight-errant with the swan emblem was romantic. Throughout his life he thrived on wealth, luxury and glory. He was extreme in his passions, both in sinning and repenting. He loved the grand gesture.
He was not inferior to Raymond of Poitiers as Prince of Antioch, nor was he unadapted and uncomprehending as the leading lay power in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He dedicated his life to the crusader cause, and was unswerving in his commitment to his monarch and to the interests of the families and fiefdoms he acquired. He was the leader of one of the factions guilty of ripping the kingdom apart, but that faction was defined more by its loyal opposition to the excessive ambition and treachery of Raymond of Tripoli than by anything else. Reynald almost certainly did, like many others, break truces, though these breaches appear to have been as much for the good of the Kingdom of Jerusalem as for his own gain.
Reynald was a twelfth-century man imbued with the energetic, adventurous spirit of the time. He was at the cutting edge of that outward-looking, expansionist society. As much as, if not more than, the great creators, inventors and thinkers of Christendom, it was the crude adventurers and fighting men like Reynald who, through the deep wounds they inflicted on Islam in the crusading period, laid the foundations for Western supremacy and turned the tide of history. In doing so, Reynald attacked Islam in a way so traumatizing that it fanned the flames of jihad and still antagonizes some Muslims to this day.
The sheer ambition and graphic nature of his excesses peeled away the veneer of the chivalric ideal. He could be considered, persuasive and diplomatic in the loftiest circles, charismatic enough to make a king. In the chivalrous parlance of the time, he was a preudhomme, wise, courteous, noble and steadfast. Above all he was loyal, he was brave and he was a soldier, well versed in war.
Reynald de Chatillon was a knight.
Reynald de Chatillon was a crusader.
* This deal was a conscious act of propaganda aimed at posterity: a Muslim fakir (holy man) made the sale deliberately so that people in later years would say, ‘There were so many Christian captives that you could buy them for a pair of sandals.’ It worked.
** The mercurial Emperor Frederick II regained Jerusalem through negotiation in 1229. The Christians retained the city until 1244, when it fell to the Khwarazmians.
ENDNOTES
Introduction: A Monstrous Unbeliever
1Imad al-Din (1125-1201) was a contemporary of Reynald de Chatillon and a bureaucrat in the service of Reynald’s bitter enemies, Nur al-Din and Saladin. Imad al-Din’s views are preserved here in the chronicle of Abu Shama, The Book of the Two Gardens, in Receuil des Historiens des Croisades, Historiens Orientaux, Vol. 4, Part 1, pp.258-9.
2The name on the address was actually ‘Reynald Krak’, taken from Reynald’s fortress of Kerak (or Krak). A second bomb was sent by UPS and addressed to Diego Deza, whom AQAP accused of ‘the extermination and expulsion of the Muslim presence on the Iberian Peninsula’. Deza was Grand Inquisitor of Spain in the early sixteenth century and an assiduous persecutor of Muslims. Luckily, thanks to some brave and brilliant Saudi undercover work, both bombs were intercepted before they exploded.
3Inspire magazine (November 2010), p.7
4Amin Maalouf, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (1983), p.186
5Ibid.
6Zoé Oldenbourg, The Crusades (1965), p.345, and Sir Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Vol. 2 (Cambridge, 1951), p.186. Sir Steven’s misreading of Reynald does not detract from the fact that his magnificent work is still the best overview of the crusades in English and remains the canonical text.
7See especially the remarkable, scholarly work of Bernard Hamilton in his article ‘Elephant of Christ’, in Studies in Church History, Vol. 15 (Oxford, 1978), and his book, The Leper King and His Heirs (Cambridge, 2000).
8The source for this is Matthew Teller, Rough Guide to Jordan (2009), p.243. Other examples include the travel blog www.raesevelt.com/2011/11/karak.html.
9Atlas Tours website, www.atlastours.net/jordan/kerak.html
10Crusades, BBC TV series (1995), presented by medieval scholar and Monty Python comedianTerry Jones
11Kingdom of Heaven, released in 2005, directed by Ridley Scott, starring Orlando Bloom as the crusader lord (and rival of Reynald) Balian of Ibelin, and the glorious Eva Green as Princess Sybilla
12Odo of Deuil, The Journey of Louis VII to the East, ed. and trans. Virginia Gingerick Berry (New York, 1948), p.9
13Letter from Bernard of Clairvaux to Pope Eugenius III, collected in J. P. Migne (ed.), Patrologia Latina, Vol. 182, letter no. 247, trans. in Runciman, op. cit., p.254
1 Dead Man Walking
1Most in-depth discussion of Reynald’s ancestry is in Jean Richard, Aux origines d’un grand lignage, des Palladii a Renaud de Chatillon, in Media in Francia, Recueil de mélanges offert à Karl Ferdinand Werner (Hérault, 1969), pp.409-18.
2The point about the expansion of Christendom is brilliantly made by Jonathan Phillips in his book The Second Crusade (2007).
3William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum, ed. and trans. R. A. B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson and M. Winterbottom (Oxford
, 1998-9), Vol. 1, p.655
4Nersēs Snorhali, Lament over Edessa, trans. T. M. Van Lint, in East and West in the Crusader States, ed. K. Ciggar and H. Teule (Leuven, 1999), p.74
5Papal Bull Quantum Praedecessores, trans. Jonathan Riley-Smith, in J. Riley-Smith, The Crusades: A History (London, 2014), p.149
6Orderic Vitalis (X, 19), trans. Thomas Forester
7Usama Ibn Munqidh, An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades, Memoirs of Usama Ibn-Munqidh, trans. Philip K. Hitti (New York, 1929), p.115
8Fulcher of Chartres, Historia Hierosolymitana Gesta Francorum Peregrinantium, trans. August C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants (Princeton, 1921), p.281
9Ibid.
10C. Oulmont, Les Débats du clerc et du chevalier (Paris, 1911), p.113
11Peter of Blois, Passio Reginaldi Principis Olim Antiocheni, trans. Bill Newton, The Passion of Reynald, One-time Prince of Antioch (2015)
12Les Chansons de croisade avec leurs melodies, ed. J. Beier and P. Aubry (Paris, 1909), pp.8-11, trans. M. Routledge, quoted in Jonathan Phillips, op. cit.
13Guibert of Nogent, The Deeds of God Through the Franks, quoted in M. Keen, Chivalry (New Haven and London, 1984), p.48
14Fulcher of Chartres, A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, 1095-1127, trans. Francis Rita Ryan, ed. Harold S. Fink (Knoxville, 1969)
15Bernard of Clairvaux, Epistolae, in Sancti Bernardi Opera, ed. J. Leclerq and H. Rochais (Rome, 1955-77), trans. B. S. James, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Stroud, 1977), p.462
16Bertan de Born, ‘A War Song for the Count of Toulouse’, from Barbara Smythe, trans., The Trobador Poets, Selections from the Poems of Eight Trobadors translated from the Provençal with Introduction and Notes (London and New York, 1911), pp.70-94
17Cover blurb on Usama Ibn Munqidh, trans. Hitti, op. cit.
18Usama Ibn Munqidh, trans. Hitti, op. cit., p.191
19Usama Ibn Munqidh, trans. Hitti, op. cit., p.174
20Roger of Hoveden, Chronica, ed. W. Stubbs (London, 1885), Vol. II, pp.166-7; translation cited in M. Keen, op. cit., p.88
21St Augustine of Hippo, City of God
22John of Salisbury, Policraticus, trans. John Dickinson (New York, 1927), Book 6, Chapter VIII
23St Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood, in The Cistercian Fathers Series: Number Nineteen, The Works of Bernard of Clairvaux: Volume Seven, Treatises III, trans. Conrad Greenia (Kalamazoo, MI, 1977)
24Ibid.
25Guibert of Nogent, quoted in Keen, op. cit., pp.48-9
26Aymar de Pegulhan, quoted by S. Painter, French Chivalry (Baltimore, 1940), p.87
2 The Wild East
1Fulcher of Chartres, trans. Ryan, op. cit., Book III
2Ibn al-Athir, Al-Kamil fi’l-Tarikh, in Donald S. Richards, The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period (2007), Part 2, p.40
3Ibn Jubayr, Travels, trans. R. Broadhurst (London, 1952), p.318
4The Letters of Bernard of Clairvaux, trans. B. S. James (Stroud, 1998), p.462
3 Knight-errant
1John Kinnamos, Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus, trans. Charles M. Brand (New York, 1976). Kinnamos was writing after the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, so his assessment of crusading motives is somewhat coloured by hindsight. However, this deeply suspicious view was already present amongst the Byzantines at the time of the Second Crusade.
2Odo of Deuil, trans. Virginia Gingerick Berry, op. cit., p.63
3Gregory Bar Hebraeus (‘Gregory the Priest’), Chronography, trans. E. A. Wallis Budge (London, 1932), Book X
4William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey (New York, 1943), Book XVI, Chapter XXVII
5William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XIV, Chapter XXI
6Kinnamos, trans. Brand, op. cit.
7Nicetas Choniates, O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniatēs, trans. Harry J. Margoulias (1984), p.62
8Gregory the Priest, Chronography, Book X
9Ibn al-Qalanisi, Chronicle, in The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, trans. H. A. Gibb (London, 1932)
10Ibn Jubayr, trans. Broadhurst, op. cit., p.320
11Usama Ibn Munqidh, trans. Hitti, op. cit., pp.140-1
12The main guide for this short discussion of chivalry is the classic Chivalry (1984), by the late, great Maurice Keen
13Peter of Blois, trans. Newton, op. cit.
14William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter IX
15Ibid.
16Michael the Syrian, Chronicle of Michael the Great, Patriarch of the Syrians
17William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter IX
18Ibid.
19Ibid.
4 Arriviste
1William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XVIII
2William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter X
3William of Tyre, History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. M. Guizot (Paris, 1824), p.50
4Kinnamos, trans. Brand, op. cit.
5William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XVIII
6Ibn al-Athir, trans. Richards, op. cit., Part 2, p.31
7William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XVIII
8Ibid.
9William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XXVI
10William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XXI
11Old French Version of William of Tyre, ‘Estoire d’Eracles’, Book XVII, Chapter XXVI
12J. Richard, op. cit.
13William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XXVI
14Estoire d’Eracles, quoted in Pierre Aubé, Un Croisé contre Saladin (Paris, 2007), p.56
15William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XXVI
16Estoire d’Eracles, Book XVII, Chapter XXVI
5 Diabolic Daring
1William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XVIII
2William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter I
3Ibid.
4William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XV, Chapter XVII
5Jonathan Phillips, Holy Warriors (London, 2009), p.107
6For example, in his tract The Passion of Reynald, One-time Prince of Antioch, Peter of Blois says that Reynald speaks Arabic.
7Ibn Jubayr, trans. Broadhurst, op. cit., p.322
8Ibn Jubayr, trans. Broadhurst, op. cit., p.317
9Ernoul, Chronique d’Ernoul et Bernard le Tesorier, Chapter IV
10Ibn al-Qalanisi, trans. Gibb, op. cit.
11R. C. Smail, Crusading Warfare 1097-1193 (Cambridge, 1956), p.18
12Usama Ibn Munqidh, trans. Hitti, op. cit., p.42
6 A Violent Sinner
1William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter X
2Ibid.
3Ibid.
4William of Tyre and Gregory the Priest both think Reynald defeated Thoros. Michael the Syrian, who was biased towards Thoros, claimed the Armenian won. Reynald’s victory is more likely, especially as the castles he demanded were restored to the Templars.
5William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter X
6Kinnamos, trans. Brand, op. cit.
7William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter X
8Ibid.
9Ibid.
10Ibid.
11William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter XXIII
7 Guardian of the Land
1William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter XVII
2William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XXVI
3Eracles, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter XVII
4William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter XVII
5Ibn al-Athir, trans. Richards, op. cit., p.87
6Ibn al-Athir, trans. Richards, op. cit., p.89
7William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter XVIII
8Ibid.
9Runciman, op. cit., Vol. II, p.349
10William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter VII
11William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVII, Chapter XIX
12Abu Shama, op. cit., Part 1, p.96
13Latin and Greek historians alike draw attention to the shame of Reynald’s short tunic and sleeves. Long tunics and sleeves were fashionable and the mark of a knight. St Bernard, in his Epistle on the New Knighthood, criticized vain knights for tripping themselves up with ‘long and full tunics’, and for burying their ‘tender, delicate hands in big cumbersome sleeves’.
8 Imperial Vassal
1William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter XXIII
2Kinnamos, trans. Brand, op. cit.
3William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter XXIII
4Choniates, trans. Margoulias, op. cit.
5Ibid.
6Ibid.
7Ibid., p.62
8Ibn al-Qalanisi, trans. Gibb, op. cit.
9Aubé, op. cit., p.101
10Choniates, trans. Brand, op. cit.
11William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XVIII, Chapter XXXI
12Choniates, trans. Brand, op. cit.
13Michael the Syrian, op. cit.
9 In the Power of Nur al-Din
1Usama Ibn Munqidh, trans. Hitti, op. cit., p.150
2Abu Shama, op. cit., Part 1, p.89
3William of Tyre, trans. Babcock and Krey, op. cit., Book XX, Chapter XVIII
4Accounts of the 1170 earthquake from William of Tyre, Michael the Syrian, Gregory the Priest, all op. cit.
10 Years of Darkness
1Nicholas N. Ambraseys, The 12th century seismic paroxysm in the Middle East: a historical perspective, in Annals of Geophysics, Vol. 47, No. 2/3 (April/June 2004)
2Fulcher of Chartres, trans. Ryan, op. cit.