Raynald of Châtillon 1124-1187

The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa. [145] After all this the sultan went to his throne, consulting with his grandees at court about the establishment of friendship with the Franks and the Armenians. After they had accepted the sultan['s proposals], he again sent his loyal [envoys] to Jerusalem, to Antioch, and to T'oros to make inviolable the treaty of friendship which both sides wanted. This [move] was not due to any inclination [for peace] in the heart of the sultan. Indeed, what could Christ and Belial have in common? Rather, the reason was as follows. It concerned [Nur ad-Din], the son of Zengi, who was lord of Aleppo [g413] and was his brother-in-law, [that is, he was] married to Sultan Kilij-Arslan's sister. Following the death of Sultan Masud, he scorned his son who had been seated on the throne of his father's realm, and tyrannized over the country's Christians, violating the borders established by Sultan Masud. He seized what he could, [including] the impregnable Aintab (Ant'ap') and P'arzman and all the [nearby] villages. Sultan Kilij-Arslan many times wrote to his in-law: "Do not work injustice. Return my lands which my father had established as a border between us." However, [Nur ad-Din] did not want to listen and was more arrogant and insulting to this brave people than to the ruler of Persia. While such great uncertainly was confusing the king of Jerusalem and Reginald [aged 33] (E"r'aghan), lord of Antioch, God [intervened]. [God], Whose power and strength is greater than Heaven [itself] and Who does not totally ignore the rod which He uses against sinners when the righteous are in despair, [acted] suddenly from His most pure and just laws. God issued the command and struck [Nur ad-Din] with a severe and very painful ailment. None of the doctors, assembled from all the wise folk, was able to find a cure. Rather, day by day, the wrath of God intensified against him. For it was [Nur ad-Din] who once had been allied with Count Joscelin by treaty and a great sworn oath of friendship [but Nur ad-Din betrayed him] in a manner so merciless and inhuman that it had never been heard of anywhere in past times. [Nur ad-Din] did not capture his friend [Joscelin] in warfare, but [imprisoned him] through the plots of others. He kept him in chains for nine months, and then blinded the eyes of this glorious man who had been invincible in many battles and was lord of many lands. Blessings and thanks and praise [should be] on the lips of everyone for the goodly and most holy judgments of God.

Annals of Six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet. 1162. Geoffrey of Mayenne restored to Henry, king of the English, three castles which his father had held after the death of Henry I, formerly king of England, namely Gorron, Ambrières, and Neufchâtel on the River Colmont. Count Robert of Bassaville, rebelling against William, king of Sicily, and having many supporters in Apulia, brought the greater part of the maritime cities over to his side. Emperor Frederick captured the city of Milan, which he had besieged for three years and which was now afflicted by famine; and, preserving the cathedral and some other buildings, he destroyed it. While the dispute between the emperor and Pope Alexander continued because of the schism of Octavian, whom Frederick supported and kept with him, Pope Alexander, trusting in the kings of the Franks and the English, set out by sea and around Easter reached the regions on this side of the mountains, and at Montpellier in Provence he was received with due honour. The people of these regions, especially the Aquitanians, were afflicted by pestilence and famine. Raynald of Châtillon [aged 38], prince of Antioch, when he incautiously entered the lands of the Saracens, was captured by them, many of those who were with him being killed. His stepson Bohemond III then became prince of Antioch, while his stepfather Raynald was still held in captivity.

1162. GALFRIDUS de Meduana reddit Henrico regi Anglorum tria castella, quæ pater ejus tenuerat post mortem Henrici primi, quondam regis Angliæ, scilicet Goram, Amberias, et Novum Castrum super fluvium Colunc. Comes Robertus de Basevilla, adversus Willelmum Siciliæ regem rebellans, in Apulia multos habens coadjutores, majorem partem maritimarum sibi conciliat civitatum. Imperator Fredericus civitatem Medio lanum, quam triennio obsederat, necessitate famis afflictam cepit; et, reservatis matrice ecclesia aliisque quibusdam, destruxit. Discordia inter imperatorem et Alexandrum papam durante propter schisma Octaviani, quem Fredericus fovens secum habebat, Alexander papa, de regibus Francorum et Anglorum confidens, marina expeditione ad Cismontanos circa Pascha pervenit, et apud Montem Pessulanum in Provincia honorificentia debita est susceptus. Cismontani, et maxime Aquitani, mortalitate affliguntur et fame. Rainaldus de Castellione, princeps Antiochiæ, dum incaute terras Agarenorum intrat, captus est ab eis; multis de his, qui cum eo erant, occisis. Privignus etiam Raynaldi Boamundus tertius fit princeps Antiochiæ, vitrico suo adhuc in captivitate detento.