Guy of lusignan death

The second son of a French noble family, he joined the Second Crusade in , and settled in Jerusalem as a mercenary. Six years later, he married Constance , Princess 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.

Baldwin iii of jerusalem cause of death

He launched a plundering raid in Cyprus in , causing great destruction in Byzantine territory. Raynald was raiding the valley of the river Euphrates in or when the governor of Aleppo captured him at Marash. He was released for a large ransom in but did not return to Antioch, because his wife had died in the interim. He married Stephanie of Milly , the wealthy heiress of Oultrejordain.

After Baldwin, who suffered from leprosy , made him regent in , 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 , threatening the route of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca , Saladin pledged that he would never forgive him. In spite of a truce between Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Raynald attacked a caravan travelling from Egypt to Syria in late or early , 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.