page_title: Raynald of Châtillon
section_title: Captivity and release
hierarchical_section_title: Raynald of Châtillon / Captivity and release
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Renaud de Châtillon prisonnier
context_page_description: Raynald of Châtillon, also known as Reynald or Reginald of Châtillon, was Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain from 1175 until his death. He was born the second son of a French noble family. After losing a part of his patrimony, he joined the Second Crusade in 1147. He settled in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and served in the royal army as a mercenary.
  Raynald married Constance, the reigning Princess of Antioch, in 1153, in spite of her subjects' opposition. He was always in need of funds. He captured and tortured Aimery of Limoges, Latin Patriarch of Antioch, because Aimery had refused to pay a subsidy to him. Raynald launched a plundering raid in Cyprus in 1155, causing great destruction. Four years later, the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel I Komnenos, came to Antioch at the head of a large army, forcing Raynald to beg for his mercy. Raynald made a raid in the valley of the river Euphrates at Marash to seize booty from the local peasants in 1160 or 1161, but he was captured by the governor of Aleppo.
  Raynald was held in prison until 1176. After his release for a large ransom, he did not return to Antioch, because his wife had meanwhile died.
context_section_description: Almost nothing is known about Raynald's life while he was kept in jail for fifteen years. He shared his prison with Joscelin III of Courtenay, who had been captured a couple of months before. In Raynald's absence, Constance wanted to rule alone, but Baldwin III of Jerusalem made Patriarch Aimery regent for her fifteen-year-old son (Raynald's stepson), Bohemond III of Antioch. Constance died around 1163, shortly after her son reached the age of majority. Her death deprived Raynald of his claim to Antioch. However, he had become an important personality, with prominent family connections. His stepdaughter, Maria of Antioch, married Manuel I Komnenos in 1161. Raynald's own daughter, Agnes, became the wife of Béla III of Hungary.
  When Gümüshtekin, governor of Aleppo, one of the last independent Muslim rulers in Syria before Saladin, had conquered almost all neighboring states, he released Raynald, along with Joscelin of Courtenay and all other Christians prisoners in 1176. Raynald's ransom, fixed at 120,000 gold dinars, reflected his prestige. It was most probably paid by Manuel I Komnenos, according to Barber and Bernard Hamilton.
  Raynald came to Jerusalem with Joscelin before 1 September 1176  where he became a close ally of Joscelin's sister, Agnes of Courtenay. She was the mother of the young Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who suffered from leprosy. Hugo Etherianis, who lived in Constantinople after around 1165, mentioned in the preface of his About the Procession of the Holy Spirit that he had asked "Prince Raynald" to deliver a copy of the work to Aimery of Limoges. According to historian Bernard Hamilton, these words suggest that Raynald led the embassy that Baldwin IV sent to Constantinople to confirm an alliance between Jerusalem and the Byzantine Empire against Egypt.
caption: Raynald at Aleppo after his capture.
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