Reynald of Chatillon (1125-1187) was regent of the Principality of Antioch and an infamously treacherous and cruel Crusader lord who was executed by Saladin after the Battle of Hattin in 1187.
Biography[]
Reynald of Chatillon was known to be a merciless leader and an aspiring commander, becoming regent over Bohemond III of Antioch by marrying his mother in 1153; on her death, he remarried to Stephanie of Milly. He was an ambitious ruler, but was extremely controversial; he attacked the fellow Christian-ruled Byzantine Empire, whose emperor was Bohemond’s brother-in-law. He failed to take Cyprus and was captured by the Muslims in 1161, held as a prisoner for fifteen years. When he was released he gained his revenge by defeating Saladin at Montgisard in 1177. Saladin and Reynald made a truce, but the devious Reynald massacred Muslims in his lands, leading up to Saladin’s invasion of Jerusalem. He was sent to defeat the Saracens, but his army was annihilated at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. Most of the Christians were spared by the chivalrous Saladin, but the dread lord Reynald was executed by Saladin himself.
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