Rainald Garnier

Rainald Garnier (* around 1133; † 1202 ) was Count of Sidon as Rainald of Sidon from 1171 to 1202 . During his tenure, the county was occupied by Muslims from 1187 to 1197.

Life

He was the son of Gerhard Garnier and Agnes von Bures. After the death of his father, Rainald took over the county of Sidon . He was first mentioned in a document in 1171 as the ruling count.

At the latest in 1179 he married Agnes von Courtenay , daughter of Joscelin II von Courtenay , Count of Edessa . Rainald was their fourth husband. She was previously with Rainald von Marasch († 1149), in 1157 with Amalrich , Count of Jaffa and Askalon , who later became King of Jerusalem (the marriage was annulled in 1162), and with Hugo von Ibelin , Lord of Ibelin and Ramla († 1169) been married.

When King Amalrich died in 1174, Rainald was one of the supporters of Raymond III. , Count of Tripoli and Prince of Galilee , who ran for the office of Bailli of Jerusalem and prevailed against Miles of Plancy .

Rainald participated in several battles against Saladin , e.g. B. in the battle of Montgisard in 1177.

In 1183 he campaigned for the coronation of the minor Balduin V as king of Jerusalem in order to prevent Guido of Lusignan from being coronated. When Baldwin V died in 1186, Guido became king of Jerusalem. In 1187 the political situation in the kingdom came to a head. Raimund III. of Tripoli, who was previously Bailli and always one of the kingdom's best advisers, refused to recognize Guido of Lusignan as king. Rainald was now together with, Gérard de Ridefort , Grand Master of the Templars , Roger de Moulins , Grand Master of the Hospitallers , Joscius , Archbishop of Tire , Balian of Ibelin , Lord of Ibelin and Nablus were sent to Tiberias to negotiate with Raimund and start a civil war to prevent. When an army of Saladin invaded the area at the same time, he retired to his Beaufort castle on the way , while the knights of the order faced the Muslims at the Battle of Cresson on May 1st and were almost completely wiped out. When Raimund heard of the defeat, he met the remaining embassy in Tiberias and traveled to Jerusalem.

In June Saladin himself marched into Galilee with a large army and besieged Tiberias. On July 2, 1187, the united army of the Crusader states under Guido and Raimund surrendered to the battle of Hattin . The battle was a devastating defeat for the Christians. Rainald was in the rear of the army, along with his brother-in-law Joscelin III. by Edessa and Balian by Ibelin. The three were among the few who managed to break out of the enemy encirclement and escape to Tire . There he temporarily commanded the defense of the city.

Sidon was occupied by Saladin in the same year, Rainald went to his remaining Beaufort castle, whose defense he organized. When Saladin's army also approached Beaufort in 1189, he entered into negotiations with Saladin. Rainald, who spoke fluent Arabic, offered to accompany him to Damascus , convert to Islam and finally hand over Beaufort. But he only pursued a delaying tactic - he let his men use the time gained to strengthen the castle fortifications and continue the resistance. Rainald was then imprisoned in Damascus, and the castle crew did not hand over the castle until April 22, 1190 in exchange for his release.

After his release in 1190, he married Helvis von Ibelin, who was over 40 years his junior and daughter of his friend Balians von Ibelin. His first wife Agnes had died in 1184.

During the Third Crusade , he influenced the politics of the kingdom. He supported the annulment of the marriage between Humfried IV of Toron and Isabella of Jerusalem so that Isabella could be married to Conrad of Montferrat and this could be legitimized as the new king. His knowledge of Arabic also made him a useful diplomat: He negotiated with Saladin on behalf of Konrad from 1191-1192 and helped to broker the peace between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in 1192 .

After Saladin's death and the expiry of the peace treaty in 1197, the county of Sidon was recaptured by the German Crusade and returned to Rainald.

Death and descendants

Rainald died in 1202. His second wife Helvis married Guido von Montfort after his death . He was regent of Sidon until 1210, when Rainald and Helvis' son Balian Garnier came of age.

Rainald also had two daughters, probably with Helvis:

• Agnes ⚭ Rudolf of St. Omer (Raoul / Ralph), titular prince of Galilee, Seneschal of Jerusalem (stepson of Raymond III of Tripoli);
• Fenie (Euphemia) ⚭ Odo of St. Omer , constable of Tripoli, lord of Gogulat (stepson of Raymond III of Tripoli, brother of Rudolf).

Web links

• Renaud Garnier of Sidon at fmc.ac

predecessor	Office	successor
Gerhard Garnier	Count of Sidon 1171–1202	Balian Garnier