Rainald of Saint-Valery

Rainald von Saint-Valery (also Reinhold , French Renaud de Saint-Valéry ; † after 1165 ) was lord of Harenc in the Principality of Antioch .

He was a son of the Anglo-Norman knight Bernhard II of Saint-Valery and his wife Mathilde. This is mentioned together with his father, Count Walter von Saint-Valery, during the conquest of Nicaea in 1097 during the First Crusade .

In 1157/58 Rainald is mentioned as a knight in the suite of Count Dietrich von Flanders . With this he had gone on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and both took part there from the summer of 1157 in a campaign under the command of King Baldwin III. of Jerusalem against the Syrian Muslims. The Crusaders took the opportunity that Nur ad-Din of Aleppo was sick to expand the Principality of Antioch at its expense. Dietrich von Flanders obviously had in mind to acquire rule himself. First they attacked the fortress town of Schaizar , which Dietrich was to receive as a fief. The Prince of Antioch, Rainald von Châtillon , insisted that the new rule should be a vassal of his principality. Rainald von Châtillon had only gained the princely throne through marriage and had a significantly lower rank of nobility than Dietrich in France, which is why Dietrich refused to pay homage to him as liege lord. Although the crusaders had already taken the lower town of Shaizar and the citadel was about to surrender, the siege was broken off in October 1157 and the crusader army moved northwards.

After the army had occupied the ruins of Apamea , they went to siege the Harenc castle. Harenc had previously belonged to the principality of Antioch and was conquered by Nur ad-Din in 1149. The reunited army of the crusader states finally conquered the castle in February 1158. Since Dietrich still refused to pay homage to Prince Rainald, the castle and surrounding rule were finally given to Dietrich's henchman Rainald von Saint-Valery. Nevertheless, Rainald von Saint-Valery and Dietrich took part in the further campaign of King Baldwin and distinguished themselves in the victory over an army of Nur ad-Din that had invaded Galilee.

The castle remained contested in the following years. On August 12, 1164, a Christian army was defeated near the castle in the Battle of Artah in an attempt to relieve Harenc Castle, which was besieged by the Muslims. In 1165 at the latest, the castle fell to Nur ad-Din again. Rainald had apparently already returned to England at this point and had given his rule to the dethroned Count Joscelin III. Left by Edessa , who can be proven as lord of Harenc in 1163 at the latest.

Rainald probably had a daughter named Orguilleuse, who was Prince Bohemond III. of Antioch married. In any case, she is referred to as the daughter of "Lord of Harenc". Bohemond III. besieged the Muslim-occupied Harenc Castle in 1177, but was unsuccessful.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades. Special edition in one volume without references to sources and literature, 33. – 35. Thousands of the total print run. CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-39960-6 , p. 654.
2. ↑ See Jean Richard: The Crusades. c. 1071 - c. 1291. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1999, ISBN 0-521-62566-1 , p. 176.
3. ↑ See Steven Runciman: History of the Crusades. Special edition in one volume without references to sources and literature, 33. – 35. Thousands of the total print run. CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-39960-6 , p. 654.
4. ↑ See Jean Richard: The Crusades. c. 1071 - c. 1291. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1999, ISBN 0-521-62566-1 , p. 176
5. ↑ See Robert Lawrence Nicholson: Joscelyn III and the fall of the crusader states. 1134-1199. Brill, Leiden 1973, ISBN 90-04-03676-8 , p. 29.

Web links

• Renaud de Saint-Valéry at fmg.ac

predecessor	Office	successor
––	Lord of Harenc 1158–1163	Joscelin III. from Edessa