Editing Raynald of Châtillon (section)

== Early years ==

Raynald was the younger son of Hervé II, [[Lord of Donzy]] in France.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=104}}{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=201}} In older historiography, Raynald was thought to have been the son of Geoffrey, Count of [[Gien]],{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=345}} but the historian [[Jean Richard (historian)|Jean Richard]] demonstrated Raynald's kinship with the lords of [[Donzy]].{{refn|group=note|The contemporaneous historian [[Ernoul]] mentions that Raynald was "the brother of the lord of Gien" in France. For chronological reasons, this lord of Gien can only be associated with Hervé—a brother of Geoffrey II of Donzy—who gave the castle of Gien to his daughter Alix in dowry in 1153. They were both sons of Hervé II of Donzy.{{sfn|Richard|1989|pp=410, 416}}}} They were influential noblemen in the [[Duchy of Burgundy]] (in present-day eastern France), who claimed descent from the Palladii, a prominent [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman]] aristocratic family during the [[Later Roman Empire|Later Roman]] period.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=104}}{{sfn|Richard|1989|pp=412–413}} Raynald's mother, whose name is not known, was a daughter of Hugh the White, Lord of [[La Ferté-Milon]].{{sfn|Richard|1989|p=410}}

Born around 1124, Raynald inherited the lordship of [[Châtillon-sur-Loire]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=104}}{{sfn|Cotts|2021|p=43}} Years later, he would complain in a letter to [[Louis VII of France]] that a part of his patrimony was "violently and unjustly confiscated". The historian [[Malcolm Barber]] says that probably this event prompted Raynald to leave his homeland for the [[crusader states]].{{refn|group=note|The crusader states—the [[County of Edessa]], the [[Principality of Antioch]], the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], and the [[County of Tripoli]]—were established by western aristocrats in the [[Middle East]] as a consequence of the [[First Crusade]] between 1098 and 1105. Occupying a narrow strip of land, the crusader states' survival depended on external support, and their leaders often appealed for help to the rulers of Catholic Europe.{{sfn|Barber|2012|pp=4–25}}}}{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=206}} According to modern historians, Raynald came to the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] in Louis{{nbsp}}VII's army during the [[Second Crusade]] in 1147,{{refn|group=note|The Second Crusade was declared after the talented Turkic military leader [[Imad al-Din Zengi|Zengi]] captured the city of [[Edessa]] (now in Turkey) in late 1144.{{sfn|Barber|2012|pp=180–185}}}} and stayed behind when the French abandoned the military campaign two years later.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=98}}{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=206}} Early in 1153, he is known to have fought in the army of [[Baldwin III of Jerusalem]] during the [[siege of Ascalon]].{{sfn|Hamilton|1978|p=98 (note 8)}}

The 12th-century historian [[William of Tyre]], who was Raynald's political opponent, describes him as "a kind of mercenary knight", emphasising the distance between Raynald and Princess [[Constance of Antioch]], whom Raynald unexpectedly engaged to marry before the end of the siege.{{sfn|Hamilton|1978|p=98 (note 8)}}{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=206}} Constance, the only daughter and successor of [[Bohemond II of Antioch]], had been widowed when her husband, [[Raymond of Poitiers]], fell in the [[Battle of Inab]] on 28{{nbsp}}June 1148.{{sfn|Barber|2012|pp=152–153}}{{sfn|Lock|2006|pp=40, 50}} To secure the defence of Antioch, Baldwin{{nbsp}}III (who was Constance's cousin) led his army to Antioch at least three times during the following years. He tried to persuade Constance to remarry, but she did not accept his candidates. She also refused [[John Rogerios Dalassenos|John Roger]], whom the Byzantine emperor, [[Manuel I Komnenos]], had proposed to be her husband.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|pp=330–332, 345}}{{sfn|Buck|2017|pp=77–78}} Raynald and Constance kept their betrothal a secret until Baldwin gave his permission for their marriage.{{sfn|Runciman|1989|p=345}}{{sfn|Barber|2012|p=206}} According to the historian Andrew D. Buck, they needed a royal permission because Raynald was in Baldwin's service.{{sfn|Buck|2017|p=78}} The early-13th-century chronicle known as the {{lang|fr|[[Estoire d'Eracles]]}} states that Baldwin happily consented to the marriage because it freed him from his obligation to "defend a land" (namely Antioch) "which was so far away" from his kingdom.{{sfn|Buck|2017|p=228}}