A trip down the Red Sea with Reynald of Châtillon

Abstract

In the pages of the Islamic chronicles which tell of the deeds of the crusaders, one figure stands apart. A man who not only is said to have attacked pilgrim caravans in a time of truce and insulted Muhammad himself, but who also, it is reported, had the audacity, temerity, and insanity (or possible genius) to threaten the very heart of the Islamic world – the cities of Mecca and Medina, and the ‘Islamic’ Red Sea. This man was Reynald of Châtillon, lord of Oultrejourdain, erstwhile Prince of Antioch, and he is described, amongst other things, as “one of the most devilish of the Franks, and one of the most demonic, and he had the strongest hostility to the Muslims”. The raid on the Red Sea and purported attempts to attack Mecca and Medina are believed to be one of the main reasons why Reynald is so despised in the Arabic chronicles. The intention of this article, therefore, is to examine the raid anew, using the Arabic material available, in order to try to contribute to an understanding of the raid, and to establish whether, indeed, Reynald even did try to attack the holy cities of Islam, and whether the criticism of him is justified.

Red Sea Entanglement: Initial Latin European Intellectual Development Regarding Nubia and Ethiopia during the Twelfth Century

“…Alternatively, as has been noted by Carole Hillenbrand, since his release from captivity in Aleppo in 1176, Renaud had found a new zeal for the crusading cause and actively preyed upon Muslim caravans to disrupt Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn's growing power (Hillenbrand 2003), suggesting that his Red Sea endeavour should not be viewed as an isolated event. Equally, the 'raid' may have reflected a wider defensive strategy and realpolitik which, in turn, fed Renaud's personal desires (Mallett 2008). The overwhelming description of the event as a 'raid' in scholarship is the result of viewing the brief expedition in isolation of other factors.…”