Raynald of Châtillon, Prince of Antioch, confined…
October 1177 CE
Raynald of Châtillon, Prince of Antioch, confined at Aleppo for the past fifteen years, had in 1176 been ransomed by his supporters in Jerusalem for the extraordinary sum of one hundred and twenty thousand gold dinars (five hundred kilograms of gold).
His stepdaughter Maria by this time, had become Empress in Constantinople, having in 1161 married Emperor Manuel I.
His wife Constance had died in 1163, and their daughter Agnes has become queen of Hungary by marriage.
Raynald had soon risen to a powerful position in the kingdom.
He serves as the king's envoy to Emperor Manuel and is rewarded with marriage to Stephanie, the wealthy widow of both Humphrey III of Toron and Miles of Plancy and the heiress of the lordship of Oultrejordain, including the castles Kerak and Montreal to the southeast of the Dead Sea.
These fortresses control the trade routes between Egypt and Damascus and give Raynald access to the Red Sea.
He has become notorious for his wanton cruelty at Kerak, often having his enemies and hostages flung from its castle walls to be dashed to pieces on the rocks below.