William of Tyre, short bio.

William of Tyre (c. 1130 - c. 1185) (c) Gordon Napier, 2007

William of Tyre was a cleric and statesman in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. He also wrote one of the best-known chronicles of the crusades. Born in Jerusalem, he completed his education in Europe, studying theology in Paris, mathematics and classics in Orleans and law in Bologna. Returning to the Holy Land in 1165, William became canon of Acre, then archdeacon of Tyre, and soon became a courtier and diplomat for King Amalric I (r. 1162-74). He played a part in negotiating an alliance with Byzantium, which would lead to the preparation of combined military operations against Egypt.
William was appointed tutor to Baldwin, King Amalric’s only son (Baldwin IV, r. 1174-85). To his distress, he was the first to diagnose the prince’s leprosy, when Baldwin cut himself while playing and felt no pain. Meanwhile William rose to become chancellor of the kingdom and archbishop of Tyre. He attended the Third Lateran Council in 1179. However he lost out on becoming patriarch of Jerusalem, an honour that went to Heraclius, archbishop of Caesarea.
Still serving as chancellor and archbishop, William began writing a multi-volume chronicle, later called the History of Deeds Done beyond the Sea . For the early sections, he was indebted to earlier chroniclers . Influenced by Albert of Aachen, he made Peter the Hermit pivotal in the narrative. Despite William’s diplomatic involvement with Constantinople, meanwhile, he seldom demonstrated any great regard for the Byzantines, and labelled the Emperor Alexios I Comnenus a ‘false and disloyal Greek.’ The First Crusaders had triumphed without Byzantine assistance because God deemed the Greeks unworthy of the task of liberating the Holy Places. Even so William seems to have been pro-Byzantine when it came to the realpolitik of his day.
Predictably he had little good to say about his contemporary Heraclius. He was also critical of the Military Orders, recording the Templars’ killing of an Assassin envoy and ascribing base motives for it. He presented King Baldwin favourably, but criticized Guy de Lusignan, and expressed some foreboding for the kingdom, already overshadowed as it was by Saladin. William favoured Raymond of Tripoli in the political struggle then in process. Like Raymond, William knew Arabic, and additionally wrote a history of Islam, though this does not survive.
William continued in his ecclesiastical role, investing bishops and taking the funeral of William of Montferrat (the first husband of the princess Sibylla). He was succeeded as chancellor of Jerusalem by Peter, archdeacon of Lydda (mentioned in May 1185), and as archbishop by Joscius (first mentioned as archbishop of Tyre on 26 October 1156). Allegedly William was excommunicated by Heraclius towards the end of his life, and died while journeying to Rome to appeal. Later accounts have William being poisoned by Heraclius. It is mentioned that William died on 29 September, but there is no source for the year. Given that there is no evidence for him being removed from office during his lifetime, the year 1184 is a possibility, though 1185 is more usually given.


Bibliography
Edbury, P. W. & Rowe, J. G., William of Tyre: Historian of the Lain East (Cambridge, 1988)
Jotitschy, A. Crusading and the Crusader States (Harlow, 2004)
Oldenberg, Z. The Crusades (New York, 1966)
Tyerman, C. The Invention of the Crusades (London, 1998)