Reynald de Chatillon is a cavalry hero in Age of Empires II. He is found in the campaigns and is available in the Scenario Editor. He shares his appearance, that of a heavy knight armed with a lance, with the Frankish Paladin and several other cavalry Hero units.
He is affected by cavalry technologies and civilization bonuses which affect cavalry. As a hero, he cannot be converted and can regenerate health (since The Conquerors).
Reynald is also the narrator of the Thoros II campaign.
Campaign appearances[]
Saladin[]
- Lord of Arabia: Reynald's forces serve as the main antagonists, raiding the coasts of the Red Sea. Reynald himself briefly appears in the initial raids, but disappears later on.
- The Horns of Hattin: Reynald leads the French forces assaulting the southern Saracen base. He can be killed in battle.
The Hautevilles[]
- Guiscard Arrives: Drogo de Hauteville is a renamed Reynald de Chatillon. He hold the Norman barony of Melfi in the center of the map and will turn Guiscard away. He can be killed to take over the barony. Alternatively, he might also be assassinated by the Byzantines later on in the scenario, with Roger inheriting the barony without bloodshed.
Thoros II[]
- Bloody Crestwaves: Reynald briefly appears to discuss the raid against Byzantine-held Cyprus. His forces invading from the opposite side of the island from Thoros' forces.
Reynald's forces also appear in the Caught in the Crossfire and Of Turncoats and Traitors scenarios in the Thoros II campaign, but Reynald himself does not make a personal appearance.
History[]
Renaud de Chรขtillon (c. 1123 - July 4, 1187) was a Burgundian Knight and Crusader of relatively humble origin who gained great military and political influence in the Kingdom of Jerusalem between the Second and Third Crusades. Chatillon took his name from Chรขtillon-sur-Loire, a small town in central France. After losing his land for unknown reasons, he joined the Second Crusade (1147-1150) and stayed in the Holy Land after its defeat, entering the service of King Baldwin III of Jerusalem.
Chatillon was described as a rogue, greedy, and ruthless by contemporary Muslims and Crusaders alike. He rose to prominence in 1153, when he married the widow princess of Antioch, and tortured the local Latin Patriarch due to his opposition to the marriage. In 1155, he attacked the Armenian Christian kingdom of Cilicia at the request of the Byzantines, then switched sides and sacked Byzantine Cyprus when they failed to pay him what they promised. These are covered in the Thoros II campaign from The Mountain Royals, where Chatillon himself serves as the narrator.
Like the narrator in the Saladin campaign, he was captured by the Muslims in 1160 and imprisoned for 15 years, but he hated Muslims more after his release instead of becoming sympathetic to them. Then he married the widow lady of Transjordan and used this vast territory and resources to raid Muslim trade caravans and shipping in defiance of the truce signed by Saladin and Baldwin IV in 1180. Before that, he also inflicted Saladin his worst defeat at Montgisard (1177).
Because of his breach of the truce and threats to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, Saladin swore to personally behead Chatillon, which he did after capturing him at Hattin. He was the only Crusader leader executed by the Muslims after the battle. A later legend claimed that Chatillon killed Saladin's sister during his raids in the Red Sea (as shown in the movie Kingdom of Heaven). This grew from reports of Saladin assigning extra forces to protect her during the raids.
Trivia[]
- Age of Empires II uses the English spelling Reynald rather than the French Renaud, but also the French particle "de" instead of "of".
- In the original game, the switch in Chatillon's faction from cyan Franks in Lord of Arabia to blue Byzantines in The Horns of Hattin is likely because Chatillon fights with his own forces as Lord of Transjordan in the former, and in the latter as part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem's Army (which is portrayed as Byzantines). The kingdom was later depicted as Franks in the Definitive Edition's version of the scenario.
- In the Definitive Edition, Chatillon wears blue in both scenarios, in addition to his appearances in the Thoros II campaign.