Chi ha sposato Costanza d'Antiochia?

Costanza d'Antiochia o Costanza d'Altavilla, in quanto discendente dell'omonima casata degli Altavilla (1128 – Libano o Siria, 1163), fu principessa d'Antiochia dal 1130 fino al 1163, poco prima della sua morte.

Unica figlia del principe Boemondo II e della principessa Alice, Costanza succedette al padre alla guida dello Stato crociato di Antiochia di Siria all'età di due anni, dopo che Boemondo II cadde in battaglia. La custodia della giovane principessa fu molto contesa: inizialmente sua madre assunse la reggenza, ma i nobili della città chiesero e ottennero l'intervento del nonno Baldovino II, re di Gerusalemme. Dopo la morte del sovrano nel 1131, Alice tentò nuovamente di assumere il controllo della regione, ma l'aristocrazia di Antiochia riconobbe il diritto del cognato Folco d'Angiò a governare in veste di reggente.

Nel 1136, Costanza fu data in sposa al nobile Raimondo di Poitiers e la coppia ebbe quattro figli. Quando Raimondo perse la vita durante la battaglia d'Inab, Baldovino III assunse la reggenza. Egli tentò di convincere Costanza a risposarsi, ma lei non accettò nessuno dei potenziali partiti, rifiutando anche un parente di mezza età affine all'imperatore bizantino Manuele I Comneno. Dopo diverso tempo cambiò idea e sposò Rinaldo di Châtillon, un cavaliere francese poco avvezzo alla politica e mosso esclusivamente dalla volontà di accumulare ricchezze.

Dopo che il suo secondo marito venne fatto prigioniero nel 1160 o 1161, Costanza intendeva governare Antiochia da sola, ma Baldovino III dichiarò principe legittimo il figlio quindicenne di lei, Boemondo. Costanza ignorò il volere del re e assunse il controllo dell'amministrazione del principato, con l'assistenza dell'imperatore Manuele. Nel 1163 fu detronizzata e rimpiazzata dal figlio, morendo nel medesimo anno.

Raymond of Poitiers (c. 1105 – 29 June 1149) was Prince of Antioch from 1136 to 1149. He was the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, and his wife Philippa, Countess of Toulouse, born in the very year that his father the Duke began his infamous liaison with Dangereuse de Chatelherault.

Raynald of Châtillon (c. 1124 – 4 July 1187), also known as Reynald, Reginald, or Renaud, was Prince of Antioch—a crusader state in the Middle East—from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain—a large fiefdom in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem—from 1175 until his death, ruling both territories iure uxoris ('by right of wife'). The second son of a French noble family, he joined the Second Crusade in 1147, and settled in Jerusalem as a mercenary. Six years later, he married Princess Constance of Antioch, although her subjects regarded the marriage as a mesalliance.

Always in need of funds, Raynald tortured Aimery of Limoges, Latin Patriarch of Antioch, who had refused to pay a subsidy to him. He launched a plundering raid in Cyprus in 1156, causing great destruction in Byzantine territory. Four years later, Manuel I Komnenos, the Byzantine Emperor, led an army towards Antioch, forcing Raynald to accept Byzantine suzerainty. Raynald was raiding the valley of the river Euphrates in 1160 or 1161 when the governor of Aleppo captured him at Marash. He was released for a large ransom in 1176 but did not return to Antioch, because his wife had died in the interim. He married Stephanie of Milly, the wealthy heiress of Oultrejordain. Since King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem had also granted Hebron to him, Raynald became one of the wealthiest barons in the kingdom. After Baldwin, who suffered from leprosy, made him regent in 1177, Raynald led the crusader army that defeated Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, at the Battle of Montgisard. In control of the caravan routes between Egypt and Syria, he was the only Christian leader to pursue an offensive policy against Saladin, by making plundering raids against the caravans travelling near his domains. After Raynald's newly constructed fleet plundered the coast of the Red Sea in early 1183, threatening the route of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, Saladin pledged that he would never forgive him.

Raynald was a firm supporter of Baldwin IV's sister, Sybilla, and her husband, Guy of Lusignan, during conflicts regarding Baldwin's succession. Sybilla and Guy were able to seize the throne in 1186 due to Raynald's co-operation with her uncle, Joscelin III of Courtenay. In spite of a truce between Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Raynald attacked a caravan travelling from Egypt to Syria in late 1186 or early 1187, claiming that the truce was not binding upon him. After Raynald refused to pay compensation, Saladin invaded the kingdom and annihilated the crusader army in the Battle of Hattin. Raynald was captured on the battlefield. Saladin personally beheaded him after he refused to convert to Islam. Many historians have regarded Raynald as an irresponsible adventurer whose lust for booty caused the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On the other hand, the historian Bernard Hamilton says that he was the only crusader leader who tried to prevent Saladin from unifying the nearby Muslim states.