Home > William of Tyre

William was born in Jerusalem around 1128, one of the second generation of children born to the children of the original European Crusaders in the new kingdom. As a child was educated in Jerusalem, but as an adult he may have studied in Paris, then the seat of learning in the West, as well as in Bologna. In Paris he may have been taught by William of St. Amour .

After his return to the Holy Land in 1163 he became the leading cleric in the cathedral at Tyre, and in 1167 became archdeacon. In 1168 he went on a diplomatic mission for King AmalricAmalric I (also Amaury or Aimery ( 1136- 1174) was king of Jerusalem from 1162 to 1174. Amalric was the son of Fulk of Jerusalem, and the brother of Baldwin III. He was married twice, first to Agnes of Edessa, with whom he had two children, Baldwin IV and to the Byzantine emperor Manuel I ComnenusManuel I Comnenus Megas ( November 28, 1118? September 24, 1180) was Byzantine Emperor from 1143 to 1180. He was the fourth son of John II Comnenus. Having distinguished himself in his father's war against the Seljuk Turks, he was nominated emperor in pre, and in 1169Events Prince Andrey Bogolyubskiy sacks the Kievan Rus' capital Kiev. Start of the conquest of Ireland. Richard fitzGilbert de Clare ('Strongbow') makes an alliance with the exiled Irish chief, Dermot MacMurrough, to help him recover his kingdom of Leinst he was sent to RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman. On his return he became the tutor of Amalric's son and heir, Baldwin IVBaldwin IV ( 1161- 1185), the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife Agnes of Edessa, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1183, when he had his nephew Baldwin V crowned in his place. Baldwin IV was educated by William of Tyre, and came to the thr, who became king in 1173Events Canonization of Saint Thomas a Becket, buried at Canterbury August 9th Construction starts on the Leaning tower of Pisa Castle at Abergavenny was seized by the Welsh. Conversion to Christianity of Peter Waldo and the subsequent founding of the Wald. In 1174Events Vietnam is given the official name of Annam by China. Henry II of England acknowledges Rosamund Clifford as his mistress. Revolt of 1173-1174 against Henry II of England ends with defeat of the rebels. William I of Scotland is captured by Henry II Baldwin made William chancellor of Jerusalem, while in 1175 William became archbishop of Tyre, gaining control over the most important matters of both Church and State.

In 1179 he attended the Third Council of the Lateran and engaged in diplomatic matters with Emperor Manuel. He returned home in 1180, and was considered an obvious choice for the patriarchate of Jerusalem, but due to political manoeuvring his rival Heraclius was chosen instead. Heraclius possibly excommunicated him in 1183, and his importance ceased with the accession of Baldwin V in 1185.

William himself reports that he wrote an account of the Lateran Council which he attended, as well as a Historia or Gesta orientalium principum dealing with the history of the Holy Land from time of Muhammad until 1184. However, neither of these works have survived.

His great work is a Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum in twenty-three unfinished books. The work begins with the conquest of Syria by Omar, but most of it deals with the events that brought about the First Crusade. Although he used older, unnamed sources, the work is also valuable as a primary source itself. It was widely translated and circulated throughout Europe after William's death.

William died in Tyre in October, 1186.