William of Tyre (c. 1130–1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. He grew up in Jerusalem at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been established in 1099 after the First Crusade, and he spent twenty years studying the liberal arts and canon law in the universities of Europe. Following William's return to Jerusalem in 1165, King Amalric I made him an ambassador to the Byzantine Empire. William became tutor to the king's son, the future King Baldwin IV, whom William discovered to be a leper. After Amalric's death William became chancellor and archbishop of Tyre, two of the highest offices in the kingdom, and in 1179 William led the eastern delegation to the Third Council of the Lateran. As he was involved in the dynastic struggle that developed during Baldwin IV's reign, his importance waned when a rival faction gained control of royal affairs. He was passed over for the prestigious Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and died in obscurity, probably in 1186. William wrote an account of the Lateran Council and a history of the Islamic states from the time of Muhammad. Neither work survives. He is famous today as the author of a history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the only source for the history of twelfth-century Jerusalem written by a native.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

235:

Maximinus Thrax succeeded to the throne of the Roman Empire, the first of the so-called barracks emperors who gained power by virtue of his command of the army. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximinus_Thrax

1602:

The Dutch East India Company was established. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company

1923:

Arts Club of Chicago hosted the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the U.S. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_Club_of_Chicago

1944:

World War II: Four thousand U.S. Marines made a landing on Emirau Island in the Bismarck Archipelago to develop an airbase as part of Operation Cartwheel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_on_Emirau

1987:

The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) became the first antiviral medication approved for use against HIV and AIDS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zidovudine

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

question the question (v): To ask that a proposed question’s presuppositions be explicitly justified, especially as a preliminary to answering it http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/question_the_question

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm. --Henrik Ibsen http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henrik_Ibsen