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.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Tyre>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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