Most Christian authors who wrote of Raynald in the 12th and 13th centuries were influenced by Raynald's political opponent, William of Tyre. The author of the "Estoire of Eracles" stated that Raynald's attack against a caravan at the turn of 1186 and 1187 was the "reason of the loss of the Kingdom of Jerusalem". Modern historians have usually also treated Raynald as a "maverick who did more harm to the Christian than to the cause". Runciman describes him as a marauder who could not resist the temptation presented by the rich caravans passing through Oultrejordain. Runciman argues that Raynald attacked a caravan during the 1180 truce because he "could not understand a policy that ran counter to his wishes". According to Barber, Raynald's behavior during the reign of Guy of Lusignan shows that the kingdom had broken up into "a collection of semi-autonomous fiefdoms" by that time.