The lords of Lusignan could trace their association with the Latin East back to 1102 when Guy of Lusignan's great-grandfather, Hugh VI, fought at the battle of Ramla. In 1163, two generations later, Guy's father Hugh VIII, came from his native Poitou to Syria only to be captured by the Muslims in the following year. He never regained his freedom. Hugh VIII had several sons. The eldest, also named Hugh, did not long survive him, but three of the others, Geoffrey, Aimery and Guy, all lived to acquire fame for their exploits in the East. As members of the Poitevin nobility, the lords of Lusignan were from 1154 vassals of the kings of England, a connection that may help explain the support given Guy by King Richard at the time of the Third Crusade. In the twelfth century, however, the family was not conspicuous for its loyalty to the Plantagenets. Aimery, Geoffrey and Guy had all been involved in rebellions against Richard's father, King Henry II: Aimery in 1168, the others in 1173. Aimery was the first to leave for the East. He must have gone soon after his rebellion, for by 1174 he was already a vassal of the young Baldwin IV. According to a tradition current in the mid-thirteenth century, his career was launched by King Amaury (1163–74) who was said to have ransomed him from captivity in Damascus. In 1180 it was Aimery of Lusignan who persuaded Guy to come to Jerusalem.