After studying at Hildesheim and Paris and serving as a church provost, Rainald became (1153) a member of Emperor Frederick I's embassy to Pope Eugene III in Rome. In May 1156 he was appointed imperial chancellor. Between 1158 and 1164 Rainald led troops to Italy several times and negotiated with towns on Frederick's behalf. In 1159 he was elected archbishop of Cologne. After Pope Adrian IV's death the same year, Rainald championed the antipope Victor IV against Alexander III. Excommunicated by Pope Alexander III in 1163, Rainald ensured the continuance of the schism by swiftly moving to secure, on his own responsibility, the election of a new antipope, Paschal III, on the death of the antipope Victor IV (1164). In 1167 Rainald took part in Frederick's Italian campaign but, on reaching Rome, he was fatally stricken in a malaria epidemic.