Synopses & Reviews
This is a general account of the history and architecture of Crusader castles in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, County of Tripoli and Principality of Antioch between 1099 and 1291, the years during which the Crusaders had a permanent presence on the Levantine coast. Extensive use is made of contemporary chronicles to show the reasons why castles were built and how they were used in peace and war. The book is fully illustrated by photographs, drawings and plans, and contains a comprehensive bibliography.
Synopsis
A general illustrated account of the history and architecture of Crusader castles.
Synopsis
The castles built in the Middle East by the Christian crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries were among the most impressive built anywhere in the Middle Ages. This book is intended as a general introduction to the architecture and history of these fortifications and is fully illustrated with photographs, drawings, and plans, and includes a comprehensive bibliography. Kennedy begins by examining fortification in the West and East before the First Crusade, and follows with chapters discussing the castles of the 12th-century Kingdom of Jerusalem; 12th-century castles in the northern states; siege warfare in the Crusader lands; Templars and Teutonic knights in the 13th century; the Hospitallers in Tripoli and Antioch; Moslem castles of the 12th and 13th centuries.
Table of Contents
1. Prologue to the study of crusader castles; 2. Fortification in the east and west before the First Crusade; 3. Castles in the twelfth-century Kingdom of Jerusalem; 4. Twelfth-century castles in the northern states (County of Tripoli, Principality of Antioch and County of Edessa); 5. Siege warfare in the crusader lands; 6. Nobles, Templars and Teutonic knights in the thirteenth century; 7. The Hospitallers in Tripoli and Antioch; 8. Muslim castles of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; Postscript: crusader castles and the west.