Krak of the Knights

The Krak of the Knights (the term “krak” drift of the Syriaque karak meaning “fortress”) or Krak of Hospital is a strong castle dating from the time of the Croisade S. It is located in the west of the Syria, on the last buttresses of the Djebel Ansariyya.

The knights of the Hospital (or hospital) managed the fort of 1142 with 1271, date of its conquest by Az-Zâhir Rukn AD-DIN Baybars Al-Bunduqdari (Baybars 1st), sultan of the Mamelouks. This conquest put an end to 129 years invincibility of the fort.

Thomas Edward Lawrence, by discovering it in 1909 the day of sound 21e birthday, described it as “more beautiful castles of the world, certainly most picturesque that I saw, a true wonder. ”

Since 2006, the krak of the knights is registered on the Liste of the world heritage of the humanity of UNESCO.

Geographical location and chronology

Dominating of approximately 500 meters the Flat of El-Bukeia, Krak of the Knights belongs to a defensive network which traverses the borders of old the Latin States of the East and controls perforated of Homs, not strategic with the crossroads of the roads connecting Homs, in the east, the coastal town of Tortose, in the west, and Antioche, in north, Tripoli then Beirut, in the south. It is one of the cross castles most prestigious and best preserved.

Antiquity

The the Middle East was always a point of meeting of civilizations. Crossed there Babylonian, Égyptiens, Hittites, Hebrew, Romains, Perse S, Byzantine Arab, Kurdish, Turks seldjoukides then Othoman and Francs, as many different military cultures which created there a new architecture whose quintessence nowadays remains incarnated by Krak of the Knights.

The Bataille of Qadesh opponent Ramsès {{II}} in Hittites in -1214 took probably place on the Such Nébi Mend to fifty km in the south-east of Krak and is reported on the low-reliefs of the Temple of Louxor. One sees there a roughcast fortress of high turns and Créneau X. Qadesh then will decline with the profit of the ancient city of Émèse, located better. Romans initially, then the Byzantines after the Great Schism of the East will draw up in the area of current the Syria of many fortresses of Hellenic tradition to resist the pressure Persian which will be as many models for the fortifications built by the armies arabo-Moslem women after they had conquered this area of 634 with 639.

Conquest arabo-Moslem woman

Initially under the domination omeyyade, construction begins again of more beautiful, but Byzantine fortifications are also altered and transformed into true palates, the builders benefitting from the presence of antiques infrastructures (stopping on the Oronte and its aqueduct) to make flower gardens in the middle of the desert. These construction continued after the seizure of power by the Abbassides in 750, and declined as the army, primarily made up of Turks of a military tradition less based on the fortifications, seized the capacity. Of 945 with 1055, the Persan ones will establish even the dynasty of the Bouyides.

During the same period, two major events arrive engaging the future of the area. Initially, in 909, the Fatimides Chiites are opposed to the Abbasid capacity of Baghdad and found a dynasty which will reign on all the the Maghreb and will extend at the beginning of the 11th century as far as Palestine. Al Hakim, the “insane caliph”, lance then a repression against the Christians of the East and Christian pilgrims, tolerated traditionally well. It destroys the Christian buildings of Jerusalem. This sudden closing of the places and roads of pilgrimage will be one of the events which led to the release of the crusades. In the second place, the Seldjoukides, Turkish-speaking Islamized (Sunnites) originating in steppes in the east of the Mer of Aral launch out to the conquest of the the Middle East. They seize Baghdad in 1055, and take the Anatolia with the Byzantine at the time of the Bataille of Mantzikert in 1071, and their caliphate extends then on the Perse, it Anatolia, the Syria and the Palestine to the borders of Egypt fatimide. Krak is then rebuilt on the site of a small fortress undoubtedly occupied since antiquity in 1031 by the Abbasids which install a Kurdish garrison there to resist the pressure seldjoukide. The fortress became known under the name of Qalaʿat Al-Husn the “fortress of the Kurds”.

The first crusade

In January 1099, on arrival of the First crusade, the Kurdish garrison was évincée by Raymond of Saint-Gilles who gave up the places almost immediately, his objective being Jerusalem. It in vain tried to take again the fortress in April 1102 and it is finally Tancrède, the regent of Antioche, which seized in 1110 it and installed there a franque garrison under the authority of the count de Tripoli. In 1115, an offensive of Arslan, the emir of Alep, was pushed back.

With the passing of years, the importance of the krak of the Knights parallel to believed the influence of cross towards the east but the cost of its maintenance led Raymond {{II}} to entrust it to the guard Hospitaliers (1142). It is of this time that date the name “krak of the Knights”.

Under the impulse of Hospital, several other defense works were built in the surroundings and Krak of the Knights was consequently connected by signals of fire and carrier pigeons to the fortifications of Akkar and Chastel Rouge (hospital) and of Chastel Blanc and Arima (templiers).

The second crusade

Starting from the middle of the 12th century, following the fall of the Seldjoukides, with the victories of Zengi over the crusaders (loss of Édesse), with the failure of the seat of Damas by the Second crusade, and with the come to power of Nur AD-DIN, a plain Moslem face took shape and the pressure on the crusaders - and thus on Krak of the Knights - was done stronger.

In 1157, important a Earthquake shook the castle and Raymond of Puy, the large Master of Hospital, made it restore and increase thanks to a financing of the king of Bohemia. It was the first of a series of four phases of work which spread out on one century and half (1144 - 1170, 1170 - 1202, 1250 - 1271 and 1271 - 1285).

In 1163, Nur AD-DIN tried to seize Krak but its army was put in rout at the foot even of the fortress by a surprised attack of the franque cavalry which continued and decimated the runaways. A second seat also failed in 1167.

A second earthquake (1170) successor in title of the considerable damage, the krak of the Knights was rebuilt and consolidated by including many elements of military architecture borrowed from the Byzantine .

Saladin inflicted in vain many defeats with the crusaders, it could not seize the krak of the Knights. With its death, in 1193, the unit of the Moslems split up and the danger was done less for the fortress which entered then its golden age, covering an entire surface of 2,5 hectares protected by two entirely independent concentric enclosures. The krak lodged a garrison of 2000 men and had vivres for five years.

The fall of the krak

At the beginning of the 13th century, several attacks were pushed back (1207, 1218) and, in 1223, the fortress was used as gathering point with a franque army joined together to attack Hama. Other attacks still took place, quite as sterile as the preceding ones.

Towards second half of the 13th century, however, the breathlessness of the cross movement had reduced the garrison to less 300 men, the citadel being held by the military order of the Hospital and, with the come to power of Baybars, sultan of the Mamelukes, the territories on which the krak raised tribute traditionally had passed in enemy hands. It was from now on nothing any more but one matter of time before Baybars itself does not come to attack the fortress, which it did in 1271. The first enclosure yielded but the sultan could in spite of very seizing the krak only by the trick: he sent a false missive, emanating allegedly from the Grand Master of Templiers, enjoignant with besieged to go. Those negotiated their life against the promise to turn over in their country of origin and, the April 8th, the citadel changed hands.

After the crusades

The Mamelukes used and modified the krak Knights by reinforcing the southern side in particular and by adding a Hammam and a Aqueduc, but its strategic interest decreased the franque threat parallel to. The Mongolian invasions of Tamerlan (1400 - 1401) and those of the Othoman in 1516 were unaware of even the site. Thereafter, the fort was known under the name of Qalaʿat Al-Hosn

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