Beaufort Castle, Lebanon
Beaufort Castle | |
---|---|
قلعة الشقيف | |
Crusaders |
Beaufort or Belfort Castle, known locally as Qal'at al-Shaqif (
Beaufort provides one of the few cases in which a medieval castle proved of military value and utility in modern warfare as well, as its late 20th-century history shows.
Name
The castle was named bel fort or beau fort (
History
Medieval era
The outcrop Beaufort occupied overlooks the Litani River.[2] The river flows past the east side of the castle, which stands atop a 300 metres (980 ft) cliff which declines steeply to the river.[3] Little is known of the site prior to its capture by Crusader forces in 1139, as no contemporary documents mention the site before then. However, historians assume that the castle's commanding hilltop site made it a strategic position that was fortified before its capture by the Crusaders.[4] Fulk, King of Jerusalem, captured the fortification of Qal'at al-Shaqif in 1139 and gave the site to the lords of Sidon. Medieval historian Hugh Kennedy speculates that construction of the Crusader castle began soon after Fulk gave the site to the lords of Sidon.[3]
The Battle of Hattin in 1187 saw the Crusaders suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of Saladin. In the aftermath, many castles and cities fell to Saladin's forces so that only a handful of cities remained under the Crusaders' control. Beaufort was one of the last castles to resist Saladin.[5] In April 1189, Saladin was preparing to besiege the castle and Arab sources describe the event in detail. At the time Beaufort was under the control of Reynald of Sidon who had survived the Battle of Hattin, While Saladin was camped at nearby Marjayoun, preparing for the siege, Reynald met him and claimed to have Muslim sympathies. He said that while he would like to hand over control of Beaufort, his family were in the Christian city of Tyre and he could not surrender until they were safely out of the city. In the hope of a taking the castle without any bloodshed, Reynald was given three months to extract his family from Tyre; instead he used this time to repair the castle and stock up on supplies.[6]
After three months Reynald met Saladin again, protesting he needed more time. Saladin insisted he hand over the castle immediately, so Reynald ordered the garrison to surrender. When they refused Reynald was taken prisoner and the siege began.
Modern era
After the Ottoman conquest of Syria in 1516, the Ottomans attempted to revive the area by granting military benefices (timar) to Ottoman cavalry soldiers around Shaqif Arnun castle. The
In 1921 the
The castle's strategic location, which affords a view of much of southern
Construction
Several of the great Crusader castles were built on spurs, using natural defenses and fortifying the one access point. The setting of Beaufort plays a role in the defense of the site, but the terrain is only impassable on the north side. The Kurds extended the castle to include a slightly lower shelf of rock immediately to the east of the castle, thereby removing one of the routes of attack.[2][15] Divided into two wards, one occupying the lower ground to the east, the castle is roughly triangular in shape and measures about 150 by 100 metres (490 by 330 ft). A keep or great tower was built against the west wall of the upper ward; the tower has a square plan and measures about 12 by 12 metres (39 by 39 ft).[16] While it was common for keeps in Europe to be entered through the first floor, in Syria the convention was for a ground floor entrance as can be seen at Beaufort.[17]
References
Notes
- ^ Nicolle (2004), p. 57
- ^ a b Kennedy (1994), p. 41
- ^ a b Kennedy (1994), p. 43
- ^ a b c d e f Grussenmeyer & Yasmine (2003), p. 2
- ^ Tyerman (2006), p. 403
- ^ a b c Kennedy (1994), pp. 43–44
- ^ Tyerman (2006), p. 405
- ^ Tyerman (2006), p. 767
- ISBN 9780511676413.pp. 120-125
- ^ Boas (2006), p. 27
- ^ Sattin (2014), p. 41
- ^ Kennedy (1994), pp. 5–7
- ^ Kennedy (1994), p. 7
- ^ Martin, Susane (January 2023). "Preventing Suicide Attacks by Terrorists" (PDF).
- ^ Smail (1978), pp. 218, 221
- ^ Boas (2006), pp. 27–28
- ^ Smail (1956), p. 227
Bibliography
- Boas, Adrian (2006). Archaeology of the military orders: a survey of the urban centres, rural settlement and castles of the Military Orders in the Latin East (c. 1120–1291). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-29980-0.
- Grussenmeyer, Pierre; Yasmine, Jean (2003). "The Restoration of Beaufort Castle (South-Lebanon): A 3D Restitution According to Historical Documentation" (PDF). XIXth CIPA International Symposium.
- ISBN 0-521-42068-7.
- ISBN 1-84176-715-8.
- Smail, R. C. (1978) [1956]. Crusading warfare, 1097–1193 (reprint ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-09730-7.
- ISBN 978-0-674-02387-1.
- Sattin, Anthony (2014). Young Lawrence: A Portrait of the Legend as a Young Man. John Murray. ISBN 978-1-84854-911-1.
Further reading
- le Strange, Guy (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund., London, ( p. 534 & p. 535)
- Rey, Guillaume (1871). Etudes sur les monuments de l'architecture militaire des Croisés en Syrie et dans l'ile de Chypre (in French). Paris: Impr. nationale.