Toron

Toron, now

The castle was built by Hugh of Fauquembergues, prince of Galilee, in 1106 AD to assist in capturing Tyre.^[1] After Hugh's death, the surroundings of Tibnin were raided by 'Izz al-Mulk, who killed the populace and made off with booty.^[1] Tibnin was made an independent seigneury, given to Humphrey I before 1109.

After Humphrey I of Toron, the castle and

Humphrey IV was also the prince of

In 1219 Sultan al-Mu'azzam secretly had the defences of Toron, and of other castles, dismantled.^[2][3] This was done because the forces of the Fifth Crusade had captured the more crucial defences at Damietta on the Nile Delta and were now threatening Cairo. Sultan al-Mu'azzam was prepared to exchange the strongholds in Palestine for the ones in Egypt, but wished not to give strong defendable cities to the Crusaders if he could avoid it. Although the exchange proved unnecessary, the geographical position of the sites remained important for the Crusaders who were interested in recovering Jerusalem from Muslim control.

Indeed, despite their destruction, Toron,

• Humphrey I of Toron (before 1109–after 1136)
• Humphrey II of Toron (before 1137–1179)
  • (Humphrey III predeceased his father)
• Humphrey IV of Toron (1179–1183)
• Royal domain (1183–1187)
• Humphrey IV (restored) (1190 – c. 1192)
  • occupied by Muslims until 1229 and the title not used
• Alice of Armenia (1229– after 1236), granddaughter of Humphrey III
• Isabella of Armenia
  , daughter of Humphrey III.
  • occupied by Muslims from 1239 until 1241
• Philip of Montfort (1241– before 1257)
• John of Montfort
  (before 1257–1283), Lord of Tyre. It was lost again in 1266
• Humphrey of Montfort
  (1283–1284), Lord of Beirut, Lord of Tyre
• Amaury of Montfort (1284–1304)
• Rupen of Montfort (1304–1313), Lord of Beirut
• Humphrey of Montfort (d. 1326), constable of Cyprus, titular lord of Beirut
• Eschiva of Montfort (d. bef 1350), wife of Peter I of Cyprus titular lord of Beirut

Toron had two vassals of its own, the Lordship of

The castle of Toron occupies a steep hill, in fact a Bronze Age tell, north to the village of Tibnin, at a height of 725 metres (2,379 ft) above sea level. It is oval in shape with its outline following the contours of the tell. It once had twelve rectangular towers with one of them - to the south - having been the donjon. The castle, razed in 1266 by the Mamluks was rebuilt 500 years later in the mid-18th century by the Shiite sheikh Nasif al-Nassar during his struggle against the Ottoman rule. He used the ruins of the medieval walls as a basis for his rebuilding campaign and thus the castle today mainly appears as an Ottoman construction. The castle was then used as the home and base of the House of El-Assaad, the family of Nasif.^{[citation needed]}

In 1881 it was noted that it was the residence of the local Governor, and that about twenty Muslims lived there.^[7]

See also

• Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

References