Marghat Castle -- Interior Passage

Marghat Castle

Interior passageway with openings to the outside.  The rubble on the floor of the passage has been cleared, I am told, but the remainder of the restoration effort goes ahead very slowly.

Burj al-Sabi Tower (Margat Castle)

This seemingly isolated tower overlooks the coastal road south of Banyas, Syria.  It was strong enough to impose tolls upon travelers along this road to Antioch, but the main fortress in this area was "Margat Castle" which rises a short distance inland.  This tower is also said to have been linked to "Marqab" (Margat Castle) by a long stone wall. The castle itself was known as "Qalaat al-Marqab" (Castle of the Watchtower).  The tower and castle were a significant part of the holdings of the Hospialler Crusaders in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Respectfully Submitted;
Marcus Audens 

Roman Warship "Imperator"

The Roman Warship "Imperator" is now under construction at the Shipbuilding yard  on the Rhine River in Germania.  This ship will lead the Pirate Patrol Fleet in the area of the Rhine River's Mouth and the river length as far as it is navigable.  The Pirate patrol fleet will consist of three smaller faster vessels, armed with ballista's and the trireme that you see pictured here.  The construction goes forward slowly as materials for the four ships are brought in from distant ports of call.  The story "Rhine River Patrol" reflects some of the political and social situations related to the construction of these vessels.
Respectfully Submitted;
Marcus Audens

Baghrus outside Castle Ruin Wall with three window vacancies

I was facinated by this photo so I redrew it.  The castle is an obvious ruin, as the other drawings of this castle have shown, but this drawing seems to me to be even more "ruined" than the rest.  Perhaps it is simply because of the window space arrangement which resembles (if one has the imagination that I do) of a badly beaten face.  Perhaps the face of the Hospitllers when they were driven out?

Third Crusader Chronology

Crusader Chronology 1194 --1453

1194 -- Amaury of Lusignan becomes the ruler of Cyprus; the following year he is recognized as a King (Creation of the Crusader Kingdom of Cyprus);

1198 -- Proclamation of the Fourth Crusade;

1204 -- Fourth Crusade conquers the Byzantine Imperial Capitol, (Constantinople) ; Count Baldwin of Flanders is elected as the first Latin Emperor;

1205 -- Conquest of Morea (Peloponnese, southern Greece) by Geoffrey de Villehardouin and William de Champlitte; establishment of the Crusader States of Greece;

1229 - 1233 -- Civil War in Crusader Cyprus;

1235 --John of Brienne saves Crusader Constantinople; defeat of Byzantines and Bulgarians;

1259 -- Crusader Principality of Achaea in Greece defeated by Byzantines at Pelagonia;

1261 -- Byzantine “Emperor of Nicaea” retakes Crusader-ruled Constantinople; Crusader States also surrender Monemvasia, Mistra, and Maina in southern Greece;

1267 -- Crusader Principality of Achaea recognizes suzerainty of Charles of Anjou, ruler of southern Italy;

1271 -- Charles of Anjou recognized as king of Albania;

1278 -- Death of Prince William of Achaea; Charles of Anjou takes over direct government of Achaea;

1282 -- “Silcian Vespers” revolt in Sicily against Charles of Anjou; Peter of Aragon invades Sicily;

1285 -- Death of Charles of Anjou; end of Angevin attempts to create an empire in Italy, Sicily, Greece and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem;

1291 -- Mamluks conquer Acre; end of Kingdom of Jerusalem, though the title “King of Jerusalem” still remains, usually held by the Lusignan rulers of Cyprus;

1306 -- Crusader Order of Hospitallers invades the Byzantine Island of Rhodes;

1309 -- Hospitallers transfer their headquarters to Rhodes;

1311 -- Crusader forces in Greece defeated by the free-booting Catalan Company (mercenary army); Catalna take cotrol of Athens and Thebes;

1313 - 1316 -- Civil War in the Principality of Achaea; Ferdinand of Majorca, leader of the Catalan Company  and claimant to Achaea, defeated and killed by Louis of Bergundy, grandson-in-law of William of Villehardouin;

1332 -- Agreement between Venice, the Hospitallers, and the Byzantine Empire leads to formation of the first “Crusade League” against the Turks (France and the Papacy join the following year);

1334 -- The Crusade League fleet defeats the Turks in the Gulf of Edremit;

1344 -- The Crusade League takes Smyrna (Izmir) from the Turks;

1346 -- The Genoese take over Chios and Foca from the Byzantines;

1354 -- Byzantines cede Lesbos to the Geonese; Ottomans seize a European bridgehead at Gallopoli;

1359 -- Peter I becomes the King of Cyprus; Crusade League fleet defeats Turks at Lampacus;

1360 - 1361 -- Kingdom of Cyprus occupies Corycos and Adalia on the southern coast of Anatolia;

1365 -- Crusade led by Peter I of Cyprus  briefly occupies Alexandria (Egypt);

1366 -- Crusade led by Amadeus of Savoy in Thrace and Bulgaria;

1367 -- Peter I of Cyprus raids Cicilia and Syria;

1369 -- Assassination of Peter i of Cyprus ; Geonese take control of Famagusta in Cyprus, expelling their Venetian rivals;

1371 -- Ottoman victory at the Battle of Maritsa, followed by the Ottoman conquest of most of Bulgaria and Macedonia;

1373 - 1374 -- War between Cyprus and Genoa; Hospitallers take over defense of Crusader held Smyrna (Izmir);

1376 -- Principality of Achaea  leased to the Hospitallers, but is taken over by the Navarrese Company (a mercenary army);

1378 -- The Hospitaller Grand Master is captured by the Ottoman’s at Arta in Greece;

1379 -- Navarese Company takes control of Thebes;

1388 -- End of Cataln rule in Athens;

1389 -- Ottoman victory at the first Battle Kosova (Kosova Field) leaves them as the dominant power in the Balkans;

1396 -- Large Crusading army destroyed by the Ottomans in the Battle of Nicopolis;

1402 -- Timur -i Lenk (Tamerlane) conquers Izmir from the Hospitallers;

1406 - 1407 -- Hospitallers start building a castle  at Bodrum on the Anatolian mainland;

1424 - 1425 -- Mamluks raid Cyprus and capture King Janus;

1432 -- Thomas Paleol0gus, Byzantine despot of Morea, takes “Crusader” Principality of Achaea;

1444 -- Mamluks unsuccessfully besiege Hospitaller Rhodes; Ottomans defeat a Crusader army at Varna;

1448 -- Ottomans defeat Hungarians at the second Battle of Kosova;

1453 -- Ottomans conquer Constantinople: end of the Byzantine Empire.

  

Second Crusader Chronology

Crusade Chronology,  1192 -- 1302

1189- 1192 -- The Third Crusade sets off for the Middle East; King Richard I of England seizes Cyprus from the Byzantine Empire:  Crusaders retake Acre and defeat Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf; Crusaders fail to reach Jerusalem; King Richard agrees a peace treaty with Saladin;

1193 -- Death of Saladin;

1197 -- King Aimery of Cyprus  (since 1194) becomes King of Jerusalem (until 1205); German Crusade to the Middle East;

1198 -- Cilician Armenia  becomes a kingdom: German Hospital reconstituted as the Order of Teutonic Knights;

1202 - 1204 -- Fourth Crusade seizes the Byzantine imperial capitol; creation of the Latin Empire of Constantinople; beginning of the Crusader conquest of southern Greece;

1205 -- Hugh I becomes the King of Cyprus (until 1218);

1210 -- John of Brienne becomes King of Jerusalem (until 1225);

1218 -- Henry I becomes King of Cyprus (until 1253); Fifth Crusade invades Egypt by sea;

1221 -- Fifth Crusade is defeated at the First Battle of Mansurah;

1225 -- Emperor Frederick ii of Germany and Italy becomes ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (until 1243);

1229 --Civil War in the Kingdom of Cyprus (until 1233);

1231 - 1242 -- Commune of Acre becomes center of resistance to Emperor Frederick II’s rule in the Kingdom of Jerusalem;

1243 -- Conrad becomes King of Jerusalem (until 1254); Mongols invade Seljuk Anatolia;

1244 -- Kingdom of Jerusalem forms an alliance with the Ayyubid rulers of Damascus and Jordan against the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt; Khwarazian refugee army from eastern Islam (fleeing advancing Mongols) takes Jerusalem fron Crusader Kingdom; Crusader States defeated at the Battle of La Forbie;

1245 -- Emperor Frederick II deposed;

1250 -- Crusade of King Louis IX of France invades Egypt: death of Sultan al- Salith Ayub of Egypt; Louis IX defeated at second Battle of Mansurah; effective establishment of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt;

1253 -- Hugh II becomes King of Cyprus (until 1267);

1254 -- Conraddin becomes King of Jerusalem (until 1268; note that now was actual capitol of the Kingdom);

1256 -- Civil War in Acre (until 1258);

1258 -- Mongols invade Iraq and sack Baghdad;

1260 --Mongols invade Syria: Crusader Principality of Antioch and Kingdom of Cicilian Armenia ally with Mongols; Mamluks defeat Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Julut; Baybars becomes Mamluk Sultan of Egypt;

1261 -- Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII retakes Constantinople from Latin (Crusader) Empire;

1263 - 1266 -- Mamluks destroy Nazareth, and take Caesarea, Arsuf, and Safad;

1267 -- Hugh III becomes King of Cyprus (until 1284);

1268 -- Mamluks retake Jaffa, Belfort, and Antioch;

1269 -- King Hugh III  of Cyprus becomes ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (until 1284) ; Argonese Crusade arrives in Acre;

1271 -- Mamluks retake Castel Blanc, Crac des Chevaliers, and Monfort;  Crusade of Prince Edward of Englandreaches Acre then attacks Caco;

1276 - 1277 -- King Hugh IIIabandons Palestine for Cyprus; Mary of Antioch sells the Crown to King Charles of southern Italy; Kingdom of Jerusalem divided between Lords who recognize or reject Charles;

1277 -- Civil War in County of Tripoli  (until 1283);

1284 -- John I becomes King of Jerusalem and Cyprus (until 1285);

1285 -- Henry II becomes King of Cyprus (nominal ruler until 1324); Mamluks take Margat;

1287 - 1289 -- Crusade led by Alice of Blois reaches Acre; Maluks take Latakia and Tripoli;

1290 -- Northern Italian Crusade to the Holy Land;

1291 -- Maluks take Acre, Sidon,  and Beirut: Crusaders evacuate Tatus and Atlit;

1299 -- Mongols defeat Mamluk army near Homs, leading to a temporary revival of Crusading optimism in Europe;

1302 --Mamluks retake Arwad island; probable end of Crusader rule at Jbayl.

Reference:

David Nicolle, Adam Hook (illus,), “Crusader Castles In The Holy Land 1192 -- 1302,” (Osprey Pub. -- Fortress 32 -- 2005).

Respectfully Submitted;

Marcus Audens

(4) Catellum Regis (al-Mi'ilyah (after Pease);

(5) Arima (al-Araymah); probably early structures shown 
in black; (A) Donjon, (B) Main Gate of inner citadel, 
(C) outer gate (after Muller-Wiener.

The above are relatively small spur-castles.
  
Spur-Castle = a castle built on a rock spur
 or promontory usually along the side of a hill. 

Spur-castles obviously shared 
 certain features, princially having the strongest 
part of  their defenses facing the promontory
 that linked the spur to a neighboring hill.  
Several of these spur-castles had a deep fosse
 or ditch cut across the promontory.