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.