Crusader Castles

A general illustrated account of the history and architecture of Crusader castles.

Hugh Kennedy (Author)

9780521799133, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 January 2001

242 pages, 81 b/w illus. 7 colour illus.
24.6 x 17.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.56 kg

'The appearance in affordable paperback of this elegant, erudite and accessible study first published in 1994 … is welcome. Professor Kennedy's lightly-carried learning is deployed in a style that consistently engages.' C. J. Tyerman, The English Historical Review

This is a general account of the history and architecture of Crusader castles in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, County of Tripoli and Principality of Antioch between 1099 and 1291, the years during which the Crusaders had a permanent presence on the Levantine coast. Extensive use is made of contemporary chronicles to show the reasons why castles were built and how they were used in peace and war. The book is fully illustrated by photographs, drawings and plans, and contains a comprehensive bibliography.

1. Prologue to the study of crusader castles
2. Fortification in the east and west before the First Crusade
3. Castles in the twelfth-century Kingdom of Jerusalem
4. Twelfth-century castles in the northern states (County of Tripoli, Principality of Antioch and County of Edessa)
5. Siege warfare in the crusader lands
6. Nobles, Templars and Teutonic knights in the thirteenth century
7. The Hospitallers in Tripoli and Antioch
8. Muslim castles of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
Postscript: crusader castles and the west.

Subject Areas: Warfare, battles, armed forces [Children's / Teenage YNJ], History & the past: general interest [Children's / Teenage YNH], Religious intolerance, persecution & conflict [HRAM9], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Asian history [HBJF], European history [HBJD], Architecture [AM]