Krak des Chevaliers

The crusades need little introduction, being a series of military conflicts waged by the Catholic powers of Europe against the Muslims in the Levant and Anatolia. These conflicts, although rarely successful for the Christians, left their mark on the region's history from the rise of the Ayyubid Dynasty to the destruction of the Sultanate of Rum. They also left many cultural traces in the region, such as the castles constructed by the various knightly orders that operated mainly during the earlier Crusades, like the Krak des Chevaliers located in modern-day Syria.

The Castle was built between the cities of Tartus and Tripoli, on an elevated plateau, giving it a great defensive position. Constructed by the Mirdasids, it first served as a small fort and Kurdish settlement before it was taken over by the first Crusade by Raymond IV of Toulouse but was quickly abandoned as he followed the rest of the army to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, we have no record of what these early fortifications looked like.

The current castle would be built some fifty years later, after the area was given by Raymond II of Tripoli to the Knights Hospitaller. In exchange for a land to settle, the knightly order was tasked to guard the eastern border of the County of Tripoli from Muslim incursions and the assassin order based at Masyaf. The Hospitalier made good work of this donation, building an impressive fortress formed by a main keep and an outer fortification. In fact, Krak became one of the most well-defended Crusader Strongholds, and with good enough supply, the place could resist any sieges. Even the mighty Salahadin, even after gutting a good chunk of the Hospitalier at Hattin, failed to storm the place which denied him control of the surrounding area. This gave Krak a lot of prestige, leading it to receive much support from Crusading movements while keeping the nearby Muslims in check.

However, the ‘Golden Age’ of the Krak would soon end in the later half og the 13th century, when the Mamluk would invade the Levant. Larger raids would erode Krak’s control in the region, leading to a sharp decline in its finances and importance. Soon, the Knight Hospitalier would neglect the fortress, leading to its once formidable two thousand-strong garrison to drop to a measly 300. The Hospitalier would lose control of Krak in 1271 to the fourth Sultan of Mamluk Egypt Baibars, after a year-long siege. After breaking into the outer work using Mangonels, the Sultan tricked the remaining defenders into surrendering with a forged letter from the Grand Master. The fact that the Mamluk had to resort to such a tactic despite the diminished defending force speaks volumes about how thought the siege was.

Unfortunately, the Krak would quickly lose any military use, as, except for a brief time when the Ottomans stationed some Janissaries when conquering the region, the place was more or less abandoned. It would become relevant again in the early 20th century when studies of the Crusaders started to gain traction, however recklessness from the archaeologists would lead to sever damages to its structure. It would become a World Heritage Site under the patronage of UNESCO in 2006, receiving much-needed renovations, which, although threatened in 2013 by a civil war, have been going well. 

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