Chastelet was a castle located beside Jacob's Ford, a ford of the upper Jordan River in Israel. The castle was built during the Crusades by the Knights Templar and the forces of the Kingdom of Jerusalem but was destroyed by the army of Saladin in 1179. [1] [2] [3]
The name of the castle comes from the French word châtelet, meaning a fortified gatehouse. Jacob's Ford is also known by the Latin name of Vadum Iacob and in modern Hebrew as Ateret. [4]
The castle was intended to act as a bulwark against Muslim incursions into the Kingdom of Jerusalem and to strength protection for pilgrims and traders through Christian Palestine. [1] Jointly constructed by the Knights Templar and the Kingdom of Jerusalem under orders of Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, construction of the castle began in 1178. [5] By May 1179, the main walls (built of lime, stone and pebbles) and foundations were completed, which included a perimeter wall with five gates, and a tower. [1] [2]
Some 1,500 men were camped at the fortress when Saladin began an initial attack that was repulsed in June. [1] In an effort to further reinforce the castle forces and meet the Muslim army, Christian forces were decisively defeated at the Battle of Marj Ayyun. [1] As a result, in August 1179 the forces of Saladin were able to lay siege to the castle during the Siege of Jacob's Ford. [1] A heavy intense siege resulted in the fall of the barbican (gatehouse) but the castle held for several days until miners succeeded digging a tunnel that brought down the main tower. [1] Saladins forces then successfully took the castle. [3] The surviving defenders were executed and the armoury was seized, including some 1,000 coats of armour and the castle was extensively demolished to prevent further use by the Christian forces. [1]
In the 20th and early 21st centuries, the castle has been the site of extensive archaeological excavations. [1] [4] These included the discovery of extensive double-chambered baking ovens. [6] Notably, over 160 coins of various types have also been found providing a key source of coins from the Frankish crusading era. [4]
In 2018, the site underwent a renovation funded with an investment of 1.6 million ILS. [7] However, in November 2024, the site was severely damaged by a missile strike launched by Hezbollah. [7]
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.
Year 1179 (MCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
Year 1187 (MCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of that name.
The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Ayyubid Dynasty on 25 November 1177 at Montgisard, in the Levant between Ramla and Yibna. The 16-year-old Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, severely afflicted by leprosy, led outnumbered Christian forces against Saladin's troops in what became one of the most notable engagements of the Crusades. The Muslim Army was quickly routed and pursued for twelve miles. Saladin fled back to Cairo, reaching the city on 8 December, with only a tenth of his army. Muslim historians considered Saladin's defeat to be so severe that it was only redeemed by his victory ten years later at the battles of Cresson and Hattin and the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187. Saladin did defeat Baldwin IV in the Battle of Marj Ayyun and the Siege of Jacob’s Ford in 1179, only to be defeated by Baldwin again at the Battle of Belvoir Castle in 1182 and the Siege of Kerak in 1183.
The Battle of Cresson was a small battle between Frankish and Ayyubid forces on 1 May 1187 at the "Spring of the Cresson." While the exact location of the spring is unknown, it is located in the environs of Nazareth. The conflict was a prelude to the decisive defeat of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin two months later.
Toron, now Tibnin or Tebnine in southern Lebanon, was a major Crusader castle, built in the Lebanon mountains on the road from Tyre to Damascus. The castle was the centre of the Lordship of Toron, a seigneury within the Kingdom of Jerusalem, actually a rear-vassalage of the Principality of Galilee.
Belvoir Castle, also called Coquet by the Crusaders, also Kochav HaYarden and Kawkab al-Hawa, is a Crusader castle in northern Israel, on a hill on the eastern edge of the Issachar Plateau, on the edge of Lower Galilee 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the Sea of Galilee. Gilbert of Assailly, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, began construction of the castle in 1168. The castle ruin is located in Belvoir National Park, officially Kochav HaYarden National Park. It is the best-preserved Crusader castle in Israel.
Balian of Ibelin, also known as Barisan the Younger, was an Italian crusader noble of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. He was Lord of Ibelin from 1170 to 1193. As the leader of the defense of the city during the siege of Jerusalem in 1187, he surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin on 2 October 1187.
Odo of St. Amand was the 8th grand master of the Knights Templar, between 1171 and 1179.
The siege of Jerusalem lasted from 20 September to 2 October 1187, when Balian of Ibelin surrendered the city to Saladin. Earlier that summer, Saladin had defeated the kingdom's army and conquered several cities. Balian was charged with organizing a defense. The city was full of refugees but had few soldiers. Despite this fact the defenders managed to repulse several attempts by Saladin's army to take the city by storm. Balian bargained with Saladin to buy safe passage for many, and the city was peacefully surrendered with limited bloodshed. Though Jerusalem fell, it was not the end of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as the capital shifted first to Tyre and later to Acre after the Third Crusade. Latin Christians responded in 1189 by launching the Third Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart, Philip Augustus, and Frederick Barbarossa separately. In Jerusalem, Saladin restored Muslim holy sites and generally showed tolerance towards Christians; he allowed Orthodox and Eastern Christian pilgrims to visit the holy sites freely—though Frankish pilgrims were required to pay a fee for entry. The control of Christian affairs in the city was handed over to the patriarch of Constantinople.
The siege of Jacob's Ford was a victory of the Muslim Sultan Saladin over the Christian King of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV. It occurred in August 1179, when Saladin conquered and destroyed Chastelet, a new border castle built by the Knights Templar at Jacob's Ford on the upper Jordan River, a historic passage point between the Golan Heights and north Galilee. Jacob's Ford is also known by the Latin name of Vadum Iacob and in modern Hebrew as Ateret. Many scholars believe that Saladin's reconquest of the Holy Land and Jerusalem in 1187 was heralded by this earlier victory.
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1291 that had the objective of reconquering Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule after the region had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate centuries earlier. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century.
The Knight Templar is the second book in the Crusades trilogy by Jan Guillou. This book follows the fictional character of Arn Magnusson as a Knight Templar in the kingdom of Jerusalem. The book starts in Arn's 27th year and ends as he departs the holy lands.
The Battle of Belvoir Castle, also called the Battle of Le Forbelet, was a part of Saladin’s campaign in May — August 1182 against the Crusaders. Crusader forces led by King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem battled with Ayyubid forces from Egypt commanded by Saladin. Saladin took action in Damascus on June 11, 1182, together with his regent Farrukh Shah. Entering Palestine from the south of Tiberias, Saladin encountered the Crusader army coming from Transoxiana near Belvoir Castle..
In the campaign and Battle of al-Fule, a Crusader force led by Guy of Lusignan skirmished with Saladin's Ayyubid army for more than a week in September and October 1183. The fighting ended on 6 October with Saladin being forced to withdraw.
The Battle of Marj Ayyun was a military confrontation fought at Marj Ayyun near the Litani River in June 1179 between the Kingdom of Jerusalem under Baldwin IV and the Ayyubid armies under the leadership of Saladin. It ended in a decisive victory for the Muslims and is considered the first in the long series of Islamic victories under Saladin against the Christians. However, the Christian King, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who was crippled by leprosy, was saved by his bodyguard and narrowly escaped capture.
The military history of the Crusader states begins with the formation of the County of Edessa in 1097 and ends with the loss of Ruad in 1302, the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land.
The siege of Tyre took place from 12 November 1187 to 1 January 1188. An Ayyubid army commanded by Saladin made an amphibious assault on the city, defended by Conrad of Montferrat. After two months of continuous struggle, Saladin dismissed his army and retreated to Acre.
Armengol de Aspa, also known as Hermangard d'Asp, was the ninth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, holding the office from 1188 until his resignation in 1189 or 1190. He succeeded William Borrel who was interim Grand Master. It was under his magistracy that the headquarters of the Order was transferred from Jerusalem to Tyre. It was probably during the winter of 1189 or 1190 that Armengol's magistracy ceased, but this was not due to his death, since he appears again as lord of Amposta from December 1190 to April 1191. We have no information on what this first abdication in the history of the Order was, but he was succeeded by Garnier de Nablus sometime in 1190.
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