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52-463: In 1987 an archaeological and historical assessment of the site, as well as a surveyed plan, were published. From atop the outcrop this castle has clear inter-visibility with at least five others forts. Based on an analysis of the masonry, there were at least three major periods of construction and/or repair, with the most prominent contribution from the Crusader occupation. Unlike Armenian designs, it has

104-582: A crusade because he was at war with England. Frederick held a diet in Mainz on 27 March 1188. Because of its purpose, he named the diet the "Court of Christ". The archbishop of Cologne submitted to Frederick and peace was restored to the empire. Bishop Godfrey of Würzburg preached a crusade sermon and Frederick, at the urging of the assembly, took the cross. He was followed by his son, Duke Frederick VI of Swabia , and by Duke Frederick of Bohemia , Duke Leopold V of Austria , Landgrave Louis III of Thuringia and

156-735: A decorated Gothic hall was located under the castle. A year later, evidence of Mamluk destruction was found, dates back to the Baibars ' campaign in 1266. Third Crusade Crusade : Levantine Crusader states : Eastern Christian allies: Sunni Muslim states: Shia Muslim states: Eastern Christian opponents: Crusaders: Levantine Crusader states: Military orders: Eastern Christian allies: Sunni Muslim forces: Eastern Christian opponents: 36,000–74,000 troops in total (estimate) Two additional contingents also joined Frederick's army while travelling through Byzantine Empire. Numbered about 1,000 men. In

208-449: A host of lesser nobles. After taking the cross, Frederick proclaimed a "general expedition against the pagans" in accordance with the pope's instructions. He set the period of preparation as 17 April 1188 to 8 April 1189 and scheduled the army to assemble at Regensburg on Saint George's Day (23 April 1189). To prevent the crusade from degenerating into an undisciplined mob, participants were required to have at least three marks , which

260-411: A large D-shaped tower. The entrance to the castle is on the opposite side, with a smaller entrance tower guarding it. As the top of the spur is quite narrow, the main residential buildings are arranged in sequence between these two towers along the top of the ridge. Together with a western gate zwinger , these elements constitute the upper ward, or the castle proper. The outer ward, possibly unfinished by

312-579: A mob gathering to invade the Jewish quarter on 26 March. It was dispersed by the imperial marshal Henry of Kalden . The rabbi then met with the emperor, which resulted in an imperial edict threatening maiming or death for anyone who maimed or killed a Jew. On 29 March, Frederick and the rabbi then rode through the streets together to emphasise that the Jews had imperial protection. Those Jews who had fled in January returned at

364-505: A repetition of those events inside Germany. On 29 January 1188, a mob invaded the Jewish quarter in Mainz and many Jews fled to the imperial castle of Münzenberg . There were further incidents connected with the "Court of Christ" in March. According to Rabbi Moses ha-Cohen of Mainz, there were minor incidents from the moment people began arriving for the Court of Christ on 9 March. This culminated in

416-507: A simple rectangular plan dominated at the southwest by a four-story keep with cisterns in the lowest level. The design of Amouda is similar to the Teutonic Knights's castle at Montfort with a keep guarding the entrance (Molin 2001). 37°11′19″N 36°05′40″E  /  37.18861°N 36.09444°E  / 37.18861; 36.09444 This article about a castle in Turkey

468-678: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about the Crusades is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Montfort (castle) Montfort ( Hebrew : מבצר מונפור , Mivtzar Monfor; Arabic : قلعة القرين , Qal'at al-Qurain or Qal'at al-Qarn - "Castle of the Little Horn" or "Castle of the Horn") is a ruined Crusader castle in the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel , about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of

520-541: The Crusader states and to recapture Jerusalem in 1187. Spurred by religious zeal, King Henry II of England and King Philip II of France (later known as "Philip Augustus") ended their conflict with each other to lead a new crusade. The death of Henry (6 July 1189), however, meant the English contingent came under the command of his successor, King Richard I of England. The elderly German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa also responded to

572-679: The Crusader states in the Levant The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France , King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. For this reason, the Third Crusade is also known as the Kings' Crusade . It was partially successful, recapturing

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624-528: The Crusader strongholds had fallen into Baibars' hands, the Mamluk leader himself besieged the castle using several military engineering battalions. After about three days of siege Baibars' troops took the rabad or faubourg , the next day the bashura or outer bailey fell, and on the fifteenth day the German defenders, which were still resisting in the keep, surrendered. Due to prior negotiations between Baibars and

676-622: The Crusaders ruled mainly in the coastal plain and the Galilee . As the Crusaders set their new capital in Acre , the significance of the Montfort estate increased, due to the proximity of the property to the new capital (8 mi). Although the de Milly family received back the territory after its recapture during the Third Crusade, they sold it to the Teutonic Knights in 1220. The German knights began to renovate

728-507: The Crusaders, the latter were allowed to leave the castle with all of their belongings and return to Acre. After the fall of that city in 1291, the Teutonic Knights made Venice their headquarters. The Mamluks then thoroughly demolished (slighted) the castle over a period of twelve days. Adrian Boas blames the rapid fall of the castle on its weak geographical location and the unfinished outer works, while Nicholas Morton of Nottingham Trent University includes as factors Baibars' pillage of

780-654: The German crusaders, Leopold V, Duke of Austria —left the Holy Land in August 1191. Following a major victory by the Crusaders at the Battle of Arsuf , most of the coastline of the Levant was returned to Christian control. On 2 September 1192 Richard and Saladin finalized the Treaty of Jaffa , which recognised Muslim control over Jerusalem but allowed unarmed Christian pilgrims and merchants to visit

832-592: The German nobility over to a new crusade. Around 23 November, Frederick received letters that had been sent to him from the rulers of the Crusader states in the East urging him to come to their aid. By 11 November, Cardinal Henry of Marcy had been appointed to preach the crusade in Germany. He preached before Frederick and a public assembly in Strasbourg around 1 December, as did Bishop Henry of Strasbourg . About 500 knights took

884-421: The Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) Period post-First Crusade Second Crusade Period post-Second Crusade Third Crusade Period post-Third Crusade Fourth Crusade Fifth Crusade Sixth Crusade and aftermath Seventh Crusade End of

936-485: The King: 'it is you who have given him to drink'". Afterwards, Saladin beheaded Raynald for past betrayals. Saladin honored tradition with Guy, sending him to Damascus and eventually allowing him to be ransomed by his people. By the end of 1187 Saladin had taken Acre and Jerusalem . Christians would not hold the city of Jerusalem again until 1229. Pope Urban III is said to have collapsed and died (October 1187) upon hearing

988-477: The Teutonic Order's estate and the weakened morale of the defenders after the fall in 1271 of three more military order castles. Topographically , a spur is a narrow ridge projecting from a larger hill. Built on this defensible feature, Montfort is a spur castle . The defences are concentrated at the most vulnerable eastern side where the spur joins the hip. On that sids face there are two ditches in front of

1040-661: The archives and treasury, from Acre to a more isolated location. The Teutonic Order had at the time come under pressure from the Templars and the Hospitallers in Acre, who had designs of taking it over. Soon after the Crusaders reconquered the Holy Land from the Muslims in 1099 during the First Crusade , European settlers began to populate the land. The noble French de Milly family received

1092-463: The buildings of the estate and, following internal conflicts between themselves and the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller , it was imperative for the Teutonic Knights to leave Acre for a separate headquarters, and the property (on which the Montfort was soon to be built) was a natural choice. Following a formal request of assistance by Grand Master Hermann von Salza to Pope Gregory IX ,

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1144-659: The call to arms, leading a massive army across the Balkans and Anatolia. He achieved some victories against the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm , but he died whilst crossing a river on 10 June 1190 before reaching the Holy Land. His death caused tremendous grief among the German Crusaders, and most of his troops returned home. After the Crusaders had driven the Ayyubid army from Acre, Philip—in company with Frederick's successor in command of

1196-454: The city of Haifa and 10 miles (16 km) south of the border with Lebanon . The site is now a national park inside the Nahal Kziv nature reserve, and is an important tourist destination attracting many visitors from inside and outside Israel. The name of the castle derives from the two French words mont , mountain, and fort , strong, meaning "strong mountain". In German, the castle

1248-598: The city. Richard departed the Holy Land on 9 October 1192. The military successes of the Third Crusade allowed the Christians to maintain considerable states in Cyprus and on the Syrian coast, restoring the Kingdom of Jerusalem on a narrow strip from Tyre to Jaffa . The failure to re-capture Jerusalem inspired the subsequent Fourth Crusade of 1202–1204, but Europeans would only regain

1300-597: The city—and only briefly—in the Sixth Crusade in 1229. King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem died in 1185, leaving the Kingdom of Jerusalem to his nephew Baldwin V , whom he had crowned as co-king in 1183. Count Raymond III of Tripoli again served as regent. The following year, Baldwin V died before his ninth birthday, and his mother, Sybilla , sister of Baldwin IV, crowned herself queen and her husband, Guy of Lusignan , king. Raynald of Châtillon , who had supported Sybilla's claim to

1352-431: The cross at Strasbourg, but Frederick demurred on the grounds of his ongoing conflict with Archbishop Philip of Cologne . He did, however, send envoys to Philip of France (at the time his ally) to urge him to take the cross. On 25 December, Frederick and Philip met in person on the border between Ivois and Mouzon in the presence of Henry of Marcy and Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre , but he could not convince Philip to go on

1404-522: The crusaders. The envoys of Stefan Nemanja , grand prince of Serbia, announced that their prince would receive Frederick in Niš . An agreement was reached with the Byzantine envoy, John Kamateros , but it required Godfrey of Würzburg, Frederick of Swabia and Leopold of Austria to swear oaths for the crusaders' good behaviour. Bishop Hermann of Münster , Count Rupert III of Nassau , the future Henry III of Dietz and

1456-648: The end of April. Shortly after the Strasbourg assembly, Frederick dispatched legates to negotiate the passage of his army through their lands: Archbishop Conrad of Mainz to Hungary, Godfrey of Wiesenbach to the Seljuk sultanate of Rûm and an unnamed ambassador to the Byzantine Empire. He may also have sent representatives to Prince Leo II of Armenia . Because Frederick had signed a treaty of friendship with Saladin in 1175, he felt it necessary to give Saladin notice of

1508-482: The estate and began to cultivate the land, turning it into a farming estate. In 1187 Muslims under the leadership of Saladin managed to defeat the Crusaders and take over Jerusalem following the Battle of Hattin . Along with Jerusalem, the property which was to be the Montfort castle became a Muslim possession as well. The Muslims, just like their Crusader predecessors, did not find the property particularly significant. The farmland lacked strategic importance because it

1560-531: The first fortification taken by Baibars in 1271. It appears in Crusader sources as Tarphile, Trefile, or Tertille. The former royal castle, later residence of the de Milly family before the purchase of their property by the Teutonic Order in 1220 and known from Crusader sources as Mhalia or Castellum Novum Regis. Its ruins are located today in the Christian Arab village of Mi'ilya , where modern houses have been built against some of its outer walls. The castle

1612-556: The imperial chamberlain Markward von Neuenburg with a large entourage were sent ahead to make preparations in Byzantium. At the Strasbourg assembly in December 1187, Bishop Godfrey of Würzburg urged Frederick to sail his army to the Holy Land rather than proceed overland. Frederick declined and Pope Clement III even ordered Godfrey not to discuss it further. Ultimately, many Germans ignored

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1664-728: The important cities of Acre and Jaffa , and reversing most of Saladin's conquests, but it failed to recapture Jerusalem, which was the major aim of the Crusade and its religious focus. After the failure of the Second Crusade of 1147–1149, the Zengid dynasty controlled a unified Syria and engaged in a conflict with the Fatimid rulers of Egypt . Saladin ultimately brought both the Egyptian and Syrian forces under his own control, and employed them to reduce

1716-414: The latter sent numerous fiscal contributions by many pilgrims and European citizens, to aid in the renovation of the new property. With the help of these contributions, the Teutonic Knights fortified the property and turned it into a magnificent castle. The knights set their headquarters , archive , and treasury at the new property in 1229. By that time the property ceased being simply a farming estate and

1768-407: The news of the Battle of Hattin . The new pope, Gregory VIII , in the bull Audita tremendi dated 29 October 1187, interpreted the capture of Jerusalem as punishment for the sins of Christians across Europe. In the bull, he called for a new crusade to the Holy Land . The crusade of Frederick Barbarossa , Holy Roman Emperor , was "the most meticulously planned and organized" yet. Frederick

1820-417: The northern slope from the castle proper, curving up along the western slope and ending southwest of the castle. No trace of a continuation south of the castle has been discovered until the end of the 2016 excavation season; if anything, there might have been a connecting wall going up the slope to the westernmost part of the upper ward . In the outer ward several auxiliary structures were discovered, including

1872-429: The northern wall of the administrative and domestic buildings, apparently passing here through a second, elongated zwinger which was closed in on its northern side by a now badly ruined wall. One would have finally accessed the castle through a gate opening onto a vestibule situated at the eastern end of the domestic building, between this and the keep. An external wall enclosed the outer ward, situated some 50 metres down

1924-603: The opportunity he needed to take the offensive against the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and in 1187 he laid siege to the city of Tiberias . Raymond advised patience, but Guy, acting on advice from Raynald, marched his army to the Horns of Hattin outside of Tiberias. Saladin's forces fought the Frankish army, thirsty and demoralized, and destroyed it in the ensuing Battle of Hattin (July 1187). Guy and Raynald were brought to Saladin's tent, where Guy

1976-524: The stables. A building containing a water mill with its upper floor converted into a guest house during the 13th century is located in the Kziv River valley below the castle. A fortified courtyard building with a tower at a stone quarry used for building Montfort Castle at less than 1 km of the castle towards Mi'ilya /Castellum Regis. This might be the rabad (faubourg) mentioned in Arab chronicles as being

2028-672: The summer of 2011, organised by Professor Adrian Boas from the University of Haifa and supported by the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East. Excavations have continued every summer since then. In August 2015 and 2016 the excavations were aided by students from Royal Holloway, University of London . In 2017, board games and a luxury dining room were discovered at Montfort Castle. In 2018,

2080-799: The termination of their alliance. On 26 May 1188, he sent Count Henry II of Dietz to present an ultimatum to Saladin. The sultan was ordered to withdraw from the lands he had conquered, to return the True Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and to make satisfaction for those Christians who had been killed in his conquests, otherwise Frederick would abrogate their treaty. A few days after Christmas 1188, Frederick received Hungarian, Byzantine, Serbian, Seljuk and possibly Ayyubid envoys in Nuremberg . The Hungarians and Seljuks promised provisions and safe-conduct to

2132-422: The throne, raided a rich caravan travelling from Egypt to Syria, and had its travelers thrown in prison, thereby breaking a truce between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Saladin. Saladin demanded the release of the prisoners and their cargo. The newly crowned King Guy appealed to Raynald to give in to Saladin's demands, but Raynald refused to follow the king's orders. This final act of outrage by Raynald gave Saladin

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2184-408: The time the castle fell in 1271, is delineated by the remnants of an outer defensive wall extending down the northern and western slopes. East-to-west elements: Two ditches cut through the spur to the east of the tower-keep. The D-shaped keep was the first part to be built. It protects the castle from the highest, and most exposed, eastern point. West of the keep, an elongated two-storey building

2236-523: Was accordingly called Starkenberg , meaning the same phrase ( stark meaning strong and Berg meaning mountain). It was built on land that the Teutonic Order purchased from the French de Milly family in 1220 and is one of the finest examples of fortified building architecture in the kingdom of Jerusalem. Montfort was the principal castle in the Holy Land of the monastic military Teutonic Order, which

2288-467: Was added to the west. It is now badly ruined. The main entrance to the castle was through a three-storey gate tower. This was built as a half tower and is well preserved. It gave access to a gate zwinger created by a wall which included the gate tower, stretched westwards, turned south following a semicircular plan, and connected to the castle at the westernmost vaulted building. People entering this gate and its zwinger would have probably continued along

2340-462: Was added. This became the main domestic structure, stretching between the keep to the east and the three-storey administrative building to the west. The three-storey administrative building to the lower, western end of the main castle contained what Adrian Boas interprets as the ceremonial hall (second storey), and the living quarters of the castellan (third storey). At ground level, two tall vaulted halls are still standing. A small vaulted structure

2392-415: Was considered a castle with all its implications. The Teutonic Knights expanded the fortifications and built an elongated two-storey hall-type structure in the centre; this is now the main remnant of the ruined castle. An army led by two emirs of Mamluk sultan Baibars besieged the castle in 1266. However, the defenders resisted and eventually compelled the Mamluk army to leave. In 1271, after most of

2444-545: Was enough to be able support oneself for two years. At Strasbourg, Frederick imposed a small tax on the Jews of Germany to fund the crusade. He also put the Jews under his protection and forbade anyone to preach against the Jews. The First and Second Crusades in Germany had been marred by violence against the Jews . The Third Crusade itself occasioned an outbreak of violence against the Jews in England . Frederick successfully prevented

2496-480: Was founded in the late 12th century in the port city of Acre. The castle is built on a narrow and steep cliff above the southern bank of Nahal Kziv in the Upper Galilee region, about 8 mi (13 km) northeast of the city of Nahariya . Unlike many other Crusader castles in the Holy Land , this castle was not originally built for military purposes, but was built to move some of the order's administration, such as

2548-457: Was offered a goblet of water because of his great thirst. Guy took a drink and then passed the goblet to Raynald. Raynald's having received the goblet from Guy rather than from Saladin meant that Saladin would not be forced to offer protection to the treacherous Raynald (custom prescribed that if one were personally offered a drink by the host, one's life was safe). When Raynald accepted the drink from Guy's hands, Saladin told his interpreter, "say to

2600-520: Was situated inland, above a stream, far away from any border or main road. Saladin's victory triggered the Third Crusade (1189–1192). Led by King Richard I of England , the Third Crusade ended with a substantial Crusader victory. Nonetheless, the territories of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were much smaller in size than those from before Saladin's reconquests. Jerusalem and most of the central Judea and Samaria mountains remained under Muslim control, and

2652-765: Was sixty-six years old when he set out. Two accounts dedicated to his expedition survive: the History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick and the History of the Pilgrims . There is also a short tract, the Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick . On 27 October 1187, just over three weeks after Saladin's capture of Jerusalem, Pope Gregory VIII sent letters to the German episcopate announcing his election and ordering them to win

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2704-619: Was surveyed in 1877 by Horatio H. Kitchener for the British Survey of Western Palestine . Archaeological excavations at Montfort occurred in 1926 in an expedition organised by Bashford Dean, curator of the Arms and Armour Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. William L. Calver was chosen by Dean to head the excavation. A four-week season of excavations was conducted in

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