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Siege Of Safed (1266)
The siege of Safed (13 June – 23 July 1266) was part of the campaign of the Mamlūk sultan Baybars I to reduce the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The castle of Safed belonged to the Knights Templar and put up strong resistance. Direct assault, mining and psychological warfare were all employed to force the garrison to surrender. It was ultimately tricked into surrendering through treachery and the Templars were massacred. Baybars repaired and garrisoned the castle. The main sources for the siege from the Muslim perspective are Ibn ʿAbd al-Ẓāhir's biography of Baybars, Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī's ''String of Pearls'' and to a lesser extent Ibn al-Furāt's ''History of Dynasties and Kingdoms''. From the Christian perspective, there are the '' Gestes des Chiprois'', '' Estoire d'Eracles'', ''Annales de Terre Sainte'' and '' Maius chronicon Lemovicense''. Preparations According to '' De constructione castri Saphet'', an account of the construction of the castle of Safed probably wri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding territories from Muslim rule. Beginning with the First Crusade, which culminated in the Siege of Jerusalem (1099), capture of Jerusalem in 1099, these expeditions spanned centuries and became a central aspect of European political, religious, and military history. In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid,Helen J. Nicholson, ''The Crusades'', (Greenwood Publishing, 2004), 6. Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, AlexiosI Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turcopole
During the period of the Crusades, turcopoles (also "turcoples" or "turcopoli"; from the , literally "sons of Turks") were locally recruited mounted archers and light cavalry employed by the Byzantine Empire and the Crusader states. A leader of these auxiliaries was designated as Turcopolier, a title subsequently given to a senior officer in the Knights Templars and the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, in charge of the coastal defences of Rhodes and Malta. In addition to the two Military Orders, the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem employed ''king's Turcoples'' under the direction of a ''Grand Turcopolier''. Byzantine origins The crusaders first encountered Turcopoles in the Byzantine army during the First Crusade. Reference is made to 30 Turcoples being lent by the Emperor Alexius I to act as guides for one division of the Franks. These auxiliaries were of mixed Byzantine and Turkic origins. Raymond of Aguilers writes that they were called Turcopoles becaus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Known colloquially in Syria as () and dubbed, poetically, the "City of Jasmine" ( ), Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world. Situated in southwestern Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area. Nestled among the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau above sea level, Damascus experiences an arid climate because of the rain shadow effect. The Barada, Barada River flows through Damascus. Damascus is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. First settled in the 3rd millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. Afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while others have wheels to enable advancing up to the enemy fortification. There are many distinct types, such as siege towers that allow foot soldiers to scale walls and attack the defenders, battering rams that damage walls or gates, and large ranged weapons (such as ballistas, catapults/ trebuchets and other similar constructions) that attack from a distance by launching heavy projectiles. Some complex siege engines were combinations of these types. Siege engines are fairly large constructions – from the size of a small house to a large building. From antiquity up to the development of gunpowder, they were made largely of wood, using rope or leather to help bind them, possibly with a few pieces of metal at key stress points. They could la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anno Hegirae
The Hijri year () or era () is the era used in the Islamic lunar calendar. It begins its count from the Islamic New Year in which Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib (now Medina) in 622 CE. This event, known as the Hijrah, is commemorated in Islam for its role in the founding of the first Muslim community (''ummah''). Currently, the Hijri year is . In the West, this era is most commonly denoted as AH (, , ) in parallel with the Christian/Common (AD/CE) and Jewish eras (AM) and can similarly be placed before (preferably) or after the date. In predominantly Muslim countries, it is also commonly abbreviated H ("Hijra") from its Arabic abbreviation (). Years prior to AH 1 are reckoned in English as BH ("Before the Hijra"), which should follow the date. A year in the Islamic lunar calendar consists of twelve lunar months and has only 354 or 355 days in its year. Consequently, its New Year's Day occurs ten days earlier each year relative to the Gregorian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montfort Castle
Montfort (, Mivtzar Monfor; , ''Qal'at al-Qurain'' or ''Qal'at al-Qarn'' - "Castle of the Little Horn" or "Castle of the Horn"; German: ''Burg Starkenberg'') is a ruined Crusader castle in the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, about northeast of the city of Haifa and 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. Etymology The name of the castle derives from the two French words ''mont'', mountain, and ''fort'', strong, meaning "strong mountain". In German, the castle 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. History Montfort was the principa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidon
Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, to the south, and the Lebanese capital of Beirut, to the north, are both about away. Sidon has a population of about 80,000 within the city limits, while its metropolitan area has more than a quarter-million inhabitants. Etymology The Phoenician language, Phoenician name (, ) probably meant "fishery" or "fishing town". It is mentioned in Papyrus Anastasi I as ''ḏjdwnꜣ''. It appears in Biblical Hebrew as () and in Classical Syriac, Syriac as (). This was hellenization, Hellenised as (), which was latinization of names, Latinised as and entered English in this form. The name appears in Classical Arabic as () and in Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Arabic as (). As a Colonia (Roman), Roman colony, it was notionally refounded and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyre, Lebanon
Tyre (; ; ; ; ) is a city in Lebanon, and one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and the legendary birthplace of Europa (consort of Zeus), Europa, her brothers Cadmus and Phoenix (son of Agenor), Phoenix, and Carthage's founder Dido (Elissa). The city has many ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome, and was added as a whole to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984. The historian Ernest Renan noted that "One can call Tyre a city of ruins, built out of ruins". Tyre is the fifth-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut, Tripoli, Lebanon, Tripoli, Sidon, and Baalbek. It is the capital of the Tyre District in the South Governorate. There were approximately 200,000 inhabitants in the Tyre urban area in 2016, including many refugees, as the city hosts three of the twelve Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon: Burj el-Shamali, Burj El Shimali, El-Buss refugee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli ( ; , , ; , ; see #Names, below) is the largest and most important city in North Lebanon, northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in the country. Situated north of the capital Beirut, it is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District, Lebanon, Tripoli District. Tripoli overlooks the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and it is the northernmost seaport in Lebanon. The city is predominantly inhabited by Lebanese Sunni Muslims, Sunni Muslims, with smaller populations of Alawites in Lebanon, Alawites and Christianity in Lebanon, Christians, including Lebanese Maronite Christians, Maronites and Armenians in Lebanon, Armenians among others. The history of Tripoli dates back at least to the 14th century BC. It was called Athar by the Phoenicians, and later ''Tripolis'' by the Greeks, Greek settlers, whence the modern Arabic name ''Ṭarābulus'' derives. In the Arab world, Tripoli has been historically known as (), to distinguish it from Tripoli, Libya, its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akko
Acre ( ), known in Hebrew as Akko (, ) and in Arabic as Akka (, ), is a city in the coastal plain region of the Northern District of Israel. The city occupies a strategic location, sitting in a natural harbour at the extremity of Haifa Bay on the coast of the Mediterranean's Levantine Sea."Old City of Acre." , World Heritage Center. World Heritage Convention. Web. 15 April 2013 Aside from coastal trading, it was an important waypoint on the region's coastal road and the road cutting inland along the Jezreel Valley. The first settlement d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fidentius Of Padua
Fidentius of Padua () was a Franciscan administrator and writer active in the Holy Land between 1266 and 1291. He wrote a tract on the Christian recovery and retention of the Holy Land. Biography Fidentius may have been a native of Padua or its region, or else was attached to a convent there. He was born before 1226. In June 1266, he was made vicar provincial of the Holy Land, an office restricted by the Franciscan rule to those at least forty years old. That same year, acting on the request of the Templar grand master Thomas Bérard, he sent two friars to the besieged castle of Safad to serve as chaplains. In 1268, Fidentius was in Tripoli when he received a copy of the '' Liber Clementis'', probably in Arabic, from a Syrian Christian. On learning of the fall of Antioch (18 May 1268), he left Tripoli to visit the Christians captured by Sultan Baybars I to provide for their spiritual needs. He shadowed Baybars' army on horseback for several days, possibly also acting as an amb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest contemporary male order), an order for nuns known as the Order of Saint Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis, a Third Order of Saint Francis#Third Order Regular, religious and Secular Franciscan Order, secular group open to male and female members. Franciscans adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of the founder and of his main associates and followers, such as Clare of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, and Elizabeth of Hungary. Several smaller Franciscan spirituality in Protestantism, Protestant Franciscan orders have been established since the late 19th century as well, particularly in the Lutheranism, Lutheran and Anglicanism, Anglican traditions. Certain Franciscan communities are ecumenism, ecumenical in nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
