Chastelet was a castle located beside

Jacob's Ford The Daughters of Jacob Bridge (, ) is a bridge that spans the last natural ford (river), ford of the Jordan River between the Ramat Korazim, Korazim Plateau in northern Israel and the Golan Heights. The area has been used as a crossing point fo ...

, a ford of the upper

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The castle was built during the

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 t ...

by the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

and the forces of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

but was destroyed by the army of

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), 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, h ...

in 1179.

Etymology

The name of the castle comes from the French word , meaning a fortified gatehouse. Jacob's Ford is also known by the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name of and in

modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...

as .

History

$Geological fracture$ The castle was intended to act as a bulwark against Muslim incursions into the Kingdom of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and to strength protection for pilgrims and traders through Christian Palestine. Jointly constructed by the

and the

under orders of

Baldwin IV of Jerusalem Baldwin IV (1161–1185), known as the Leper King, was the king of Jerusalem from 1174 until his death in 1185. He was admired by historians and his contemporaries for his dedication to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the face of his debilitating ...

, construction of the castle began in 1178. 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. Some 1,500 men were camped at the fortress when

began an initial attack that was repulsed in June. To further reinforce the castle forces and meet the Muslim army, Christian forces were decisively defeated at the

Battle of Marj Ayyun The Battle of Marj Ayyun was a military confrontation fought at Marj Ayyun near the Litani River (modern-day Lebanon) in June 1179 between the Kingdom of Jerusalem under Baldwin IV and the Ayyubid armies under the leadership of Saladin. It ende ...

. As a result, on 24 August 1179, Saladin laid siege to the fortress. His most trusted officers advised a quick attack instead of a regular siege, and the Muslims subsequently barraged the outer defences. When Baldwin IV heard of this, he summoned a host to

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

to respond. In the meantime, the Muslims mined the inner walls of the castle, succeeding in digging a tunnel that brought down the main tower. The castle was breached on 29 August 1179 and captured that same day. 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. The castle fell before the relic of the

True Cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

could be retrieved from Jerusalem to accompany the Christian troops; since Le Chastellet was built to withstand a lengthy siege, the crusaders saw no reason to hurry. The historian

William of Newburgh William of Newburgh or Newbury (, ''Wilhelmus Neubrigensis'', or ''Willelmus de Novoburgo''. 1136 – 1198), also known as William Parvus, was a 12th-century English historian and Augustinian canon of Anglo-Saxon descent from Bridlington, Eas ...

said that "the Christian army assembled at Tiberias, but not with the speed which was customary." Ateret-S-164

In the 20th and early 21st centuries, the castle has been the site of extensive archaeological excavations. These included the discovery of extensive double-chambered baking ovens. Notably, over 160 coins of various types have also been found, providing a key source of coins from the Frankish crusading era. In 2018, the site underwent a renovation funded with an investment of 1.6 million ILS.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{Coord, 33.0045, 35.6277, type:landmark_region:IL, display=title Castles in Israel Castles and fortifications of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Buildings and structures demolished in the 12th century