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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2011
Although the castle is regarded as a distinguishing feature of feudal society in medieval Europe, its functions in that society have been less adequately studied than its architecture. The variety and importance of those functions arose principally from the role of the castle in government. Any ruler needs organized force at his disposal as a final sanction for his authority. It is required both against the external enemy and to preserve internal order; it has both a military and a police function.
1 Painter, S., ‘English Castles in the Middle Ages’ in Speculum, vol. x (1935), 321CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
2 Sir Maurice Powicke, King Henry III and the Lord Edward, p. 48; S. Painter, Studies in the History of the English Feudal Barony, p. 22. In Germany during the period of the Investiture Contest, many feudal families, unchecked by the monarchy, acquired judicial and other powers originally public. To them, ‘the castle was not only a means by which the demesne lands could be more rigorously administered, but also a fixed point in which governmental rights could be concentrated. Attached in this way to a territorial centre, the rights of jurisdiction vested in the prince could be “territorialized”, attached to consolidated territorial districts and used as a means of uniform government.’ G. Barraclough, Medieval Germany, 1, 85–6. Also on the castle as such a ‘point de cristallisation’, see M. Bloch, La Société Féodale, Les classes et le gouvernement des hommes, p. 182.
3 Mitteis, Lehnrecht und Staatsgewalt, p. 620. Bloch, loc. cit.
4 Haskins, Norman Institutions, pp. 38, 278. These forms of control are found also in other Norman states. See C. Cahen, Le Régime Féodale de l'Italie Normande, pp. 74, 114. Painter, in Speculum, x, pp. 330–1.
5 Sir Frank Stenton, First Century of English Feudalism, p. 197.
6 Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, 5th ed. pp. 487–9. E. Sthamer, Die Verwaltung der Kastelle im Königreich Sizilien unter Kaiser Friedrich II und Karl I von Anjou, pp. 5–6: ‘(Die Kastelle) dienten nicht so sehr zur Landesverteidigung, als vielmehr als Stützpunkte der Macht der Krone nach innen.’
7 Powicke, Loss of Normandy, p. 35.
8 Halphen, Le comté d'Anjou au Xle siècle, pp. 152, 158, 166. Mitteis, Lehnrecht und Staatsgewalt, p. 288.
9 Chartrou, L'Anjou de 1109 à 1151, p. 26. Powicke, Loss of Normandy, pp. 37–8.
10 Powicke, King Henry III and the Lord Edward, pp. 48–62.
11 W. Cohn, Das Zeitalter der Hohenstaufen in Sizilien, pp. 176–81.
12 A. Haseloff, Die Bauten der Hohenstaufen in Unteritalien. E. Sthamer, op. cit.
13 P. Deschamps, Les Châteaux des croisés en Terre Sainte: vol. 1. Le Crac des Chevaliers: vol. II. La Défense du royaume de Jérusalem.
14 Johns, C. N., ‘Excavations at Pilgrim's Castle,’ Atlit’ (1932), in Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine, iii (1933–4) 145–64Google Scholar, and the same author's Guide to ‘Atlit, Jerusalem, 1947.
15 Prutz, Kulturgeschichte der Kreuzzüge, pp. 195–6. Rey, Étude sur les Monuments de l'architecture militaire des Croisés en Syrie et dans l'île de Chypre, p. 4.
16 Deschamps, Le Crac, pp. 16–42.
17 Dussaud, Topographie [Historique de la Syrie antique et médiévale], p. 170.
18 Deschamps, Le Crac, pp. 30–1.
19 Galt[erius Cancellarius, Bella Antiochena, ed. Hagenmeyer], p. 65.
20 W[illermusarchiepiscopus] T[yrensis, ‘Historia rerumin partibus transmarinis gestarum’], in R[ecueil des] H[istoriens des] C[roisades], Hist[oriens] Occ[identaux], 1, p. 1114.
21 Spenser Wilkinson, The Defence of Piedmont, pp. 69–72.
22 Historians have stated that the Frankish occupation of certain areas of Syria prevented co-operation between Muslim rulers. It is said, e.g., that the Frankish county of Edessa ‘divided’ Mesopotamia from Aleppo and Damascus, and that the Transjordan castles kept apart Damascus and Egypt. See Grousset, Histoire des Croisades, II, 554; III, preface, p. xxi. Deschamps, Le Crac, p. 20 and in Revue Historique, CLXXII (1933), 43. But Muslim armies marched many times through the heart of the County of Edessa, while Shirkuh and Saladin each led a force on five occasions through the Transjordan fief.
23 See below, p. 138.
24 Le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems, p. 26.
25 E.g. Sahyun, Bourzey, Santa, Bikisra'il, and perhaps Ollaiqa. See Dussaud, Topographie de la Syrie antique et médiévale, pp. 119, 151–2. Cahen, La Syrie du Nord, pp. 172–3. Van Berchem, Voyage en Syrie, 1, 269.
26 R[aimundus de] A[guilers], in R.H.C. Hist. Occ. iii, 275. ‘Etenim mos erat in exercitu ut, si signum alicujus Franci in civitate aut castello reperiretur, a nullo postea expugnabatur.’
27 George Adam Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, p. 357.
28 R.A. p. 247. Anon[ymi Gesta Francorum, ed. Bréliier], p. 70. Ep[istulae et chartae ad historia primi belli sacri spectantes, ed.] H[agenmeyer], p. 157.
29 R.A. p. 248. Anon. p. 96. Ep.H. pp. 158, 166.
30 R.A. p. 250. Anon. p. 96.
31 K[emal ed-] D[in, ‘Chronique d'Alep’, in R.H.C. Hist. Orientaux, iii], 589. Grousset, i, 377.
32 Derenbourg, Vie d'Ousamah, p. 91.
33 Raymond's castle became the nucleus of the modern town of Tripoli. There is still more than a mile of gardens between Tripoli and its seaport, which was the twelfth-century town besieged by Raymond.
34 W.T. p. 459.
35 Fulcher[ius Carnotensis, Historia Iherosolymitana, in R.H.C. Hist. Occ. iii], p. 435.
36 C.N. Johns, Historical Introduction to map ‘Palestine of the Crusades’, p. 3.
37 I[nb al-]A[thir, Kamel-Altevarykh, in R.H.C. Hist. Or. 1], 490. W.T. pp. 581,638,779, 797.
38 Rey, Monuments, p. 4. Grousset, ii, 154–8.
39 W.T. p. 638–9 describes the Franks' intentions in fortifying Bait Jibrin: ‘Nostri vero videntes praesumptionem eorum non cessare.…post multa consilia optimum judicant.…municipia in circuitu per gyrum aedificari, unde collecta facilius militia, et de vicino commodius hostium discurrentium refrenari posset impetus, et civitas frequentius impugnari.’
See also the first and last sentences of W.T. lib. xv, cap. xxv, pp. 697–9.
40 W.T. pp. 777–8: ‘Gazam…reformare proponunt (sc. rex et principes), ut sicut a septentrione et ab oriente fundatis in gyrum municipiis earn quasi obsederant, ita eidem ab austro simul non deesset stimulus; et ex ea quoque parte continuis impugnaretur congressionibus, et frequentibus lacesseretur insidiis.’
41 Ibn Jubair, in R.H.C. Hist. Or. III, 445–56.
42 Hayek, Le Droit Franc en Syrie, pp. 130–5.
43 Grousset, Histoire des Croisades, i, 287.
44 Madelin, ‘La Syrie Franque’, in Revue des Deux Mondes, 6me série, XXXVIII (1917), 334, 344. See also p. 354: ‘Quoi qu'en aient dit certains historiens, je ne crois pas qu'il faille chercher dans le régime même la cause de cette chute. Le royaume a succombé à des événements extérieurs à sa constitution.’
45 Grousset, 1, 268.
46 Fulcher, p. 427. I[bn al-]Q[alanisi, in The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, ed. and trans. H. A. R. Gibb], p. 139.
47 W.T. p. 486.
48 el-Imad in R.H.C. Hist. Or. IV, 301–2.
49 I.A. 717. The qadi was a trusted servant of Bohemond of Antioch who had made him, in the words of Grousset (ii, 825), ‘une sorte de ministre des affaires musulmanes dans la principauté’. Nevertheless, in June 1188 ‘his zeal for the Faith’ took him to Saladin, who had begun an invasion of the country of Tripoli. But when the qadi assured him that Jabala, Ladhaqiya and other towns in the north would surrender to his army, Saladin attacked the principality of Antioch, and the victorious summer campaign of 1188 followed. See also al-Imad quoted in R.H.C. Hist. Or. iv, 352.
50 Cahen, C. in Syria, xv (1934), 351–360CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Sulaiman was probably born in Frankish Jerusalem, and subsequently served the Shi'ite Caliph in Egypt. Later he returned to Palestine to be physician to King Amalric; one of his sons succeeded to this position, and another became riding master to Prince, afterwards King, Baldwin IV. During this service they maintained friendly relations with Ysa, a counsellor of Saladin, and sent a message to Saladin himself. After the Franks lost Jerusalem in 1187, the family remained in Ayubid service.
51 Jacobus de Vitriaco, ‘Historia Orientalis’, in Gesta Dei per Francos, ed. Bongars, I, 1089. James of Vitry knew Syria and the Syrians. ‘Suriani.…secreta Chnstianorum nuntiant Sarracenis, inter quos nutriti sunt, quorum etiam lingua libentius utuntur, quam alia, et quorum mores perversos ex parte magna lmitantur.’
52 At the capture of Edessa in 1144, Zanki showed no mercy to the Franks, but marked clemency to the Syrian Christians. Grousset, 11, 866, 882, has drawn attention to the attitude revealed by an Anonymous Syrian account of the fall of Edessa. To the West, Zanki was a bloodstained monster, and his capture of the city provoked the second crusade. The Anonymous Syrian was able to preserve a far more neutral outlook. Elsewhere, like Michael the Syrian, he wrote passages which show how the language, race and culture which they shared with many Syrian Muslims could be stronger than the Christian belief which they shared with the Franks. See ‘The First and Second Crusades from an Anonymous Syrian Chronicle,’ translated by A. S. Tritton, notes by Gibb, H. A. R., in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1933, pp. 276, 285, 293Google Scholar. Chronique de Michel le Syrien, ed. J. B. Chabot, iii, 267, 270.
53 Fulcher, p. 427. W.T. pp. 486, 784.
54 Fulcher, p. 473: ‘…et quia runcolae Sarraceni tnbuta locorum reddere antea nolebant, postea vi cohibiti reddibiles exstiterunt.’
55 Ibn Jubair, p. 446. K.D. p. 651. I.Q. pp. 93, 106, 113.
56 W.T. p. 1090: ‘…nam cum praedicta regio hostium magis esset contermina finibus, quam nostris, et ipsi earn facilius pro suo possent tractare arbitrio, et ejus habitatoribus confidentius imperare, hujus tamen praesidii beneficio multis annis obtentum fuerat, et obtinebatur nihilominus in praesenti, quod nostris et illis ex aequo dividebatur potestas, et tributorum et vectigalium par fiebat distribution.’
57 W.T. p. 712.
58 Castrum Arnaldi was built on the road from the coast to Jerusalem ‘ad tutelam transeuntium peregrinorum’. W.T. p. 617.
59 Information from William's great History has been frequently cited because, judged by any standard, it is evidence of first-class value. The author was a native of Palestine who spent nearly the whole of his life in the kingdom of Jerusalem (c. 1130–1184/5). From 1167, when he became archdeacon of Tyre and was commissioned by King Amalric to write a history of his reign, he remained for the rest of his life in close touch with the royal house and with the problems of government. Amalric made William tutor to his heir who in 1174 became King Baldwin IV; in the same year William became chancellor of the kingdom, and in the next archbishop of Tyre. He subsequently discharged political and diplomatic missions of the highest importance. He wrote of great events from personal experience. See Prutz, , ‘Studien über Wilhelm von Tyrus’, in Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, viii (1882), 93–132Google Scholar. Krey, , ‘William of Tyre: the Making of a Medieval Historian’, in Speculum, xvi (1941), 149–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
60 W.T. p. 698: ‘Porro qui circumcirca possidebant regionem, praedicto confisi munimine, et vicinitate castrorum, suburbana loca aedificaverunt quam plurima, habentes in eis familias multas et agrorum cultores; de quorum inhabitatione facta est regio tota securior, et alimentorum multa locis finitimis accessit copia.’
61 Reg[esta regni Hierosolymitani, ed. Röhricht], no. 164. Cart[ulaire générale de l'Ordre des] Hosp[italiers de St Jean de Jêrusalem, ed Delaville le Roulx], no. 116. Prutz, Die geistlichen Ritterorden, p. 50.
62 W.T. p. 639.
63 Reg. no. 457. Cart. Hosp. no. 399.
64 The date of his death lies in the period 1158–60. Delaville le Roulx, Les Hospitaliers en Terre Sainte, p. 60.
65 All this is best discussed by Deschamps, La Défense, pp. 35–79. For the inducements to control Transjordan, see especially pp. 35, 49. For contemporary evidence of the profits to be extracted from the fief, see the terms on which Baldwin III granted it to Philip de Milly in 1161, in Reg. no. 366.
66 W.T. p. 975.
67 Among the greatest merits of Grousset's Histoire des Croisades is his revaluation of the personal qualities and of the solid achievements of these rulers.
68 It failed to survive because it was not rooted sufficiently deeply in institutions. As elsewhere in feudal society, too much depended on t h e personal ability of t he monarch. After 1174 the accession to the throne of minors and women raised grave problems of regency and succession. These bred faction, and t he weakening of authority coincided with the rise of Saladin's power and the development of his designs against the Latin kingdom. The result was Hattin and the loss of Jerusalem.
69 In 1152 Baldwin III wished to bring his minority to an end and to begin personal rule. He was resisted by his mother, who hitherto had exercised power alone, advised by the Constable. In the brief civil war which followed, the Queen Mother was besieged in the citadel of Jerusalem, and the Constable in his castle of Mirabel at Majdal Yaba. Grousset, Histoire des Croisades, II, 315–20.
70 Chronique d'Ernoul, ed. Mas Latrie, p. 116. Baldwin, Raymond III of Tripolis, pp. 58, 70.
71 See Letters in Reg. nos. 261, 383, 394, 396, 404, 497.
72 Le Livre au Roi, in R.H.C. Lois, Les Assises de Jérusalem, 1, 625. See Grandeclaude, Étude critique sur les Livres des Assises de Jérusalem, pp. 46–50, where this work is assigned to the years 1197–1205.
73 In 1158, Hugh III of Ibelin, ‘captivitatis redemptione compulsus’, sold two casales to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; Reg. nos. 332, 333. At the same time Ralph, one of his knights, ‘de captivitate Turcorum rediens’, also sold some property, ‘ut pretium redemptionis solvere possit’. Reg. no. 335. In 1161 John Gothman sold five casales for 1400 besants to the canons of the Holy Sepulchre, ‘urgente necessitate videlicet redemptione de paganorum captivitate’; Reg. no. 369.
74 Reg. nos. 647, 649. Cart. Hosp. no. 783
75 Reg. no. 212. Cart. Hosp. no. 144.
76 On this series of grants, see Cahen, La Syrie du Nord, pp. 511–17. Richard, Le comté de Tripoli, p. 63.
77 Reg. nos. 378, 448. Cart. Hosp. nos. 317, 398.
78 For examples see Reg. nos. 212, 428, 452, 649. Cart. Hosp. nos. 144, 391, 402, 783.
79 See especially Reg. nos. 428, 452. Cart. Hosp. nos. 391, 402.
80 W. Mackay Mackenzie, The Medieval Castle in Scotland, p. 213.