Montfort Castle
Encyclopedia
Montfort is a ruined crusader
castle
in the Upper Galilee
region in northern Israel
, about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of 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 it constitutes an important spot of tourism and attracts many tourists both from inside and outside Israel.
words mont (a mountain) and fort (strong), meaning the "strong mountain". When the fortress was sold from the French
De Milly family to the German
Teutonic Knights
, the fortress was accordingly called Starkenberg, meaning the same phrase in German (stark meaning strong, and berg meaning mountain).
, consisting of the ruins of a fortress built by Crusaders
during the times of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
. The fortress 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 fortresses in the Holy Land
, this fortress had not been originally built for military purposes but begun its way as an agricultural farm
, prior to its becoming one of the finest examples of fortified building architecture in Outremer
.
Soon after the Crusaders conquered Palestine
from the Muslim
s in 1099 during the First Crusade
, Europe
an settlers (apart from the Crusaders themselves) began to populate the land. The noble French De Milly family received the estate and began to cultivate the land, turning it into a farmland. 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 was situated inland, above a stream channel, far away from any borders or main ways of transportation.
Saladin's victory triggered the Third Crusade
between 1189 and 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 conquests. Most of the central Judea
and Samaria
mountains (including Jerusalem) remained under Muslim control, and 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 the territory after its recapture during the Third Crusade, they sold it to the Teutonic Knights
in 1220. The German knights began to renovate 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
from Pope Gregory IX
, the latter sent numerous fiscal contributions of 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 fortress. The knights set their headquarters
, archive
, and treasury
at the new property in 1229. By that time the property ceased from being a farmland and was considered a fortress with all its implications. The Teutonic Knights expanded the fortifications and built a keep
in the center; the keep is the main remnant of the ruined fortress.
The Mamluk
leader Baibars
besieged the fortress in 1266. However, the defenders of the fortress resisted and eventually compelled the Mamluk invaders to leave. Five years later, however, after most of the Crusader strongholds had fallen into Baibars' hands, the Mamluk leader returned to the fortress and managed to topple the fortress' external southern wall with several military engineer
ing battalions. This operation facilitated the Mamluks' stay in the area and after seven days of siege, the Teutonic Knights inside the fort surrendered. Due to prior negotiations between Baibars and the Crusaders, the latter were allowed to leave the fortress with all of their belongings and return to Acre. After the fall of that city in 1291, the Teutonic Knights then made Venice
their headquarters.
on a narrow ridge projecting from a larger hill. The defences are concentrated at the most vulnerable eastern side where the spur joins the hill. On that side there are two ditches in front of 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, with the vaulted hall the most notable one. On the northern side, there are remnants of an outer defensive wall.
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
in the Upper Galilee
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period, originally referring to a mountainous area overlapping the present northern Israel and southern Lebanon, its borders being the Litani river in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Beit...
region in northern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of the city of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
and 10 miles (16 km) south of the border with Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
The site is now a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
inside the Nahal Kziv
Nahal Kziv
Nahal Kziv is a 20-kilometer long perennial stream in the Upper Galilee, Israel. During the winter, rainfall fills the channel, and springs along the riverbed add to the flow...
nature reserve, and it constitutes an important spot of tourism and attracts many tourists both from inside and outside Israel.
Etymology
The name of the fortress derives from the two FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
words mont (a mountain) and fort (strong), meaning the "strong mountain". When the fortress was sold from the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
De Milly family to the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
, the fortress was accordingly called Starkenberg, meaning the same phrase in German (stark meaning strong, and berg meaning mountain).
History
The Montfort is an archaeological site of the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, consisting of the ruins of a fortress built by Crusaders
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
during the times of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
. The fortress is built on a narrow and steep cliff above the southern bank of Nahal Kziv
Nahal Kziv
Nahal Kziv is a 20-kilometer long perennial stream in the Upper Galilee, Israel. During the winter, rainfall fills the channel, and springs along the riverbed add to the flow...
in the Upper Galilee
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period, originally referring to a mountainous area overlapping the present northern Israel and southern Lebanon, its borders being the Litani river in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Beit...
region, about 8 mi (13 km) northeast of the city of Nahariya
Nahariya
Nahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s...
. Unlike many other crusader fortresses in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, this fortress had not been originally built for military purposes but begun its way as an agricultural farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
, prior to its becoming one of the finest examples of fortified building architecture in Outremer
Outremer
Outremer, French for "overseas", was a general name given to the Crusader states established after the First Crusade: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and especially the Kingdom of Jerusalem...
.
Soon after the Crusaders conquered Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
from the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s in 1099 during the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an settlers (apart from the Crusaders themselves) began to populate the land. The noble French De Milly family received the estate and began to cultivate the land, turning it into a farmland. In 1187 Muslims under the leadership of Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
managed to defeat the Crusaders and take over Jerusalem following the Battle of Hattin
Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on Saturday, July 4, 1187, between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of the Ayyubid dynasty....
. 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 was situated inland, above a stream channel, far away from any borders or main ways of transportation.
Saladin's victory triggered the Third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
between 1189 and 1192. Led by King Richard I of England
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
, 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 conquests. Most of the central Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
and Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
mountains (including Jerusalem) remained under Muslim control, and the crusaders ruled mainly in the coastal plain and the Galilee. As the crusaders set their new capital in Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
, 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 the territory after its recapture during the Third Crusade, they sold it to the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
in 1220. The German knights began to renovate the buildings of the estate and, following internal conflicts between themselves and the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
and Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
, 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
Hermann von Salza
Hermann von Salza was the fourth Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1210 to 1239...
from Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
, the latter sent numerous fiscal contributions of 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 fortress. The knights set their headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
, archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
, and treasury
Treasury
A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....
at the new property in 1229. By that time the property ceased from being a farmland and was considered a fortress with all its implications. The Teutonic Knights expanded the fortifications and built a keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
in the center; the keep is the main remnant of the ruined fortress.
The Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
leader Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
besieged the fortress in 1266. However, the defenders of the fortress resisted and eventually compelled the Mamluk invaders to leave. Five years later, however, after most of the Crusader strongholds had fallen into Baibars' hands, the Mamluk leader returned to the fortress and managed to topple the fortress' external southern wall with several military engineer
Military engineer
In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...
ing battalions. This operation facilitated the Mamluks' stay in the area and after seven days of siege, the Teutonic Knights inside the fort surrendered. Due to prior negotiations between Baibars and the Crusaders, the latter were allowed to leave the fortress with all of their belongings and return to Acre. After the fall of that city in 1291, the Teutonic Knights then made Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
their headquarters.
Architecture
Montfort is a spur castleSpur castle
A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that uses its location as a defensive feature. The name refers to the location on a spur projecting from a hill...
on a narrow ridge projecting from a larger hill. The defences are concentrated at the most vulnerable eastern side where the spur joins the hill. On that side there are two ditches in front of 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, with the vaulted hall the most notable one. On the northern side, there are remnants of an outer defensive wall.
Further reading
- Adrian Boas (2008): The Montfort Castle, a New Survey, Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel, No. 120.