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About this book:
The Crusaders that landed in the Middle East in the late 11th century brought with them their own traditions of military architecture, but it was not long before their defensive construction began to reflect a broad array of local influences. Most early Crusader structures were relatively small and tended to increase the existing natural and defensive features of a site. The basic forms comprised freestanding towers, castra, and hilltop and spur-castles, but urban centers, religious sites, and rural dwellings were also fortified. From the 1160s, bigger, stronger, and more expensive castles began to appear in response to developments in Islamic siege weaponry. This title, the first of several on Crusader fortifications, examines the early fortifications erected by the Crusaders in modern-day Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and south-eastern Turkey.