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Margat, also known as Marqab (from the Arabic Qalaat al-Marqab, "Castle of the Watchtower") was a Crusader fortress in modern Syria. It was one of the major strongholds of the Knights Hospitaller.Margat was located on a hill about 500 metres above sea level, formed by an extinct volcano on the road between Tripoli and Latakia, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It was probably an ancient fortress, but earliest existing defences were built in 1062 by the Arabs, who continued to hold it within the Christian Principality of Antioch in the aftermath of the First Crusade. When the Principality was defeated at the Battle of Harran in 1104, the Byzantine Empire took advantage of their weakness and captured Margat from the Muslims. A few years later it was captured by Tancred, Prince of Galilee, regent of Antioch, and was incorporated into the Principality.
In the 1170sCenturies: 11th century 12th century 13th century Decades: 1120s 1130s 1140s 1150s 1160s 1170s 1180s 1190s 1200s 1210s 1220s Years: 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179 Events and Trends 1170 Thomas a Becket assassinated 1171 Saladin abolishe it was controlled by Reynald II Mazoir of Antioch as a vassalA vassal in European medieval feudalism terminology, is one who through a commendation ceremony (composed of homage and fealty) enters into mutual obligations with a lord, usually military conscription and mutual protection, in exchange for a fief. A bond of the count of TripoliThe County of Tripoli was the last of the four major Crusader states in the Levant to be created. The beginnings of the County came in 1102, when Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, one of the leaders of the First Crusade, began a lengthy war with the Banu Amma; the fortress was so large that it had its own household officials and a number of sub-vassals. His son Bertrand sold it to the Hospitallers in 1186Events John the Chanter becomes Bishop of Exeter. January 27 Constance of Sicily marries Henry (the future Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor). Births Deaths William of Tyre (archbishop) August 19 Geoffrey Plantagenet, Duke of Brittany, stamped by a horse in a as it was too expensive for the Mazoir family to maintain. After some rebuilding and expansion by the Hospitallers, it became the headquarters of the Hospitallers in Syria. Under Hospitaller control, its fourteen towers were thought to be impregnable; indeed SaladinSaladin ( 1137 1193) Salah al Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub founded the ethnically Kurdish Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria. He was also renowned in both the Christian and Muslim worlds for his leadership and military prowess tempered by his chivalry and merciful was unable to capture it in 1188Events Saladin unsuccessfully besieges the Hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers in modern Syria. Newgate Prison is built. Richard Lionheart allies with Philip II of France against his father, Henry II of England. Giraldus Cambrensis and Baldwin of, and it was one of the few remaining territories left in Christian hands after Saladin's conquests.
By the beginning of the 13th century12th century 13th century 14th century other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. Events Fourth through eighth crusades of western European kingdoms against Islam Fall of the Hospitallers controlled the surrounding land and roads and made a large profit from travellers and pilgrims passing through. Isaac Comnenus of CyprusIsaac Comnenos was the last ruler of Cyprus before the Frankish conquest during the Third Crusade. He was a minor member of the Comnenos family, a great nephew of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180) and a grandson of the Sebastocrator Isaa was imprisoned there after Richard I of England captured Cyprus from him during the Third Crusade. The bishop of nearby Valenia also used Margat as his headquarters after around 1240. Margat was second in size in power only to the other Hospitaller fortress to the south, Krak des Chevaliers.
The Mameluk sultan of Egypt Qalawun besieged it beginning on April 25, 1285, and captured it after a month when sappers mined the north wall. Qalawun respected the size of the fortress and the courage of its defenders, and allowed the Hospitallers to leave with everything they could carry. Rather than destroy it as he did with other fortresses, he placed a Mameluk garrison in it.
Crusades
Castles in Syria
