Blanche Guard
| Blanche Guard | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alternative name (s): | Alba specula | |
| Creation time : | before 1142 | |
| Castle type : | Hill castle | |
| Conservation status: | Wall remains | |
| Geographical location | 31 ° 41 '58 " N , 34 ° 50' 48" E | |
| Height: | 230 m | |
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Blanche Garde (French; Latin: Alba Specula for " white view ") is a crusader castle in today's Israel .
location
The castle is located on Tell es-Safi , the ancient Gath , about halfway between Jerusalem and Ascalon . The crusaders called the settlement hill itself Mons Clarus ("light mountain").
history
The castle was built around 1138, 1142 at the latest, by the crusader king Fulko within his crown estate. Like the previously built Ibelin and Gibelin castles , it served the purpose of containing the control of the Fatimid fortress city of Askalon. When Askalons fell to the Crusaders in 1153, Blanche Garde became part of the county of Jaffa and Askalon was owned by the later King Amalrich I.
This raised Blanche Garde in 1166 to an independent rule and gave it as a fief to Walter III. Brisebarre , who sold his feudal lordship of Beirut to the king.
When Walter died, apparently his younger brother Bernard (occupied as Lord of Blanche Garde in 1186) took over the fiefdom, while Walter's son Gilles (occupied 1198-1220) was probably still a minor. In 1253, Gilles' son Raoul († after 1265) is documented as lord of Blanche Garde. 1265 took over staufer loyal Baron Amalric Barlais the rule Blanche Garde, which eventually by the Mamluks conquered.
The remains of the castle have not been archaeologically examined until today, as there is an Islamic cemetery on them .
investment
As a ring castle, the castle complex initially consisted essentially of a single surrounding wall, which enclosed an area of approx. 16 by 16 meters. At the corners it was reinforced with a total of four towers. This simple type of castle was already in use by the Romans, Byzantines and Umayyads and was quick and inexpensive to build. After the fall of Askalon in 1153, the castle was expanded and strengthened.
literature
- Adrian J. Boas, Aren M. Maeir: The Crusader Castle Blanche Garde and Later Remains at Tell es-Safi in Light of Recent Discoveries. Crusades 9, 2009, pp. 1-22.
- Jonathan P. Phillips: The Crusades. 1095-1197. Pearson Education, Harlow 2002.
- Hans Wolfram Kessler, Konrad Kessler: Knights in the Holy Land: Crusader sites in Israel. Philipp von Zabern, Darmstadt 2013, ISBN 978-3805345521 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Phillips: The Crusades , p. 190.
- ^ Charles Du Fresne Du Cange: Les familles d'outre-mer. Ayer Publishing, 1971, ISBN 0833709321 , p. 243
- ↑ a b Aviva Bar-Am: Crusader History. On a crusade. ( Memento from August 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: Jerusalem Post's Israel Guide.
- ↑ See Phillips: The Crusades. P. 83