Castles - Crusader

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Kerak: APAAME_19980520_DLK-0092

There are a number of castles in Jordan that were founded or occupied during the Crusades, the series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns and subsequent occupation of parts of the Holy Land by Roman Catholic forces. These took place over a period of nearly 200 years, and the area that is now Jordan was mainly affected during the 12th century AD.

The crusader occupation of Jordan was limited to a relatively narrow belt, from the Wadi Mujib to the Gulf of Aqaba. Even this was lost within two or three generations through the swelling Muslim reaction, which culminated in the shattering Crusader defeat at the hands of Salah ad-Din (Saladin) at the Battle of Hattin (AD 1187).

Kerak is one of the castles built during the Crusades, and lies at a strategic point in the midst of the rich agricultural lands on the Plateau between the Wadi Mujib and Wadi el-Hasa. The origins of the castle lie in the mid-12th century. Expanding eastwards from Jerusalem, for economic reasons as much as anything else, the Crusader kings of Jerusalem started granting land to individuals. Pagan the Butler was granted permission by King Fulk at Jerusalem to improve the defenses in ‘Oultrejourdain’ (Old French for "beyond the Jordan"). One result was the great castle at Kerak, built in 1142. The castle continued to be strengthened by Pagan’s successors, because of repeated attacks by Nur al-Din and Salah ad-Din between 1170 and 1187. Salah ad-Din eventually took the castle in November 1188.

More information can be found in Ancient Jordan from the Air, available on Amazon.
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