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Encyclopedia > Marqat

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 1170s it was controlled by Reynald II Mazoir of Antioch as a vassal of the count of Tripoli; 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 1186 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 Saladin was unable to capture it in 1188, and it was one of the few remaining territories left in Christian hands after Saladin's conquests.


By the beginning of the 13th century the Hospitallers controlled the surrounding land and roads and made a large profit from travellers and pilgrims passing through. Isaac Comnenus of Cyprus 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.


  Results from FactBites:
 
The Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. (2628 words)
But the Hospitallers never ceased to be honoured for their hospital, where the sick were tenderly cared for no matter what their religion or country of origin.
Until the defeat of the crusaders at Hattin in 1187, the Hospitallers, based on the two great castles of Margat (Marqat), and Krak des Chevaliers (Qalat al Hosn), played a vigorous part in holding the Muslims at bay.
When the latter recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, the Hospitallers removed their headquarters first to Margat and then in 1197 to Acre, where they established their hospital.
Marqat legal definition of Marqat. Marqat synonyms by the Free Online Law Dictionary. (87 words)
Marqat synonyms by the Free Online Law Dictionary.
Marqat is not available in the legal dictionary.
This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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