ebook img

Fortress 11: Crusader Castles of the Teutonic Knights AD PDF

68 Pages·2003·27.87 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview Fortress 11: Crusader Castles of the Teutonic Knights AD

Crusader Castles in Cyprus, Greece and the Aegean 1191-1571 DAVIDNICOLLEwasbornin 1944,thesonoftheillustrator PatNicolle.Heworkedin theBBCArabicservicefor anumberofyears,before gaininganMAfromtheSchool ofOrientalandAfricanStudies, London,andadoctoratefrom EdinburghUniversity.Helater taughtworldandIslamicart andarchitecturalhistoryat YarmukUniversity,Jordan. Hehaswrittenmanybooksand articlesonmedievalandIslamic warfare,andhasbeenaprolific authorofOspreytitlesformany years.Davidlivesandworksin Leicestershire,UK. ADAMHOOKstudiedgraphic design,andbeganhiswork asanillustratorin 1983.He specializesindetailedhistorical reconstructions,andhas illustratedOspreytitleson theAztecs,theGreeks,the AmericanCivilWarand theAmericanRevolution. Hisworkfeaturesinexhibitions andpublicationsthroughout theworld. Fortress • 59 Crusader Castles in Cyprus, Greece and the Aegean 1191-1571 David Nicolle · Illustrated by Adam Hook Series editors Marcus Cowperand Nikolai Bogdanovic Firstpublishedin2007byOspreyPublishing Dedication MidlandHouse,WestWay,Botley,OxfordOX2OPH,UK 443ParkAvenueSouth,NewYork,NY10016,USA Forlan,Marian,Peterand Louise. E-mail:[email protected] ©2007OspreyPublishingLimited Artist's note Allrightsreserved.Apartfromanyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivatestudy, Readers maycareto notethattheoriginal paintingsfrom which research,criticismorreview,aspermittedundertheCopyright,DesignsandPatents thecolourplates inthis bookwere preparedareavailablefor Act,1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem, privatesale.All reproductioncopyrightwhatsoeveris retained ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,electrical,chemical,mechanical, bythe Publishers.All enquiriesshould beaddressedto: optical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermission ofthecopyrightowner.EnquiriesshouldbeaddressedtothePublishers. ScorpioGallery ISBN978 I841769769 PO Box475 Hailsham Design:KenVailGraphicDesign,Cambridge,UK EastSussex TypesetinMonotypeGillSansandITCStoneSerif BN272SL Cartography:MapStudio,Romsey,UK UK IndexbyAlisonWorthington OriginatedbyUnitedGraphics,Singapore The Publishers regretthattheycanenterinto nocorrespondence PrintedinChinathroughBookbuilders uponthis matter. 07 08 09 10 II I0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I The Fortress Study Group (FSG) ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. Theobjectofthe FSG istoadvancetheeducationofthe public FORACATALOGUEOFALLBOOKSPUBLISHEDBYOSPREYMILITARYANDAVIATION inthestudyofall aspectsoffortificationsandtheirarmaments, PLEASECONTACT: especiallyworksconstructedto mountorresistartillery.The FSG OspreyDirect,cloRandomHouseDistributionCenter,400HahnRoad, holdsanannual conferencein Septemberoveralongweekend Westminster,MD21157 withvisitsand eveninglectures,an annualtourabroad lasting Email:[email protected] abouteightdays,and an annual Members' Day. The FSG journalFORTis publishedannually,and its newsletter OspreyDirectUK,P.O.Box140,Wellingborough,Northants,NN82FA,UK Casemate is publishedthreetimesayear.Membershipis E-mail:[email protected] international.Forfurtherdetails,pleasecontact: www.ospreypublishing.com TheSecretary,clo6 LanarkPlace,London,W9 IBS,UK Contents Introduction 4 Chronology 7 Design and development 9 The principles of defence 17 Tour of the castles 22 Cyprus • Mainland Greece • TheAegean • The BlackSea The living sites 34 The castles at war 42 Basesfor offensiveoperations • Commercial outposts Basesfor defensive operations • Thefortifications underattack Aftermath 55 Visiting the fortifications today 58 Cyprus • Greece • Turkey • Ukraine Further reading 61 Glossary 63 Index 64 Introduction The fortifications erected, repaired or reused by the Crusader States in Cyprus and around the Aegean have attracted less interest than those in and around the Holy Land. While the militaryandpoliticalsituationswhichtheyreflected were also more complex than those in the Middle East, several of the states establishedby so-called Crusaders in Cyprus and Greece survived much longer thandidtheCrusaderStatesontheMiddleEasternmainland. Otherscreatedin what are now north-western Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania proved more ephemeral. The Latin or Catholic Kingdom ofCyprus was established during the course oftheThirdCrusade, asaconsequenceofKingRichardofEngland'sunprovoked invasionofwhatwasatthetimearebel-heldByzantineisland.Thiswasnotthe firstinvasionoftheOrthodoxChristianByzantineempirebyaCatholicwestern European army, butitwas the first significantdiversion ofamajorcrusade that had setoutto attackIslamicterritory. TheFourthCrusade, sometimesdescribed as 'The Great Betrayal', was the most famous such diversion, resulting in the heartlands of the Byzantine empire being temporarily replaced by a Catholic Christian or Latin 'Empire of Romania'. This, and its subsidiary Kingdom of Thessalonika,wasveryshort-lived,buttwoothersubsidiarystatesincentraland southern Greece enduredfor centuries andleftan architecturallegacyinaland betterknownfor ancientGreekandRomanremains. Equallyimportantwere thewidespread colonialoutposts plantedbythe two greatestmaritimerepublicsofItalyonthecoastsofwhathadbeentheByzantine empire. First came Venice, whose ships transported the Fourth Crusade to the walls of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, now named Istanbul. Next came Venice's rival Genoa, largely as an ally of the Byzantines as they fought back against the invading Crusaders. In fact the last western outposts to fall to the Ottoman Turkish empire - which conquered the mosaic of Orthodox or Catholic Christian and Islamic territories resulting from the Fourth Crusade wereGenoeseandVenetian. OPPOSITEPAGE Crusaderand other western Europeanfortifications in GreeceandtheAegean (frontiers c.1360).Notethatnotall the High and Late Medievalfortifications of .GreeceandAegeanTurkeyappear onthis map.Medieval European names,where known,aregiven in brackets. RIGHTTheembrasures inthe outerwall ofthe Crusadercitadel atMistraloomabovethe later Palaceofthe Byzantine Despots. 4 (Author's photograph) CrusaderStatesinGreece " ..Venetianterritory ,/ / Genoeseterritory I/ ..Hospitallerterritory I OtherChristianterritory / ChristianstatesunderOttomansuzereinty / Ottomanterritory /IGERMIYAN OtherIslamicterritory A Fortificationsheld(currentlyandatother / " periods)byLatin(Catholic)powers BYZ. ,// "-"- 100miles ,/,/ I ,/ ,/ ':e ,/ SARUHA ( { ~ },BYZ,j 11\ r ,,'/ '- ,/ /"....-, _/ JSmyrna ./ A IN .~Z. 24 Lamia(Zeitoun,Ravennika) 25 Larissa(Larisa) 26 Lebadeia(Levadia) 27 Leuktron(Beaufort) (Toceofamily) 28 Lindos(Lindos) 29 MegaloHoria(Tilos) 30 Methymna(Molivos) 31 Meyisti(Kastellorizo) 32 Mistra(Mistras) (Toccofamily) 33 Modon(Methoni) 34 Monemvasia(NapolidiMalvasia) 35 Monolithos BYZ. 36 MyrinaKastro(Lemnos) (Toccofamily) 37 Myteleni(Mitilini) 11 b la 38 Nauphlia(NapolidiRomania) 39 NavarinoJPalaiaAvarino~ Agriosikia[Tilos] ,IaJA la (Chastel uPortdeJune ) Akova(Matagrifon) 40 Neopatras(Lepater) Androusa ID!! 41 Pandeleimon(Platamon) Argos(Argos) 42 Passava(Passavant) AthensAcropolis(Sathines) la 43 Patras(Patras) Beskapilar[Fo~a](Phocaea) 44 Pontikocastra[Katakolo] Bodonitsa(MedietasBondonicie) (Beauvoir,Belvedere) Bodrum(CastrumSanctiPetri): 45 Rhodos(Rhodes) notbuiltuntiltheearly15thcentury 16 Herakleion(Candia) 46 Salona 9 Candarli 17 Kalamata(Kalamata) 47 StGeorge 10 Chalkis(Negroponte) 18 Kalavryta(Tremola) 48 Sykaminon 11 Chanea(Canea) 19 Karytaina(Karytaina) 49 Thebes[castleofj(Kadmeia) 12 Chlemutzi(Clairmont,CastelTornese) 20 Kelafa(probablelocationofGrandMagne) 50 Vardounia(perhapsPassavant) 13 Clarenza(Clarence) 21 Korinthos(Corinth) .. 51 Veligosti 14 GardidkiintheMorea(Gardiki) 22 Korone(Coron) 52 Vostitza 15 Geraki(Geraki) 23 Kyparissa(Arkadia) 53 Zarnata(perhapsGerenia) The military circumstances of 'Crusader' fortifications in these regions differed significantly from those in and around the Holy Land, yet certain factors remained similar. Most historians highlight Italian naval dominance as being a key strategic consideration. However, as the Christians' naval superiority is too often overstated in relation to the Middle Eastern Crusader States, so the Christians' domination of the Aegean and Black seas well into the 15th century is similarly exaggerated. Turkish Islamic fleets could rarely challengeItalianorCrusaderfleetsuntiltheriseofOttomannavalpowerinthe later 15thcenturyandrarelyattemptedto doso. Insteadpre-OttomanTurkish, Mamluk (Syrian-Egyptian) and early Ottoman warships used their numerous and almost invariably smaller ships to raid Christian-held islands and coasts while the more powerful but less numerous Italian or Crusaderwarships were elsewhere.Thishadaprofoundimpactuponthelocation, supply, defence, and garrisoningof'Crusader'fortifications intheseregions. Smallforces putashore by Muslim so-called 'pirates' sometimes penetrated deep inland, having an impact upon the internal as well as the coastal fortifications of the Crusader States andthose ofthe larger Italian colonies. Othergeo-politicalfactors are alsowidelymisunderstood. Afterthefall ofthe remnantsoftheByzantineempiretotheOttomanTurksinthe15thcentury,the precedingByzantinedeclinecametobe seenas inexorable. Inreality, Byzantine successes in the early 14th century had made it seem possible that the empire would rebuild a substantial power base in the southern Balkans and Greece, while largely abandoning its previous Asian power base in Anatolia. For the Crusader States in Greece the essentially Orthodox Byzantine empire appeared amortalthreat, andwasviewedas aseriousregionalrivalbythe Catholicrulers of southern Italy and Sicily. In the event this Byzantine revival faded after the Ottoman Turks established a European foothold on the Gallipoli peninsula. Fromtherethe OttomanstateexpandedintotheBalkansandGreece,becoming the greatest threat not only to the rump Byzantine empire, other Orthodox Christian states in the Balkans and the Crusader States in Greece, but also to Thecitadel ofLindoswasthe VenetianandGenoesecolonialoutposts. This Ottomanexpansionwascarefully second mostimportantfortress planned and steadily executed, completelyaltering the strategic situationfaced on the Hospitaller-ruled island ofRhodes.(Author's photograph) bythe remainingCrusaderStatesandthe Italianmercantileoutposts. 6 Chronology 1191 ByzantineCyprus conquered by King Richard IofEngland. 1194 AmauryofLusignan becomes rulerofCyprus;thefollowingyear he is recognized as a king (creation ofthe Crusader Kingdom ofCyprus). 1198 Proclamation ofthe Fourth Crusade. 1204 Fourth Crusade conquersthe Byzantine imperial capital (Constantinople);Count Baldwin ofFlanders elected asfirst Latin emperor. 1205 ConquestofMorea (Peloponnese,southern Greece) byGeoffrey deVillehardouin andWilliam de Champlitte;establishmentofthe CrusaderStates in Greece. 1229-33 Civil war in CrusaderCyprus. 1235 John ofBrienne saves CrusaderConstantinople;defeatofByzantines and Bulgarians. 1259 Crusader PrincipalityofAchaea in Greece defeated by Byzantines at Pelagonia. 1261 Byzantine'EmperorofNicaea' retakes Crusader-ruled Constantinople; CrusaderStates also surrender Monemvasia,Mistra,and Maina in southern Greece. 1267 Crusader PrincipalityofAchaea recognizes suzeraintyofCharles ofAnjou,rulerofsouthern Italy. 1271 Charles ofAnjou recognized as king inAlbania. 1278 Death ofPrinceWilliam ofAchaea;Charles ofAnjou takes overdirect governmentofAchaea. 1282 'SicilianVespers' revoltin SicilyagainstCharles ofAnjou; PeterofAragon invades Sicily. 1285 Death ofCharles ofAnjou;end ofAngevin attemptsto createan empire in Italy,Sicily,Greece,andthe Crusader Kingdom ofJerusalem. 1291 Mamluks conquerAcre;end ofthe Kingdom ofJerusalem,though thetitle 'KingofJerusalem' remains,usually held bythe Lusignan rulers ofCyprus. 1306 CrusaderOrderofthe Hospitallers invadesthe Byzantine island ofRhodes. 1309 Hospitallerstransfertheirheadquartersto Rhodes. 1311 Crusaderforces in Greece defeated bythefreebooting Catalan Company (mercenaryarmy);Catalanstake control ofAthens andThebes. 1313-16 Civilwar in the PrincipalityofAchaea;Ferdinand ofMajorca,leader ofthe Catalan Companyand claimanttoAchaea,defeated and killed byLouis ofBurgundy,grandson-in-IawofWilliam deVillehardouin. 1332 Agreement betweenVenice,the Hospitallers,and the Byzantineempire leadstoformation ofthe first'Crusade League'againsttheTurks (France and the Papacyjointhefollowingyear). 1334 The Crusade Leaguefleet defeatstheTurks in the GulfofEdremit. 1344 The Crusade Leaguetakes Smyrna (Izmir) from theTurks. 1346 The Genoesetake overChios and Fo~afrom the Byzantines. 1354 Byzantinescede Lesbostothe Genoese;Ottomans seizea European bridgeheadat Gallipoli. 1359 Peter Ibecomes kingofCyprus;Crusade Leaguefleet defeatsTurks at Lampacus. 1360-61 Kingdom ofCyprus occupies Corycos andAdaliaon the southern coastofAnatolia. 1365 Crusade led by Peter IofCyprus brieflyoccupiesAlexandria (Egypt). 7 1366 Crusade led byAmadeus ofSavoy inThraceand Bulgaria. 1367 Peter IofCyprus raids Ciliciaand Syria. 1369 Assassination ofPeter IofCyprus;Genoesetake control ofFamagusta in Cyprus,expellingtheirVenetian rivals. 1371 Ottoman victoryatthe battle ofMaritsa,followed byOttoman conquest ofmostofBulgariaand Macedonia. 1373-74 War between Cyprus and Genoa;Hospitallerstake overthe defence ofCrusader-held Smyrna (Izmir). 1376 PrincipalityofAchaea leased tothe Hospitallers,butis taken over bythe Navarrese Company(a mercenaryarmy). 1378 The HospitallerGrand Masteris captured bythe Ottomans atArta in Greece. 1379 Navarrese Companytakes control ofThebes. 1388 End ofCatalan rule inAthens. 1389 Ottoman victoryatthefirst battle ofKosova (Kosovo Field) leaves them asthe dominantpowerin the Balkans. 1396 Large Crusadingarmy destroyed bythe Ottomansatthe battle ofNicopolis. 1402 Timur-i Lenk(Tamerlane) conquers Izmirfrom the Hospitallers. 1406-07 Hospitallers start buildingacastleat Bodrum on theAnatolian mainland. 1424-25 Mamluks raid Cyprusand capture KingJanus. 1432 Thomas Palaeologus,Byzantinedespotofthe Morea,takesthe'Crusader' PrincipalityofAchaea. 1444 Mamluks unsuccessfully besiege Hospitaller Rhodes;Ottomans defeat aCrusaderarmyatVarna. 1448 Ottomans defeat Hungariansatthe second battle ofKosova. 1453 Ottomans conquerConstantinople;end ofthe Byzantineempire except for rival Byzantinestates,which surviveafew moreyears. 1456 OttomanstakeAthens. 1457 Apapalfleet raidstheAegean and occupiesSamothrace,Thasos, and Lemnos. 1458 James'theArchbishop' becomes kingofCypruswith helpfrom the MamlukSultan. 1462 Ottomans conquerGenoese Lesbos. 1470 Ottomans conquerVenetian Euboea. 1472 Crusade LeagueattacksTurkishAntalyaand Izmir. 1473 Catherine Cornara,aVenetian noblewoman,becomes regentofCyprus followingthe death ofher husband KingJames,and is proclaimed queen the followingyear. 1480 Unsuccessful Ottoman siege ofHospitaller-ruled Rhodes;Ottomanforces occupyOtranto in southern Italyfor ayear. 1489 Queen Catherineabdicatesand hands the island ofCyprus over totheVenetian Republic. 1516 Ottomans conquerthe MamlukSultanate in Syriaand Egypt. 1522 Ottomans conquer Hospitaller-ruled Rhodes. 1570-73 Ottomans conquerVenetian-ruled Cyprus. 8

Description:
Throughout their stormy history the Teutonic Knights of Germany have always been the most controversial brotherhood ever to call themselves 'Knights of Christ'.They were the most warlike of the religious orders, and this is reflected in the architecture they left behind. In contrast to the Templars,
See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.