Fortress 11: Crusader Castles of the Teutonic Knights AD

68 Pages·2003·27.87 MB·English

by  Stephen Turnbull

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
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©2007OspreyPublishingLimited Artist's note
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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