Strategic Inventions of the Crusades by Coddington Andrew;

Author:Coddington, Andrew; [Coddington, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing LLC

Krak des Chevaliers proved a formidable fortress and survived several attempts to conquer it. In 1188, the mighty Muslim general Saladin besieged the castle and even captured its commander, whom he demanded order his troops within the castle to surrender. According to legend, the commander said just that to the soldiers under his command in Arabic, but afterward spoke in French and ordered them to fight until the last man. The Hospitallers maintained control of the castle until 1271, when it was lost to Muslim forces under Sultan Baybars I, who tricked the defenders into surrendering the castle by delivering a forged letter from their regional commander in Tripoli ordering them to leave.

The Siege of Constantinople

During the Muslim world’s campaign of conquest in the seventh and eighth centuries, the Arab armies twice tried to capture Constantinople, Christianity’s stronghold in the East and capital of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople was situated on an elevated peninsula overlooking the Bosporus, the strait connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean, making it of extraordinary strategic value. Capturing the city would open the Eastern door into Europe. However, on both attempts, Constantinople repelled Muslim invaders, in part due to its strong fortifications.

Constantinople’s fortifications blended superior materials, ingenious architecture, and natural defenses. Its first walls were built by Emperor Constantine (for whom the city was named) in the fourth century CE and completely enclosed the city. In 413, Emperor Theodosius improved Constantine’s design, building a wall that stretched from one side of the peninsula to the other, completely sealing off the city from the mainland. When earthquakes damaged much of the wall in 447, the Byzantines rebuilt it and improved on it, adding an additional shorter, thinner wall known as the outer wall.

Thanks to its fortifications and the leadership of astute commanders, Constantinople was considered one of the bestdefended cities in the known world. However, it seems its greatest threat came from within Christendom, the very religious group protecting it. In 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, Christian soldiers turned mutinous, laying siege to and plundering the city themselves. Constantinople never recovered from the assault, and in 1453 the city fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks. Remains of Constantinople’s walls still stand today, in what was renamed Istanbul by the Turks.

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