Montreal (; ), or Qal'at ash-Shawbak () in Arabic, is a castle built by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

and expanded by the

Mamluks Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-sold ...

, on the eastern side of the

Arabah The Arabah/Araba () or Aravah/Arava () is a loosely defined geographic area in the Negev Desert, south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the border between Israel to the west and Jordan to the east. The old meaning, which was in use ...

Valley, perched on the side of a rocky, conical mountain, looking out over fruit orchards below. The ruins are located next to the modern town of

Shoubak Shoubak () is a municipality that lies at the northwestern edge of the Ma'an Governorate in Jordan. It had a population of 19,297. At one of the highest elevations above sea level in Jordan, this municipality is famous for apple and fruit farms. T ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Name

The Crusaders, who wrote their chronicles in

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

, mentioned the castle as Castrum Saboach or Scobach, or as Mons Regalis, Mont Real, and Monreal. The second set of variants translate to 'Royal Castle' or 'King's Castle'. The Arabic name is spelled variously as Shobak, Shawbak, Shaubak, Shubek, etc. The word castle or fortress translates in Arabic to Qalat (fortress)">''qal'a''.

Excavation history

As of 1994, the castle had never yet been fully excavated, but as of 2006 it was being investigated by an Italian archaeological team from the University of Florence.

History

The castle was built in 1115 by Baldwin I of Jerusalem during his expedition to the area when he captured Aqaba on the Red Sea in 1116. Originally called 'Krak de Montreal' or 'Mons Regalis', it was named in honor of the king's own contribution to its construction (Mont Royal). The castle is located on a round hilltop site that is separated from the rest of the plateau of Edom, which along with the Moab formed the core of Oultrejourdain. Despite appearance, the

Edom Edom (; Edomite language, Edomite: ; , lit.: "red"; Akkadian language, Akkadian: , ; Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomi ...

plain was a relatively fertile location, which made the site, along with its strategic importance, highly desirable. The castle was strategically important due to the fact that it also dominated the main passage from Egypt to Syria. This allowed whoever held the castle to tax not only traders, but also those who were on pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina. One of the major disadvantages of the site was the lack of a reliable source of water, an issue that the Crusaders encountered all over the Middle East. This problem was solved by the construction of a tunnel down the hill to two spring-fed cisterns. The tunnel allowed defenders to go and retrieve water without exposing themselves to any attackers. It remained property of the royal family of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

until 1142, when it became part of the Lordship of Oultrejordain. At the same time the center of the Lordship was moved to

Kerak Al-Karak (), in English sources often simply Karak, is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of ...

, a stronger fortress to the north of Montreal. Along with Kerak, the castle owed sixty knights to the kingdom. The first Lord of Oultrejordain was Philip of Nablus. It was held by Philip de Milly, and then passed to

Raynald of Châtillon Raynald of Châtillon ( 11244 July 1187), also known as Reynald, Reginald, or Renaud, was Prince of Antioch—a crusader states, crusader state in the Middle East—from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain—a Vassals of the Kingdo ...

when he married Stephanie de Milly. Raynald used the castle to attack the rich caravans that had previously been allowed to pass unharmed. He also built ships there, then transported them overland to the Red Sea, planning to attack

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

itself. This was intolerable to the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

sultan

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

(Salah al-Din), who invaded the kingdom in 1187.Eddé, Anne-Marie "Saladin" trans. Jean Marie Todd Harvard University Press 2011. After capturing

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, later in the year he besieged Montreal. During the siege the defenders are said to have sold their wives and children for food, and to have gone blind from "lack of salt." Because of the hill Saladin was unable to use

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while othe ...

s, but after almost two years the castle finally fell to his troops in May 1189, after which the defenders' families were returned to them. After its capture, Saladin awarded it to his brother, al-'Adil, who held it until after his brother's death in 1193. During negotiations between the Crusaders and the Ayyubids in 1218-19, the Ayyubids unwillingness to hand back over the ownership of Montreal and

was a major reason the negotiations broke down. In 1261, the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

Sultan

Baybars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...

, stormed the castle bringing it under the control of Egypt.

Structure

Little remains of the original Crusader fortifications. Although it has never been fully excavated, it is known that there was a set of three walls, which partially remain. The most significant remains of the Crusader portions of the Crusader castle is the remains of a curtain wall that ran inside the later Muslim additions and two chapels. The towers and walls are decorated with carved inscriptions dating from 14th century Mameluke renovations, but the inside is in ruins. The pilgrim Thietmar, who saw the castle in 1217 after the Muslim conquest, referred to it as "a most excellent fortress, surrounded by triple walls and as strong as any I have ever seen". The external walls and towers are attributed to the patronage of the Mamluk sultan

Lajin Lajin (), full royal name al-Malik al-Mansur Hussam al-Din Lajin al-Mansuri (; d. January 16, 1299, Cairo) was a Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 1296 to 1299. Early career Lajin was initially a '' mamluk'' of Al-Mansur Ali, then he was bought by ...

References

# "The Crusades" by Hans Mayer # "The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from the Eleventh Century to 1517" by Peter Holt

Notes