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Hazard, H. W. (ed.) / The art and architecture of the crusader states
(1977)
IV: Military Architecture in the Crusader States in Palestine and Syria, pp. 140-164
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Page 140
IV MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN THE CRUSADER STATES IN PALESTINE AND SYRIA In the extent of its remains and the scale of its building, crusader fortification is more immediately impressive than crusader church building. Guillaume Rey in 1871 published his Etude sur les monuments de i'architecture militaire des cro isés en Syrie et dans l' ile de Chypre with numerous plans and drawings. It was a revelation to western archaeologists. Sauvageot's drawing for it of a "vue restaurée" (something in the manner of Viollet-le-Duc) of Krak des Chevaliers kindled the imagination. With the development of photography and eventually the interest taken in them under the French mandate in Syria, the castles became well known. It was generally held that in these vast and massive buildings medieval military science of the west had found its greatest stimulus and fullest development. In addition to E. G. Rey, Etude sur les monuments de l'architecture militaire des croisés en Sync et dans l'Ile de Chypre (Collection de documents inédits sur l'histoire de France; Paris, 1871), and Les Colonies franques de Syrie au XIIme et XIIIme siècles (Paris and Geneva, 1883), both of which are still valuable, the main authority is P. Deschamps, Les Châteaux des croisés en Terre Sainte; I. Le Crac des Chevaliers: Etude historique et archéologique, précédée d'une introduction générale sur la Syrie franque (Haut Commissariat de la République française en Syrie et au Liban, Service des antiquités, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, vol. XIX, 2 parts, text and album; Paris, 1934); II.LaDéfense du royaume de Jerusalem: Etude historique, géographique et monumentale (idem, Bibliotheque archéologique et historique, vol. XXXIV, 2 parts,text and album; Paris, 1939); III. La Defense du Comté de Tripoli et de la Principauté d'Antioche (idem, Bibliothèque archCologique et historique, vol. XC, 2 parts, text and album; Paris, in press) [J. F.] . See also the bibliographical note of chapter III for general works on Syrian archaeology. R. C. Smail, "Crusaders' Castles of the Twelfth Century," Cambridge Historical Journal, X (1951), 133-149, and Crusading Warfare, 1097-1193 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, n.s., vol. III; Cambridge, 1956) are important contributions to the subject, and R. Fedden and J. Thomson, crusader Castles (London, 1957) is a sound and well-illustrated summary, particularly valuable for Armenian castles. T. E. Lawrence, Crusader Castles (2 vols., London, 1936) is a provocative study, which owes much of its interest to the personality of the author. See also W. Müller-Wiener, Castles of the Crusaders, 140
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