Time Sifters Presents: Crusader Castles: Evolving Frontiers in the Holy Land

Matt King, Associate Professor of History (USF Tampa)

One of the most enduring markers of the medieval Crusades are castles that still dot the landscape of the modern Middle East. Some of them lie in ruins, while others remain fortifications of incredible importance – prominent among them Krak des Chevaliers, which briefly served as a stronghold for rebels during the Syrian Civil War (2011-2024). This talk will consider the construction, maintenance, and evolving purpose of castles over the course of the crusading era (c. 1095-1281). It will show that these castles were never static, monolithic creations onto which we can easily project questions about a quintessential “European” or “Islamic” form of architecture. Rather, crusader castles were products of the time in which they were constructed and had defensive capabilities that reflected the relative military strength of those that inhabited them.
Matt King specializes in the history of the medieval Mediterranean during the age of the Crusades. His first book was Dynasties Intertwined: The Zirids of Ifriqiya and the Normans of Sicily, which used Latin and Arabic texts to consider the relationship between these two states in the center of the Great Sea. He then had a post-tenure existential crisis and used that to write his second book, A History of Goblins, which is an admitted departure from his expertise. He has recently regained his sanity and is researching the construction of merchant and military ships in North Africa during the age of the Crusades.