Bridge of Civilizations: The Near East and Europe c. 1100–1300

This volume brings together 22 of the papers presented at a conference held in Esztergom, Hungary, in May 2018 to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the crusade of King Andrew II of Hungary to the Holy Land in 1217–18. The theme, Bridge of Civilizations, was chosen to highlight aspects of the links and contrasts between Europe and the areas around the eastern Mediterranean that were visited and occupied by western crusaders and settlers in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, giving special attention to the evidence provided by archaeology and material culture, as well as historical sources.

The results of the joint Syrian-Hungarian Archaeological Mission (SHAM) to the Hospitaller castle of Margat (al-Marqab) highlighted in this volume include an up-to-date overview of the structural development of the site from 1187 to 1285, as well as particular studies of the wall paintings, cooking installations and pottery. SHAM’s recent rescue work at Crac des Chevaliers also provides the basis for studies of the water-management system and medieval burials revealed in its courtyard, while other papers examine the masonry marks and surviving evidence of medieval trebuchet damage at both castles. Other papers focus on the medieval castles of Karak (Jordan) and Jubayl (Lebanon), the medieval buildings of Latakia (Syria), the impact of the Crusades on buildings in Cairo, historic bridges in Lebanon, the medieval chapels of Yanouh-Mghayreh and Edde-Jbeil (Lebanon), piscinas in Crusader churches in the East, the images of donors found in medieval Lebanese churches, and the activity of late thirteenth-century Western metal-workers in Cyprus.

Papers focusing more particularly on historical sources include a new edition of a late eleventh- to twelfth-century pilgrimage itinerary from Hungary to the Holy Land, a discussion of two minor military orders in Hungary, and the portrayal of Sultan al-Kāmil in a contemporary western account of the Fifth Crusade.

Table of Contents

Introduction ;

Castles and Warfare ;
1. Constructing a Medieval Fortification in Syria: Margat between 1187 and 1285 – Balázs Major ;
2. Applying the Most Recent Technologies in Archaeological and Architectural Documentation at Margat – Bendegúz Takáts ;
3. Al-Marqab Citadel (Margat): Present Possibilities and Future Prospects – Marwan Hassan ;
4. New Research on the Medieval Water-Management System of Crac des Chevaliers – Zsolt Vágner and Zsófia E. Csóka ;
5. The Medieval Masonry Marks in Crac des Chevaliers and Margat – Erzsébet Bojtár ;
6. Burials in Crac des Chevaliers excavated in 2017 – Teofil Rétfalvi ;
7. The Fortifications of Medieval Jubayl (Byblos) – Anis Chaaya ;
8. Karak Castle in the Lordship of Transjordan: Observations on the Chronology of the Crusader-period Fortress – Micaela Sinibaldi ;
9. Stone-Throwing Machines and their effects on the Medieval Castles of the Syrian Coastal Region – Dávid Kotán ;
10. Medieval Ovens and Cooking Installations in Margat – Mayssam Youssef ;

Architecture, Art and Material Culture ;
11. Latakia in the Middle Ages – Ibrahim Kherbek ;
12. The Impact of the Crusades on the Architecture of Cairo – Júlia Sárközi ;
13. Roman, Medieval or Ottoman: Historic Bridges of the Lebanon Coast – Andrew Petersen ;
14. The Medieval Chapels of Yanouh/Mghayreh and Edde-Jbeil in Mount-Lebanon: A Comparative Approach – Hany Kahwagi-Janho ;
15. Piscinas in Crusader Churches of the Latin East – Patricia Antaki-Masson ;
16. Notes on Donor Images in the Churches of Lebanon – Nada Hélou ;
17. Mural Painting in Margat Castle – Zsófia Márk ;
18. A Thirteenth-Century Pottery Assemblage from Margat Castle – Nóra Buránszki ;
19. Western Metalworkers on Cyprus, 1296–1300 – Nicholas Coureas ;

Historical Sources ;
20. An Eleventh- to Twelfth-Century Itinerary from Hungary to the Holy Land and Othmar’s Vision of the Holy Fire – by Denys Pringle ;
21. Sultan al-Kāmil, the Emperor Frederick II and the Surrender of Jerusalem as presented by the anonymous C