Beaufort Castle, Lebanon
Encyclopedia
Nabatiye Governorate
Nabatieh Governorate is one of the six governorates of Lebanon. The area of this governorate is 1,058 km². The capital is Nabatieh.-Districts:The governorate is divided into four districts containing 115 municipalities...
, southern
Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon is the geographical area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. These two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s...
Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, about 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) to the south-south-east of the village of Arnoun
Arnoun
Arnoun is a majority Shia village south-east of Nabatiyeh, in Nabatiyeh Governorate, southern Lebanon. The village is located approximately from the Israeli border...
.
The castle was named "bel fort" or "beau fort" (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for "beautiful fortress") by the Crusaders who occupied the castle in the twelfth century. Its Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
name Qala'at ash-Shqif means Castle of the High Rock (shqif is the Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
word for "high rock"). The castle's full name in Arabic is قلعة الشقيف ارنون (Qala'at ash-Shqif Arnoun), a combination of the Arabic word Qala'at (castle) and the Aramaic language|Aramaic Shqif Arnoun.
The castle is also sometimes referred to as Beaufort Castle in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
(قصر البوفورت, Qasr al-Bofort).
The Beaufort provides one of the few cases where a Medieval castle proved of military value and utility also in modern warfare, as its late twentieth Century history shows.
Ancient history
Little is known of the site prior to its capture by CrusaderCrusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
forces in 1139 AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
, although historians assume that the castle's commanding position atop a 700 metre (2,100 ft) hill made it a strategic position even in Biblical and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times, and that there was already an existing structure at the time.
After its capture by King Fulk, the castle was handed over to the lords of Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
. In 1189, Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
laid siege to it, while Reginald of Sidon
Reginald of Sidon
Reginald Grenier was Lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Rise to fame:...
was defending the stronghold. By ruse he delayed the capture, but the castle was finally taken by Saladin in 1190 AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
. The Crusaders took the castle back in 1240, then it was sold to the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
by Reginald's grandson, Julian of Sidon
Julian Grenier
Julian Grenier was the Count of Sidon from 1239 to 1260, then becoming merely titular. He was the son and successor of Balian I and Margaret of Brienne...
, in 1260. In 1268, the Mamluke Sultan Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
captured the castle, and there was relative calm through the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
In the seventeenth century Fakhr-al-Din II
Fakhr-al-Din II
Emir Fakhr-al-Din ibn Maan was the 1st prince of the State of Lebanon which has self-governed under the Ottoman Empire between the 17th and 19th centuries. Son of Prince Qorqmaz ibn Maan and Sit Nasab of the Tanukhi family, he was given the title "Emir" or Prince in Arabic because the Maan...
took the castle as a part of his network of fortifications. Fakhr-al-Din II was defeated by the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, who destroyed the upper portions of the castle. The area was ruled by feudal families until 1769.
Modern history
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
besieged the castle, captured it and destroyed many of its remaining fortifications. The Galilee earthquake of 1837
Galilee earthquake of 1837
The Galilee earthquake of 1837, often called the Safed earthquake, was a devastating earthquake that shook the Galilee on January 1, 1837.-Impact:...
destroyed many parts of the castle, and it was used as a quarry and a shelter for sheep.
Restoration of the castle began with the French Mandate
French Mandate of Syria
Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
over Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
in 1920, and continued with Lebanese independence in 1943.
The castle's strategic location, which affords a view of much of southern Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and northern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, has caused it to be a focus for recent conflicts.
From 1976 onwards, (during the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
), the castle was held by the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
(PLO), which used the castle to fire rockets into northern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Between 1976 and 1980 PLO
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
positions on the castle were attacked dozens of times by Israeli
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
forces.
On 6 June 1982, at the start of Operation Peace for Galilee (the 1982 Lebanon War)
1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...
, the PLO
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
position on the Beaufort Castle was heavily shelled by the Israelis before being captured by the Israeli Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) on 7 June 1982 in the Battle of the Beaufort. The fighting caused damage to the ancient castle.
Between 1982 and 2000, the Beaufort Castle and surrounding areas were used as a base and observation post by the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
. Hezbollah shelling and rocket fire between 1982 to 2000 damaged portions of the castle. Israeli Defense Forces also carried out a considerable demolition of the site before retreating from the area in May 2000.
Sources
- "The Restoration of Beaufort Castle (South Lebanon) A 3D Restitution According to Historical Documentation", Pierre Grussenmeyer, Jean Yasmine, Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities (accessed 5 September 2006)
- Hugh KennedyHugh N. KennedyHugh N. Kennedy MA, PhD is Professor of Arabic in the Faculty of Languages and Cultures at School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He was formerly a professor of history at University of St Andrews, a position he had held since 1972...
, Crusader Castles, Cambridge 1994., London, ( p.534 & p.535) - David NicolleDavid NicolleDavid C. Nicolle is a British historian specialising in the military history of the Middle Ages, with a particular in the Middle East....
, Crusader Castles in the Holy Land 1097-1192, Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2004. ISBN 1-84176-715-8. - R. C. Smail, Crusading Warfare 1097-1193, Cambridge 1956.
- Beaufort Castle, Lebanon