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

Peter Edbury is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff University.Denys Pringle is Emeritus Professor in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff University.Balázs Major is director of the Institute of Archaeology at Pázmány Péter Catholic University.

• 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 Chronique d’Ernoul – Peter Edbury ; 22. From Samson to James: Two Minor Military Orders in Thirteenth-Century Hungary – Dániel Bácsatyai ; Index

'Taken overall, this collection has many strengths, perhaps most importantly the considerable corpus of analysis it offers on northern Syria. Very little research has been conducted on topics such as Eastern Christian churches in Lebanon, the port city of Latakia and Near Eastern bridges and so many of these articles make important, even ground-breaking, contributions. The ongoing work on Margat and Krak des Chevaliers is, likewise, very impressive, drawing upon a wide range of different approaches and techniques (reminiscent in many ways of recent work on the Teutonic Order’s fortress of Montfort). Splicing together an impressive range of textual and non-textual sources, Bridge of Civilizations provides inspiring glimpses into the complex, brutal and vibrant world of the medieval Near East.' – Nicholas Morton (2022): Al-Masāq, Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean 34:3