Trademark Defences: The Fortifications of Saladin’s Ayyubid Successors

Trademark Defences: The Fortifications of Saladin’s Ayyubid Successors

Paper by Michael S. Fulton

Given at Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, held at the University of Toronto in 2017

The sudden appearance of larger and stronger fortifications in the Near East from around the start of the thirteenth century has long attracted the interest of scholars. This medieval ‘Fortification Revolution’ was traditionally thought to be a product of the cross-cultural exchange of information brought about by the crusades; more recently, it has been argued that this shift was caused by the sudden development of large counterweight trebuchets. Rarely, however, is ample consideration given to the individuals responsible for commissioning these defenses and the socio-political context in which they were built.

While the great strongholds constructed by the Crusaders reflect an assortment of tactical and economic considerations that emerged in the wake of Saladin’s conquests of 1187-91, the influence of the power struggle that broke out within the Ayyubid family following Saladin’s death is also readily apparent in the designs of the citadels rebuilt by the principal contenders. Rather than a response to any particular military threat or technological advancement, the ostentatious scale of the defences built by Saladin’s brother, al-Adil, and his nephew, Saladin’s son, al-Zahir Ghazi, appear to have been inspired in large part by a desire to advance their claim to be the rightful head of the Ayyubid dynasty. By examining the development of the architectural elements preferred by these men, especially their use of unprecedentedly large towers, and how their fortification designs differed from those of their predecessors (and successors), it will be argued that these towers represent statements of authority built at a time when the right to rule Saladin’s empire was contested.

Michael S Fulton is a historian and archaeologist of the crusade period. He is a History Instructor at Langara College and the author of Siege Warfare during the Crusades. To learn more about Michael, please visit his Academia.edu page.

Top Image: The Citadel of Aleppo – photo by Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons