Belmont Castle

The Excavation of a Crusader Stronghold in the Kingdom of Jerusalem

This is the final publication of excavations conducted by the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem on the Crusader castle of Belmont (Suba), near Jerusalem, between 1986 and 1989. The excavations indicate that Belmont began its existence as a manor house, only developing as a fully defensible concentric castle in the 1150s, after it had been acquired by the Hospitallers of St John.

Castle's architecture and planning

The account of the excavation is accompanied by specialist reports on the finds and faunal material, and concludes with a discussion of the castle's architecture and planning, its military functions, and its economic role within an agricultural estate producing food and revenue for the Hospital in Jerusalem.

Manor house

The excavations and associated documentary research indicate that Belmont began its existence as a manor house or maison-forte in the first half of the 12th century; at that time it probably represented the country seat of a fief-holding knight on the royal domain.

Hospitallers' takeover

By the 1140s, however, the area in which Belmont lay had been acquired by the Hospital of St John, which subsequently developed nearby Abu Ghosh (identified as biblical Emmaus) as the centre for an extensive estate. Following the Hospitallers' takeover, while another former maison-forte, Aqua Bella, was converted into a priory or infirmary building, Belmont was extended and developed as a concentric castle, dominating the landscape round about.

Excavation of a Crusader Stronghold

Belmont Castle: The Excavation of a Crusader Stronghold in the Kingdom of Jerusalem by Richard P. Harper
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000
ISBN: 0197270093

More information

Castles Main Page

Met deze cd-rom kunt u vele uren genieten van de rijkdom van de Nederlandse geschiedenis en in het bijzonder van de prachtige kastelen en huizen die Nederland rijk is.

Deze cd-rom is een aanrader voor de liefhebber van Nederlandse kastelen.
Nederlandse kastelen