The Accursed Tower

October 1, 2019
A history of the 1291 siege of Acre that brings the convoluted give-and-take between Muslim and Christian entities to vivid life and relevance. Beginning in the 12th century, Acre helped hold together the "Frankish" principalities along the Mediterranean shore of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, aka the Outremer, which was established during the First Crusade (1096-1099) in the wake of Muslim onslaught. An ancient strategic site, writes Crowley (Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire, 2015, etc.), Acre first "fell to Islam in 636." In 1104, it was taken by Baldwin of Boulogne, the "first crusader King of Jerusalem," and became the "chief landing place for pilgrims and the armies to protect them." The Muslims regained the city in 1187. However, in a 683-day battering siege of the city's ramparts (1189-1191), the Christians, led by Richard I "Lionheart" of England and others, defeated the Muslims, who were led by Saladin, prince of the Ayyubid dynasty. It was a "titanic" battle that came down to Acre's so-called Accursed Tower, located in the most fortified area. Yet instead of extending mercy to the inhabitants, as Saladin had done to the Christians, Richard had approximately 3,000 Muslim defenders beheaded. This development set the "bitter legacy" for the final retaking of Acre from the Christians by the Muslims exactly 100 years later. Crowley adeptly builds the detail and suspense that led up to this extraordinary last pitched battle, which involved the might of the ascendant Mamluks, or the Turkish slaves who would become sultans, and their incomparable skills and resources, such as the awesome trebuchet. Led by the fearless Sultan Khalil, the Mamluks took the city by surprise in several weeks, with people attempting in vain to flee by ship. As the author writes in this exciting, sleek narrative, "the looting was feverish and spectacular." At the end of the book, the author also provides a useful section on "the evidence for the fall of Acre." A bracing work by a masterly historian whose great knowledge portrays the "dramatic symbolic significance" of this landmark event.

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December 2, 2019
Drawing on eyewitness accounts, Latin and Arabic historical records, and archaeological findings, Crowley (Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire) delivers an accessible and multiangled chronicle of the 13th-century siege and capture of Acre, the last Christian Crusader stronghold in the Middle East. Crowley sketches the rise of Turkish Mamluk mercenary forces in Egypt and Syria and their repulsion of Mongol invaders, the establishment of the Mamluk Sultanate in Cairo, and the defeat of the Crusader state of Antioch in 1289. He details Mamluk siege tactics, including catapult bombardment and tunneling, and quotes from a 14th-century Arabic source that describes Muslim soldiers using “iron horse pegs, tethers, and halters” to climb citadel walls. In April 1291, Mamlak sultan al-Ashraf Khalil laid siege to Acre with an estimated 70,000 horsemen and 150,000 foot soldiers. The city’s defenders included 700 to 800 mounted knights of the Templar, Hospitaller, and Teutonic orders, and 13,000 infantry. Crowley skillfully captures the intense fighting between these mismatched armies, and describes how “fires raged and screams rang” and the Mediterranean Sea “was reddened with the bodies of the slain” after the city fell. Shifting back and forth between Muslim and Christian perspectives, this entertaining history serves as a satsifying introduction to the end of the Crusades.