Maraclea

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Maraqiya
مرقية
Village
Maraqiya is located in Syria
Maraqiya
Maraqiya
Location in Syria
Coordinates: 35°1′51″N 35°54′56″E / 35.03083°N 35.91556°E / 35.03083; 35.91556Coordinates: 35°1′51″N 35°54′56″E / 35.03083°N 35.91556°E / 35.03083; 35.91556
Country Syria
GovernorateTartus
DistrictTartus District
SubdistrictAl-Sawda
Population
 (2004)
 • Total1,254
Time zoneUTC+3 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (EEST)
City Qrya PcodeC5305

Maraclea was a small coastal Crusader town and a castle in the Levant, between Tortosa and Baniyas (Buluniyas).[1] The modern-day location is known as Maraqîya (Arabic: مرقية‎) which had a population of 1,254 in the 2004 census, according to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).[2]

History[]

In 968, Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas ravaged the region including Maraclea.[3] In 1028, Byzantine doux of Antioch Michael Spondyles was tricked by the Arab tribal leader Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadifi to construct a fortress at Maraclea from where he would defend the Byzantine domains. Michael agreed and even sent a 1,000-strong garrison there, but when the fortress was finished, Nasr refused to hand it over, and with assistance from the qadi of Tripoli and the local Fatimid commander, he killed the garrison.[4][5] In 1030, Byzantine Emperor Romanos III Argyros ordered Niketas of Mistheia, doux of Antioch, to recapture Maraclea from al-Rawadifi.[6] Niketas managed to control the fort in 1031 after a 13-day siege, in which he also captured Nasr's wife and four daughters, who were abandoned to their fate.[7] Niketas then secured the region by 1032.[8]

During the middle of the 13th century, the possession of the castle was a matter of dispute between the Principality of Antioch and the Hospitallers. In 1271, the city of Maraclea was destroyed by the Mamluks.[9] Its Lord, one of the vassals of Bohemond VI, named Barthélémy de Maraclée, is recorded as having fled from the Mamluk offensive, taking refuge in Persia at the Mongol Court of Abagha, where he exhorted the Mongols to intervene in the Holy Land.[10][1]

In 1285, Qalawun blackmailed Bohemond VII into destroying the last fortifications of the area, where Barthélémy was entrenched, a square tower which had been erected some distance from the shore. Qalawun said he would besiege Tripoli if the Maraclea fort was not dismantled.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Runciman 1987, p. 334.
  2. ^ "General Census of Population 2004". Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  3. ^ Fattori 2013, pp. 120–121.
  4. ^ John Skylitzes, Synopsis of Histories, 379.59–69
  5. ^ Yahya of Antioch, 502
  6. ^ Bury & Gwatkin 1964, p. 257.
  7. ^ John Skylitzes, Synopsis of Histories, 383.91–93
  8. ^ Theotokis & Meško 2020, p. 256.
  9. ^ Grousset 1935, p. 693.
  10. ^ Grousset 1935, p. 650.

Sources[]

  • Bury, John Bagnell; Gwatkin, Henry Melvill (1964). The Cambridge Medieval History: The rise of the Saracens and the foundation of the Western empire. University Press.
  • Fattori, Niccolò (June 2013). "The Policies of Nikephoros II Phokas in the context of the Byzantine economic recovery" (PDF). Middle East Technical University.
  • Grousset, René (1935). L'épopée des Croisades (in French). Perrin. ISBN 2-262-01864-2.
  • Runciman, Steven (1987). A history of the Crusades 3. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-013705-7.
  • Theotokis, Georgios; Meško, Marek (2020). War in Eleventh-Century Byzantium. Routledge. ISBN 9780429576881.
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