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Sources

Where the facts come from

Every factual claim on this site links to its source. This is the full list.

How we checked

Each fact was written alongside its source. Our build script stores the source text and, for every fact, checks that the key words and figures really appear in it. 175 of 175 checks passed when this site was last built (checked 3 Nov 2026). Where we couldn’t read a source, we left the claim out. We quote short phrases only, and never reproduce anyone’s photographs or plans.

Figures that change

Opening times, entry and access change. The few we quote are marked with the date we checked them. This site gives no travel advice; for Crac des Chevaliers and the Fortress of Saladin we give only UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger entry.

What we leave out

This is a site about the history of Crusader castles and about how to read them. It isn’t a visitor guide with live opening times, prices or access advice. Rulers’ names that our sources spell differently appear only inside quotes, with the source named. Where a source gives an interpretation or says the answer is unknown, we say so rather than choose for it.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre (5)

ICOMOS evaluations for UNESCO (2)

Heritage Malta (1)

Cyprus: Deputy Ministry of Tourism and Department of Antiquities (2)

Jordan Tourism Board (1)

Israel Nature and Parks Authority (1)

Old Akko & Nazareth Development Company (2)

English Heritage (2)

The Temple Church (3)

Museum of the Order of St John (2)

GOV.UK (Department for Education) (1)

When sources disagree

Where sources give different dates, or tell a story differently, we show all of it, with links, and say how we handle it.

When did the Knights leave Rhodes?

How we handle it: UNESCO says the Knights held Rhodes from 1309 to 1523, and also that Rhodes fell in 1522 after a six-month siege. The Museum of the Order of St John says the Order stayed until 1522. All three agree the siege ended the Knights’ time on Rhodes; the sources we read do not explain the one-year difference.

When was Acre the Crusaders’ capital?

How we handle it: UNESCO says Acre was the capital of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1104 to 1291. ICOMOS, writing for UNESCO, says the Crusader period at Acre began in 1104 but calls 1191 to 1291 the golden age, when Acre was capital of the second Crusader kingdom. Saladin took Acre in 1187, so the city was not in Crusader hands all the way through.

When were the Templars founded?

How we handle it: Two places on the same Temple Church page give different dates: the text says Hugh of Payns founded the Templars in 1118 to 1119, while the page’s timeline lists 1119 to 1120.

When was London’s Round Church finished?

How we handle it: The Temple Church says the present Round Church was in use by 1163, but it was consecrated in 1185 by Heraclius, patriarch of Jerusalem. Its own page gives two possible days for that: 2 or 10 February 1185. The page does not say why there is a gap between the two.

Templars or Hospitallers: who held Kolossi?

How we handle it: Two official Cyprus sources tell the story differently, so we quote both. The tourism ministry links the Grand Commandery of the Knights of St John to the years after 1291 and says the castle came under the Templars in the 14th century. The Department of Antiquities says the Hospitallers built it in 1210 as their Grande Commanderie, that the Templars held it briefly from 1306, and that it returned to the Hospitallers after 1313. We leave the question open.

What is the castle called?

How we handle it: Crac des Chevaliers means Crac of the Knights, and ICOMOS says Crac may come from the earlier Castle of the Kurds. Today it is known as Qal’at al-Hosn. Its neighbour was once called Sahyun or Château de Saône, and was renamed Fortress of Saladin only in 1957. A castle’s name can tell you who was describing it, and when.