ABSTRACT
When, in the early days of castle studies, T.E. Lawrence wrote that castles in the Latin East are ‘a series of exceptions to some unknown rule’, he was expressing a hesitancy that was understandable in view of the variety and individuality of Crusader castle architecture.1 None the less, most castles follow certain basic rules of design and fall, in fact rather neatly, into a number of basic categories. The type of castle constructed at a particular site was decided by two main factors: the intended function of the castle and the nature of the terrain in which it was to be located. This is as true of the castles of the Military Orders as it is of other castles.
