ABSTRACT
The central places of the Latin Kingdom gave ecclesiastical, administrative, and commercial services to smaller villages, hamlets, and farm houses. The major sites were those which are usually labeled cities, namely, Acre, Baniyas, Tiberias, Caesarea, Arsuf, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Nablus, Karak, and Tyre. According to the Latin sources, a new phase of castle-building began, and military attention was directed from then on to fortresses on the borders of the kingdom. Some castles in defensive positions of course existed already: Karak was fortified as the central Frankish stronghold in Transjordan in 1142, Safed is mentioned at the beginning of the century and again by William of Tyre in 1157, and Montreal was erected in the second decade of the twelfth century. Theodorich describes Belvoir and Safed during his visit in 1172, noting that Belvoir was built for the purpose of defending the kingdom against the assaults of Nur al-Din.
