Evidence of the involvement of the Franks in various crafts is known from contemporary sources and has come to light through the study of finds from excavations. These were mainly crafts which the Franks had developed or brought from the West, while traditional crafts remained largely in the hands of local craftsmen. There is no decisive evidence at present for Frankish involvement in the ceramics industry. With the possible exception of thirteenth-century Cyprus and Port St Symeon near Antioch, ceramic production was carried out by non-Franks.1 The same is true of metalwork and textiles. The dyeing industry and glass manufacture appear to have been the province of Jews. It would seem that most objects of Western or Christian design were made for the Frankish market by non-Franks.
Ceramics
The ceramics used by the Frankish settlers in the Crusader states came from three sources. The vast majority were manufactured by local, non-Frankish potters. The second source were the neighbouring Islamic states, particularly Syria and Egypt. The third source were countries under Christian rule: Cyprus in the later twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the north-eastern Mediterranean and southern Europe (Figure 6.1).
Fine-quality glazed tableware was prominent amongst the ceramics in use in the Middle Ages (Plate 6.1). The large-scale use of glazes for decorative as well as functional purposes began in the ninth century and by the twelfth century was so well established that glazed vessels are often more numerous in medieval assemblages than are unglazed vessels. Transparent alkaline and lead glazes, and tin-opacified lead glazes are found. Alkaline glaze was used on vessels made of a friable, faience-like material known as frit. Designs were painted on to the surface before the transparent coloured glaze was added. This technique is known as underglaze painting. Lead glaze was usually applied to brown or reddish wares which were first covered with a white slip (diluted clay wash) so that the colour of the transparent glaze would not be affected by the colour of the ware. Decoration was usually carried out by one of two means: (1) incisions (sgraffito) were made in the slip prior to the application of the glaze, leaving a
Figure 6.1 Local and imported ceramics of the Crusader period
Dark linear pattern, or (2) rather than covering the entire surface of the vessel with slip a pattern was painted in slip on to the dark surface before the glaze was applied (slip-painting). Because of the transparent nature of the glaze its true colour was apparent only where the glaze covered the white slip. The area on the
Plate 6.1 Local and imported glazed ceramics (photographs by the author).
Vessel where slip had not been painted or had been removed by incision appears as dark, usually brown, whatever the true colour of the glaze.
Tin-opacified glazed vessels were decorated with coloured overglaze painting or by a metallic overglaze technique known as lustre. These techniques were already well established before the twelfth century. The innovations of potters in the eastern Mediterranean, particularly in thirteenth-century Cyprus, were in the forms and decorations they introduced rather than in the manner in which the vessels were manufactured. They did however introduce into the region one important technological advance from the Far East, a technique already in use in Iraq and Iran. This was the separation of glazed vessels during firing by the use of small clay tripod stilts which prevented the vessels from adhering to one another. The use of the tripod enabled the potter to pack many more vessels into the kiln in a single firing. This was an important achievement which when introduced into Cyprus turned the island into the major pottery producer in the region.
Local ceramics
The majority of vessels used by the Franks were locally manufactured and included dry-storage vessels and water containers made of a porous, buffcoloured clay. These types continued traditions established long before the arrival of the Franks (Figure 6.1 (1-4)). An industry of simple but decorative handmade wares developed in villages, probably in the twelfth century, and was well established by the thirteenth century (Plate 6.2). These included cooking pots, jars, jugs, basins and bowls. They were often decorated with lively geometric designs painted in red or brown slip on a pale background.
Wheel-made globular cooking vessels used by the Franks continued a form known in the region since the ninth century. They were made of thin red-brown ware and had broad strap handles raised high at the centre, and lead glaze applied to the lower interior in order to prevent food from adhering to the pot during cooking (Figure 6.1(10) ).2 Also in use were shallow glazed cooking pans and bowls.
Imported ceramics from Egypt and Syria
Considerable quantities of unglazed and glazed ceramics reached the kingdom of Jerusalem from Fatimid Egypt. These included various types of water containers of buff-coloured ware (a type of pottery which was also manufactured locally). A popular vessel in buff ware was the ibriq, a spouted jug with a distinctive high neck, one or more handles and often a decorative filter in the neck. In the twelfth century tin-glazed bowls and jugs decorated with stained, polychrome overglaze patterns, which were manufactured in Fustat and perhaps in Fayyum and were known as ‘Fayyumi Ware’, appear to have been still reaching the kingdom, particularly the coastal area. In the thirteenth century Mamluk Egypt exported to the region distinctive deep bowls with high trumpet bases decorated with heraldic motifs in sgraffito or slip-painting, and perhaps also mould-made bowls.
Plate 6.2 Handmade geometric painted jug (courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)
Syria also supplied high-quality glazed vessels to the Frankish states. These were alkaline glazed vessels decorated with underglaze designs in blue and black. Some porcelain from the Far East also reached the Frankish states, as did a certain amount of pottery from Iraq and Iran, but these imports were few compared with those of Egypt and Syria.
Imported ceramics from Byzantium and the Christian West
Until the thirteenth century very little pottery was imported from the West by the Franks. The pottery of Syria and Egypt was readily available and greatly superior in quality to European wares. In the thirteenth century tinglazed bowls and jugs were imported from the kingdom of Sicily and some pottery perhaps reached the Latin East from the Aegean. However, the main source of imported pottery outside Egypt and Syria was Cyprus, which already in the twelfth century was producing for mainland consumption sgraffito-decorated ceramics in the Byzantine tradition. This production, at least in the early stages, was limited to coarse, simple, lead-glazed bowls.3 They were decorated with white, cream or pale green lead-based slip-glaze. On the interior they had finely incised designs depicting birds or animals, usually an eagle, or floral decorative bands. They are known as ‘Mid-Twelfth Century Byzantine Sgraffito’ (Morgan 1942:127). Towards the end of the twelfth century this type appears to have been replaced by a related class which is commonly known as ‘Early-Thirteenth Century Aegean Ware’ (Megaw 1975). This type differs from the previous class in that the incised decoration is replaced by broad gouging, the designs are simple and usually abstract, and the glaze is generally yellow rather than cream or white. As the name suggests, these vessels were manufactured in the Aegean region. However, Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has shown that vessels of both these classes found in sites in the kingdom of Jerusalem were manufactured in Cyprus (Boas 1994).4 ‘Byzantine Sgraffito’ is found on many sites in the kingdom of Jerusalem but never in very great quantities. On the other hand the later ‘Aegean Ware’ is extremely common in the kingdom of Jerusalem, including inland sites which were outside the area of Frankish rule after 1187. This would seem to suggest that in the mid-twelfth century the export of ceramics, and perhaps trade in general, from Byzantine Cyprus to the Frankish kingdom of Jerusalem existed but was limited, but that once Cyprus became a Frankish possession in 1191 the volume of trade (or at least of ceramic exports to the mainland) increased considerably.
Around the beginning of the thirteenth century a new, more advanced type of glazed pottery was imported into the kingdom of Jerusalem. Known as ‘Zeuxippus Ware’ after a site in Constantinople (Megaw 1968, 1989), these are sgraffito-decorated bowls, distinguished from other lead-glazed wares by the extremely high quality of the fabric and the exceptionally shiny pale green or yellow glaze. They are very thinly potted and fired harder than other medieval ceramics. The decoration on the interior of the bowls combines very fine and broadly incised lines with a variety of new designs including concentric circles, ‘S’ shapes, mushroom-like patterns, and occasional figurative subjects. The exterior is often decorated with loops or tongues of slip. While many of these vessels found in sites throughout the eastern Mediterranean were probably manufactured in or near Constantinople, NAA shows that they were also manufactured in Cyprus, possibly by potters who emigrated to the island after Constantinople was occupied by the Franks in 1204.
From early in the thirteenth century, potters in Port Saint Symeon (al-Mina), the Frankish port of Antioch, began to produce the distinctive sgraffito-decorated polychrome glazed pottery known as ‘Port St Symeon Ware’ (Plate 6.3 (1)). The frequent use of Christian motifs leaves no doubt that this pottery was intended for the Frankish market. The most typical form is a hemispherical bowl with a ledge rim and a low ring-base. The outer edge of the rim is sometimes decorated with ‘pie-crust’ impressions. The ware is usually buff-orange or pink but occasionally brick-red or red-brown, and is fairly coarse. The decoration is carried out in a fairly fine sgraffito under a cream-coloured glaze and is highlighted by the application of alternate yellow ochre and green stains. Designs range from floral to geometric and figurative. Port St Symeon Ware was produced from 1200 until the fall of the port to the Mamluks in 1268. Evidence of kiln sites (in the form of wasters—unfinished or kiln-damaged vessels) was found at St Symeon but nowhere else and it is quite possible that the manufacture of this class came to an end with the loss of the port. This was a very popular ware in the kingdom of Jerusalem, as was the somewhat similar pottery that developed in Cyprus in about the third decade of the thirteenth century. What is known simply as ‘Thirteenth-Century Cypriot Ware’ is a polychrome sgraffitodecorated or slip-painted ware that appears to have incorporated the sophisticated kiln techniques of ‘Zeuxippus Ware’ as well as the use of colour and design of Port St Symeon Ware. After the Syrian and Egyptian pottery this is by far the most common type of pottery imported into the kingdom of Jerusalem. It makes up over 90 per cent of the non-Islamic imported wares in most coastal sites excepting perhaps only Akko, where a large quantity of Italian pottery is also found. The main innovation in this pottery is the distinctive shape of the bowls with a tall, vertical, outwardly concave rim, a hemispherical body and a high ring-base with an upturned foot (Figure 6.1 (7)). As with the Zeuxippus Ware, tripod stilts were used to separate bowls during the firing. Sgraffito designs include floral and figurative motifs and heraldic signs. Slip-painted designs are formed by loops and spirals (Plate 6.1 (5, 6)).
Only one type of pottery was imported in quantity to the Levant from Europe. This was a tin-glazed ware known as ‘Proto-Maiolica’ (Plate 6.3 (2)). The name indicates that this is the prototype of the well-known Majolica pottery that became popular somewhat later, particularly in Italy and Spain. The use of a tin-opacified glaze and overglaze painting in blue, manganese and yellow made this type of pottery quite distinctive amongst the ceramic repertoire of the Latin East. The clay came from relatively iron-free sources in southern Italy and Sicily and as a result the fabric is generally buff, pale yellow or cream in colour. Bowls once again make up the majority of the vessels, but some jugs were also found. The bowls are hemispherical with a low ring-base and a triangular or ledge rim. The decoration is executed on a white background and includes a wide range of designs such as grid patterns, floral motifs, fish, birds, human figures, ships and town fortifications. Proto-Maiolica reached the Levant in the thirteenth century. It is found in comparatively large numbers on coastal sites, particularly in Akko, and tails off considerably further east, becoming almost completely absent from assemblages on inland sites. This distribution suggests that it may have been
Plate 6.3 Port St Symeon Ware and Proto Maiolica from ‘Atlit (courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)
Imported specifically for the use of the Italian merchant communities which were located on the coast.
Glass
The manufacture of glass was one of the most important industries in the Latin East. Contemporary sources mention Tyre as a centre of the glass industry (Jaques de Vitry 1896:92-3). William of Tyre describes beautiful vases famous for their transparency (William of Tyre 1986:13.3) and the twelfth-century Arab geographer al-Idrisi noted that the Franks made longnecked vases of glass (Le Strange 1890:344). According to Benjamin of Tudela, Jews in Tyre manufactured the renowned Tyrian glass, and he noted the presence of some ten Jewish glass-makers in Antioch (Benjamin of Tudela 1907:16, 18). Jaques de
Vitry, Bishop of Tyre, wrote in the first half of the thirteenth century: ‘In the territory of Tyre and Akko they make the purest glass with cunning workmanship out of the sands of the sea: that is, out of sand and sea gravel’ (Jaques de Vitry 1896:92-3). Red glass was made in Beirut.5
Finds
Medieval glass has been found at Montfort Castle (Dean 1927/1982:40-2, Figures 55-8), at the Frankish village of al-Qubeiba (Bagatti 1993:161-4, Figure 35, Plates 62, 63), at the Red Tower (Burj al-Ahmar) (Pringle 1986b: 161-2, Figure 53), at the Frankish tower of Beit She’an (Boas forthcoming), at Yoqne’am (Lester 1996:212-14), and in a tower on the northern Frankish wall of Akko in a thirteenth-century context (Gorin-Rosen 1997:75-85).
Vessel forms and decoration
Typical forms amongst the free-blown glass manufactured by the Franks are perfume bottles, long-necked vases with mushroom-shaped rims, beakers, hanging lamps and large industrial jars. Window glass, both round panes and plate glass, was also made. Bases and handles on blown vessels were attached by direct fusing. Some vessels had hollow legs formed by placing the leg inside the vessel, reheating it and then pushing it through the vessel wall (Dean 1927/1982: 40). Decoration on the finer vessels includes moulding, trailing, enamelling (painted designs on the exterior or on both the interior and exterior) and prunting (application of marked protuberances to the surface).6
Bottles
A common type of bottle has thin walls, a globular body with a high-kicked base, a long neck and a flaring rim. In many examples the neck is decorated with twisted trails, often of a different colour from the vessel. Several examples come from the Frankish tower at Beit She’an. They are present also in finds from Akko (Gorin-Rosen 1997:76-8, Figure 1:1a-3). There are also broad-necked bottles with a distinctive overhanging rim. Examples come from Beit She’an and from Akko (Gorin-Rosen 1997:78, 80, Figure 1:4-7). Another form is a bottle with broad bulges in the neck. These have been found at Beit She’an and an example of this type was discovered at the Red Tower (Pringle 1986b:162, Figure 53:17).
Bowls
Hemispherical bowls with simple folded rims and bases were found at the Red Tower (Pringle 1986b: Figs. 53:8, 53:10, 53:20, 53:21). Similar finds came from the lower levels of the fill in the moat at Beit She’an.
Beakers and goblets
These were drinking vessels used for wine. Undecorated beakers have been recovered at a number of sites. At al-Qubeiba a group of plain beakers made of light blue and green glass was found (Bagatti 1947, 1993:164, Figure 35, Plate 63). The finest beakers, however, are a variant of the Islamic enamelled glass of the period, known as ‘Syro-Frankish Beakers’. The Syrian practice of enamelling glass vessels together with the use of Christian subject matter parallels the combination of Syrian use of colour and incised decoration with Christian subject matter on the pottery manufactured in Port St Symeon (see p. 149). The form of these beakers is simple, with flaring walls and a concave base with a high kick, but the distinctive decoration gives them a unique and remarkable quality.
Finds of Syro-Frankish beakers are fairly numerous, but they are generally found well outside the Levant and very few pieces come from the area under Frankish rule in the East. Other than a complete beaker of unknown provenance, but apparently a local find, which is now in the Israel Museum (inv. 72, 59.194) and two fragments from Akko (Dothan 1976:37, Figure 41), examples have come from Egypt and Anatolia and as far away as Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Italy and the UK. However, it would seem probable that they were manufactured in the Crusader states. In form and decoration they appear to be an offshoot of the Syrian glass beakers. The tone of the glass is similar to that of glass vessels of known Syrian provenance and the technique of applying the paint to both the inner and outer surfaces is also an established Syrian practice (Tait 1968: 151). Additional support not only for the Levantine origin of enamelled glass but more specifically for Akko as its source of manufacture is found in the fourteenth-century inventory of a Bavarian knight, one Erhard Rainer, which includes amongst the list of his property ‘acrischew glaz’, apparently a reference to glass vessels imported from Akko prior to 1291 (Pfeiffer 1970: 67-9).7
These vessels may have been made in one workshop and decorated in another (Engle 1982:44). Enamelling is a simpler process than glassmaking, requiring lower temperatures.8 The decorations on the vessels vary but are mainly of heraldic shields, animals, birds and mythological beasts. Secondary motifs that are found on most of the beakers are stylized plants or trees with trefoil and heart-shaped leaves. The other major element featured on these vessels is the inscription. Beakers which have representations of the Virgin Mary or other nonrelated subjects carry the inscription ‘AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA’ (Hail Mary full of grace). A well-known beaker in the British Museum bears the inscription ‘MAGISTER ALDREVANDIN ME FECIT’ (Master Aldrevandin made me). On other beakers appears the rather apprehensive injunction ‘NON. DETUR. PETE+’ (do not break it).
Another type of beaker more commonly found in the Latin East is the prunted beaker, a beaker with small protrusions of glass (prunts) attached to its exterior (Plate 6.4). Prunted beakers have been found at Akko (Gorin-Rosen 1997:82-4,
Plate 6.4 A prunted beaker from Beit She’an (courtesy of the Ha’aretz Museum, Tel Aviv)
Figure 2:20a-26) and at the glass factory at nearby Somelaria, where some of the finds from Akko may have been manufactured (Gorin-Rosen 1997:84). A complete example of this type of beaker, now in the Ha’aretz Museum in Tel Aviv, is said to have come from Beit She’an. Fragments of a prunted beaker were found at Montfort Castle (Dean 1927/1982: Figure 56:F). Outside the Latin East finds of thirteenth-century prunted beakers have been made at Corinth (Davidson 1952:87, 113, Figure 14:742, 744, Plates 57:742, 58:743-4) and in Apulia (Harden 1966:70-9, Figs. 5, 7, 10, 13).
Another type of drinking vessel, one that appears to have been imported to the East, is known as the ‘Biconical Goblet’. A group of these vessels, apparently imported from Europe, was found at Yoqne’am (Lester 1996:214). The only other example found in the kingdom of Jerusalem is an unpublished find from ‘Atlit. Similar examples have been found in southern France and date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Additional drinking vessels are stemmed goblets, a traditional form in earlier periods, of which examples have been found at Beit She’an and Yoqne’am (Lester 1996:213, Figure XVII. 14:5,6).
Jars
At Beit She’an a quantity of large industrial glass jars with thin vertical walls and high-kicked bases was found. It is not clear what these jars were used for, and it is possible that they come from the Mamluk sugar factory at this site rather than from a Frankish context.
Lamps
Glass lamps, known of in the Byzantine and Early Arab periods, continued to be used in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. These generally took the form of an open bowl with a tube in the centre to hold the wick. Some had two or more attached handles by which they could be suspended, the handles often of a different-coloured glass than the lamp itself (Dean 1927/1982: 40, Figure 56B; Pringle 1986b: 162, Figs. 53:15,16). Lamps intended to be placed on a candelabrum had a hollow tube extending below the base (Pringle 1986b: 162, Figure 53:14).
Window glass and stained glass
Window glass is rarely found, although it was probably used in important buildings9 and perhaps occasionally in minor buildings.10 At the farmhouse of Har Hozevim near Jerusalem a 4.8 cm wide fragment of green plate glass was found. Stained window glass has been found at Montfort and at ‘Atlit. Fragments from a window found in the parish church at ‘Atlit were of glass tinted yellow-brown, light green, purple-red, blue and colourless, cut into strips and curves averaging 2.5 cm wide (Johns 1997:133, Figs. 8, 9). They formed a simple geometric design which has been reconstructed and is on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The cames (lead pieces which held the glass in place) were comparatively wide (approximately 7 mm) to allow for the varying widths of the quarries (glass panes). At Montfort a large quantity of stained glass was recovered from the chapel and adjacent rooms. Green, blue, horn-coloured and colourless glass was found painted with grisaille bands, interlaced foliation and human figures (Dean 1927/1982:42, Figs. 55, 57, 58).
A quantity of tinted plate glass painted in grisaille was found in a tomb chamber in the crypt of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem (Bagatti 1968: 21820, Figs. 30, 31). The pieces include various floral motifs and one piece is decorated with a fish image. The quarries are 1-3 mm thick and are coloured turquoise and brown. Lead cames 1 cm thick and 5 mm wide were found with the glass (Bagatti 1968: Figure 31:13). These finds clearly predate the fifteenth century when the tomb was blocked, and the style points to the twelfth century.
Some fragments of stained glass were found in the south aisle of the Cathedral of St Nicholas in Famagusta (Enlart 1987:243). These are the only published examples from Cyprus. They consist of light purple and emerald green glass and plain lozenge-shaped quarries. They date from the end of Frankish rule in the town and are evidently Italian work.
Glass manufacture
In 1969 a glass furnace was excavated at es-Samariya (Frankish Somelaria) about one kilometre inland from the coast and some six kilometres north of Akko (Davidson Weinberg 1985:305-16). The brick furnace, now on display in the Ha’aretz Museum, Tel Aviv, consisted of two firing chambers, one on the north side of the structure and one on the south, both with vents for air circulation to the west. A flue extended through the furnace from north to south. Above the southern firing chamber was a glass-covered melting tank which had originally been under the roof of the firing chamber to the north. To the east was a work area, where there was a brick stand adjacent to the furnace. It has been interpreted as the ‘yoke’ or ‘pig’, a stand on which tools could be laid when not in use (Davidson Weinberg 1985:309).
This furnace appears to have been used to reprocess blue or greenish-blue glass lumps. The refining process involved the melting of these lumps in ceramic bowls and jars, after which the glass was poured into the tank from which it could be taken for blowing. Fragments of blown flasks and prunted vessels were found on the site, as well as a large quantity of glass waste.
Metalwork
There is no direct archaeological evidence for the mining of metals in the Latin East. Some metals were perhaps mined in the region, but most were imported from the West and from Africa. One recent archaeological find relates to the importation of metals during this period. About fifty loaf-shaped lead ingots were recovered by underwater archaeologists offshore from Ascalon. Their weight varied between 80 and 100 kg each. Carbon 14 analysis carried out on organic components in the ingots dates them to the twelfth century (Sharvit and Galili forthcoming).11
Frankish metalwork ranges from important and minor works of art to souvenirs for pilgrims. These were the products of goldsmiths and other metalworkers in Jerusalem, Akko and elsewhere. In addition, utilitarian objects such as tools and various items for household use were the products of smithies found in every settlement or castle. Some of the finest metal art-work was manufactured in the kingdom of Jerusalem, mainly for liturgical use. Other important works of art were imported from Europe and from the East.
Grille from the Templum Domini
One of the alterations made by the Franks when they converted the Dome of the Rock into a church was the placing, probably in about 1140, of an iron grille around the rock (Plate 6.5). The grille was possibly donated to the church by Queen Melisende (Folda 1995:136). It was a measure intended to protect the rock from pilgrims in search of souvenirs. The grille remained in place until the
Plate 6.5 The iron grille from the Templum Domini in the Islamic Museum, Jerusalem (photograph by the author, courtesy of the Department of the Awqaf in Jerusalem)
1960s; part of it is now on display in the Islamic Museum on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is of French Romanesque style, formed of eight parts consisting of panels of spirals held together by rings and supported by spikes crowned with fleurs-de-lys on which candles could be placed. It is an outstanding piece of metalwork which outshines comparable examples in France and England.12
Iron candelabra from the Cathedral of St Nicholas,
Famagusta
(See Plate 6.6 (1).) Two candelabra from the Cathedral of St Nicholas in Famagusta date from the fourteenth century. They measure 165x53 cm. They have three feet, hold five candles each and are formed of cylindrical rods with angular annulets, fig-leaves and fruit, and arms ending in spikes. They are similar to the twelfth-century examples from Jerusalem, if not quite as fine (Enlart 1987:245, n. 35, Figure 188).
Iron candelabra from the Templum Domini
Two iron candelabra were placed by the Franks in the Templum Domini and stood there above the rock until they were removed, apparently during the British Mandate, to the nearby Islamic Museum (Plate 6.6 (2)). They are over 2 m high
Plate 6.6 Medieval candelabra from Famagusta (Enlart 1928) and Jerusalem (photograph by the author, courtesy of the Department of the Awqaf in Jerusalem)
And consist of cylindrical rods with flowers and pomegranates at the top. They have three feet and hold four candles each (three at their base just above the feet and another at the top) (Enlart 1928:211, Atlas I, 1926: Figure 139, Plate 40). They are similar to candelabra of thirteenth - to fifteenth-century date in Spain and France and appear to be of Catalan origin.
Pricket candlesticks from Bethlehem
Two silver pricket candlesticks were discovered in Bethlehem in 1869 (Plate 6.7). They were probably intended for use on an altar. They are 27 cm high with three gilded projecting feet in the form of a lion’s forepaws. The central globes are also gilded. Despite the inscription they bear, ‘Maladicatur qui me aufert de loco Sce. Nativitatis Bethleem’ (cursed be he who removes me from the place of the Nativity in Bethlehem), they are now housed in the Museum of the Flagellation in Jerusalem.
Plate 6.7 Pricket candlesticks (courtesy of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)
Three additional pricket candlesticks of Limoges work were found in the Bethlehem hoard. Two of them are 17.2 cm high and are decorated with blue enamel floral motifs and birds. They have three projecting feet with a lion’s head at the upper part of each foot and a forepaw at the base. The third candlestick is 47 cm high and is decorated with mainly green enamel. It has three projecting feet, only one of which still has the lion’s forepaw. The enamel is decorated with floral motifs.
Brass bowls from Bethlehem
Two engraved brass bowls decorated with scenes from the life of St Thomas were discovered in the same hoard in Bethlehem in 1869 and are also now in the Museum of the Flagellation. They date from the twelfth century. They are 8 cm high and have a diameter of 32 cm. The engraving is very fine. Similar bowls of thirteenth-century date, also illustrated with the life of St Thomas, are in the Louvre and the British Museum (Dalton 1922: 133-60).
Brass bowl of Hugh IV of Cyprus
This fine, if badly deteriorated, brass basin (originally silver plated) was acquired in Cyprus in the nineteenth century. It was apparently a product of a Muslim craftsman. It displays six medallions with sacred figures surrounded by twelve medallions with signs of the zodiac. The basin has a Kufic inscription and around its rim an inscription in Gothic characters stating that it was made for King Hugh of Cyprus and Jerusalem (Hugh IV, 1324-61) (H-R. d’Allemagne, quoted in Enlart 1987:511-19).
Brass plates from Bellapais Abbey
Two brass plates preserved in the Bellapais Abbey church date to the fifteenth century (Enlart 1987:186, Figure 132). Enlart suggests that they were probably made in Flanders. One has a running stag in the centre surrounded by a ring of bosses and floral scrolls.13 The other shows a woman with a hawk on her wrist in the centre surrounded by an illegible Gothic inscription.
Organ pipes and bells from Bethlehem
The bells from the bell-tower of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem are known to have been removed on the order of Mohammed II in 1452 or perhaps earlier and were buried nearby. Three bronze bells were unearthed in 1863 near the kitchen of the Franciscan convent, and 221 copper fistulae (organ pipes of reduced diameter—3 cm), thirteen small bells and a larger bell with a dragonshaped mount were found nearby in 1906 (Plate 6.8). The bells are of different sizes. On the smallest is inscribed ‘Vox Domini’ (the voice of the Lord). The varying size of the bells suggests that they belonged to a carillon. The organ pipes may have come from a water organ (a hydraulic organ using water power).
Ampullae
One of the offshoots of the pilgrimage phenomenon, both in Europe and in the East, was the manufacture of objects which the pilgrims could obtain at holy sites as keepsakes. Amongst these items were ampullae—mould-made ceramic or lead bottles which held oil or holy water (Plate 6.9 (1, 2)). In the Middle Ages lead ampullae were manufactured in the kingdom of Jerusalem, probably wherever there was intensive pilgrimage activity, for example, in Jerusalem and Akko.14 Evidence of Akko as a source of their manufacture has recently come to light in excavations in the north-east corner of the city (Syon in preparation). Archaeologists discovered, together with an unfinished ampulla, six stone moulds, a quantity of lead raw material and some liquid mercury probably used to silver-plate the finished pieces. The moulds are made from a type of stone that does not appear to be local, and it would seem that the workshop was originally
Plate 6.8 Bells of a carillon from Bethlehem (courtesy of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum)
Located elsewhere but that at some stage the craftsman arrived with his equipment and settled in Akko. The ampullae (a second one was discovered nearby) were small, measuring only about 6 cm in height and 4 cm wide, and were decorated in low relief with geometric motifs. Other examples of medieval ampullae have designs including crosses and sacred scenes such as the Holy Sepulchre, Holy Women at the Sepulchre, the Crucifixion and the Anastasis. Ampullae of unknown provenance are in the collections of the Ha’aretz Museum in Tel Aviv, and in the Convent of St Anne and the Museum of the Flagellation in Jerusalem. Folda has discussed two similar ampullae from the Holy Sepulchre, now in Berlin, which he dates to no later than 1160 (Folda 1995:294-7, Plates 8B.8, 8B. 9). Such ampullae have also been found in the excavations at Corinth in Frankish contexts (Davidson 1952:75, Plate 53:573-5) and in Tripoli (Coupel 1941: 51, Figure 13a, b), and two very similar vessels were found in western Sicily (D’Angelo 1972:58).15
Reliquaries
Under the Franks the kingdom of Jerusalem became the most important source of holy relics, and as a natural consequence artisans in Jerusalem were involved in the manufacture of reliquaries. Albert of Aix, Fulcher of Chartres and William of Tyre all describe the relic of the True Cross found after the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 as being encased in a reliquary. According to Albert of Aix
Plate 6.9 Lead ampullae. (1 courtesy of Ha’aretz Museum, Tel Aviv, 2 courtesy of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum). Processional cross (3 Enlart 1926-8, album 1, 1926) and croisiers (4 Enlart 1926-8, album 1, 1926 and 5 courtesy of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum) this was a long golden cross, Fulcher of Chartres described it as a gold and silver
Cross and William of Tyre as a silver casket (Kuhnel 1994: 127). Both these forms of reliquaries—the cross-shaped container and the casket—were types manufactured by the goldsmiths and silversmiths of Jerusalem, and several examples are known in the West. In various museums and churches there are reliquaries in the form of a double-armed cross (crux gemina).16 They are made of wood with jewelled silver-gilt coverings and contain fragments believed to have come from the True Cross. Many such crosses reached the West in the thirteenth century, suggesting that they may have also been manufactured outside Jerusalem, perhaps in Akko.17
Pendant crosses
A number of small bronze pendant crosses have been excavated in medieval contexts. At al-Qubeiba several small pendant crosses were found; some have a glass disc or a semi-precious stone at the centre and the top arm has a loop to connect it to the chain. A bronze cross found at Caesarea, 3 cm high and 2.3 cm wide, is an inverted (St Peter’s) clover leaf-type cross (Holum et al. 1988:224). At al-Kurum a heel-shaped slate mould for pendant crosses was found in one of the village houses. It has three hollows for very small (2x2 cm) pendants, each one slightly different from the others.
Pendant reliquary crosses
Cross pendants were occasionally used as reliquaries. A fine bronze reliquary cross was found in the sea near the southern gate of the town of Caesarea (Holum et al. 1988:218, Figure 160). It is 9 cm high (including its hinged attachment) and 5.2 cm wide. The cross was made from two pieces and a clasp at the base (which is broken) allowed it to be opened. Inside it contained a relic. The relief design on the front of the cross has the crucified figure of Christ at the centre and four medallions containing busts of the Virgin Mary, St John and two angels. The back of the cross has at its centre the figure of Mary with an abbreviated Greek inscription ‘Mother of the Most High’; the medallions contain the four Evangelists, each holding a book. Although it could be earlier (this type begins in the seventh century), the iconography suggests a date in the twelfth to thirteenth century for this cross.
Processional crosses
Two badly corroded bronze processional crosses were found in Gethsemane and are now on display in the Museum of the Flagellation in Jerusalem. One is 14 cm high and 7 cm wide and has a metal staff of 20 cm giving a total height of 34 cm. The second cross is larger, 21 cm long and 13 cm wide, but lacks a staff.
Crosiers
A Limoges work crosier in the Museum of the Flagellation in Jerusalem is 32 cm long (Plate 6.9 (5). It has the form of a snake enclosing a boat-shaped medallion with the figures in relief: the seated figures of Christ on one side, a bishop on the other and a small angel below. The enamel design is of dragons. A second crosier of Limoges work with a figure of St George slaying the dragon (Plate 6.9 (4)) was recorded by Enlart as belonging to the Armenian Patriarchate (Enlart 1926-8, album 1, 1926: Plate 49.159). Similar crosiers in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, have been dated to c. 1250 (Pijoan 1940:235).
Varia
Most of the metalwork manufactured in the Latin East was of a utilitarian nature. Blacksmiths spent most of their time manufacturing spikes, nails, tools and other items, above all horseshoes (Figure 6.2 (10)). A remarkable collection of iron tools has been recovered from the excavations at Vadum Jacob. These include spades, axes, picks, hoes, chisels and spatulas. Iron bowls, knives and sickles were also found here as well as numerous large and small nails (Raphael forthcoming). Three iron chisels, varying between 3.9 and 5.2 cm in length, were found at Har Hozevim (Boas forthcoming). Weapons are amongst the more common metal finds (see pp. 176-9). Items of clothing are largely limited to buckles and buttons (Dean 1927/1982: Figure 53.F-J; Johns 1997:147, 149, Figs. 1, 2, 16; Pringle 1986b: 164, Figs. 55.11, 56.15-17). In Arsuf (Apollonia) a small metal head, perhaps part of a pendant, was found in the southern part of the town (Roll and Ayalon 1989: Figure 58). An incised bronze fish pendant measuring 2.5 cm was found at ‘Atlit. A small bronze drill-head, originally on a wooden handle, was found at al-Kurum together with two tiny gilded bronze tweezers and a bronze archer’s thimble (Boas forthcoming). The latter was probably used for leatherwork. Small bronze keys were found at ‘Atlit. Keys are occasionally found, but locks in the Middle Ages were often made of wood. Knifes and razors were found at Belvoir (Ben-Dov 1975:104) and a razor was found at Montfort (Dean 1927/1982: Figure 54A).18
Iron horseshoes were found in the stables at ‘Atlit (Johns 1997:42-3, Figs. 8, 15.13), at Yoqne’am (Khamis 1996:220, Figure 18.2:2, Plate 18.5: 2) and at Vadum Jacob (Raphael forthcoming). At Belvoir unfinished horse-shoes were found in the smithy together with a stirrup (Ben-Dov 1975:106). Two shipments of 3,000 horseshoes each from Sicily in 1280 and 1281 are evidence of the huge numbers of these items needed in difficult times, a need which the blacksmiths in the kingdom were apparently incapable of meeting at the time (Pryor 1988:140). Spurs used by the Franks were generally of goad form with a single sharp point. A good example was recovered in excavations at Yoqne’am (Khamis 1996:219, Figure 18.2:1, Plate 18.5:1).
Figure 6.2 Tools and metal objects from Vadum Jacob.
Stone vessels and objects
Stone objects are often found in excavations but, unless they are distinctly Frankish in design or come from well-defined contexts, they are difficult to date.
Plate 6.10 A twelfth-century sundial from Vadum Jacob (photograph by Buki Boaz)
Amongst stone objects found are a brazier or stove, mortars and troughs from Montfort Castle (Dean 1927/1982: Figure 43). Also from Montfort are some very fine stone matrices. One of these displays a Germanic heraldic shield with an eagle on a diaper background as well as a fleur-de-lis (Dean 1927/1982:32, Figure 38). Another matrix has a finely detailed design of two fish (Dean 1927/1982:34, Figure 39). These were probably intended for stamping designs in leather. A limestone mould for jewellery pendants was recently found in Akko (Stern 1997: 15, Figure 18).
In 1997 a stone sundial was found in the debris from the collapsed northern wall of Vadum Jacob (Ellenblum and Boas forthcoming) (Plate 6.10). Carved from a large slab of limestone, it is hemicyclic and concave in form and is divided into twelve-hour segments. It is similar to sundials from Bethany (Saller 1957: Plate 77.9) and from the Ophel in Jerusalem (Macalister and Duncan 1926: Figs. 144-5), but lacks the centre with the gnomon (the bar which casts a shadow).19
Whet stones are found in many Crusader-period sites but are not always recorded. At Arsuf four such stones from Frankish contexts in the citadel and in the southern part of the town were published (Roll and Ayalon 1989: Figure 60). There are two forms: flat, fairly rectangular thin stones and rods with a square profile. They all have a hole drilled near one end for hanging. At Har Hozevim two whet stones were found, one of marble and one of schist. Both are about 5.5 cm long and rod-shaped with a square profile.
A large stone cross from near the tell of Akko found in 1976 may have come from the roof of a church, perhaps from St Nicholas, which seems to have been located in this area (Kedar 1997: Figure 22). A water spout or gargoyle from the Crusader period can be seen on the northern wall of the Franciscan church in Jerusalem and one was found in Ascalon (Plate 6.11).
Inscriptions and heraldry
Whereas placing inscriptions on public buildings was a common practice in earlier periods and under Muslim rule, it is less common in Frankish building and most Frankish epigraphy is from tombstones (see pp. 230-33). The subject of Crusader inscriptions has been dealt with by de Sandoli (1974). One example of a dedicatory inscription from a building is that of 1311 on the Cathedral of St Nicholas, Famagusta (Plate 6.12).
Heraldic signs are occasionally found engraved or carved on Frankish buildings. In Jerusalem the Templars carved their shield on buildings in their possession. Fine heraldic carvings are found on some Frankish buildings in the kingdom of Jerusalem and the northern states and there are numerous examples in the kingdom of Cyprus. A reused chancel post from Ramla is engraved with heraldic blazons and the names of pilgrims. In 1993 a slab of whitish-grey marble with an Arabic inscription dating from the Fatimid period was found near the northern (Jaffa) gate of Ascalon. It had been reused by the Franks, who superimposed on it heraldic emblems—three large shields, each decorated with two bars and three roundels above the upper bar, which were the arms of a knight named Sir Hugh Wake, and smaller shields decorated with ten billets belonging to an unidentified knight (Sharon 1995:61-86). This stone was apparently placed on the wall of a tower in the northern defences of the town which was built by Sir Hugh Wake during the Crusade of Richard of Cornwall in 1241. As Sharon notes, this is the only material evidence for this crusade.
Wood
Because it is an organic substance, wood rarely survives over long periods unless it is in an extremely dry location or is an object of some importance —a work of art or a basic part of a structure such as a roof beam. Occasionally, however, other wooden objects have somehow survived. One of the few examples of wood carving from the Crusader period is located in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. In the central doorway of the narthex are parts of an intricately carved wooden door, a gift from the King of Little Armenia, Constantine, in 1227. The sumptuously carved panels display floral arabesques, crosses and inscriptions in Armenian and Arabic. The Armenian inscription reads: ‘The door of the Blessed Mother of God was made in the year 676 by the hands of Father Abraham and Father Arakel in the time of Hethum son of Constantine, King of Armenia. God have mercy on their souls.’ The Arabic inscription reads: ‘This
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Door was finished with the help of God be He exalted, in the days of our Lord the Sultan Malik al-Mu’azzam in the month of Muharram in the year 624.’20
Plate 6.12 Inscription of Bishop Baldwin Lambert from the south wall of St Nicholas, Famagusta (photograph by the author)
Amongst the finds from Montfort Castle are minor wooden objects. They include spoons with ‘rat-tail’ handles, a wooden tent peg nearly a metre in length, a wooden panel with canvas painted in tempera, and painted arrow shafts of cypress wood (Dean 1927/1982:38-9, Figs. 52, 53:V, 54D).21 The only other recorded finds are some fragments of wooden handles found attached to tools and to a mace head from Vadum Jacob (see pp. 176-7). Both of these sites are in areas of fairly high rainfall and it is surprising and certainly fortunate that they have survived.
Games
The Rule of the Templars expressly forbade the knights of the order to play chess, backgammon and eschagons (apparently a board game using counters) (Upton-Ward 1992:90). However, other board games could be played: forbot if the wooden counters belonged to the brother, and marelles (Nine Men’s Morris) if played without a wager. Game boards for marelles have been found in the Templar castles of ‘Atlit and Vadum Jacob. At ‘Atlit one was carved on a stone and one scratched on the plaster surface of a roof (Johns 1997:32f., Plate 25:1,2) (Plate 6.13). Two were found at Vadum Jacob (Ellenblum and Boas forthcoming). Two were found in the kitchen at Belvoir, one carved on the underside of a stone mortar (Ben-Dov 1975:106). They were also found at Nazareth (unpublished), Montjoie (Magen and Dadon forthcoming) and even in
Plate 6.13 Game boards of marelles (Nine Men’s Morris) from ‘Atlit Castle (courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority)
The Abbey of Bethany (Saller 1957: Plate 84:9, 16).22 Clearly, prohibition of games of chance did not overcome the desire for this form of entertainment. The Rule of the Order of the Hospitallers includes a statute expressly forbidding the playing of dice ‘on Christmas Eve or any other time’ (King 1934:78). The Templars, on the other hand, did not impose a complete ban on such betting games, but rather only on some of them and on the betting of objects of value. Thus they permitted the wagering of arrows without iron, wooden tent pegs, open lanterns and wooden mallets (Upton-Ward 1992:89). Gambling was apparently commonplace amongst lay knights and the general Frankish population, and William of Tyre, Joineville and other contemporary writers mention dicing and checkers as being favourite pastimes of the Franks (Holmes 1977:18). Six bone dice were found at the Templar castle of ‘Atlit (Johns 1997: Plate 60, Figure 2).23 These measure on average 0.5x0.5 cm and have tiny drilled holes each within a single circle.
Arms and armour
Archaeological excavations at sites including Montfort, Vadum Jacob, ‘Atlit, Akko and recently excavated rural sites have produced finds of arms and limited finds of armour. The principal elements in the knight’s armour were his helmet, body armour (hauberk) (Plates 6.14, 6.16) and shield. Few examples of armour have come to light. At Montfort a few small pieces of a round helmet and a pothelm were uncovered, together with scale armour (jazeran) and chain-mail. Though scale armour was rarely used in this period, some pieces were also found in the excavation of the twelfth-century Frankish farmhouse at Har Hozevim in Jerusalem. One is rectangular in shape, measuring 2.3x2.8 cm, and has five small holes for attaching it to the armour. The second piece is oval and has a diameter of 8 cm and two holes. Fragments of scale armour were also found at al-Kurum. Most of the armour used by Frankish knights consisted of chain-mail, which was especially effective against arrows. Contemporary accounts describe knights who were so densely struck by arrows that they looked like porcupines, but remained largely unhurt. Chain-mail was manufactured in a time-consuming process in which wire was wound around a rod in a helical coil and then cut entirely down one side of the rod, producing a number of open rings. The two ends of each ring were annealed (strengthened by heating) and hammered flat; they were then fashioned by linking the rings with a plier, overlapping the flattened ends and riveting them. At the time of the conquest of England the hauberk had wide sleeves and was long, reaching to the knees, divided at the front and back for riding. It originally opened in front but by the time of the Crusades had no opening but was slipped on over the head. A suit of chain-mail probably weighed about 11 kg. When not worn it was carried in a bag of wire mesh or leather (Upton-Ward 1992:91). A hauberk in the Museum of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem (no. 319), said to be of Crusader date, is knee-length with short sleeves. It has rings with single rivets. In the front below the chest are nine metal plates about 16 cm long and 4.5 cm wide and on either side of them smaller plates measuring about 6 cm long and 4.5 cm wide. There are two similar plates near the neck. If authentic, this would seem to be an early twelfth-century example. Two other well-preserved hauberks are known from the kingdom of Jerusalem. One was dug up in the grounds of the convent of St Etienne north of Damascus Gate. The other is in the possession of the Convent of St Anne (Plate 6.14). The latter which is of uncertain provenance is unusual in
Plate 6.14 Hauberk in St Anne’s Convent (photograph by the author, courtesy of the Convent of St Anne, Jerusalem) that rather than having riveted rings each ring is a very finely fashioned spiral (Plate 6.15).
Plate 6.15 Detail of the hauberk in St Anne’s Convent (photograph by the author, courtesy of the Convent of St Anne, Jerusalem)
As the art of chain-mail improved and finer rings were manufactured, coverings could be made for the hands and feet. By the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries hands were covered with gauntlets in the form of mittens with a covering for the thumb and a single covering for the other fingers. Only at the end of the thirteenth century did the technology permit the making of separate coverings for each finger. An opening in the palm allowed the wearer to slip his hand out, leaving the glove hanging from his wrist.
Legs were covered with separate mail hose from the eleventh century on. These were worn fastened under the hauberk. The throat was laced and a mail head-covering or coif was worn under the helmet. The coif covered the forehead, neck and chin but left the nose and eyes exposed. The nasal of the helmet protected the nose. A cloth cap was worn under the coif (Upton-Ward 1992:91).
Plate armour, which later became popular, was at first not worn except perhaps in limited use on chain-mail hauberks, but it is recorded in the later twelfth century. For example, it was worn by Richard I, not as an outer covering but rather under the hauberk in the form of a thin plate of iron worn over the chest.
Under his armour the knight wore a gambeson, a padded waistcoat which consisted of vertical layers of cloth sewn on to a leather foundation and lined with linen or silk. The gambeson protected him from bruising and was also worn by foot soldiers. Over the hauberk the knight wore a cloth covering called a surcoat, mainly intended to shield the armour from the sun’s rays which would otherwise heat it and make it uncomfortable for the wearer. The surcoat also became a means of identifying the heavily armoured knight through the use of heraldic devices. The knight’s horse also wore a chain-mail covering and over it a cloth cover called a caparison, which served a similar function to the knight’s surcoat.
At the time of the First Crusade the helmet or helm was, as it had been thirty-three years earlier when William the Conqueror invaded England, conical or round in form and made of solid iron. From the eleventh and twelfth centuries it had a nasal (nose-guard). In the twelfth century three types of helmets were worn: conical, round-topped and cylindrical flat-topped (pothelm). The helmet protected the wearer’s head but could cause him difficulty because of its weight, particularly in the heat. Even with ventilation holes some of the closed types must have made breathing difficult. If in the heat of battle the helmet was knocked askew the eyes of its wearer would be covered, leaving him completely blind. Hence some knights preferred to wear only a mail coif and no helmet at all. This handicap was eventually overcome by the addition of a visor which could be raised. It was partly because the pothelm completely hid the knight’s face that the art of heraldry developed to enable him to be identified in the field.
The knight’s shield, which was held in the left hand, was triangular in shape with a rounded top, vertically concave towards the body. It was made of wood covered with leather. It was hung on a strap which the knight wore around his neck and had another short strap by which he gripped it. Shield makers are recorded in Jerusalem in the twelfth century.
On his right side the knight wore a sword, contained in a scabbard or sheath of wood covered with leather and belted to his waist. The sword was generally a cutting weapon but was sometimes used for thrusting. It usually had a two-edged blade about 75 cm long that narrowed to a point; it weighed about 1.5 kg. Its parts were the blade, hilt, tang (a wrought iron piece welded to the shoulder and inserted into the grip), quillon (a guard between hilt and blade), grip or handle and pommel. Some Frankish swords have been found in excavations. Two were discovered in an underwater survey off ‘Atlit (Ronen and Olami 1978:37-8). Daggers were also used by the knight and dagger blades are occasionally found, usually badly corroded. A pommel from a Frankish dagger was seen by Clermont-Ganneau in a goldsmith’s shop in Jerusalem (Clermont-Ganneau 1896: 321-2). It was a small bronze disc with red and blue enamel about 1 cm thick. On one side it was decorated with a three-turreted fort with a gate, and on the other was a heraldic shield. The edge had twelve rounded notches. Clermont-Ganneau mentions three other such pommels, one from Jerusalem which had eight notches and a floral design and another, apparently from Sidon, with ten notches and decorated with a turreted fort on one side, similar to the first of the pommels from Jerusalem, and a griffon on the other. He mentions but does not describe another pommel from Aleppo. There is one example on display in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem; it is similar to the above-mentioned examples. It measures 4 cm in diameter and is engraved with a shield with seven diagonal lines. A similar piece with a shield displaying a lion is in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (Met. Mus., no. 29-152.685).
The spear was the basic defensive weapon of the infantry, used in close combat and thus thrust rather than thrown. It had a leaf or lozenge-shaped head. Several spearheads have been found at Vadum Jacob (Raphael forth-coming). In the Middle Ages the lance was another important thrusting weapon. The Crusader lance was about 2-3 m long and light in weight. It too had a leaf-shaped head. It was used to unseat the enemy and the butt often had a spike for stabbing. Axes and picks, tools used in building and agriculture, also served as weapons; both frequently appear in medieval illustrations of battle scenes. The axe was commonly used in warfare in continental Europe and in the East in the Middle Ages. The Western axe had a fan-shaped blade. The pick had a point that could pierce armour and a hammer head resembling a mace. Both axes and picks have been found at Vadum Jacob, but cannot be identified as weapons rather than building tools. The mace is one of the most ancient of weapons and ceremonial maces from the Chalcolithic period (fourth millennium BC) have been found at Nahal Hever by the Dead Sea. In the medieval period the mace was still a popular weapon, used by knights in close combat against mounted warriors. The twelfth century mace usually had a metal head, grooved lengthwise or covered with bosses mounted on a wooded staff. The excavation at Vadum Jacob revealed the only example of a Crusader period mace head found in excavations to date (Plate 6.16). It could have belonged to either the Frankish or the Ayyubid soldiers. It is round, 7.5 cm in diameter, with pointed spikes and weighs 432 grams (Raphael forthcoming). Fragments of the wooden handle remained inside the hollow head. The long-hafted mace used by the Fatimids was later adopted by the Franks and eventually introduced into the West.
Unlike the Seljuk horseman, the Frankish knight did not generally use a bow. The bow was a long-distance weapon, whereas the knight was most effective at hand-to-hand combat. The bow required the use of both hands, which was
Plate 6.16 Mace from Vadum Jacob (photograph by Buki Boaz)
Impossible for the heavily armed knight. Archery, which appears to have been held somewhat in contempt by knights, was relegated to the foot soldier who, like the Muslims, used three types of bows. The first type was a simple bow, less powerful than other types but light and relatively easy to use and consequently much more rapid in discharge, an important asset in battle. The second type of bow employed by both sides was the crossbow or arbalest. This was a heavy bow with a wooden or whalebone stave mounted on a stock called a tiller. It had a groove in the top for an arrow with a mechanical trigger to release the string. It was too difficult for manual loading and was loaded by the archer, who placed his foot in a metal stirrup to hold it on the ground, and pulled back the bowstring
Figure 6.3 Arrowheads and mace from Vadum Jacob
Using both arms and a hook attached to his belt. The arrow used with the crossbow had a heavier head called a ‘bolt’ or ‘quarrel’. The crossbow was not a Frankish introduction to the East and was used by the Fatimids and Abbasids before the First Crusade. In the West it was considered a cruel weapon and was
Plate 6.17 Horseshoe, spur and arrowheads from Yoqne’am (courtesy of Amnon Ben-Tor) and painted arrow shafts from Montfort Castle (courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)
Used mainly for hunting and by infantry. In the Second Lateran Council in 1139 the church banned its use in warfare except against the infidel.
World History
