Maniqa

{{Short description|Castle in Syria}} {{Infobox military installation |name=Maniqa |native_name = {{Noitalic|{{lang|ar|قلعة المنيقة}}}} |location=Near [[Baniyas]], [[Syria]] |coordinates = {{coord|35.251988|36.094855|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |map_type=Syria |map_size= 280 |built=1028 |builder= [[Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadifi]] |controlledby= |materials= |height= |used= |condition=Ruin |ownership= |open_to_public= }} '''Maniqa''' ({{langx|ar|المنيقة}}) is a castle located in the [[Syrian Coastal Mountain Range]], dated back to the Roman era, it was also known as "Malikas" or "Malghanes" during the Crusader rule.

==History== In 1028, Byzantine [[Megas doux|doux]] of [[Antioch]] [[Michael Spondyles]] was tricked by the Arab tribal leader [[Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadifi]] to construct a fortress at Maniqa 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, Lebanon|Tripoli]] and the local [[Fatimid]] commander, he killed the garrison.<ref>John Skylitzes, ''Synopsis of Histories'', 379.59–69</ref><ref>[[Yahya of Antioch]], 502</ref> In 1030, Byzantine Emperor [[Romanos III Argyros]] ordered [[Niketas of Mistheia]], doux of Antioch, to recapture Maniqa from al-Rawadifi.{{sfn|Bury|Gwatkin|1964|p=257}} 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.<ref>John Skylitzes, ''Synopsis of Histories'', 383.91–93</ref> Niketas then secured the region by 1032.{{sfn|Theotokis|Meško|2020|p=256}}

In 1118 or 1119, [[Rainald I Masoir]] persuaded the commander of [[Margat]] from [[Banu Muhriz]] to surrender the fortress to him, along with the nearby forts Maniqa, [[Qulay'a]] and [[Hadid Castle|Hadid]].{{sfn|Asbridge|2000|pp=73, 161}}

During the mid-12th century the [[Order of Assassins|Assassins]] captured or acquired several fortresses in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range including Maniqa. For the most part, the Assassins maintained full control over these fortresses until 1270–73 when the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] sultan [[Baibars]] annexed them.{{sfn|Raphael|2011|p=106}}

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==Sources== * {{cite book |last=Asbridge |first=Thomas |authorlink=Thomas Asbridge |year=2000 |title=The Creation of the Principality of Antioch, 1098–1130 |publisher=The Boydell Press |isbn=978-0-85115-661-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/creationofprinci00thom }} * {{cite book |last1=Bury |first=John Bagnell |last2=Gwatkin |first2=Henry Melvill |title=The Cambridge Medieval History: The rise of the Saracens and the foundation of the Western empire |year=1964 |publisher=University Press }} * {{cite book |last=Raphael |first=Kate |title=Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfJN1UicpRoC&q=Qadmous+Mamluk |publisher=Taylor & Francis US|year=2011|isbn=978-0-415-56925-5}} * {{cite book |last1=Theotokis |first1=Georgios |last2=Meško |first2=Marek |title=War in Eleventh-Century Byzantium |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |ISBN=9780429576881 }}

[[Category:Castles in Syria]]