The Crusades and the Templars 65The first krak appears to have been built in 1141 in Ibelin, between
Ascalon and Jaffa. Numerous workers participated in its construction,
outfitting it with four towers just like the tower of the Templars in Paris/
This project was followed in 1142 by the krak of Moab, or the Stone of
the Desert, in Transjordania;^5 in 1143, the fortress of Geth near Lydda;
and in 1144, on the shining Mount or Hill near Ascalon, a high fortress
that was flanked by four towers. The local people called this important
construction the "white guard" and the Latins, citizens of the Latin
states in the Holy Land, called it the "white workman's hut."^6
In 1148, the Christians, especially the Templars, undertook the
reconstruction of ancient Gaza. "With the buildings finished and well-
kept, the Christians resolved unanimously to place the town and all the
land surrounding it in care of the brothers of the Temple and granted it
to them in perpetuity. The brothers, strong men who were valiant in
battle, have to the present day preserved this trust with loyalty equal to
their wisdom."^7
The Templars fulfilled prominently and for all time this role of
builders on behalf of the Crusaders. The importance of this was empha-
sized a century later, in 1240, during the construction of the castle of
Safed on the instigation of the bishop of Marseilles, Benoit d'Alignan,
who had gone to Acre to visit the Templar master Armand de Perigord
and tell him that he must at any cost build the fortification in Safed. The
master of the Temple, who was ill at the time, answered that he did not
have any money. "Stay in bed," Benoit told him, "but tell your brothers
that it is your desire that this construction be undertaken—I am con-
vinced that the action you inspire from your bed will be greater than that
of any army."^8 In fact, the fortress was rapidly erected under the direc-
tion of the Templar Raymond de Caro. It came to govern some 260
caserns and a rural populace of more then 10,000 and guaranteed the
safety of the pilgrimage roads to Nazareth and other sanctuaries in
Galilee.^9
In 1243, following an accord reached with the malek of Damascus,
the Franks took possession of the whole of Jerusalem, after which the
Templars set about building a fortified castle there.^10
The construction activities of the Templars were not confined to the
Holy land, however. They erected churches and chapels throughout all