In Medieval Fortifications in Cilicia Dweezil Vandekerckhove offers an account of the fortifications in the Armenian Kingdom (1198-1375). Through the examination of known and newly identified castles, this work increases the number of sites associated with the Armenians.

With a collection of 57 articles in English, French and German, presenting the most recent research on ancient fortifications, this book is the most substantial publication ever to have issued on the topic for many years. While fortifications of the ancient cultures of the middle east and ancient Greek and Roman worlds were noticed by travelers and scholars from the very beginning of research on antiquity from the late 18th century onwards, the architectural, economic, logistical, political, urban and other social aspects of fortifications have been somewhat overlooked and underestimated by scholarship in the 20th century. The book presents the research of a new generation of scholars who have been analyzing those aspects of fortifications, many of them with years of experience in fieldwork on city walls. Much new evidence and a fresh look at this important category of built structure is now made available, and the publication will be of interest not only to the field of ancient architecture, but also to other sub-disciplines of archaeology and ancient history. The papers were presented at a conference in Athens in December 2012, and they all present material and discuss topics under seven headings that represent the most central themes in the study of fortification in antiquity: the origins of fortification, physical surroundings and building technique, function and semantics, historical context, the fortification of regions and regionally confined phenomena, the fortifications of Athens and new field research. The book is Volume 2 in the new series Fokus Fortifikation Studies, created by the German based international research network Fokus Fortifikation. The topics included have been identified by the network over many previous conferences and workshops as being the most important and as needing research and discussion beyond the network members. Volume 1 in the series, Ancient Fortifications: a compendium of theory and practice (Oxbow Books) will also appear in 2015 and together the two volumes bring the field of fortification studies up-to-date and will be an essential resource for many years to come.

Winner of the 2017 Verbruggen prize Montfort Castle, the principal fortress of the Crusader Teutonic Order, was built in the 1220s and occupied and dismantled by the Mamluk army in 1271. This volume includes discussions on the castle’s history, architecture, material culture, and the archaeological work carried out at Montfort.

At the foot of Mount Ararat on the crossroads of the eastern and western worlds, medieval Armenians dominated international trading routes that reached from Europe to China and India to Russia. As the first people to convert officially to Christianity, they commissioned and produced some of the most extraordinary religious objects of the Middle Ages. These objects—from sumptuous illuminated manuscripts to handsome carvings, liturgical furnishings, gilded reliquaries, exquisite textiles, and printed books—show the strong persistence of their own cultural identity, as well as the multicultural influences of Armenia’s interactions with Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Muslims, Mongols, Ottomans, and Europeans. This unprecedented volume, written by a team of international scholars and members of the Armenian religious community, contextualizes and celebrates the compelling works of art that define Armenian medieval culture. It features breathtaking photographs of archaeological sites and stunning churches and monasteries that help fill out this unique history. With groundbreaking essays and exquisite illustrations, Armenia illuminates the singular achievements of a great medieval civilization. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana}