Siege of Kerak
1183 CE.
Shown on the map at 31.181°, 35.701°.
Kerak Castle, one of the most impregnable strongholds in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, underwent its first significant siege in late 1183. Saladin, ruler of Egypt and Damascus, besieged Kerak in early November 1183 after its lord, Raynald of Châtillon, conducted raids of Saladin's lands. Saladin set out from Damascus on 22 October and besieged Kerak as it hosted the wedding of Raynald's stepson Humphrey IV of Toron and King Baldwin IV's half-sister Isabella. Raynald attempted to delay the siege by defending the walled settlement outside the fortress, but it fell quickly. Despite this success and intense bombardment, Saladin was unable to make progress, hindered by Kerak's deep moat and mountainous terrain. When ailing King Baldwin learned about the siege, he found himself obligated to settle his succession before mustering a relief force. After the coronation of his nephew, Baldwin V, he accompanied his army to Kerak but ceded command to his kinsman Count Raymond III of Tripoli. Saladin refused to engage the royal army and lifted the siege on 3 December.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Kerak (1183), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.