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Beqaa Valley

valley in eastern Lebanon

6 dated entries naming Beqaa Valley, drawn from 6 separate years between 1099 CE and 1759 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Bekaa Valley in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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11th century

  • 1099January 22 – The Crusaders, under Raymond IV, reach Masyaf, where a treaty is agreed to. They decide to continue the march, rather than to capture or destroy the town. The next day the Crusaders enter the deserted town of Rafaniyah, that provides them with much-needed supplies. Raymond moves into the Buqaia Valley, and takes the strategic Kurdish fortress of Hosn al-Akrad (the future Krak des Chevaliers castle).source

12th century

  • 1103The Crusaders under Raymond IV invade the Beqaa Valley and capture Tortosa to isolate Tripoli. Raymond expands towards the Orontes River, and begins to build a castle on the Mons Peregrinus which helps in the Siege of Tripoli (see 1102). Emperor Alexios I supports the Crusaders by sending a Byzantine fleet (ten ships) to blockade the port of Tripoli.source
  • 1126Spring – The Crusaders under Pons, count of Tripoli, attack the fortress of Rafaniya (once held by Pons' grandfather Raymond IV), which dominates the entry of the Buqaia from the Orontes Valley. They besiege the fortress for 18 days and capture it on March 31.source
  • 1182August – Saladin sends an Egyptian fleet to blockade Beirut and leads his forces in the Bekaa Valley. The city is strongly fortified and Baldwin IV rushes with his army up from Galilee – only pausing to collect the ships that lay in the harbors of Acre and Tyre. Failing to take Beirut by assault before the Crusaders arrived, Saladin breaks off the siege and withdraws.source
  • 1188July – Saladin marches through the Buqaia, and occupies Jabala and Lattakieh. From Lattakieh he turns inland and, after a few days of fierce fighting, takes Sahyun Castle (called Castle of Saladin) on July 29.source

18th century

  • 1759November 25 – Near East earthquakes of 1759: The second and stronger event in an earthquake doublet occurs to the east of Beirut, with a surface wave magnitude of 7.4 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), destroying all the villages in the Beqaa Valley.source

Named in the same entries