Detail from a painting by Dominique Papety (1815–49) of the Hospitalier Maréchal defending the walls at the Siege of Acre, 1291. (Wikipedia)
In 1108 Tughtegin, the Turkic atabeg of Damascus, offered to trade Gervase of Bezoches, the captured crusader Prince of Galilee, for the city of Acre (and two smaller possessions). Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem, refused. Such was the value of the city which had quickly become the main point of arrival for soldiers and pilgrims from Europe. So Tughtegin used Gervase’s scalp as an Islamic military banner and his skull for a goblet. Even unredeemed captives had value.
Acre was strategically located on the Levantine coast. It possessed a good harbor for shipping and was of significant value as a port to Genoese, Venetian, and Pisan merchants. Craftsman, artists, and laborers of all kinds found work in the bustling city. It was protected by the sea and a network of walls and ditches around the landward side of the city and the adjacent suburb o