Following the
Muslim conquest of the Levant, Caliph
Mu'awiya I repopulated and garrisoned the coastal cities including Maraclea. In 675/676, a
Byzantine fleet assaulted Maraclea, killing the governor of
Homs. In 968, Byzantine Emperor
Nikephoros II Phokas ravaged the region including Maraclea. In 1030,
Niketas of Mistheia, doux of Antioch, managed to force a coalition of Arab tribes led by
Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadifi, the qadi of
Tripoli and the local
Fatimid commander to withdraw from besieging Maraclea. During the middle of the 13th century, the possession of the castle was a matter of dispute between the
Principality of Antioch and the
Hospitallers. In 1271, the city of Maraclea was destroyed by the
Mamluks. Its Lord, one of the vassals of
Bohemond VI, named
Barthélémy de Maraclée, is recorded as having fled from the Mamluk offensive, taking refuge in Persia at the Mongol Court of
Abagha, where he exhorted the Mongols to intervene in the
Holy Land. In 1285,
Qalawun blackmailed
Bohemond VII into destroying the last fortifications of the area, where Barthélémy was entrenched, a square tower which had been erected some distance from the shore. Qalawun said he would besiege Tripoli if the Maraclea fort was not dismantled. == See also ==