Shawbak was the first Crusader structure built beyond the Jordan. It was named Montréal (Mount Royal) in memory of King Baldwin I, who began its construction in 1115. After Saladin's victory at Hattin, it withstood a siege for a year and a half before its garrison, blinded by malnutrition, surrendered in 1189. The Mamluks radically remodelled the fortress, enabling Shawbak to remain independent from the Ottoman Empire until the late 19C.