Describe Krak des Chevaliers, with special attention to the manner of its evolution from earlier Norman fortresses

Question

Please provide the best answer for the statement.

Answer 1

1) Krak des Chevaliers in northern Syria was first occupied by Crusaders in 1109. Beginning in 1142, it was occupied by the Knights Hospitaller, whose mission was to care for the sick and wounded. By the mid-thirteenth century, the castle housed a garrison of some 2,000 troops. During the Crusades, it was besieged 12 times, falling to Berber invaders in 1271.
2) The castle was modeled on the castle-fortresses built by the Normans, who had originally built mounds, or mottes, topped with a wooden tower, or keep. Soon stone castles began to replace the earlier wooden fortifications, the first of which was the so-called White Tower in London, begun in 1078. The weight of the stone keep required that the castle be built on solid ground, so, unless a natural hill presented itself, the motte was eliminated. The keep served as the residence of the lord and included a main hall, a chapel, and a dungeon, with workshops, kitchens, and storehouses surrounding the bailey. Slotted openings, or crenellations, in the sides of the walls were narrow on the exterior of the wall, thus limiting the ability of an attacker to penetrate the defense, but they spread wider on the inside, giving archers a good view of enemy forces
3) At Krak des Chevaliers, two lines of defense—an outer wall, in lieu of a moat, and above and behind it, an inner wall—made the castle virtually impenetrable. Most stone castles in England were built over wells that provided fresh water, but the Krak des Chevaliers had to rely on an aqueduct for its water supply, making it vulnerable to siege. As a result, huge cisterns were built beneath the outer ward, and if their water supply were ever cut off, the knights could hold out for several months. Similarly, a windmill at the top of the highest tower supplied power for grinding corn stored in huge warehouses beneath the upper towers.