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Abstract:: The first crusading war mainly focused on the siege of walled cities and fortifications. The stone fortifications in the Near East, which overshadowed their western counterparts made of wood, were strongly fortified, complicated in construction, well-designed, and usually took the advantage of terrain. During the campaign of Antioch, forced by the inferiority of military strength, the harassment of supply line, and the real necessity to prevent the sortie and ambush of Turks, crusaders adopted the castle tactics to seize the strategic points and besiege the city. In the Latin East period, the crusader states relied more on castles, and upgraded castle tactics to crucial strategies. Hence, castles at that time were of paramount importance for attack and defense, which is one of distinctive military characteristics of the Latin East.