Zengid dynasty
The Frankish chronicler William of Tyre noted the presence of a "burgus" (tower) in Safed, which he called "Castrum Saphet" or "Sephet", in 1157. Safed was the seat of a "castellany" (area governed by a castle) by at least 1165, when its "castellan" (appointed castle governor) was a certain Fulk, constable of Tiberias. The castle of Safed was purchased from Fulk by King Amalric of Jerusalem in 1168. He subsequently reinforced the castle and transferred it to the Templars in the same year. Theoderich the Monk, describing his visit to the area in 1172, noted that the expanded fortification of the castle of Safed was meant to check the raids of the Turks (the Turkic Zengid dynasty ruled the area east of the Kingdom). Testifying to the considerable expansion of the castle, the chronicler Jacques de Vitry (d. 1240) wrote that it was practically built anew. The remains of Fulk's castle can now be found under the "citadel" excavations, on a hill above the old city.