 The modern Arabic word for a castle is Kalaa ( قلعة ) , but Krak des Chavaliers is known as a " Hosn " ( حصن ) , or " fort " . This derives from the name of an earlier fortification on the same site called Ḥoṣn al @-@ Akrād ( حصن الأكراد ) , meaning " fort of the Kurds " . It was called by the Franks Le Crat and then by a confusion with karak ( fortress ) , Le Crac . Crat was probably the Frankish version of Akrād , the word for Kurds . After the Knights Hospitaller took control of the castle , it became known as Crac de l 'Ospital ; the name Crac des Chevaliers ( alternatively spelt Krak des Chevaliers ) was introduced by Guillaume Rey in the 19th century . 
