As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Historical person
1150–1194
Guy of Lusignan became king of Jerusalem through his marriage to Sibylla, the sister of Baldwin IV. His leadership was deeply contested, and in 1187 he marched the crusader army away from water before the catastrophic Battle of Hattin, where Saladin captured him. Released from captivity, Guy attempted to resume authority but faced opposition from Conrad of Montferrat. He eventually received Cyprus, establishing the Lusignan dynasty there.
Guy is a major character in Sharon Kay Penman’s The Land Beyond the Sea and Cecelia Holland’s Jerusalem. Historical fiction often depicts him as weak, vain or militarily incompetent, especially in contrast with Baldwin IV and Raymond of Tripoli. More balanced treatments consider the factional pressures, disputed intelligence and dynastic legitimacy that shaped the decision to fight at Hattin.
Series
The Lionheart series recounts the rise, crusade and embattled kingship of Richard I through the eyes of Ferdia, an Irish captive who becomes Richard's loyal follower. Beginning during the troubled final years of Henry II, the trilogy follows Richard's accession, the Third Crusade, his rivalry with Saladin and…
All books in this series
The Roger of Huntley series follows a fugitive monk and crusader through the violence of the Third Crusade and the later crisis of King John’s reign. The early books place Roger among soldiers, pilgrims and rulers in the eastern Mediterranean, while the later novels return him to England…
All books in this series
The five Angevin novels trace the Plantagenet dynasty from the succession crisis after Henry I through Henry II and Eleanor’s turbulent marriage, their sons’ rebellions, Richard I’s crusade, captivity and final campaigns. The sequence combines royal family drama with the Anarchy, Angevin state-building, church–crown conflict and the Third…
All books in this series
The Crusades Trilogy follows Arn Magnusson, a fictional nobleman from twelfth-century Götaland, from a monastic childhood through service as a Knight Templar and return to a divided Scandinavian homeland. The Road to Jerusalem establishes the rivalry between the Erik and Sverker factions and Arn’s forbidden relationship with Cecilia…
All books in this series
Standalone books
Non Fiction
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.
