Jerusalem

Rannulf Fitzwilliam is a Norman knight of the Temple serving in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the reign of the leper king Baldwin IV. The story begins around the Crusader victory at Montgisard, where Baldwin defeats Saladin despite the kingdom’s limited strength. Rannulf is more capable in battle than in court, and his efforts to live by the discipline of his order repeatedly bring him into conflict with the ambitions and resentments of the kingdom’s nobles.

Over the following decade, Baldwin’s illness and the succession struggle surrounding Guy of Lusignan weaken the state while Raynald of Châtillon provokes renewed war. Rannulf is drawn into diplomacy, factional rivalry and a personal relationship that tests his vows before the crisis culminates at Hattin in 1187. The defeat destroys the Crusader field army and leaves Jerusalem exposed to Saladin’s siege, turning one knight’s moral struggle into an account of the kingdom’s political collapse.