Crusader

The Crusader sequence follows Ranulph of Erbistock from the aftermath of the Norman Harrying of the North to the First Crusade. Orphaned, educated by monks and drawn into seafaring, trade, mercenary service and slavery, Ranulph reaches adulthood carrying guilt for violence committed during his early travels. His release in Norman Sicily convinces him that survival has imposed a religious purpose.

Ironhand brings him into Bohemond of Taranto’s expedition, while God’s Warrior follows the army through Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem. The conquest’s factionalism and massacres destroy Ranulph’s simple belief in holy war and lead him towards the emerging Hospitaller brotherhood. The two volumes combine travel, commerce, warfare and spiritual crisis without treating the crusaders as a single united cause.