The First Crusade

As the Eleventh Century wanes, Pope Urban the Second knows well the stories that creep across the medieval landscape; Christians are enslaved, raped and murdered in Jerusalem, their sacred rites are denied, and the resting place of their God is befouled, demonized, by the Saracen Muslims. But Pope Urban is a cautious ruler, reluctant to ignite a war, until he receives a personal letter from Alexius Comnemnus, the powerful Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Alexius pleas with Pope Urban, begs for Western help, in his unending war with the Saracen Muslims. For Pope Urban the Second, the time has come to rescue humanity from the dark banners of Islam. David of Waterford knows nothing of foreign emperors, popes, sultans or kings. He is an outcast from English society, an emaciated, disowned teenager whose simple pursuit of food leads to his accusation for a brutal double-murder. Aided by the mercurial priest, Father Jacob, and the stoic woodsman, Audric, David sets out to clear his name and capture the men who framed him. But on the murderer’s trail, he is swept up in the greatest war the world has ever known, the cataclysmic apocalypse known as The First Crusade.