Set against the backdrop of a tumultuous Cyprus, the story follows John d'Ibelin, the son of Balian, as he navigates the challenges of being a squire amidst rebellion. With Greek insurgents threatening to dismantle Richard the Lionheart's legacy, John must survive his apprenticeship and prepare for a future where he will confront the most powerful monarch. The narrative explores themes of loyalty, legacy, and the struggle for power in a land torn by conflict.
Helena P. Schrader Libri
Attingendo alla sua vasta esperienza internazionale e al profondo amore per la storia, Helena crea un'avvincente narrativa storica. La sua prosa è caratterizzata da una profonda comprensione di diverse culture e motivazioni umane, invitando i lettori a immergersi nel passato. Attraverso romanzi meticolosamente ricercati, approfondisce temi complessi come la resistenza, le relazioni internazionali e la resilienza dello spirito umano. Helena scrive per connettere i lettori con la storia, offrendo spunti di riflessione sui dilemmi umani duraturi.
Knight of Jerusalem
- 316pagine
- 12 ore di lettura
Balian, the landless son of a local baron, goes to Jerusalem to seek his fortune. Instead, he finds himself trapped into serving the young prince suffering from leprosy, an apparent sentence to obscurity and death. But the unexpected death of King Amalric makes the leper boy King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, and Balian’s prospects begin to improve. The Byzantine princess Maria Comnena is just thirteen years old when she arrives in the Kingdom of Jerusalem at her great uncle’s orders to cement the alliance between the two Christian kingdoms in the East. The child wife of a man almost three times her own age, she is despite her excellent education and intelligence little more than a pretty doll in the eyes of her husband. When she fails to produce a male heir for the desperate king, her marriage becomes a gilded prison. Until suddenly the king is dead and Maria finds herself a wealthy widow at just twenty years of age. Meanwhile, the charismatic Kurdish leader Saladin has united the forces of Islam and vowed to drive the Christians into the sea. While King Baldwin IV—and Balian—struggle to save the Holy Land for Christendom by whatever means they can, the internal rivalries of Templars and Hospitallers, the advocates of offense and defense, and the bitter rivalries of barons threaten to tear the kingdom apart.