Best of
11th-Century

1

The Blue Gonfalon at the First Crusade


Margaret Ann Hubbard
    No matter that he was the son of an armorer on the estate of Lord Godfrey, Duke of Lorraine; no matter that a peasant's son could never see the realization of such a fantastic dream. In his few spare moments, Bennet practices a rigorous training routine, hoping that somehow he might be selected as a castle squire - the first step toward his goal.Then one day Peter the Hermit rode through Lorraine, describing atrocities commited by infidels in Jerusalem and calling for an army of Christians to march to Palenstine. Bennet's chance had come at last, for when Godfrey took the crusader's cross, he asked Bennet to accompany him to the Holy Land as his squire. With the blue gonfalon flying at the head of the French troops, Bennet began the long journey to Jerusalem - toward adventure, danger, and the possibility that a courageous deed would make his dream of knighthood come true.A panorama of Europe in 1099 unfolds in Margaret Ann Hubbard's thrilling story of the First Crusade.