''The Knight Templar'' () is the second book in the ''Crusades'' trilogy by

Jan Guillou Jan Oskar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (, ; born 17 January 1944) is a French-Swedish author and journalist. Guillou's fame in Sweden was established during his time as an investigative journalist, most notably in 1973 when he and co-reporter Pet ...

. This book follows the fictional character of Arn Magnusson as a

Knight Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

in the

kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

. The book starts in Arn's 27th year and ends as he departs the holy lands.

Rescuing Saladin

At the age of 27, Arn is already a

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

in the

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

r army, when he faces the strangest experience a Knight Templar can have. While pursuing a band of

saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

thieves, he comes across

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

, the leader of the Muslim forces, and saves his life. They become close friends, but great enemies at the same time. During the conversation with Saladin, Arn learns and deduces that Saladin is preparing an attack on the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the south and brings this information back to Jerusalem. As Arn is the

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the Templar fort at Gaza, he prepares to take the first blow of Saladin's force, hoping to at least delay Saladin, so that Jerusalem maybe saved, as the King's army at the time is busied with a campaign in the far north.

Siege of Ascalon

After a short siege Saladin spares the city, in part due to Saladin's life being saved by Arn earlier, as he is going for a bigger prize, the city of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Arn is given the order to march with all manpower to break the siege of

Ascalon Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limi ...

. Arn and his men manage a surprise attack, and together with the knights inside the city they completely crush the siege force. Even though both the Grand Master and two senior Templars are present in Ascalon, command of the Templar forces to pursue Saladin is given to Arn, due to his recent battle luck, seen as the will of God. Saladin still unaware of the broken siege is taken completely by surprise as the Templars charge on his center force in cover of dense fog, and trap the bulk of the Mamluk cavalry in a trench, utterly defeating Saladin's army at the

Battle of Montgisard The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Ayyubid Dynasty on 25 November 1177 at Montgisard, in the Levant between Ramla and Yibna. The 16-year-old Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, severely afflicted by leprosy, l ...

. When Arnaud de Toroge is named Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Arn is summoned to Jerusalem to become Master of the city where he and the Grand Master pursue a religiously tolerant policy with the goal of creating a lasting peace between Christians and Muslims.

Advisor of Saladin

After the death of de Toroge, assassinated by

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

, Patriarch of Jerusalem,

Gerard of Ridefort Gérard de Ridefort, also called Gerard de Ridefort (died 4 October 1189), was Grand Master of the Knights Templar from the end of 1184 and until his death in 1189. Early life Gerard de Ridefort is thought probably to have been of Flemish ori ...

is named new Grand Master, and Arn is immediately dismissed from the city and retakes his position in Gaza. Arn now becomes disillusioned by the crusades and in the

Battle of Hattin The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of ...

, Arn is severely wounded and spends several weeks at Saladin's hospital in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. He then becomes a personal advisor to Saladin and convinces Saladin to spare the population of Jerusalem, which is conquered (in 1187). Also in Saladin's captivity is Gerard of Ridefort, who, by "persuasion", signs Arn's release note from the order. In the very end of the book,

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

comes to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

with an army of crusaders. Richard captures

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

from Saladin, and when Saladin tries to buy back 5,700 prisoners from him, Richard prefers to massacre the populace instead, because some terms had not been fulfilled. Arn is now very eager to return home, and Saladin donates to Arn the remaining sum of money which the Lionheart forsook in his lust for blood. As is told in the following book, Arn travels to Acre, on the way hiring various craftsmen, then obtains a Templar cargo ship and departs for his homeland.

Civil war in Sweden

Meanwhile, Arn's fiancée, Cecilia Algotsdotter, is serving an equally long punishment (20 years) in a convent of Gudhem for the sins she and Arn committed at the age of 17. Gothia is plunged into a civil war over the crown, fought over by the Sverker clan, and the joined forces of the Erik- and Folkung clan. Cecilia being counted as a member of the latter is continuously bullied by the women at the convent, who are all of the Sverker clan. She is later joined by another Cecilia who is of the Erik clan. They thensforth named Cecilia Rosa (Algotsdotter) and Cecilia Blanka, due to their hair colours. Together they outlast the torture of the Sverkers, and especially the Abbess Rikissa, who spare no effort in punishing the two friends. Relief comes as the Eriks and the Folkungs finally defeat the Sverkers at the battle of

Bjälbo Bjälbo is a small village in Mjölby Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. The medieval House of Bjälbo had a church and a manor house at Bjälbo. Magnus Minnesköld was probably born here, and in around 1210 his son Birger Magnusson. Today ...

. Cecilia Blanka, who is the fiancée of the future King, Canute I Ericson begins to haunt the Abess with her coming power, which finally breaks the persistent torture of the two. The two also befriend a young Sverker maid, Ulvhilde Emundsdotter, ironically the daughter of the man who was famously defeated by Arn Magnusson and later slain by Canute. The three form a lifelong friendship and with their wit and cunning eventually become a ruling force in the nation (more so in the following books).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight Templar, The 1999 Swedish novels Novels by Jan Guillou Novels set during the Crusades Novels set in the 12th century Norstedts förlag books Works set in Ascalon Cultural depictions of Saladin Cultural depictions of Richard I of England

Rescuing Saladin

Siege of Ascalon

Advisor of Saladin

Civil war in Sweden

See also

References