AUTHOR’S NOTE

Over a decade of research went into this book, by which time I felt as though I could feel the people and events involved. Which is just as well, because although there are many good books on history, so many are dry and lack a human touch. I have therefore written this work in a style that is closer to that of a novel to make the reading experience more enjoyable for you. However, all the people, events, and facts portrayed are true, as the copious bibliography will testify.

If you are not familiar with the geography of Europe, do not be troubled; I have included numerous maps to help you keep track of where you are.

Just a few points to bear in mind: In this era Europe is a cornucopia of duchies, counties, and kingdoms. There is no Spain, no Italy, and France is still fragmented and mostly made up of autonomous duchies and provinces, including the kingdom of the Franks; Germany is part of the Holy Roman Empire. And in place of today’s Portugal there is the county of Portucale, named after its main city, Porto. So whenever I refer to France or French or Spanish I use the terms as generalizations and to avoid lengthy explanations.

Provinces often pledged allegiance to a neighboring king or duke. Thus, a suzerain was a sovereign or state having control of another state that was internally autonomous. A vassal was a person or country subordinate to another. A fief was land held under a nobleman’s sphere of control or a person under such control.

People’s names were often spelled in different ways and different languages. I have tried to keep most names as they would have generally appeared in the twelfth century, except where they cause confusion in the text.

As for the Knights Templar, the terms Procurator, Commander, Preceptor, Master, and Brother were regularly used terms referring to members of the Order in Europe. All were subordinate to the Grand Master, Hugues de Payns.