Hollywood made him a blacksmith; Arab chronicles said he was "like a king." He served a leper, but defied Richard the Lionheart. He fought Saladin to a stand-still, yet retained his respect. Rather than dally with a princess, he married a dowager queen -- and founded a dynasty. He was a warrior and a diplomat both.
Knight of Jerusalem is Book I of a three-part biographical novel. In this book Balian, the landless son of a local baron, goes to Jerusalem to seek his fortune, but finds himself serving a leper boy instead. Only that boy is soon King of Jerusalem and facing the combined forces of Syria and Egypt as Saladin declares jihad against the Christian kingdom.