title: The Road to Salvation
author: Collinge, Rob
description: In 11th-century France, Reynald of Amiens, a poor weaver's son, is swept up in the tumultuous events of the First Crusade. Leaving the poverty of his home town to join Peter the Hermit's peasant army, Reynald survives the chaotic 'People's Crusade' to become a knight in the service of the army of Lorraine, one of the great Crusading forces. Reynald is driven by the belief that he has been 'touched by God' at the Papal speech that launches the Crusade, that he must dedicate his life to the holy cause, the capture of Jerusalem, and seek the 'road to salvation'. In the pursuit of his quest, Reynald experiences great events and meets great men but he also encounters ordinary people at every level of the grim and brutal feudal society of medieval Europe. As he grows from unworldly youth to seasoned warrior on the three-year journey to Jerusalem, Reynald also falls in love with Theodora, the bold and wilful daughter of a wealthy Greek merchant in Constantinople. Together they endure all the dangers of the Crusaders' passage into the unknown, where the risk of defeat and death is ever present.