The Crusades frames the tale of a young Frenchman who discovers his destiny as a knight, then lives out what that glorious title really means.
Balian, a blacksmith who inherits the title of his illegitimate father, Godfrey of Ibelin, becomes a key player in the defense of Jerusalem when it is attacked by Saladin, during the time of the Crusades - that world-shaping 200-year collision between Europe and the East.