Echoes of a Legend

Authors Notes and Bibliography

These are my brief notes to help point fact from fiction. If you would like to ask me anything further about the books content, please feel free to email me.

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This book has many historical elements. From life in 12th century England, through to the Crusades and of course the Knights Templar; I have tried to touch on many themes of the period. Although the main story remains a fictional account of a family known as the De Godefroy's, many of the details around these themes are factually correct and some were taken from the resources I list below. All of which I would recommend as great reading material for their subject matter.

There is still conjecture about the original number of Templar Knights and that a name of one has never been discovered formed the basis of my story and the foundation for Maven. Why is his name missing from history? What could he have done for it to have been removed? These questions were all in my thoughts as his life played out in front of me. The names of the other Knights are true and their descriptions are taken from various sources or fabricated.

Everything you read about the Crusades is factual. How it started, King Baldwin of Jerusalem, the Holy Land break up into regions and Saladin's involvement are all true to the research I carried out. The way battles were fought in that age, and the weapons, are again all factual. However, around these facts, I added a touch of creative writing. I hope you don't mind?

There were battles at Ager Sanguinis, Azaz and Hattin. And although there was a real Battle of Maji es-Suffar, the main battle I concentrate on, little is known about it except that Baldwin did win there, however, his troops were so depleted that he could not take them forward to Damascus; their main goal. Historical speculation remains rife about what actually happened leading up to and during the battle and therefore it seemed the perfect one to choose and be creative on.

Using historical research and my own interpretation, I set out the scene and how I felt the battle would have finished. The skirmishes throughout the encounter are made up, although how they fought each other is very real. I of course added Maven and Payen into the mix, although it is very likely that Templar's were involved in the fight. The weather was of course a guess and to be fair, likely to have been a lot cooler. Sinjin Saint-Waleri is made up, but I am sure he is close to the mark of an English nobleman giving his all for the Christian cause.

Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin was very real and died two years after the battle. My account of him at Azaz is also true but the way I led him to defeat at Maji es-Suffar I would have to credit to the writer Car Hillenbrand and his excellent book, The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives, in which I embellished on his phrase "fell from his horse and, thinking that he had been killed, his companions fled."

I hope you enjoyed or are about to enjoy...sometimes I like to read the authors notes first!...my first attempt at a novel. It was great fun and I hope to start the second soon.

Hillenbrand, Car. 'The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives'

Smail, R. C. 'Crusading Warfare 1097-1193'

France, John. 'Western warfare in the age of the Crusades, 1000-1300'

Scarfe, Norman. 'Suffolk in the Middle Ages : studies in places and place-names, the Sutton Hoo ship burial, saints, mummies and crosses, Domesday Book, and Chronicles of Bury Abbey'

Hodge, Susie. 'The secret history of the Knights Templar : a complete illustrated chronicle of the rise and fall of one of history's most secretive and conspiratorial brotherhoods'

Read, Piers Paul. 'The Templars : the dramatic history of the Knights Templar, the most powerful military order of the Crusades'