Crusader: By Horse to Jerusalem

Tm Severin buys a horse in Ireland and one in France and he and his kick-ass friend Sarah follow the trail of one of the First Crusaders all the way to Jerusalem, plodding on through forests, mountains, rain, cold and heat, camping out wherever they can find room for the night, treating saddle sores and dealing with the even-then difficult politics of Turkey/Syria/Jordan/Israel. Very well-written and interesting account both of their modern-day journey on horseback and recounting of how the Crusaders must have felt.

Tim Severin is well known for his excellent recreations of historic or mythological sea voyages – Brendan, Sindbad, Jason, Ulysses, etc and the non-fiction books he writes about these. He has a pretty successful formula which he follows with his books - historical accuracy, a lot of research and careful preparation – often including the construction of a historically accurate boat. He writes very well, blending the historical information with the rigours of his journey, but avoiding the mundanity of day in day out travel.

This journey, and book are a little different. Severin sets out to re-enact the long overland route of Duke Godfrey de Bouillon during the first Crusade from Bouillion in Belgium (although it was in France at the time) to Jerusalem. Not only that, he plans to do this on a heavy horse – as close to a crusader warhorse as he can find.

Severin's first task is to locate a suitable heavy horse. Easier said than done, as his research shows him – horses have always been bred with specific requirements, and the need for war horses has been little in the last thousand years. The closest option was an Ardennes horse, from Belgium, and after much looking he found one that not only met his needs, but was also available to buy. This he did, and by a roundabout way had him delivered to Ireland.

Next a chance encounter in a restaurant, which realistically probably swung the whole expedition from vaguely plausible to something possible. He met Sarah - an experienced horsewoman with not only technical knowledge but natural flair with horsemanship. Together they selected a second horse to join them – Mystery, an ex-trekking horse.

Accompanied by Sarah, for the whole expedition, although she only agreed to a segment of the journey at a time, they packed up and headed to Bouillon, where the expedition was to leave. It is worth mentioning that Severin was at pains to re-enact the actual route of Duke Godfrey – not all those participants on the first Crusade travelled by the same route – most joined together in (modern) Turkey, across the Bosphorus.

The journey begins, and quickly they learn lessons, the figure out what is not working , and how they can adapt their equipment, their technique or their approach. From the start they benefited from the good will of those they dealt with, but also the many strangers whose paths they crossed - from finding a place to have the horses overnight, to being provided with food and other assistance. Nowhere was this more obvious than at the border crossings, where they garnered support from people with plenty of political (or other) power. The official vets at the borders seemed to wield a lot of power, often taking Severin in hand and taking him through customs and immigration.
The route passes from Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia (Serbia), Bulgaria, Turkey & Syria. At the point where the Crusaders entered Lebanon, passing through and into Jerusalem, Severin and Sarah were forced to leave the route and enter Jordan to avoid Lebanon, fractured with civil war at the time.

I enjoyed this book, and likely if it wasn't Tim Severin, I would probably have four starred it without thinking twice. It is only because Severin's books are so good, that I found this was not necessarily as excellent as his nautical non fiction books. Still, I settle on four stars, and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of the first Crusade, is interested in horse travel, or is a fan of Tim Severin.