Crusader's Path

by MaryAnn Bernal

From the sweeping hills of Argences to the port city of Cologne overlooking the River Rhine, Etienne and Avielle find themselves drawn by the need for redemption against the backdrop of the First Crusade.

Heeding the call of His Holiness, Urban II, to free the Holy Land from the infidel, Etienne follows Duke Robert of Normandy across the treacherous miles, braving sweltering heat and snow-covered mountain passes while en route to the Byzantine Empire.

Moved by Peter of Amiens’ charismatic rhetoric in the streets of the Holy Roman Empire, Avielle joins the humble army of pilgrims. Upon arrival in Mentz, the peasant Crusaders do the unthinkable, destroying the Jewish Community. Consumed with guilt, Avielle is determined to die fighting for Christ, assuring her place in Heaven.

Etienne and Avielle cross paths in Constantinople, where they commiserate over past misdeeds. A spark becomes a flame, but when Avielle contracts leprosy, Etienne makes a promise to God, offering to take the priest cowl in exchange for ridding Avielle of her affliction.

Will Etienne be true to his word if Avielle is cleansed of the contagion, or will he risk eternal damnation to be with the woman he loves?

223 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 2020

About the author

Mary Ann Bernal attended Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY, where she received a degree in Business Administration. Her literary aspirations were ultimately realized when the first book of The Briton and the Dane novels was published in 2009. In addition to writing historical fiction, Mary Ann has also authored a collection of contemporary short stories in the Scribbler Tales series and a science fiction/fantasy novel entitled Planetary Wars Rise of an Empire. Her recent work includes Crusader’s Path, a redemption story set against the backdrop of the First Crusade, Forgiving Nero, a novel of Ancient Rome, and AnaRose and the Templar’s Quest, a historical mystery adventure.

Since Operation Desert Storm, Mary Ann has been a passionate supporter of the United States military, having been involved with letter-writing campaigns and other support programs. She appeared on The Morning Blend television show hosted by KMTV, the CBS television affiliate in Omaha, and was interviewed by the Omaha World-Herald for her volunteer work. She has been a featured author on various reader blogs and promotional sites.

Mary Ann currently resides in Elkhorn, Nebraska.

Reviews

[Mary Yarde · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Did not the walls of Jericho fall after the Israelites walked around them? … Is not our faith equal to theirs, if not greater?"

Etienne d'Argences did not need much encouragement to heed the call of His Holiness, Urban II. If Duke Robert of Normandy intended to fight in this Holy War, then Etienne would as well.

Avielle had to get away from Cologne, for there is nothing left there for her but bittersweet memories. When Avielle hears Peter of Amiens' sermon, she feels compelled to join his army and march towards Jerusalem.

But when Avielle reaches Constantinople, her life is irrevocably changed forever...

From the mountain tops of Cologne, where the lepers made their home, to the Siege of Jerusalem, Crusader's Path by Mary Ann Bernal is the unforgettable story of two people who find love amongst the carnage of the First Crusade.

What a journey Bernal takes her readers on! Crusader's Path is a richly detailed and emotionally charged story that is utterly unputdownable. With carefully crafted prose and a narrative that is as lucid as it is detailed, Bernal shows us what the Holy War was like for both the Crusaders and those who got in the way of their goal. It is a story of sacrifice and loss, but above everything else, it is a story of love. This is the kind of book that sends shivers down your spine.

The heroine of this tale is a young woman called Avielle. Having suffered so greatly with the loss of her father to leprosy, Avielle has great compassion for the sick and the shunned. She risks her health, and indeed her own life, to nurse those with the disease. Avielle trusts God to keep her safe — a trust that is sometimes misplaced. And yet, her faith isn't shaken, and she continues to look to Him for guidance. Her story is a tragic one. She is a lost lamb that seems forever out of reach of the Good Shepherd. Avielle also carries a tremendous burden of guilt which leads her to some extraordinary situations. She feels compelled to follow Peter's Crusade to the Holy Land, where she witnesses the most appalling atrocities, which makes her question the holiness of the army she is following. However, she is still convinced in divine intervention and indeed, when Avielle chooses to follow her own path and not one ordained by God, she finds herself in the most desperate of situations. Avielle is an extraordinarily complex heroine who is almost like a feather caught in the breeze — she does not quite know where she is going to land. I thought Bernal portrayed Avielle with great skill and diligence. I really enjoyed reading about her and this perilous journey that she finds herself on.

Etienne d'Argences is an intriguing protagonist who is pulled in several very different directions during this book. He single-mindedly pursues his own desires. He is determined to follow Duke Robert wherever he may lead, but by doing so, he sacrifices many people along the way, including his wife. Often Etienne finds himself conflicted between reason and emotion — he knows his wife needs him, but when he is at his estate with the people who love him, he feels stifled and he cannot wait to leave again. Initially, he sees love as an obstacle that he has to overcome, and it isn't until he meets Avielle that he realises that love should have been his goal all along. Bernal has really captured the essence of a Crusader who longs for adventure and the comradeship of his Lord and fellow knights. His relationship with Duke Robert is an interesting one — it is not the usual relationship one would expect to find between a Duke and his knight — they are each other's confident and above everything else, best friends. His relationship with Avielle has a similar feel to it, except romantic love is also added to the equation. I adored Etienne, and I enjoyed reading about him.

This portrayal of love in Crusader's Path is slightly different when compared to what one would expect from a traditional historical romance. It takes a while for the two protagonists to find each other, which worked exceptionally well for this story. Etienne and Avielle's love is forged in the fires of a Holy War. Their love is a welcomed relief to the horrors of the battlefield and the sickroom. But it is also a love that cannot be withheld, despite the social difference between the two. Etienne and Avielle are not looking for love when they find each other, but they both recognise that they are meant to be together, which is exceedingly romantic.

Bernal has masterfully depicted the horrors of the First Crusade. There are some profoundly upsetting scenes in this book, and there are certainly many casualties in this war. Bernal's portrayal of what became known in history as the Rhineland Massacres of the Jews, in particular, the persecution and the destruction of Jewish communities in Mentz (Mainz) left me reaching for the tissues. The Siege of Antioch was also particularly well-drawn — Bernal captured the horrors in the Crusader's camp as food ran scare and disease took hold. She also demonstrated the rivalry between Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, fabulously. The historical detailing in this book is staggering. Bernal has captured the very essence of what it must have been like to follow men such as Peter of Amiens (Peter the Hermit) and The Army of Robert Curthose of Normandy which was led by Robert, Duke of Normandy.

If you are looking for your next great Historical Fiction book then look no further than Crusader's Path by Mary Ann Bernal. I think this may well be Bernal's best book yet!

I Highly Recommend.

Review by Mary Anne Yarde.
The Coffee Pot Book Club.

[Cathie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crusader’s Path is a gripping historical novel that goes into great detail – a real treat for those with an interest in the First Crusade and the late 11th century in general.

We meet several characters along the way, all with their own burdens:

Avielle: A young woman with the skills of a healer. When she falls in love with Gideon, a young Jewish man in denial about his religious heritage, she sets a series of events in motion that lead her to join Peter of Amiens on his crusade.

Etienne: A young knight, landholder and liege man of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, at whose side he remains rather than looking after his estate. Unable to stay in the confines of his home and marriage, Etienne follows the duke’s call to go on crusade.

Duke Robert of Normandy: Always fighting for his rights against two overbearing brothers – King William Rufus of England and Henry Beauclerc (the future King Henry I of England) – Robert decides to leave Normandy to go on crusade, instead of securing his hold over Normandy.

All characters are flawed. The author does well not to paint them in a romanticised fashion, but instead she creates flesh-and-blood characters who make mistakes, and who know they've done wrong. As readers, we might disagree with some of their decisions, but we have to respect their autonomy and choices. Without giving away too much, I thought that their actions were well-written and realistic for the times they lived in.

Avielle and Etienne meet during their journey. They fall in love, but each is also torn by their own weaknesses. The way to Jerusalem is perilous, bringing both into danger as they search for redemption.

I found Crusader’s Path a very interesting novel. It’s packed with historical detail, and at times it reads like a history book. I like that as I’m always interested in the background to the novels I read. It also helps that I know the real historical characters at play here (and their political shenanigans), so I could easily get lost in the story itself without too much distraction of looking up names.

Mary Ann Bernal has written a moving tale about characters who follow their instincts, who make mistakes, and who pay the price for them. The setting is as authentic as it can get, and I felt catapulted (pun intended) into the action. A highly recommended read!

My thanks goes to The Coffee Pot Book Club for a copy of the novel. Views are entirely my own.

[D.K. Marley · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her book ''Crusader's Path'' Mary Ann Bernal has chosen a truly monumental canvas upon which to bring to life her principal characters in this truly tragic drama. To those not fully conversant with the tale, in the last dying years of the Eleventh Century a beleaguered Pope whose own Papacy and political position hung in the very balance tapped into a very deep and intense popular vein by preaching a Crusade, a Holy War. This was against the infidel Turks who then occupied the Holy Land and who, it was piously and strongly believed, defiled the places where once Christ had trod. These were very strong emotions indeed!  In the brief period between November 1095 and July 1099 thousands of European Christians, the great and the small together, were sufficiently aroused and inspired to gather together in large groups and walk [or take the only slightly less perilous sea route] the vast distances involved in truly appalling conditions and against many large Moslem armies gathered against them to take back the City of Jerusalem and the Holy Places in the name of Christ and to the immense benefit of Alexios, the worldly wise and cynical Byzantine Emperor based in Constantinople [modern day Istanbul]. For many there was, of course, the allure of riches and unimaginable wealth and personal freedom from old bonds. There was also the opportunity of paying off real and imagined crimes and of revenge. Thus, throughout the progress of the Crusade in its journey through Germany and the Rhineland and into the territory of the Byzantine Empire there occurred horrific massacres of the local Jewish populations in the name of Christ and to pay off debts. This behaviour was repeated in the Middle East with the massacre of local Jewish, Christian and Moslem populations. Above all, and this fact cannot be stressed strongly enough, was the uniformly held belief that to fight and die in such a righteous cause would result in the forgiveness of all sins and eternal salvation. It was this, above all else, that fired and inspired the first Crusaders and their subsequent followers. 

This, then, is the backdrop for Mary Ann Bernal's two highly disparate protagonists. Etienne d'Argences is the son of a highly connected Norman nobleman in a Normandy divided by civil war and anarchy as the three sons of William the Conqueror fight for supremacy. Etienne's elected choice is to follow Robert, the very flawed eldest son and titular Duke of Normandy. Robert sees this Crusade as a chance to both improve his seriously constrained circumstances and to advance himself. Etienne is prepared to leave his prosperous lands and vineyards and the memory of an unhappy marriage for much the same set of reasons. Etienne is very much a product of his class and times, by turn braggartly and arrogant and cavalier in his treatment of women and also touchingly childlike. He is always honest in his feelings and emotions and acts accordingly throughout the narrative.

We are given an early portrait of Etienne as viewed by his initially suspicious colleagues at Robert's Ducal Court: ''The Inner circle found the relationship between Duke Robert and Etienne unconventional. The upstart came from nowhere, a wine maker, albeit high born, lacking duplicity........ once they realised Etienne had no intention of displacing any of them, they accepted him into the ranks. Etienne proved to be a brave warrior trusted on the battlefield, a drinking partner who kept confidences, a man accepting his standing, and seemingly lacking ambition.''

So, Etienne is set upon the great adventure, a favoured and much trusted lieutenant, in effect the second in command, of Robert's assembled army for the relief of the Holy Land; to fame and fortune and eternal salvation in the life to come.

The young girl Avielle, will prove to be the true love of Etienne's life. She too is very much a product of her times and her place. We first encounter her as a young girl in Cologne, bemusedly in love with a prosperous Jewish Merchant in an affair that could not hope to thrive. Her father dead, she works busily and tirelessly in a monastery Infirmary, caring for a community of lepers. Avielle, a good hearted and loving person, falls under the spell of the enigmatic Monk, 'Peter the hermit', who leads a truly chaotic and ill organised 'Peoples' Crusade of ordinary people in advance of the main military force which burns and loots its way across Europe to Constantinople. She vows herself to Peter and to the Crusade and the desire to found a Hospital dedicated to the care of lepers. carrying within her own body the spoors of the dreaded sickness of leprosy. 

Here is Avielle, pictured on the road to Constantinople and Jerusalem, a faithful disciple of the bizarre figure of Peter the Hermit, following a violent encounter with the locals in the Kingdom of Hungary:
''Shaken by the unnecessary loss of life, Avielle strengthened her resolve to serve the Lord, tending to the ill and the dying, finding a purpose for being spared. She considered taking the veil, but only momentarily, preferring freedom over obedience. But she did give herself to Christ, as the  holy sisters did when taking their final vows..... The Lord had given her the gift of healing, and the leper colony [in Cologne] would welcome her return.....'' 

 Both Etienne and Avielle are thus committed, for their own separate reasons, to the Liberation of Jerusalem and the earthly lands of Christ, and it is in the fabulous City of Constantinople that their paths first cross. It is from that point onwards, a point of love at first sight, that their lives and their journey to the prize of Jerusalem, become forever entwined and the reader is led through a chaos of  dreadful climate conditions and sickness, of terrible battles and massacres:

The two are indissolubly linked in their love and shared experiences. Before the final assault upon the walls of Jerusalem, the writer poignantly describes their farewell before the final battle:
''Etienne and Avielle held each other until the call to arms sounded. They kissed passionately, their eyes depicting love's eternal bond never to be broken. Releasing themselves
from a loving embrace, their hands slipping away, their fingertips touching tenderly. Etienne stepped back, gazing at Avielle when he left......''

''Crusader's Path'' tells a truly epic and tragic tale. Historical purists may well mourn the relative lack of historical detail and of any major personification of the actual major historical figures and their fascinating relationship, one to the other. The opportunity to do so might be considered a missed opportunity; though perhaps this was not the author's intention in telling this fine story. Equally, while the dialogue may at times seem sparse and stilted to some, this is nonetheless a fine and stirring tale of love and times and events that are at times shocking and largely beyond the comprehension of the modern reader. This is the true strength of the book.

*****

“Crusader’s Path” by Mary Ann Bernal receives 4.5 stars from The Historical Fiction Company

[Oh Look,AnotherBook · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the words of Janice (from Friends) OH, MY GOD! You don't just need a box of tissues next to you when you read this book, you need a truckload, you need hankies, toilet rolls, you name it. You need so much in fact that this book could easily start another toilet roll shortage!

The story is about a young woman called Avielle. Avielle is a deeply religious woman whose belief in God cannot be shaken. She is also incredibly caring and does not shy away from diseases as others do. And yet, her story is a tragic one. Just as I thought Avielle was back on the right track and everything was going to be alright the author threw yet another spanner into the works and once again I found myself reaching for the tissues.

I don't know much about the Crusades if I am totally honest and I was shocked by the religious fever that seemed to grip the people involved. It was also difficult reading about the horrors of reality - the desperate situations in the camps, as well as the siege and the massacres.

This book is deeply moving, but the story is told so vividly that it was impossible to turn away from. I will be reading this book again, as I feel that to really appreciate how great this book is, it needs to be read twice. But, I will put it aside for now, at least until I do the next supermarket shop so that I can stock up on tissues!

[Helena Schrader · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an appalling amateurish book, lacking even the most rudimentary research into the time period in which it is allegedly set. The characters were shallow, silly and unappealing. I could not stomach reading more than the first chapter and then skimmed the rest to be sure I wasn't jumping to hasty conclusions. An utter waste of time and money.