The Knights of the Cross (The Crusaders)

# The Knights of the Cross (Book One)

The Knights of the Cross, also known as The Crusaders, is a historical novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz published in two volumes. This first volume follows an old Polish soldier named Matzko of Bogdanetz and his nephew Zbishko as they recount their military service to merchants gathered in an inn near Tinetz. Matzko describes campaigns alongside the Teutonic Knights against Lithuania, where diverse European forces—Germans, French, English archers, Czechs, Burgundians—fought under Prince Withold. He recounts the imminent trial-by-combat between four Polish knights and their French counterparts before King Yatzlaw, and discusses Withold's sister Ringalla, a Lithuanian noblewoman of legendary strength who married Prince Henryk Masowetzki. The narrative blends military history with regional politics and character anecdotes of crusading knights and Lithuanian nobility.