Emissary Chapter 1 Prologue 

Oh my God! What have I done? I have opened up the gates to hell which no one seems able to close, not even myself. I have done this with great disregard to my own self esteem using the most vile of methods. Many of which involved coercion, deceit and spying on my enemies as well as my friends. I have indulged in many adulterous acts and sexual fornication for my own pleasure and for my worldly gains and satisfaction. I have encountered death and participated in murder and assassinations. Many of my actions have resulted in suffering, even full scale massacres of people especially those of my own.

I have decided to write down my memoirs in order to shed some light on my life’s terrible accomplishment before I no longer am able to hold a pen to my hands. I will try to recount what little victories I managed to achieve and the many defeats I had to suffer. I will try to recall every detail I can remember even those that some might deem as sexually or morally inappropriate so that people would know how I lived my life and whether it was worth living. 

It all started many years ago when I was sent by my master the Caliph of Cairo as an emissary to Rome to establish an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy See. Initially my instructions were to persuade Pope Gregory VII to help my master take back the holy city of Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks. Unfortunately I succeeded, not with that Pope but the one who later succeeded him, but at what price? In doing so I  have helped to set in motion the Christian crusades which are right at this moment devastating the lands of the near east. At another time I tried to stop that from happening. Alas I failed miserably and my people are now paying the price of my successes and my failures.

It is now the year 519 of the Muslim Hijri calandra or the year 1125 of the Christians era and I am almost seventy years of age. I will try to mention the dates in the Muslim and the Christian calendars hoping that these memoirs might be read by the few wise men in the lands of the Franks as well as the Arabs. I am praying that some might understand and help bring peace to both our people. This is my story. I hope you do not judge me so badly.

Emissary Historical Notes 

The Emissary is a story about a man, a slave, an assassin born in Cairo in 1055 A.D. He was trained as an assassin them sent as an ambassador by the Fatimid Caliph to the Holy See in Rome to try to solicit western help in fighting the Seljuk Turks. The Emissary would grow to be an instigator to the holy Christian Crusades. A war whose echo still resonates up to our day bringing to mind so much contradictions and grief for all sides.

Most of what you will be reading about the Emissary is true except for the emissary himself. Most of the main characters in the story were actual men and women living in that era. All the historical events that you will be reading in this novel are also true. I tried to maintain the historical timeline as accurately as possible together with all individuals who had influenced the main political events in that period of time. 

For those of you who want to know more about the history of that era I have written below a brief summary which might help you understand some of the events and players who lived during that period of time.

In the first century after the end of the first Millenia (around 1100 A.D.), several major empires had emerged in Europe and the Near East. They all struggled to expand their territories and conquer new lands from each another. Borders were continuously changing but the main players remained constant through out this period.

Europe was divided into two major power powers. The Byzantine Empire controlled the eastern edge of the European continent as well as large areas of the Anatolian heights or what we now know as the country of Turkey. Its capital was Constantinople (now Istanbul) on the sea of Marmara.

As for the main land Europe it was divided into many smaller kingdoms, duchesses and principalities. The largest of these were the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) and the Kingdom of France. Less than a century earlier Christianity was in-itself split into two religious divisions. A western part controlled by the Latin Pope (who resided in Rome) and the Eastern part which followed the Orthodox Pope who resided in Constantinople and who was eventually integrated into the Byzantine empire. Most of the European fiefdoms in mainland Europe pledged their religious allegiances to the Holy See (Rome).

As for the Islamic empires on the other side of the Mediterranean, they were also divided into two main kingdoms or Caliphates (the “Caliph” is a religious title meaning the “successor” of the prophet. It is the highest honor bestowed on the king or ruler of all the land). The Fatimids caliphate controlled most of North Africa and the lands of Egypt with its capital in Cairo. The Abbasid caliphate which stretched from the Easter side of the Mediterranean up to the borders of India and China. The capital of the Abbasid empire was Baghdad however at that time the caliph had almost become a figure head only bestowing his approval on the many sultans and lords who carved their domains in his empire. The strongest of these sultans were the Seljuk princes (or Emirs). 

The rivalry between the two Islamic Caliphates were most of the time much fiercer than they were with their Christian adversaries. This is because they adhered to two different religious and political interpretations of Islamic law specially when it came to power succession. The Fatimids were Ismaili (a major sect of Shiites Islam) where as the Abbasid were Sunni Muslims. The Fatimids established the assassin guild to undermine their Sunni Seljuk enemies. The guild eventually grew even beyond their masters control. The struggle between the Shiites and Sunni had started many centuries earlier and it still affected the near east to this day.

This is the story of how the “assassin” guild came to be… how we all have been their victims to this day…