Lords of the East - Library

[phonicsmonkey]

Baldwin pored over the brittle pages of the ancient illuminated Qu'ran set before him on the mosaic reading table in the Great Library of Baghdad.

Since the capture of the great capital of the Caliphate the young King had spent the majority of his time just here, taking in the accumulated knowledge of the Islamic world in an attempt to better understand his new subjects. At first he had been motivated by a simple desire to minimise the risk of a violent uprising by demonstrating a cultural sensitivity. After all, it was no secret how the people felt about being ruled by the Christian King of 'stolen' Jerusalem. The Crusaders were hardly thought of warmly by the Islamic world.

However, as he read more he began to find his interest piqued. His education by William of Tyre had imbued him with an inquiring mind, and he soon began to find himself asking uncomfortable questions about such weighty topics as the nature of God and the relative merits of Islam and his own faith.

Even putting such metaphysical quandaries aside, he began to develop an admiration for the simple and moral lives led by these humble yet proud folk. Their devotion to family and respect for one another seemed to display a nobility he had not reckoned on encountering. Perhaps Saladin was not the only Arab to display an innate understanding of chivalric values.

So here he was, deep in the Qu'ran, looking for answers and finding only more and more questions.

He sat up for a moment and re-engaged with his surroundings. A few meters away a group of Benedictine monks were engaged in a vociferous debate with a huddle of Imams, through translators evidently not skilled enough for the subtleties of the discussion.

Baldwin allowed himself to imagine a future in which he ruled over an Empire housing a multitude of faiths, living side by side in harmony, their differences only adding to the rich fabric of a varied and vibrant society where all the talents of men were recognised and encouraged, regardless of faith, colour or creed.

An Empire not unlike, in fact, the Ummayad Caliphate at its peak, if the Arab histories he had been reading yesterday were to be believed...