Sir Roland de Vaux is a veteran knight of the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the late 12th century, serving under the reign of King Baldwin IV, remembered by many as the “Leper King.” Now thirty-eight years of age, he has seen nearly two decades of service in the field. Born the younger son of a minor noble family, Roland was not destined to inherit broad estates; instead, he was given into service at an early age as a page in a baronial household. There he learned the rudiments of literacy, court manners, the ordering of a table, and above all, horsemanship. By adolescence he advanced to the rank of squire, following his knightly master into the field, tending to horses, cleaning mail, sharpening blades, and observing the rhythm of campaign life in the Holy Land. Years of service hardened him into a man of both discipline and piety.
When at last he was dubbed a knight, Roland pledged not only to his lord but to God Himself, binding his life to the defense of Christendom in the Latin East. He received from the crown a modest grant of land near the fortified routes leading from the coastal ports of Acre and Jaffa into the interior. From this fief, he draws rents and agricultural produce, enabling him to maintain his warhorse, his arms, his mail hauberk, and the small household of retainers and servants that accompany a man of his station. He is not wealthy by the standards of greater lords but commands respect as one who has kept his vows faithfully and proven his mettle in both skirmish and escort duty.
Roland’s martial livelihood is a constant balancing act: coin earned from temporary wages in royal service supplements the income of his estate. He knows the burdens of provisioning men, repairing arms, and seeing to the health of beasts. In peace, he drills with sword, lance, and shield, oversees his retainers, and ensures the peasants under his care are neither overburdened nor negligent. In war, he rides under the royal banner, forming part of the heavy cavalry that remains the decisive striking arm of the kingdom’s armies. He has ridden patrol across barren marches, guarded convoys of pilgrims bound for Jerusalem, and stood tense in council while courtiers argued policy, all the while holding fast to the creed that a knight is servant first, master second.
Roland carries himself with the presence of a man molded by duty. His armor is not ornamented with gold but kept clean, oiled, and serviceable. His surcoat, white with a red cross, is faded by sun and weather, a sign not of neglect but of long use. His sword is simple but keen; his lance steady in the charge. He knows the geography of castles, roads, and fields between the coast and Jerusalem like the lines of his hand. The people of his estate see him not as a distant magnate but as a watchful, sometimes stern guardian, who rides the fields to ensure fairness, discipline, and the king’s peace. To them and to his fellow knights, Sir Roland embodies the creed of Baldwin’s household: steadfast loyalty, unswerving piety, and endurance in the face of ceaseless peril.
