That depends..what route? sea or overland? where is he? What time of year? What's going on at the time? Who is he? whose service is he in? Is his overlord feuding with anyone whose lands he'd be passing thru? whose permission does he need to get to leave? Who could give him a safe conduct? Does he have funds? That might facilitate matters, altho he wouldn't be able to travel alone in any case- invader alone in hostile occupied territory will never get home! oddly enough, I know more about getting there than coming back, but unless he's rich enough to make up his own escort, (which would come with its own difficulties, i.e. his overlord might object to him pulling that many fighters out of the army) You'd need to find him a group to travel with-pilgrims, merchants, priests, a delegation heading back to Europe, other crusaders leaving, etc. he'd have to join them and either pay his own way or get taken on as part of somebody's escort, (if his patron is willing to let him go he could set that up for your character, but it might take time) and you'd have to figure in how long those duties would take. Another thing to check is whether any of the ports were under siege at the time, and other fighting along his route- he'd need to get thru or around that. Travel in some seasons was almost impossible, due to weather or political conditions, both by land and sea. Byzantium wasn't always friendly either. There's plenty of info available, and a pretty well researched novel by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro called A Flame in Byzantium gives a good account of the difficulties for a woman (vampire)trying to get back to Italy from Constantinople during the Crusades.
Say he was an earl, leaving around July 1191, signing on with a friends party as they return to England... No stops, just straight there. Shortest time?
maybe these will help you..Ronald C. Johnson, ed. (1961), The Crusade and Death of Richard I, Anglo-Norman Text Society, no. 17; the journey of King Richard I ("the Lionheart") from England to the Holy Land on the Third Crusade (kings' Crusade) from 1190 to 1191. The chronicle details the trip through France, Sicily, and Cyprus, as well as the siege and capture of Acre, For the overland route.."September of 1100, a large group left from Milan. (sailed to byzantium, caused various trouble)At Nicomedia they were joined in May.. marched out at the end of May, towards Dorylaeum capturing Ancyra on June 23, Soon after the Lombard contingent had left Nicomedia, a separate force under William II of Nevers arrived at Constantinople. He had crossed into Byzantine territory over the Adriatic Sea from Bari, and the march to Constantinople was free of incident, an unusual occurrence for a crusade army. He quickly marched out to meet the others, but in fact never caught up with them From Constantinople, army split in two, with one half travelling directly to Palestine by ship; among them was the chronicler Ekkehard of Aura. The rest, travelling by land, reached Heraclea in September, and.. were ambushed and massacred by Kilij Arslan. the survivors eventually arrived at Tarsus, where Hugh died on October 18. survivors arrived at Antioch at the end of 1101, and at Easter in 1102 arrived in Jerusalem.
oddly enough, I know more about getting there than coming back, but unless he's rich enough to make up his own escort, (which would come with its own difficulties, i.e. his overlord might object to him pulling that many fighters out of the army) You'd need to find him a group to travel with-pilgrims, merchants, priests, a delegation heading back to Europe, other crusaders leaving, etc. he'd have to join them and either pay his own way or get taken on as part of somebody's escort, (if his patron is willing to let him go he could set that up for your character, but it might take time) and you'd have to figure in how long those duties would take.
Another thing to check is whether any of the ports were under siege at the time, and other fighting along his route- he'd need to get thru or around that. Travel in some seasons was almost impossible, due to weather or political conditions, both by land and sea. Byzantium wasn't always friendly either. There's plenty of info available, and a pretty well researched novel by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro called A Flame in Byzantium gives a good account of the difficulties for a woman (vampire)trying to get back to Italy from Constantinople during the Crusades.
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For the overland route.."September of 1100, a large group left from Milan. (sailed to byzantium, caused various trouble)At Nicomedia they were joined in May.. marched out at the end of May, towards Dorylaeum capturing Ancyra on June 23, Soon after the Lombard contingent had left Nicomedia, a separate force under William II of Nevers arrived at Constantinople. He had crossed into Byzantine territory over the Adriatic Sea from Bari, and the march to Constantinople was free of incident, an unusual occurrence for a crusade army. He quickly marched out to meet the others, but in fact never caught up with them From Constantinople, army split in two, with one half travelling directly to Palestine by ship; among them was the chronicler Ekkehard of Aura. The rest, travelling by land, reached Heraclea in September, and.. were ambushed and massacred by Kilij Arslan. the survivors eventually arrived at Tarsus, where Hugh died on October 18. survivors arrived at Antioch at the end of 1101, and at Easter in 1102 arrived in Jerusalem.
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