The novel takes place in the village of Stromford, England, in 1377, shortly before the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Using detailed descriptions and a moving adventure story, Avi sets the personal journey of a young peasant boy against one of England's most important historical events.
Crispin: A Hidden Noble
Crispin begins with the interment of the boy's mother, named Asta. After the burial, Asta's boy happens upon an ominous conversation between the manor steward, John Aycliffe, and a stranger. When the men realise they were overheard, Asta's son is proclaimed a thief and a 'wolf's head', marking him as an outlaw.
Asta's son flees with a cross of lead that belonged to his mother. Father Quinel, the village priest, tells him that the inscription on the leaden cross was made by Asta herself, and the boy can hardly believe that a lowly peasant woman could read and write. Even more unbelievable, Father Quinel tells him that he was baptised with the name Crispin, hardly a name for a peasant boy. However, before the priest can reveal the name of the boy's father, Father Quinel is found murdered.
That his true name is Crispin is meaningful in several respects - it is the name of a saint, and appropriate for noblemen. The hidden noble is a common trope in narratives, and especially in legends and fairy tales. In English myth, St. Crispin and his brother were Christian princes who donned commoners' clothing and left home to avoid persecution by the Roman Empire. They travelled until they reached the house of a shoemaker, who takes them in. Like the saint, Crispin is also lured to a stranger, Bear, who takes him in.
Bear: A Mysterious Father Figure
Bear, a raucous and worldly giant of a man, is part of a secret "brotherhood." Bear does everything in his power to keep Crispin ignorant of his business, especially after he reads the writing on the leaden cross. Bear espouses the controversial ideal that equality for all men and women is not incompatible with church tenet, echoing John Wyclif and other church reformers of the 14th century.
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