Camp Hain

015 Crispin, the Cross of Lead: A Chapter 1-6 Recap

• Tia Hain • Season 1 • Episode 15

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Crispin: The Cross of Lead - Chapters 1-6 Breakdown

In this episode, we explore the initial chapters of 'Crispin: The Cross of Lead,' a medieval adventure involving betrayal and survival. The protagonist, only known as Asta's son, navigates a harsh life after the death of his mother. Accused of a crime he didn't commit, he must escape from dangerous authority figures while uncovering secrets about his past. The episode summarises critical events from the first six chapters, setting the stage for Crispin's perilous journey. This content is part of a series tailored for homeschoolers and fans of historical novels.

00:00 Introduction: A Tale of Betrayal and Survival
00:25 Meet the Host: Welcome to Campaign
01:06 Podcast Overview and Schedule
01:39 Chapter 1: A Grim Beginning
04:11 Chapter 2: A Narrow Escape
06:14 Chapter 3: Background and Village Life
07:43 Chapter 4: Destruction and Despair
09:41 Chapter 5: The Village Gathers
10:25 Chapter 6: The Alarm is Raised
11:05 Conclusion: Stay Tuned for More

015 Crispin Chapters 1-6 Summary

Tia: [00:00:00] Betrayal, danger, and a life on the run. Imagine waking up one day to find out your entire world has changed. In Crispin, the cross of lead, a young boy accused of a crime he didn't commit, must escape a fate worse than death. But who can he trust and what secrets lie hidden in his past? Join me as we break down chapters one through six of this thrilling, medieval adventure.

But first.

Welcome to Camp Hain, the Adventures of a Catholic family that homeschools public schools, online schools, and has one super obsessed with baseball kid. Currently. I Tia Hain, am a Classical Conversations Challenge A Director. A lot of this podcast is related to that for now. I upload a new podcast every Friday, other videos on YouTube as well.

And I also post videos about math, mostly algebra, because that's what I'm tutoring right now and our life. We love our adventures so come along for the ride. And click subscribe or follow if you are a homeschooler or are [00:01:00] thinking about homeschooling, or even if this content just interests you there, I've said the things.

Now let's move on into the content.

Today's episode is summarizing the first six chapters of Crispin: the Cross of Lead. I am going to be doing these in very short episodes of about six chapters each, which is going to make 10 episodes, but I'm not gonna release them over 10 weeks. I'm going to try to release them, hopefully one every other day, at least try and get them done here in the next couple of weeks for you.

But let's just go ahead and dive in. 

Chapter one.

It states that it takes place in England in 1377 AD. This story is written in first person, so just to let you know that. But obviously I'm not going to be summarizing it in first person. It starts off with our main character. We don't get a name.

The day after my mother died is what it says. And then her [00:02:00] name is Asta, A-S-T-A. The priest and our main character carry her body to the church to bury her. They can't afford a coffin. She doesn't weigh much. No bells are tolled for her. No villagers kneel. They shunned her and taunted her in life, and she had no friends other than the priest.

The priest and our main character dig a grave for her, and they place her with her feet facing east, so on Judgment Day, she would rise up and face Jerusalem. Should God grant that for her. Now as soon as they were done, John Aycliffe, the steward of the manor that was there in the town. He happened to be there at the cemetery.

He told the main character to come over calling him Asta's son. He doesn't call him by his name. He's only known as Asta's son. Now that character, John Aycliffe, he has a [00:03:00] black beard, and he is a very harsh man, and he's a very unkind man. The Lord of the area is named Lord Furnival, and when he is gone, Aycliffe is in charge. And Lord Furnival is gone.

 Aycliffe punished the people a lot, and his punishments were harsh. One time he even put to death a boy for poaching a stag. Everyone there lived in fear of Aycliffe. Now Aycliffe told Asta's son to bring his ox for a death tax for his mother dying. Asta's son said he wouldn't be able to work the fields, and then Aycliffe told him to starve then.

The priest and, his name is Father Quinel. We find this out now. Told him to come with him to the church to pray, but Asta's son is freaked out, and he runs away. He found himself in the forest in the rain, and he tripped and fell and struck his head on a stone. So that is the end of chapter one.

We are moving on to chapter two. 

A [00:04:00] sound awoke Asta's son from being knocked out. At first, he was confused as to why he wasn't home or in the field with the ox. He then remembered everything, including his mother being dead. He had a welt on his head that heard and made him dizzy. He was lost and wet in the forest. Realizing it was night and he was not home where he should be, he crossed himself and said a prayer. The curiosity, which his mother had told him was another name for Satan, got the better of him to find the noise that woke him. Now remember these small hints about his mother, they will make more sense later on in the story. 

Asta's son discovered two men talking. One was John Aycliffe and the other he did not know. The strange man was dressed in fine clothes, including a cloak. He had longer gray hair and looked older than John Aycliffe. There was also a horse nearby. The stranger gave Aycliffe a parchment with many [00:05:00] official looking seals on it. As John Aycliffe read it, he exclaimed asking when it would happen.

The stranger said soon. Then Aycliffe asked if he was to act immediately. Then the stranger said he had to because he was her kin. Yes, it's all very cryptic at this point. We discover the meaning of all this stuff later. Then Aycliffe turned and he locked eyes with Asta's son and yelled, Asta's son. The stranger asked where? And Aycliffe pointed, and then he ran toward Asta's son with his sword drawn intent on killing him.

Asta's son ran in panic and tumbled over a cliff. And when he looked up, he saw Aycliffe looking over the side for him, but he couldn't find him. He froze until he saw Aycliffe's torch move away, and then he ran. He was certain God was punishing him. That is the end of chapter two. 

Now we move on to chapter three.

These are very short chapters by the way. This chapter is a [00:06:00] background chapter, so we get a little bit of background on our main character here and some things that are happening. This chapter starts with telling us that Asta's son's birthday. It was in 1363 on the Feast of St. Giles, which is September 1st.

I looked that up. It doesn't actually say in the book, but I did look it up. 

Edward III, the Warrior King, has reigned for 36 years, and Asta son has lived his whole life in Stromford Village. It has a population of 150. And that's it. 

Asta's son was only known as Asta's son in this village. Even Asta just called him son. And that's it. 

He has no father, so he is considered a shadow. He was told his father died in the great plague. His mother never remarried. He was often mocked and the butt of jokes, and he had very few friends and none that he really trusted. They were poor serfs, and John Aycliffe constantly reminded them that they were [00:07:00] bound to Lord Furnival.

No matter the day, every villager had to work the fields from dawn to dusk, except a few holy days. They lived on barley bread, watered ale, and sometimes dried peas, and this was their life until the day they died. That is the end of chapter three. 

Now we move on to chapter four. 

Asta's son awoke in the forest in the morning to church bells for morning prayer.

So he said his prayers quickly. He figured the best course of action was to head back to the village and act like nothing happened. He and his mother lived in a rented one room dwelling at the far edge of the village. And as he headed there, he saw two men from the village also heading there with pikes and axes.

So Asta's son held back. Then he saw them pull down the cottage and once it was pulled down, they set it on fire. Shaken, Asta's son, fled back into the forest. There was a large rock that Asta's son could see the whole town from. And [00:08:00] to the west of town was the river Strom. On its banks stood Lord Furnival's house.

It reminded Asta's son of a castle. Across the road from that was the mill. The wheels of the stone for the mill were turned by the river. It ground the wheat and the barley. At a cost to the people there. And it was also where the ovens were that they baked their bread also at a cost. So they had to pay to even grind their wheat and barley and pay to bake their bread. Where the main roads crossed the village stood the church.

Two roads went through Stromford and led to the rest of England. Asta's son had never been beyond the village. All of that area was owned by Lord Furnival in the King's name. To do anything permission was needed from the steward. The villagers gained two things in [00:09:00] return: hope for heaven when they died, and protection from the outside world.

But now Asta's son knew he would never be protected again. And that is the end of chapter four. 

And now we're moving on to chapter five. 

As Asta's son looked down, he saw John Aycliffe and the man he was meeting with in the forest the night before. And they emerged from the manor house on horses and rode to the church and went inside. Then the church bell began to ring. All the people of the village stopped what they were doing and went to the church. When all were there, John Aycliffe, the stranger and Father Quinel emerged from the church to the steps to address the people.

Then the people went into the church. And that's the end of chapter five. 

Now we move on to chapter six. 

After a while, the people emerged from the church and went back to their work. John Aycliffe and the stranger got back on their horses and went back to the manor. Asta's son decided he needed to talk to Father Quinel.

But as [00:10:00] he was planning to go down, he saw Aycliffe, the stranger, and a group of villagers emerge with glaives, G-L-A-I-V-E-S, and they're long poles with blades at the end. Asta's son knew an alarm had been raised against him. He had to hide from them until nighttime, then he would see Father Quinel. And that is it.

That is the end of the first six chapters of Crispin, the Cross of Lead. And well, that's it for now. And so until next time, hopefully I will get the next six chapters up very soon. Until then...