In the small, 14th-century English village where he has lived his entire life, a boy has grown up with no name of his own. To his neighbors and to the greed, evil steward who oversees the lands for a distant lord, he has always been known only as "Asta's son."

But when his mother dies, the boy learns from the village priest that long ago he was baptized as Crispin, a name far too fine and noble for someone like him. The priest gives Crispin a lead cross inscribed with a secret he can neither read nor understand - a secret that soon has him fleeing for his life.