Crispin: The Cross of Lead

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-15

Reading Check

1. What does Aycliffe order Crispin to give as a death tax?

2. What crime does Aycliffe originally accuse Crispin of committing?

3. What phrase does Aycliffe apply to Crispin, showing that anyone could legally kill him?

4. Whose body does Crispin find lying on the ground as he leaves Stromford?

5. What caused the deaths of the people in the village Crispin enters a few days after leaving Stromford?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What do the peasants gain in exchange for their loyalty to Lord Furnival?

2. What effect does the sight of the man hanging from the gallows have on Crispin?

Paired Resource

“How a Medieval City Dealing with the Black Death Invented Quarantine”

• This NPR article describes the extraordinary measures a city in present-day Croatia took to prevent the spread of the plague while maintaining economic growth.
• What effect did the plague have on medieval European economies? How might it have affected the life of someone like Crispin?

“Feudalism and Knights in Medieval Europe”

• This article offers background material related to the Middle Ages and feudalism.
• Teacher-appropriate (not student-facing)

Chapters16-32

Reading Check

1. In what kind of building does Crispin first meet Bear?

2. What is Bear’s profession?

3. What kind of animal does Bear poach for him and Crispin to eat?

4. What alerts Bear to Aycliffe’s presence further down the road?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why did Bear leave the abbey where he was training to become a monk?

2. How does Bear feel about Crispin’s cross?

3. How does Bear win Crispin’s trust?

Paired Resource

“People Can Change, But That Doesn’t Mean They Will”

• This Healthline article delves into the question of whether people can really change from a social science perspective, highlighting the dilemma of Will Versus Fate.
• Bear invites Crispin to make changes in his life and behavior. Based on this article, what factors are most likely to help Crispin make lasting changes to his behavior, attitudes, and even personality? What might become an obstacle to change?

Chapters 33-48

Reading Check

1. What do Crispin and Bear do to distract the guards as they enter Great Wexly?

2. Whose entourage notably passes Crispin in Great Wexley?

3. What kind of food does Crispin drop, then eat, while working for Widow Daventry?

4. Where does Aycliffe take Bear after capturing him?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Crispin’s initial impression of Great Wexly?

2. What is Widow Daventry’s opinion of John Ball?

Paired Resource

“What Was the Significance of the Peasants’ Revolt?”

• This brief video provides context for and the lasting significance of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, connecting with the themes of The Elements of a Meaningful Life and The Instability of English Feudalism.
• Before watching, it may be helpful to define “poll tax,” which is a fixed tax assigned to every adult, regardless of income.
• What evidence can you find in the novel of the problems and tensions that led to the Peasants’ Revolt?

Chapters 49-58

Reading Check

1. What is written on the cross of lead that belonged to Asta?

2. What kind of weapon does Crispin take from the Furnivals’ arsenal?

3. What does Bear place on Crispin’s head after they leave Great Wexly?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe Crispin’s response when he looks at the portrait of Lord Furnival.

2. Describe the agreement between Crispin and Aycliffe.

Recommended Next Reads

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

• This 2008 Newbery Award winner offers monologues from a variety of perspectives in a medieval village.
• Shared themes of The Instability of English Feudalism and The Elements of a Meaningful Life

The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman

• This 1996 Newbery Award winner explores life in a medieval village from the perspective of a young woman apprenticed to a midwife.
• Shared theme of The Elements of a Meaningful Life
• The Midwife’s Apprentice on SuperSummary