Crusade of Tears: A Novel of the Children's Crusade (64 page)

Chapter 18

39. Wil brashly declares that he knows no fear and is destined for great things. Is Wil truly confident or merely unwilling to be honest and vulnerable? What is the likely outcome when foolishness, pride, and arrogance take root?

40. When the travelers leave the relative safety of the river for the unknown perils of the road, they soon find themselves in trouble again. What divine purpose might have led them to become entangled in a feudal war?

Chapter 19

41. How do the children react to the realization of imminent battle? What does this reveal about their desires and motives?

42. Wil is not the first young man to be played for a fool by a woman. What difficult test of character does Wil face in his interaction with Lucia?

Chapter 20

43. Why are the children expected to defend a castle that is not their own? What right do these soldiers have to demand that Wil and the others fight for them? How is this situation similar to the events that sent the crusaders on this journey?

44. How is Wil changed by his failure in battle and his denial of Maria? How does his overwhelming remorse and shame reflect on his true heart?

Chapter 21

45. The Verdi and the Visconti have been waging war against one another for two generations—over nothing more than an unproven accusation. The soldiers are not even sure why they fight! How much destruction can result from an unresolved offense?

46. Proverbs 10:18 says, “Whoever spreads slander is a fool,” yet Pieter suggests that Gostanzo spread slander about the Malaspinas in order to end his conflict with the Visconti. Is there not a better path of peace and reason? What better wisdom could be offered?

47. Sebastiani assures Wil that there is no shame in fear and says, “Let none quench the fire in your heart.” How does Wil respond to this encouraging word?

Chapter 22

48. When Maria is overcome by fever, Karl insists that God must heal her, because He can do all things. How is Karl able to maintain his faith in miracles after so much suffering? Is faith always reasonable?

49. Pieter tells the children that God can turn all evil to good. What comfort can we draw from the knowledge that Jesus understands exactly how we feel? Does God truly use trials and suffering to reveal His goodness and mercy?

Chapter 23

50. Benedetto soon parts ways with the company, for he can no longer endure the suffering and longs for the simplicity he once knew. What does this say of the strength and unfailing persistence of the children?

51. When Pieter teaches the children about the stars and constellations, Karl says, “I never knew what a treasure has been over my head each night I sleep!” What unseen treasure has God placed around us that we would see if we “only look up”?

Chapter 24

52. The children have been the recipients of much rejection and persecution on their journey, yet when they encounter Arab merchants, they exhibit a similar disapproving prejudice. Are such attitudes ever justified?

53. Once again, Pieter lies and manipulates to try and gain some advantage for the children. Why does Pieter excuse his own failings, even while attempting to mete out justice to others? Is Karl right to confront him for his hypocrisy?

Chapter 25

54. Often we become so wrapped up in a particular goal that we forget that the purpose of life is in the journey. What remarkable changes have been worked in each child?

55. Having almost reached their destination, the crusaders are accosted by a demonic sorcerer and his followers. Is this merely coincidence or yet another ordained test the pilgrims must face? What tools does Satan often use to keep us from reaching the finish line?

56. As Pieter and the sorcerer debate, one declares truth and the other a perversion of that truth. What similar arguments does the world present to attempt to discredit Christianity? Why does the world seem more willing to accept faith in nothing than faith in God?

Chapter 26

57. After so much loss of life, what irony and symbolism exist in Karl’s death—to have finally reached the sea only to have his life cut tragically short? What significance can be found in the fact that he had gained the wisdom to solve Pieter’s mysterious riddle?

58. Wil has grown dramatically since his foolish acts at the abbey. How has his leadership and character changed? What evidence can be found of a sincere relationship with God? What is his motive for continuing on to Jerusalem?

Chapter 27

59. What is the fulfillment of Maria’s vision of the sea? Why was it necessary for the children to press on to this point? Once there, why do some decide to go on to Jerusalem, while others who have come so far are now ready to return home?

60. Once the children find passage on a ship, it seems as though God’s hand is at work. But once again their lives are in peril. As Pieter and Friend desperately try to save them, what finally makes the difference between freedom and slavery, life and death?

GLOSSARY

The Medieval Clock

Medieval time was divided into twelve hours of available daylight. Therefore, a summer’s hour would have been longer than a winter’s. The corresponding times below, typically called the seven canonical hours, are approximate to the modern method:

     Matins: midnight

     Prime: daybreak (6 AM)

     Terce: third hour of light (9 AM)

     Sext: sixth hour of light (noon)

     Nones: hour of light (3 PM)

     Vespers: twelfth hour of light (6 PM)

     Compline: twilight darkness

The Medieval Calander

     
The Seasons:

     Winter: Michaelmas to the Epiphany. A time of sowing wheat and rye.

     Spring: The Epiphany to Easter. A time of sowing spring crops (Oats, peas, beans, barley, vegetables).

     Summer: Easter to Lammas. A time of tending crops.

     Autumn: Lammas to Michaelmas. A time of harvest.

     Note: The medieval fiscal year began and ended on Michaelmas.

     
Holy Days and Feast Days:

• The Epiphany, January 6 (The Feast of Three Kings). A celebration of the three wise men’s visit of Jesus.
  
• Lent: begins 40 days before Easter, not counting Sundays. A time to deny oneself in order to meditate upon the sufferings of Christ.
  
• Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday.
  
• May Day: May 1. Not a holy day, but celebrated throughout much of Christendom as a time of renewal.
  
• Pentacost: 50 days after Easter, usually late May or early June. Celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit.
  
• Lammas: August 1. Beginning of harvest.
  
• St. Michael’s Day (Michaelmas): September 25. Celebrates the archangel.
  
• All Saints’ Day: (Hallowmas) November 1 · The honoring of all saints, known and unknown.
  
• Martinmas: November 12. Celebrates St. Martin of Tours who spared a freezing beggar by sharing his cloak.
  
• December 24. It is the anticipation of the birth of Christ.
  
• Christmas Day: December 25.
  
• St. John the Evangelist’s Day: Day to honor the disciple, December 27.
  

     
Miscellaneous Terms

     abbess: female superior of a nunnery.

     abbey: an autonomous monastery ruled by an abbot.

     abbot: the title given to the superior of an autonomous monks’ community.

     almoner: official appointed to distribute alms to the poor.

     arpent: unit of land rougly equivalent to an acre.

     assart: the clearing of woodland.

     bailey: inner courtyard of castle.

     balk: an unploughed strip of land serving as a boundary.

     benefice: a grant of land by a lord.

     bloody flux: dysentery.

     bowshot: unit of measurement equivalent to approximately 150 yards.

     castellan: governor of a castle.

     cellarer: monk charged with providing food stocks for the kitchener.

     cerebritis: inflammation of the brain.

     chain mail: body armor made of small, interlocking steel rings.

     chalice: the cup holding the wine of the Eucharist.

     chapter: the daily convening of a religious order for purposes of discipline and adminstration.

     chapter house: the building attached to a monastery facilitating the chapter.

     chin cough: whooping cough.

     cloister: a place of religious seclusion. Also a protected courtyard within a monastery.

     commotion: concussion.

     confiteor: the formal expression of repentence.

     cottager: a bound person of the poorest station.

     crenels: the gaps in the parapetts atop a castle’s ramparts.

     croft: small yard adjacent to a peasant’s cottage normally used to grow vegetables.

     congestive chill: accumulation of blood in the vessels.

     corruption: infection.

     demesne: the land of a manor managed exclusively for the lord

     dowry: originally a gift of property granted by a man to his bride as security for her old age or widowhood.

     flail: a hinged stick used for threshing wheat. Also a weapon consisting of a long rod with a swinging appendage on a hinge.

     forestor: manorial officer managing woodland, usually under the supervision of the Woodward.

     
frater.
Latin for “brother.”

     furlong: a unit of measurement equivalent to 220 yards.

     glaive: a weapon with a blade attached to a shaft.

     glebe: a parcel of land owned by the Church for the benefit of a parish.

     grippe: influenza.

     halberd: a lance-like weapon.

     hauberk: a heavy, sometimes quilted protective garment usually made of leather.

     hayward: official charged with supervising the management of the fields.

     hectare: a unit of land measurement roughly equivalent to 2 1/2 acres.

     herbarium: the building in a monastery where herbs were stored.

     heriot: death tax.

     hide: a unit of land equally about 120 acres.

     hogshead: a unit of volume equivalent to 2 barrels.

     holding: typically, heritable land.

     Holy See: the seat of papal authority

     
ja
: German for “yes.”

     
junge
: German for “boy.”

     
kind, kinder.
German for “child,” “children.”

     king’s evil: swelling of neck glands Kitchener: the monastery’s food overseer.

     
in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti:
Latin for “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

     league: unit of measurement equivalent to 3 miles.

     list: area of castle grounds located beyond the walls.

     
mädel:
German for “maiden.”

     manor: the land of a lord consisting of his demesne and tenant’s holdings.

     manumission: fee required to buy freedom from the lord. Also, act by which freedom is granted.

     merchet: a tax paid for the privilege of marriage.

     merlon: the solid segments in the gapped parapets atop a castle’s ramparts.

     mark: a unit of weight equaling roughly 8 ounces of silver.

     milk leg: inflammation of the leg.

     
mein Gott, mein Gott in himmel:
German for “my God,” “my God in heaven.”

     monastery: a religious house organized under the authority of the Holy See.

     morbus: disease.

     mormal: gangrene.

     
mutti:
German for “mommy,” “mama.”

     novice: a new member of a religious community undergoing an apprenticeship of sorts and not yet fully committed by vows.

     nunnery: a religious house for nuns; a convent.

     oath-helper: person who pledges their word in support of an accused.

     oblate: a child given to a monastery for upbringing.

     ordeal: a method of trial by which the accused was given a physical test to determine guilt.

     
pater.
Latin for “father.”

     portcullis: iron grate dropped along vertical grooves to defend a gate.

     prior: the official ranked just below an abbot. Sometimes the superior of a community under the jurisdiction of a distant abbey.

     paten: the dish on which the bread of the Eucharist is placed.

     plenary indulgence: the remitting of temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven by God.

     pound: an accounting measurement. A unit of measurement equalling 20 shillings, or 240 pennies—a pound of silver.

     postulant: a candidate for membership in a religious order.

     pottage: a brothy soup, usually of vegetables and grains.

     putrid fever: diphtheria.

     pyx: the box in which the Eucharist is kept.

     quinsey: tonsillitis.

     refectory: the dining hall of a monastery.

     reeve: village chief, usually elected by village elders.

     rod: a measurement equivalent to 6 feet.

     scapular: a long smock worn on front and back by monks over their habits.

     Scriptorium: the building in a monastery where books were maintained and copied.

     scrofulous: skin disease.

     scutage: a tax paid by a free man in lieu of military service obligations to his lord.

     see: the seat of ecclesiastical authority, i.e., bishop.

     serf: a bound person of little means.

     shilling: an accounting measurement. A unit of money valued at 12 pennies.

     St. Anthony’s fire: skin infection.

     St. Vitus’s dance: nervous twitches.

     steward: chief overseer of a manor.

     tithing: a unit of ten persons.

     tonsure: the shaving of the crown of the head to signify Christ’s crown of thorns. Received as part of religious vows.

     trebuchet: a catapult.

     trencher: flat board used as a plate.

     tunic: garment worn as an over-shirt, typically hooded, sleeved, and belted outside the leggings.

     vassal: a free man who held land from a lord in exchange for his oath of fealty, usually obligated to perform military service.

     
vati, voter.
German for “daddy,” “father.”

     vellein: a bound person of some means owing labor to his lord and subject to certain taxes.

     virgate: 1 / 4 of a hide. Considered the minimum amount of land necessary to support one peasant family for one year.

     wattle-and-daub: construction material consisting of woven sticks and clay.

     whitlow: boils.

     winter fever: pneumonia

     
wunderbar.
German for “wonderful.”

     woodward: manorial overseer of the lord’s woodland.

     yeoman: a free farmer of modest means.