Ranulf is a man of peace. When he's called to carry arms he does so with a heavy heart so will his conscience fail him?..
Left an orphan when the Great Pestilence strikes his family, Ranulf Fuller grows up in Norfolk. From peasant stock, he is hard-working and a man who is never prepared to fight. His wife Hanna is a wise-woman and local midwife, but in 1381 it isn't wise to let this be known and she must be careful for some would burn her as a witch.
When the government of the day seek to fill rapidly emptying coffers, the likes of Simon of Sudbury are delighted at the prospect of a poll tax, but the peasants think otherwise. Wat Tyler, Jack Rakestraw and the mad priest, John Ball readily plan an up-rising.
A reluctant Ranulf is drawn into the revolt and joins Geoffrey Litster, William of Walsham and others to foil the scheming Sudbury, John of Gaunt and their monarch, Richard ll.
But they are about to meet the 'Fighting Bishop,' Henry le Despenser. Better known for his love of war than for the word of God, will they triumph against a man who wields a sword instead of the Bible?