The year is 1189 and we are in the deepest Middle Ages - a time of knights, castles and peasants. Eleven-year-old Richard is a peasant boy and lives with his family in a small village. Richard's parents are serfs of the knight Kunibert, and they are barely getting by. One night the village is attacked by robbers and the family's four pigs and chickens are stolen. A catastrophe! How are they supposed to pay their taxes and get through the winter? Then Richard has a bold plan: he'll go to Knight Kunibert and ask him for help. Secretly, he sneaks out of the house and sets off. On the way he meets wandering bathers, journeymen on the road, monks, jugglers and pilgrims - and Agnes, Kunibert's daughter! Agnes, who is anything but a spoilt damsel, decides to help Richard. An exciting medieval adventure begins! With many illustrations and factual information about the Middle Ages.