The Ruhr area in the Middle Ages: Due to a meadow, Linhardt von Linden and his wife must pay with their lives. Their newborn son Jorge is spared from death only because Brother Bernardo takes him in. However, raising the orphan in the house of the Grey Monks breeds jealousy, even among the monks themselves. Trouble also looms from another side: The Hattingen citizen Hinerick van Enghusen aspires to the position of mayor, and the begging monks have long been a thorn in his side. Even the Archbishop in Cologne has good reason to want the monks far away and conveys this wish to the ambitious Benedictine Bartholomew. He is willing to use any means necessary to climb the church hierarchy. Together with a follower of the Duke, Philip von der Schadeburg, he weaves a dangerous intrigue. And in doing so, he makes the right ally. For von der Scha.