Hanz Kreiger is not even fifteen years old, and death surrounds him at the Manor House at which he works as an indentured servant in Amsterdam. The maid, two stable boys, an ambassador to the court, and the cook have all just died. It's the end of the Dark Ages, and the plague is sweeping across Europe. Hanz doesn't think his life can get much worse, but when his mum dies, it does. Having no other choice, Hanz leaves Amsterdam with Count Ipolito, who tells him that his days as an indentured servant are over.

Ipolito becomes a father figure for Hanz, but he is also dead in little more than a year. Now in Venice, Hanz finds himself with a manor, a horse, a dagger, money, and a business he knows nothing about.

It isn't long before Hanz ventures out on the road once again, and his journey will take him farther and last longer than he could have ever imagined. Join him as he discovers wonders and meets an odd array of people on his way to becoming one of the first renaissance men in Hanz Kreiger: Sojourner in the Time of Plague.