Christ’s cross, and its many variants refer to the + preceding the alphabet on the lesson sheet. The cross in early times “pledged the person making it by his faith as a Christian to the truth of what he signed” (Tuer, 63). This placement led to the term “Christ’s cross” or “criss-cross row” being used to describe the beginning of learning. In literature, it is also a reference to the learning of the alphabet and the catechism.
The Christ-cross, criss-cross row, etc. has often been referenced in the classroom and in literature. Skelton (Against Venemous Tongues, 1528) says –
“For before on your brest, and behind on your back
In Romaine letters I never founde lack;
In your crosse row nor Christ crosse you spede,
Your Pater Noster, your Ave, nor your Crede.”
In Morley’s Introduction to Music (1597), we find –
“Christe’s crosse be my spede,
In all virtue to proceed.”
