Monthly Archives: June 2012

06/28/12

Dryslwyn Castle

Dryslwyn Castle is built on the same ridge as Dinefwr Castle. It is likely that Lord Rhys, the ruler of Deheubarth in the 12th century, maintained a stronghold in both places, although both castles were rebuilt in stone by later rulers.

Dryslwyn Castle as it exists today “stands on top of a hill overlooking the Tywi valley. Its date of construction is unknown but the similarity between it and neighbouring Dinefwr Castle suggest that it was built at a similar time and possibly by the same person. The most likely builder was Rhys Gryg who occupied Dinefwr in the early 13th century, or possibly his son Maredudd, who inherited Dryslwyn from his father.

By the late 13th century the castle at Dryslwyn had developed into the largest native Welsh castle in South Wales. In 1277 the English king, Edward I sent an army into Wales to defeat Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Maredudd’s son, Rhys, who had inherited Dryslwyn after his fathers death in 1271, surrendered without a fight and was allowed to keep his castle. Dinefwr Castle was not as quick to surrender and as a result was forfeited by the king. Dryslwyn now had an English neighbour, a situation that was not well received by Rhys who felt he had a claim to the lands. In 1287 Rhys, enraged by years of border disputes with his English neighbours, captured the castles of Dinefwr,Carreg Cennen and Llandovery. The English response was swift and an army of 11,000 men recaptured the castles and defeated Rhys after a three week siege at Dryslwyn. Rhys escaped but was eventually captured and executed for treason.” http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/wales/dryslwyn/dryslwyn.php

Can anyone say irony.  During the 1282 war, Rhys found allegiance to Edward better suited his needs and did not support Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in his quest to maintain and independent Wales.  Whoops.

06/25/12

Sheep, baaaaaa…..

To say that there are sheep in Wales is like saying there is salt in the sea.  Some of them are even smart, apparently:

“Professor Morton put a flock of Welsh mountain sheep through a series of tests to measure their intelligence … [they] can map their surroundings, and may even be able to plan ahead.

The discovery shows they have the brainpower to equal rodents, monkeys and, in some tests, even humans … Professor Jenny Morton from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge says the beasts’ ‘stupid’ reputation may be unwarranted.

She told BBC Wales: “Our tests showed they can do what is known as executive decision making. We looked at whether they were able to understand rules and got them to do what is known as a choice discrimination task. But when we changed the rules, they behaved pretty much as a human in that they got bothered about us changing those rules.”

They’re not as daft as they look”

Professor Jenny MortonCambridge University

Some facts about sheep in Wales:

1.  There are 33 million sheep in Wales.  The human population is 3 million.  http://www.wales.com/en/content/cms/english/about_wales/wales_fact_file/wales_fact_file.aspx

2.  Sheep have been in Wales a LONG time.  ”Domestication of wild sheep took place by 7000 BC in central Asia (Barber) and, possibly, considerably before. Ryder, who has written extensively on the history of sheep in Britain, suggests that the first domestic sheep were introduced into Britain by Neolithic settlers around 4000 BC and that these were probably horned brown sheep, similar to Soay. Preserved wool from the Bronze Age appears to be Soay.”  http://www.wildfibres.co.uk/html/sheep_history.html

3.  One of the reasons that the uplands of Wales remain bare, despite the significant rainfall, is the sheep, who eat any new trees before they can grow.  http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/advisorynotes/115/115.htm

4. In the Middle Ages, because the Welsh were primarily pastoral instead of farmers, they had few towns of any size. Normans also looked down on the Welsh for this reason, as farming was more ‘civilized’.   http://www.medievalists.net/files/09012324.pdf

06/21/12

10 months …

When my father died, last August, my husband made a wonderful video in his memory (here).

That was 10 months ago.  I’m still dealing with his death emotionally, and financially as the executor of his estate. I’ve blogged over at the Indie Chicks Cafe about the kinds of things that might be helpful for every child to discuss with his/her parent BEFORE it is too late …

…..


  1. A will and a lawyer    .  My father had a will and established a trust for his estate to protect my mom.  He had a relationship with a lawyer he trusted. Thank goodness.
  2. An accountant AND an investment manager: My father did not, however, have either an accountant or an investment manager.  He liked to manage his money himself, which was great when he was alive and able to see to it himself, but added to the nightmare that his death was for me, as the executor of his estate.
  3. A paper copy of all online passwords, in one place.
  4. A transparent filing system: this should have insurance information, medical bills, bank accounts, and investments.  Plus all vehicle titles.
  5. Funeral plans.  Best to discuss your parent’s wishes.  My father had his funeral entirely planned out.  He’d even lined up family and friends to speak.
  6. Any bequests that are not in the Will.  To avoid disputes with siblings, these should be explicit—and in writing, if possible.

Finally, and this can be the hardest thing of all, especially if child and parent are not close, is making sure that you, as the child, say to your parent everything that needs to be said.

On August 1 last year, my mother called me to say that my father wasn’t feeling well (understatement) and wanted to see me.  We live a mile from each other and so I went over immediately.  For an hour and a half that morning, I lay on the bed with my father.  We held hands and said I love you to each other.  I told him I’d take care of my mom.

He died three weeks later.

For more, see:  http://indiechickscafe.com/when-your-parent-dies/

06/19/12

The Bard’s Daughter released!

Gwen mentions in The Good Knight, the first of the Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries, that her father was once accused of murder.  Many of my readers have asked about that incident, and I decided it would be fun to tell that story.  It ended up as a 22,000 word novella (about 100 pages), that I’ve decided to give away for free as a gift to my readers and as an introduction to the mysteries. Many thanks again to my amazing cover artist, Christine DeMaio-Rice of flipcitybooks.com for the beautiful cover!

The Bard’s Daughter

The Bard’s Daughter is a 22,000 word prequel to the Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries:

As a bard’s daughter, Gwen has spent her life traveling from castle to castle and village to village with her family, following the music. In the winter of 1141, Gwen’s family is contracted to provide the entertainment for the coming-of-age celebration of a lord’s son. But before the celebration can begin, Gwen’s father is found over the body of his friend, with a harp string as the murder weapon and blood on his hands.

With the lord of the castle uninterested in finding the true killer, it is up to Gwen to clear her father’s name before her father’s music is silenced … forever.

The Bard’s Daughter is available for FREE at:  Allromance.com

Or download it directly to your Kindle (for $1.99):  Amazon  Amazon UK

It is also free in all formats at Smashwords (Kindle/Nook/Apple etc.): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/173441

And at Feedbooks (in epub/Kindle/pdf):  http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/27239/the-bard-s-daughter-a-gareth-and-gwen-medieval-mystery

06/17/12

The Templars and Hospitallers in Wales

There’s not much in the way of evidence that The Templars made inroads into Wales.  They are very much associated with the Normans and the Holy Land … not that Welshmen didn’t go on Crusade, because many did, but that the institution didn’t attract much of a following among the native Welsh.

“In 1156 the Countess of Warwick gave the Templars the church of Llanmadoc in the Gower, and until the early 1280s they held Templeton in Pembrokeshire – contemporary documents call it “Villa Templar”, “Templars’ village”.

The famous William Marshal may have given them the mill they owned outside Pembroke castle, and he may have been the donor who gave them the church of Kemeys Commander on the River Usk.

The Templars were also given small parcels of land in Glamorganshire and Gwent.

But although the Templars received extensive properties in Herefordshire and Shropshire, in the Welsh March, the Welsh did not donate to the Templars.

In contrast, the Welsh in Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd did donate to the Hospitallers. The Hospitallers’ house at Slebech on the Eastern Cleddau river was given to them by a Flemish family who had settled in the area, and supported by donations from Normans, Welsh and English alike.

Slebech became an administrative centre or commandery, the Hospitallers’ fourth richest commandery in England and Wales.”

Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/welsh-history/articles/2011/03/22/have-the-knights-templar-and-the-knights-hospitaller-had-a-positive-impact-on-wales-91466-28383041/#ixzz1xmVXSUOa

The Hospitalliers, in contrast to the Templars, did not provoke the ire of the French king and continue to this day.  They were founded at about the same time as the Templars, in order to care of the sick in the Holy Lands.

“One of the most powerful political organizations in the late Middle Ages was the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Knights Hospitallers, whose ranks were filled by scions of the richest aristocratic families of Europe. Formed in Jerusalem in the 11th Century to provide hospital care and protection to Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, the Knights soon became one of the foremost military powers in the region. Their base of operations was a chain of castles and ports. After Saladin, King of the Saracens, dislodged them from Jerusalem, the Knights relocated briefly to Cyprus, and then to the island of Rhodes in 1309.”  http://www.rapidappsgroup.com/history

The preceptory of Halston “was founded between 1165 and 1187, when Roger de Powys, lord of Whittington, granted the Hospitallers a portion of his demesne. By the second decade of the 13th century it was sufficiently well established to be considered by the bishop of St. Asaph a suitable guardian for his hospital at Oswestry …

By 1294 the preceptory of Dolgynwal (Yspytty Ifan, Denbighs.) had been united with Halston, which was subsequently the administrative centre for all Hospitaller estates in north Wales.  Dolgynwal, which had been founded c. 1190, had acquired Ellesmere church, its most substantial property, from Llywelyn the Great in 1225.  Its estates also included the chapel of Penmachno (Caern.) and presumably Gwanas grange (Merion.), since this also lay in Gwynedd. Of the three remaining properties in north Wales later administered from Halston the church of Tregynon (Mont.) already in part belonged to Halston by 1254 …”  http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39933

For $112 you can get “A History of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in Wales and on the Welsh Border: Including an Account of the Templars”: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0404154271/britigrandprioro

 

06/14/12

The Knights Templar

In the beginning:

“Immediately after the deliverance of Jerusalem, the Crusaders, considering their vow fulfilled, returned in a body to their homes. The defense of this precarious conquest, surrounded as it was by Mohammedan neighbours, remained. In 1118, during the reign of Baldwin II, Hugues de Payens, a knight of Champagne, and eight companions bound themselves by a perpetual vow, taken in the presence of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to defend the Christian kingdom. Baldwin accepted their services and assigned them a portion of his palace, adjoining the temple of the city; hence their title “pauvres chevaliers du temple” (Poor Knights of the Temple). Poor indeed they were, being reduced to living on alms, and, so long as they were only nine, they were hardly prepared to render important services, unless it were as escorts to the pilgrims on their way from Jerusalem to the banks of the Jordan, then frequented as a place of devotion.

Sorry … this map is not in English! But I think we can figure it out anyway.

The Templars had as yet neither distinctive habit nor rule. Hugues de Payens journeyed to the West to seek the approbation of the Church and to obtain recruits. At the Council of Troyes (1128), at which he assisted and at which St. Bernard was the leading spirit, the Knights Templars adopted the Rule of St. Benedict, as recently reformed by the Cistercians. They accepted not only the three perpetual vows, besides the crusader’s vow, but also the austere rules concerning the chapel, the refectory, and the dormitory. They also adopted the white habit of the Cistercians, adding to it a red cross.

Notwithstanding the austerity of the monastic rule, recruits flocked to the new order, which thenceforth comprised four ranks of brethren:

  • the knights, equipped like the heavy cavalry of the Middle Ages;
  • the serjeants, who formed the light cavalry;

and two ranks of non-fighting men:

The order grew after that, gaining power and reach within the next century:

“By spring of 1129 Templars had established a strong foothold in France, England and Scotland. In Scotland, around Aberdeen alone, a substantial quantity of Templar property was held including houses and churches in Turiff, Tullich, Maryculter, Aboyne, and Kingcausie. South of Aberdeen at Culter, they possessed a huge estate of no less than 8,000 acres.

By the second half of the 12th century the Order was flourishing and had become one of the leading landowners in Syria and Palestine. Funds and recruits continued to arrive from Europe and in order to manage this great wealth the Templars became experts in banking. By as early as 1148 they were moneylenders, despite the Church ban on usury and they soon had one of the most efficient banking networks in the western world. Pilgrims could now not only rely upon the protection of the Templars but could deposit money at their local preceptory and withdraw it as required by producing a letter of credit at any other preceptory.

With a common Rule, the Order’s legal and economic status was similar in almost every country, however it was only in the great capitols – London, Rome and Paris – that financial dealings took precedence. Outside the capitols, each commander or preceptor used his allotted lands in the appropriate way – farming, spinning, brewing and baking.

The Order’s military reputation and strength was also growing swiftly. Throughout the 12th century the Templars, together with the Hospitaller knights, were the finest fighting force in the Holy Lands. In time however, partly because fewer recruits could be found who were willing to die for the faith and partly due to growing rivalry between the various military orders which had now been created, the Templars’ military strength in the Holy Land began to decline.

When Acre fell to the Moslems in 1291, after a siege of the castle which lasted weeks and included fire bombs, catapults and mines, the Holy Land was lost forever. Over 20,000 Templar knights and sergeants had met their deaths since the Order’s inception. The Templars had lands in Cyprus and it was here that they created a new headquarters in the Middle East.

Other than a few unsuccessful raids on the Syrian and Egyptian coasts, the Order deteriorated into one of bankers and moneylenders. A series of verbal attacks was launched against all military orders, the Templars in particular, suggesting they no longer had a purpose for existence since they failed to take steps to regain the Holy Land. Nothing came of these attacks until a renegade Templar, Esquiu de Floyrian, made specific charges of blasphemy, idolatry and sodomy against the Order to Phillip the Fair (Phillip IV) of France.”  http://www.mostly-medieval.com/explore/temphist.htm

This was the beginning of the end for the Templars.  On Friday the 13th (and this is the reason the day is unlucky, or so I understand), Philippe of France arrested all of the Knight Templars in Paris and confiscated all of their money.  ”King Phillip’s audacious plan was to arrest every Templar in France, charge them with heresy, and exact immediate confessions from them by torture before Pope Clement V or anyone else could protest on their behalf. By making the charges religious in nature, Phillip would be seen not as an avaricious thief, but as a noble servant of God.

Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, had been called to Poitiers, France, for the purpose of discussing with the new pope a new crusade to retake the Holy Land. For almost two years, he shuttled back and forth between the pope and King Phillip, essentially stamping out various diplomatic fires, such as the proposal to merge all the military orders.

In June 1307, de Molay rode into Paris at the head of a column of his knights, with a dozen horses laden with gold and silver, to begin the financing of the new Crusade. For the next several months, Phillip treated the aging Grand Master with interest and diplomacy, and de Molay believed he and the Order were at a new turning point. He didn’t know how right he was.

The end began at dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307. The sealed order to Phillip’s bailiffs had gone out a full month before. It was accompanied by a personal letter from the king, filled with lofty prose about how heart-rending it was to be compelled to do his duty, while detailing frightening accusations against the Templars. The letter would have had an eye-popping effect on the king’s men, and their secrecy was undoubtedly assured. The sealed arrest order was not to be opened until the appointed day.

At this time, France was the most populous nation of Europe, even including Russia. And it was no tiny country either; France took up more than 40,000 square miles, an enormous area to cover from the back of a horse. Yet Phillip IV managed to carry off a stunning piece of work. Hundreds of the king’s men simultaneously opened letters all over the country ordering them to converge on every Templar castle, commandery, preceptory, farm, vineyard, or mill.

It was shockingly effective, instantly chopping off the head of the Order. Phillip obviously had a hit list of the most important knights to nab. Accounts differ wildly, but the most respected ones agree that 625 members of the Order were arrested in the first wave. These included the Grand Master; the Visitor-General; the Preceptors of Normandy, Cyprus, and Aquitaine; and the Templars’ Royal Treasurer.”   http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/king-phillip-iv-pope-clement-v-and-the-fall-of-th0.html

For an extensive history see:  http://blog.templarhistory.com/category/history/

http://www.history.com/news/2011/07/26/who-were-the-knights-templar/

http://templarsnow.blogspot.com/p/templar-maps.html

 

 

06/12/12

Devil’s Bridge

I don’t know that this is particularly historical, but it was a beautiful spot, to the east of Aberystwyth.  We stumbled upon it by accident a few yards from our hotel.

This is a series of three bridges, built one on top of the other, as the needs of the road change.  Plus a little Victorian mercantilism to charge for the privilege of seeing it :)

06/10/12

Medieval Monks

There were a lot of different orders of monks in the Middle Ages (still are, in fact), but the primary monasteries in England consisted of:

Dominicans:  Dominicans are about preaching and doctrinal conformity.  They were (no surprise) the order behind the inquisition, with the intent to rule out any doctrine that didn’t abide strictly by received Catholic theology.  “Domingo de Guzman (around 1170-1221), a Spanish priest travelling with his bishop Diego of Osma, encountered by chance Cistercian monks who tried to bring the Cathars of Southern France back to the Catholic Church. He saw the deficiencies of their attempts and decided to do a better job, by walking and dressing humbly, listening to and talking with people, being aware of contemporary developments, and first of all preaching the Gospel. He gathered a band of priests around him. After the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, at which preaching and confession had been stressed as important elements of priestly activities, Dominic got papal approval in 1216 from Honorius III for founding a new order to meet these needs, the “Ordo Praedicatorum”, using the Rule of St. Augustine. In 1207 Dominic had already founded a nunnery at Prouille, near Toulouse. He sent the members of his small group to all universities to study theology.”   http://home.kpn.nl/otto.vervaart/dominican_order.htm

In addition ,from a reader’s comment:  ”Dominicans are friars, who are not cloistered, but instead tasked with wandering about preaching. They were mendicants, like the Franciscans and Carmelites and others. Friars are not the same as monks. It is an easy mistake to make, one I was guilty of as well until a fellow re-enactor needled me about it.

The Dominicans founded their houses or priories near towns, where there was demand for their services. They were very much part of the community and were very important in the 13th century revival of Catholicism. (well maybe not quite revival, but they spread the gospel very well)”

Benedictines:  The first Benedictine house was established in 529 AD in Italy by St. Benedict.  While many similar houses were established in the next 1000 years, there is no ‘mother house’ in this order, with each community of monks being independent and autonomous.  “The Rule of St Benedict requires candidates for reception into a Benedictine community to promise solemnly stability (to remain in the same monastery), conversatio morum (an idiomatic Latin phrase suggesting “conversion of manners”), and obedience (to the superior, because the superior holds the place of Christ in their community). This solemn commitment tends to be referred to as the ‘Benedictine vow’”.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Saint_Benedict  They are known as the ‘black monks’ for their dark robes.

Augustinians: They’ve got an official web site!  http://www.osanet.org/home.asp?language=EN

From the web site:  “The concrete historical situation of the Christian world in the thirteenth century caused the Apostolic See to promote the formation of the Mendicant Orders. In this context Pope Innocent IV, with the Rule of St. Augustine as his basis, determined the norms according to which some groups of hermits of Tuscany were united and organized. From here the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine arose juridically in March 1244. This first nucleus was consolidated and amplified by the aggregation of other religious groups in the Grand Union of 9 April 1256 promoted by Pope Alexander IV. This singular intervention of the Apostolic See determined its activity in a specific way in service to the Universal Church. [Constitutions of the Order 2008, n. 3]“  The focus on the Augustinian order is learning and knowledge, thus their collection of libraries and education and missionary work.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Saint_Augustine

Cistercians:  An offshoot of the Benedictines, “the Cistercian order came about through the actions of a group of break-away monks who left their monastery of Molesme in Burgundy, in order to try to adhere more strictly to the Rule of St Benedict. In 1098, they acquired a portion of land at Citeaux and founded what was to be the motherhouse of the Cistercian Order. By 1118, the monastery at Citeaux was well enough established to send out monks to create other Cistercian monasteries, and what was to be a Europe-wide spread began. Eventually, the Cistercians would have more than 700 religious houses throughout Europe.

The Cistercians followed the Rule of St Benedict and were known as the White Monks, because of the undyed wool habits they wore. It was impossible for them to live entirely free from the influence of the outside world and lay brothers were engaged in most monasteries; secular men who worked the lands belonging to the abbey and dealt with buying and selling the goods necessary to keep the monastery running.” http://www.suite101.com/content/the-medieval-origins-of-the-cistercian-order-a75209

Tintern Abbey in Wales (see video above) was the first Cistercian house established in Wales.  It was part of the first wave of Cistercian houses, supported by the Normans.  The second wave, which included Strata Florida (http://www.sarahwoodbury.com/?p=4863) and Valle Crucis (http://www.sarahwoodbury.com/?p=4810), were supported by the native Welsh princes and the abbeys, in turn, supported them in their struggle against the Norman conquerors.

The Cistercians were the religious order most sympathetic to the Princes of Wales and Welsh nationalism in the 13th century.  http://www.castlewales.com/abbeys.html

06/7/12

The Normans in Wales (Chepstow Castle)

William the Bastard (William the Conquerer, William the Norman) won his first battle for the conquest of England at Hastings in October of 1066.  He defeated the army of King Harold Godwinson, who’d force-marched his men from Stamford Bridge after defeating an invasion by King Hardrada of Norway.  Harold’s forces almost held, but in the end, his discipline did not and he himself died on the battlefield.  http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/william-the-conqueror.htm

That was only the beginning, however, and it would be another six years before England was truly conquered.  http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon22.html

Wales, however, took a bit longer.  The Welsh fought what amounted to a guerilla war for over 150 years against the Norman/French aggressors.  Although the documentation of this war is mostly on the English side, it is interesting reading from the perspective of the Welsh.

In the Chroncile of the Princes (from the Red Book of Hergest), it becomes clear that there is a form of schizophrenia  at work when the authors discuss the coming of William the Bastard in 1066, his claiming of the kingship, and then his subsequent reign.  On one hand, the Chronicle states:

“And that William defended the kingdom of England in a great battle, with an invincible hand, and his most noble army.” (1066)

“And then, the Bastard, prince of the Normans, and king of the Saxons, the Britons, and the Albanians, after a sufficiency of the glory and fame of this transient world, and after glorious victories, and the honour acquired by riches, died; and after him William Rufus, his son reigned.” (1085)

In between these entries, the Chronicle states:  “the French ravaged Ceredigion and Dyfed” (1071); “a second time the French devestated Ceredigion” (1072) These notes indicate the conquering of south Wales by that same king.  Things start to really get bad, however, in the years after William of Normandy’s death.

“One year and one thousand and ninety was the year of Christ, when Rhys, son of Tewdwr, king South Wales, was killed by the French, who inhabited Brecheiniog; and then fell the kingdom of the Britons.  . . . two months after that, about the calends of July, the French came into Dyved and Ceredigion, which they have still retained, and fortified the castles, and seized upon all the land of the Britons.”

Even at this point, I was still wondering ‘did the French (meaning other than the Normans) sail from France and conquer Wales? How did I miss that?’ And then I realized that by ‘French’ the authors did mean ‘Normans’, who’d conquered England–the same group whose king they’d eulogized three pages before.

For in 1095, the Chronicle states: “And then, the second time, William, king of England, assembled innumerable hosts, with immense means and power, against the Britons. And then the Britons avoided their impulse, not confiding in themselves, but placing their hope in God, the Creator of all things, by a fasting and praying and giving alms, and undergoing severe bodily penance. For the French dared not penetrate the rocks and the woods, but hovered about the level plains. At length they returned home empty, without having gained anything; and the Britons, happy and unintimidated, defended their country.”

Thus begins the long, unhappy saga of the ‘French’ conquest of Wales.

06/5/12

Brother Cadfael’s Penance (review)

Ellis Peters began her Brother Cadfael series in 1977 with A Morbid Taste for Bones. Twenty books later, she wrote Brother Cadfael’s Penance, my personal favorite.  She saved the best for last, as she died in October, 1995.

Ellis Peters was the nom de plume of Edith Pargeter.  Although she began the Brother Cadfael mysteries towards the end of the life, she had a long career in many other areas.  Although she left school at fifteen, she taught herself Czechoslovakian, and then translated a number of works into English.  http://www.dawleyheritage.co.uk/unpublished-articles/342/biography-of-edith-pargeter-by-p-wolfe

Here’s the pitch for the final book:  ”For Brother Cadfael in the autumn of his life, the mild November of our Lord’s year 1145 may bring a bitter–and deadly–harvest. England is torn between supporters of the Empress Maud and those of her cousin Stephen. The civil strife is about to jeopardize not only Cadfael’s life, but his hopes of Heaven.

While Cadfael has sometimes bent the Abbey’s rules, he has never broken his monastic vows–until now. Word has come to Shrewsbury of a treacherous act that has left thirty of Maud’s knights imprisoned. All have been ransomed except Cadfael’s secret son, Olivier de Bretagne. Conceived in Cadfael’s soldiering youth and unaware of his father’s identity, Olivier will die if he is not freed. Like never before, Cadfael must boldly defy the abbot. The good brother forsakes the order to follow his heart–but what he finds will challenge his soul.”   http://www.fictiondb.com/author/ellis-peters~brother-cadfaels-penance~41709~b.htm

“Cadfael is a Welshman, now in his 60s, and a Brother in the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, in Shrewsbury, England. The time is the 1100s, while Stephen and Maud are contending for the throne of England. Cadfael is now a brother, but he has been in the world- he spent 15 (or so) years in the Mideast, first as a Crusader, then as captain of a fishing boat. While there, he began to learn about gardening and herbs, he loved several women and even fathered a son, although he did not know it at the time. Finally, the quiet, the peace of the monastery called to him, and he came home to England and took vows. When the series begins, he has been a brother for about 15 years. His adventures are all centered in life in the Monastery, which is the center of his life, but they also show that he has not turned away completely from the world.”  http://wellscs.com/ann/reading/cadfael.htm

Did I mention that I LOVE THIS BOOK!  This book is about Cadfael’s heart.  He loves his Church.  He loves his way of life.  And yet, he is willing to sacrifice what he’s worked so hard to build–and his life–for the life of his son.  There is no more poignant moment than when he closes the door on his herb hut and walks away.

Because he’s Cadfael, he ends up meddling in the affairs of  men far above him on the social ladder, and changing the course of the endless war between Stephen and Maud.

A Morbid Taste for Bones, which begins Cadfael’s adventures, takes place in Wales for the most part.  Readers of my The Good Knight will recognize the setting.