The Cadfael Chronicles


The Cadfael Chronicles is a series of historical murder mysteries written by the English author Edith Pargeter under the name Ellis Peters. Set in the 12th century in England during the Anarchy, the novels focus on a Welsh Benedictine monk, Cadfael, who aids the law by investigating and solving murders.
In all, Pargeter wrote twenty Cadfael novels between 1977 and 1994, plus one book of short stories. Each draws on the storyline, characters and developments of the previous books in the series. Pargeter planned the 20th novel, Brother Cadfael's Penance, as the final book of the series, and it brings together the loose story ends into a tidy conclusion. Pargeter herself died shortly after its publication, following a long illness. Many of the books have been adapted as radio episodes, in which Ray Smith, Glyn Houston and subsequently Philip Madoc played the titular character. An ITV television series was also developed from the books, which starred Derek Jacobi as Cadfael.
Pargeter's Cadfael Chronicles have been credited for popularizing the genre of historical mystery novels.

Brother Cadfael

Unlike his fellow monks, who took their vows as youths, Cadfael is a conversus who entered the cloister in his forties after being a well-travelled crusader and sea captain. His experiences give him an array of talents and skills useful in monastic life and in his frequent role as investigator. He is a skilled observer of human nature and a talented herbalist, a skill he learned from Muslims in the Holy Land. He is inquisitive and energetic, and has an innate though obviously modern sense of justice and fair play. Abbots call upon him as a medical examiner, detective, doctor and diplomat. His worldly knowledge, although useful, gets him into trouble with the more doctrinaire characters of the series, and the seeming contradiction between the secular and the spiritual worlds forms a central and continuing theme.

Historical background

The stories are set between 1137 and 1145, during the Anarchy, the destructive contest for the crown of England between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. Many historical events are described or referred to in the books. For example, the translation of Saint Winifred to Shrewsbury Abbey is fictionalised in the first chronicle, A Morbid Taste for Bones, and One Corpse Too Many is inspired by the siege of Shrewsbury Castle by Stephen in 1138. The burning of Worcester puts the characters on the run into the countryside around the town in The Virgin in the Ice. The pillage of Winchester and the burning of the abbey there sends the monks who are at the centre of the story to Shrewsbury Abbey in An Excellent Mystery. In Dead Man's Ransom the fictional characters are involved with the small group of Welshmen who take part in the Battle of Lincoln, drawing the historical prince of Gwynedd, Owain, into the plot. Empress Matilda's brief stay in London, when she tried to gain approval for her coronation while she held Stephen in prison, is the starting point for one character in The Pilgrim of Hate. The next turning of Henry of Blois's coat and the rising fortunes of King Stephen involve the Abbot and send three new people into the Foregate and the Abbey in The Raven in the Foregate. One main character in The Hermit of Eyton Forest arrives in Shropshire while the Empress is besieged in Oxford Castle. In The Potter's Field Hugh Beringar's force is called to the Fens to aid King Stephen in controlling the rampaging Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex; on return the Sheriff doublechecks the story of a character who escaped from that area back to Shropshire. The quarrel between Owain Gwynedd and his impetuous younger brother Cadwaladr on account of Cadwaladr's murder of the prince of a southern principality in Wales, combined with the push to spread the Roman rite into Wales, are parts of the story told in The Summer of the Danes.
In novels where the plot does not hinge on a historical event or have historical characters walking through the story the focus is on one or two aspects of life in medieval England. Examples include the importance of pilgrimage in The Heretic's Apprentice, the wool and clothmaking trades in The Rose Rent, the rules of inheritance under Welsh law in Monk's Hood, and specific merchant trades in Saint Peter's Fair and The Sanctuary Sparrow. The annual fair raised funds for the Abbey, authorised by Earl Roger or King Henry I. The use of a house of worship for sanctuary from secular law is also a feature of The Sanctuary Sparrow. Cadfael is an herbalist, whose skills and potions bring him into contact with people outside the monastery, integral in the plots not dependent on a historical event.
The real people portrayed in the series include:
These are numbered in order of the time in which the novel was set, which, with one exception, is also the order of publication. Each book has been published in hardback and paperback, and in a number of languages. The first publication in the UK, by Macmillan, is the year of first publication.
A Rare Benedictine is in the order of setting, but not in the order of publication. That book includes three short stories. The first describes how Cadfael, man-at-arms in the Crusades and Normandy, joined a Benedictine monastery in 1120. The other two short stories are set at later dates after he has been a monk for years.
  1. A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael
  2. A Morbid Taste for Bones
  3. One Corpse Too Many
  4. Monk's-Hood
  5. Saint Peter's Fair
  6. The Leper of Saint Giles
  7. The Virgin in the Ice
  8. The Sanctuary Sparrow
  9. The Devil's Novice
  10. Dead Man's Ransom
  11. The Pilgrim of Hate
  12. An Excellent Mystery
  13. The Raven in the Foregate
  14. The Rose Rent
  15. The Hermit of Eyton Forest
  16. The Confession of Brother Haluin
  17. The Heretic's Apprentice
  18. The Potter's Field
  19. The Summer of the Danes
  20. The Holy Thief
  21. Brother Cadfael's Penance
The numbering of the Brother Cadfael Chronicles as published in paperback by Mysterious Press does not include A Rare Benedictine ; the total of the numbered chronicles is therefore 20.
All of the novels are also available as audiobooks. Narrators include Vanessa Benjamin, Philip Madoc, Derek Jacobi, Roe Kendall, Stephen Thorne, Patrick Tull and Johanna Ward. The series is also available as e-books from multiple sources, as noted in the publication history for each novel.
The first two novels in the series, along with Cadfael Country: Shropshire and the Welsh Borders, are available as one edition from Mysterious Press.
Seven Cadfael Omnibus editions were published, with three novels in each volume. Most are available as paperbacks, and were later published in hardback.
  • First Cadfael Omnibus A Morbid Taste for Bones, One Corpse Too Many, Monk's-Hood
  • Second Cadfael Omnibus Saint Peter's Fair, The Leper of Saint Giles, The Virgin in the Ice
  • Third Cadfael Omnibus The Sanctuary Sparrow, The Devil's Novice, Dead Man's Ransom
  • Fourth Cadfael Omnibus Pilgrim of Hate, An Excellent Mystery, The Raven in the Foregate
  • Fifth Cadfael Omnibus The Rose Rent, The Hermit of Eyton Forest, The Confession of Brother Haluin
  • Sixth Cadfael Omnibus The Heretic's Apprentice, The Potter's Field, The Summer of the Danes
  • Seventh Cadfael Omnibus The Holy Thief, Brother Cadfael's Penance, A Rare Benedictine
There is also a three-book "collection pack set" containing the first three books contains The Leper of Saint Giles, Monk's Hood, The Sanctuary Sparrow and One Corpse Too Many.

Short stories

  • Published in A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael :
  • * A Light on the Road to Woodstock
  • * The Price of Light
  • * ''Eye Witness''

    Adaptations

Stage

A stage adaptation of The Virgin in the Ice starred Gareth Thomas as Cadfael.

Radio

BBC Radio 4 produced adaptations of several novels in the Cadfael Chronicles with three different actors voicing Cadfael.
Starring Ray Smith as Cadfael:
Starring Glyn Houston as Cadfael:
Written and produced by Bert Coules and starring Philip Madoc as Cadfael:

Television dramas

Produced in Britain by Central for ITV, 75 minutes per episode. Filmed on location in Hungary and starring Sir Derek Jacobi.
All thirteen episodes have been released on DVD.