Day 40: Cadfael
Born in Wales, Cadfael left home to become as servant to a wool merchant in the English town of Shrewsbury, but would spend several years as a sailor or soldier, participating in the First Crusade and Henry I's conquest of Normandy. After Normany, Cadfael returned to England in the service of a lord who kidnapped the abbot of Shrewsbury Abbey in an attempt to dismiss a lawsuit the abbey was bringing against the lord. Cadfael freed the abbot, and now being free of his oath to the kidnapping lord, opted to become a brother at Shrewsbury.
As much as Cadfael appreciates monastic life and his position as the abbey's herbalist, his secular experience and natural curiosity often lead him into conflict with the rules and expectations of religious life. Not surprisingly, those things that make him a less than ideal monk make him an excellent detective. His experience with the outside world also gives him the confidence and skill to venture outside the walls in pursuit of the truth, at some danger to himself during the time of The Anarchy.
And for all of the crime solving, Cadfael also finds time to attend to affairs of the heart, as many of the mysteries include a romantic subplot involving a murder suspect. He's also apt to mete out some rough justice, usually to the detriment of the authorities, though he is still great friends with the local sheriff (and godfather to his son).
I enjoyed the Cadfael series quite a bit, and found that author Ellis Peters (the pen name of Edith Pargeter) had an excellent handle on how to balance the religious and secular forces that weighed on Cadfael during his investigations. Both the period detail and local detail were outstanding, making me feel like I really understood what life was like at that time and in that place.
Thus ends another Lentorama, one of the few I actually finished on time. I apparently just need to pick topics that actually interest me, who'd have thought it? See you next year.
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