The Raven In The Foregate: 12 (Cadfael Chronicles)

Product Information

What is important for me to tell you is why I think this particular story by Ellis Peters is worth four stars. I love how Peters recreates medieval times. You feel like you are there. The words, the scenery, the actions and thoughts of the characters feel genuine. They create an atmosphere and a mood. They put you in a time and place so very different from our own. I find this utterly enjoyable; we escape the rat race of today. Cynric: He is the verger of the parish of Holy Cross. He arrived a couple years after Cadfael came to the Abbey. He is a taciturn, single man who is a favourite with the children. He served about 17 years under the late Father Adam, was very close to him. Brother Cadfael: He is the herbalist monk at the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul in Shrewsbury. He is a sometime detective, and about age 61 in this story. When Brother Cadfael talks to some monk or similar in the abbey that has never been seen before. He would either be the main suspect or the victim.

Abbot Radulfus: He heads the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul at Shrewsbury. He is based on the real abbot of this era (Ranulf or Radulfus). [1] Radulfus is a tall healthy man with an air of authority. He is a strong leader to his monks, with a sense of justice as well as deep religious convictions. I am not a religious person, but here we see how religion pervaded society. I like how Peters draw this. It is all-enveloping. You are there and it feels natural, right and good.

Aline Beringar: She is the much-loved wife of Hugh, mother of two-year-old Giles, who is godson to Cadfael. Introduced in One Corpse Too Many. What would have made it better would have been less passages which had nothing to do with moving the story forward and a few more red herrings that Cadfael had to solve before he could get to the actual mystery. Shrewsbury Abbey was begun about 58 years before the story with French monks from Seez, [19] as mentioned in the later novel The Confession of Brother Haluin, possibly explaining the vineyard and wine making. Shrewsbury Abbey had a reliquary of Saint Winifred, translated from Wales in 1137, which story is told in the opening book of the series [20] and in the annals of the Abbey. [1] The character Torold Blund, squire to a supporter of the Empress, featured in One Corpse Too Many, when Shrewsbury was taken by the King, and Cadfael and Hugh Beringar began their close friendship. Hugh had been betrothed to Godith. She escaped with Blund, and in this novel we learn they have married. Their escape was aided by Cadfael. Hugh married another that summer, and is much pleased with his wife. The late frost let Benet/Ninian learn how to use a spade to turn over the soil in all of Cadfael's gardens, and begin to learn how to make a few herbal medicines in his few December weeks at the Abbey.

Brother Jerome recognises Ninian holding the horse. About to call him out, he sees Giffard come to claim his horse and pay a silver penny to the boy. Rev Horace K. Mann. "England". The Popes at the Height of their Temporal Influence 1130–1159. History of the Popes. pp.Ch IV.On Christmas Eve, Brother Cadfael sees Ralph Giffard walking away from town, then he sees Father Ailnoth walking out, staff in hand, sleeves billowing, too distracted to offer a greeting. Both Benet and Sanan Bernière appear for the Christmas Eve services ( matins) at the Abbey, while her stepfather Giffard attends at Saint Chad. Benet and Sanan slip out separately to Cadfael's workshop for an uninterrupted chat, the start of their romance. One couple sends for Father Ailnoth to baptize their newborn daughter, but he refuses to interrupt his Offices. When he does respond, the infant has died, and according to some medieval doctrine, she is doomed to limbo and is denied burial in consecrated ground. Here the new arrival is Father Ailnoth. A puritanical priest, a reprehensible man and loyal to King Stephen.

In December, 1141, the wheel has spun again, and this time left Stephen on the throne, if shakily. He begins shoring up his lead by gathering ecclesiastical and worldly authorities together to support him. This means that Abbot Radulfus has to go first, to (another!) legatine council, and then Hugh Beringar has to go off to a meeting of sheriffs, barons, etc...with the chance that he won't be confirmed in his post, which (you'll recall if you've read the earlier books) he inherited rather irregularly.

Contribute to This Page

Eluned: Single mother of baby Winifred, daughter of Nest and a beautiful, kind, if not bright, young woman. She was refused absolution and communion by Father Ailnoth. Being cut off from the church, she drowned herself in the pond. It's December of 1141 and Empress Maud and King Stephen are STILL tearing up their kingdom, focused more on winning the crown than considering what England needs. It makes me want to introduce them to King Solomon.