adfael

 
Brother Cadfael was born in Trefriw, Gwynedd, Wales,
in 1080. His full name is “Cadfael ap Meilyr ap Dafydd”.
 

Trefriw

 
At 14, he entered the service of a Shrewsbury wool merchant. He went to school in Shrewsbury and learnt reading and writing and remained in town until the death of his master.
At 17, he fell in love with Richildis Gurney, but he left her to go in the Holy Land with the army of Robert of Normandy, vowing to return from the Crusade to marry her.
 

He was at the fall of Antioch, and settled in the town with the other crusaders. He met Mariam, a young sarazine, their love lasted one year, then Cadfael was forced to left her to participate to the siege of Jerusalem.
He was just 20 years old when Jerusalem fell, serving as a man-at-arms under the force of Robert of Normandy. Before leaving, he returned for a brief while to Mariam, before finally sailing off. Unknown to him, this brief encounter lead to a son. As a sailor, he travelled around the Mediterranean, visiting places such as Turkey and Italy.
 

Finally he returned to England, 26 years had passed, Richildis married someone else and Cadfael wished to change his life.
Cadfael had grown tired of his wandering existance and, at the age of 40, a chance encounter with a Benedictine Prior finally pointed out to him the direction his life would now take. He decided to join the Benedictine Monks at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Shrewsbury.
 

It is there that he tended the herb gardens of the monastery, using his collected knowledge of plants and herbs to cultivate medicines and tonics to help the other monks and the people of the nearby areas

  • November - 1120 - Rare Benedictine
  • December - 1135 - Rare Benedictine
  • May 1137 - A Morbid Taste for Bones (1st chronicle)
  • August 1138 - One Corpse too Many (2nd chronicle)
  • December 1138 - Monk's Hood (3rd chronicle)
  • July 1139 - Saint Peter's Fair (4th chronicle)
  • October 1139 - The Leper of Saint Giles (5th chronicle)
  • November 1139 - The Virgin in the Ice (6th chronicle)
  • Spring 1140 - The Sanctuary Sparrow (7th chronicle)
  • September 1140 - The Devil's Novice (8th chronicle)
  • February 1141 - Dead Man's Ransom (9th chronicle)
  • June 1141 - The Pilgrim of Hate (10th chronicle)
  • August 1141 - An Excellent Mystery (11th chronicle)
  • December 1141 - The Raven in the Foregate (12th chronicle)
  • May 1142 - The Rose Rent (13th chronicle)
  • October 1142 - The Hermit of Eyton Forest (14th chronicle)
  • March 1143 - The Confession of Brother Haluin (15th chronicle)
  • June 1143 - The Heretic's Apprentice (16th chronicle)
  • August 1143 - The Potter's Field (17th chronicle)
  • Summer 1144 - The Summer of the Danes (18th chronicle)
  • August 1144 - The Holy Thief (19th chronicle)
  • November 1145 - Brother Cadfael's Penance (20th chronicle)

 

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