When I had first heard of the Cadfael series, I thought it was simply 20th-century whodunits with the Middle Ages as a kind of superficial background. Fortunately, I was quite mistaken. What Ellis Peters (who wrote the original books of Brother Cadfael) and the filmmakers of the series have done is to fuse the idea of whodunits within a completely medieval context, espousing not only the look but also the rhetoric, belief and sensibilities of medieval community and thought. My suspicion is that Ellis Peters did appropriate research into the Middle Ages to give us a picture that is much closer to medieval life than other similar productions, such as the recent "Robin Hood" series, which is merely a 20th-century action series disguised as being in the Middle Ages.
If there is one aspect that permeated every facet of medieval Europe, it would have to be religious fanaticism. Nearly every act, deed, circumstance, and event was defined by its relationship with the divine. Criminal acts were the work of the Devil. Charitable acts were the result of God, Jesus, Mary or one of the saints. Wars were the preordained outcomes of divine providence. Holy relics and the bones of saints were as fused to religious belief as the conduct of the military and the nobility. There was no distinction between the secular and the religious as there is today. And turning one's back on religion during this period could have dire consequences.
Within these historical parameters, the Cadfael series may be the one television offering of its type that succeeds in placing the viewer into the medieval world as it probably was. The medieval world, though fascinating, was also drab, damp, and dirty. Its nickname as the "Dark Ages" is not completely unfounded. Aside from the obvious issues of personal hygiene and cleanliness (the ancient Greeks and Romans definitely had the edge 700+ years earlier), ignorance and illiteracy were the norm. The vast majority of the nobility couldn't read or write until the High Middle Ages. But religious fanaticism mixed with fervent aggression (the most deadly of combinations) begets an age in which violence was often the arbiter for disagreement. The Cadfael stories interplay with this mixture of religious fundamentalism, prevalent ignorance, and violent confrontations with fascinating and mostly plausible results. Of course, there were few dull moments in the Middle Ages which makes for a perfect platform for storytelling.
From start-to-finish, the 13 productions are of the highest-quality for a television programme of this type, with a fine performance by Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael. (Alas, Ellis Peters wrote 20 Cadfael books.) Maybe the only criticism might be the character of Cadfael himself, whose portrayal is ,ore as a modernist (in the 20th-century sense) trapped in a medieval body and residing in a medieval world. He is almost too insightful and knowledgeable for the age, but maybe it works as a story-device to help the audience see medieval life through his eyes. Common sense was not very common in the Middle Ages. Simultaneously if you accept Cadfael's insight as being ahead of his time by several centuries, it's a wonderful and entertaining production that transports you to the 12th century. How mankind ever lived through the Middle Ages without destroying itself is a mystery not even Cadfael can solve. (There was a figure in the 14th century who was disillusioned by the age and literally anticipated the coming of the Renaissance.)
If there is one aspect that permeated every facet of medieval Europe, it would have to be religious fanaticism. Nearly every act, deed, circumstance, and event was defined by its relationship with the divine. Criminal acts were the work of the Devil. Charitable acts were the result of God, Jesus, Mary or one of the saints. Wars were the preordained outcomes of divine providence. Holy relics and the bones of saints were as fused to religious belief as the conduct of the military and the nobility. There was no distinction between the secular and the religious as there is today. And turning one's back on religion during this period could have dire consequences.
Within these historical parameters, the Cadfael series may be the one television offering of its type that succeeds in placing the viewer into the medieval world as it probably was. The medieval world, though fascinating, was also drab, damp, and dirty. Its nickname as the "Dark Ages" is not completely unfounded. Aside from the obvious issues of personal hygiene and cleanliness (the ancient Greeks and Romans definitely had the edge 700+ years earlier), ignorance and illiteracy were the norm. The vast majority of the nobility couldn't read or write until the High Middle Ages. But religious fanaticism mixed with fervent aggression (the most deadly of combinations) begets an age in which violence was often the arbiter for disagreement. The Cadfael stories interplay with this mixture of religious fundamentalism, prevalent ignorance, and violent confrontations with fascinating and mostly plausible results. Of course, there were few dull moments in the Middle Ages which makes for a perfect platform for storytelling.
From start-to-finish, the 13 productions are of the highest-quality for a television programme of this type, with a fine performance by Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael. (Alas, Ellis Peters wrote 20 Cadfael books.) Maybe the only criticism might be the character of Cadfael himself, whose portrayal is ,ore as a modernist (in the 20th-century sense) trapped in a medieval body and residing in a medieval world. He is almost too insightful and knowledgeable for the age, but maybe it works as a story-device to help the audience see medieval life through his eyes. Common sense was not very common in the Middle Ages. Simultaneously if you accept Cadfael's insight as being ahead of his time by several centuries, it's a wonderful and entertaining production that transports you to the 12th century. How mankind ever lived through the Middle Ages without destroying itself is a mystery not even Cadfael can solve. (There was a figure in the 14th century who was disillusioned by the age and literally anticipated the coming of the Renaissance.)