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Cadfael is a Benedictine monk, the herbalist at an abbey in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, near the Welsh border. Cadfael himself is of Welsh extraction; his full name is Cadfael ap (son of) Meilyr ap Dafydd and he was born around 1080 to a villein ( serf) family in Trefriw, in Gwynedd (northern Wales). The stories are set between about 1135 and about 1145, during the civil warThe Anarchy in English history commonly names the period of civil war and unsettled government that occurred during the reign ( 1135 1154) of King Stephen of England. Stephen was a favourite nephew of King Henry I of England (reigned 1100 1135), whose onl between the forces of King Stephen and Empress MaudEmpress Maud ( February 7, 1102 September 10, 1169) is the title by which Matilda daughter and dispossessed heir of King Henry I of England and his wife Maud of Scotland (herself daughter of Malcolm III Canmore and St. Margaret of Scotland), is known, in. Cadfael became a monk in middle age, after going on Crusade as both a soldier and later, a sailor. As a result, he is more familiar with the secular world than most of his brother monks. In addition, his personality more reflects modern attitudes and ethics than his own time which often puts him in conflict with his brethren on matters of justice and conscience.
Thirteen of the books were adapted for a series of television movieA television movie (also "TV movie", "TV-movie", "made-for-TV movie", etc. is a photoplay that does not normally feature in movie theaters but is produced for, and released to, television only. It is commonly considered a type of movie, but some people res starring Sir Derek JacobiSir Derek George Jacobi (born October 22, 1938) is a British actor, knighted in 1994 for his services to the theatre. Jacobi was born in London, and he studied at the University of Cambridge before embarking on his stage career. He quickly came to the for although the sequence of the television episodes differs from the sequence of the novels.