History YMMV / BrotherCadfael

* GeniusBonus: Cadfael's conflicts with Prior Robert and other are a microcosm of the intellectual conflict then raging in Western Europe between neo-Aristotelianism and Augustinianism. Neo-Aristotelianism originated in the Middle East, where Cadfael spent his youth.

** Aldwin in ''The Heretic's Apprentice'' is an old man with a colossal inferiority complex he'd been carrying his entire life, terrified of being kicked out of his job as a clerk for a wool merchant and left to fend for himself. So when Elave, a young man far more skilled than him returns to the family, Aldwin thinks his position is in danger and denounces him as a heretic after a drunken discussion on God and church doctrine. When he's informed Elave had no intention of taking Aldwin's place nor the family of replacing him, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Aldwin is devastated]] and tries to make amends, but is murdered before that can happen. And worse, [[spoiler:he died for no reason]]: the murderer thought Aldwin had [[spoiler:seen a rare book inside a box]] and silenced him, when in fact he'd been interrupted before seeing anything.

** Ambitious young men become monks and priests for the same reason that today they become doctors and lawyers; they could care less about serving God, they want to get ahead in life and get noticed by the wealthy and powerful;

** Aldwin in ''The Heretic's Apprentice'' is an old man with a colossal inferiority complex he'd been carrying his entire life, terrified of being kicked out of his job as a clerk for a wool merchant and left to fend for himself. So when Eulave, a young man far more skilled than him returns to the family, Aldwin thinks his position is in danger and denounces him as a heretic after a drunken discussion on God and church doctrine. When he's informed Eulave had no intention of taking Aldwin's place nor the family of replacing him, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Aldwin is devastated]] and tries to make amends, but is murdered before that can happen. And worse, [[spoiler:he died for no reason]]: the murderer thought Aldwin had [[spoiler:seen a rare book inside a box]] and silenced him, when in fact he'd been interrupted before seeing anything.

* GeniusBonus: Cadfael's conflicts with Prior Robert and other conservative monks are a microcosm of the intellectual conflict then raging in Western Europe between neo-Aristotelianism and Augustinianism. Neo-Aristotelianism originated in the Middle East, where Cadfael spent his youth.

** Aldwin in ''The Heretic's Apprentice'' is an old man with a colossal inferiority complex he'd been carrying his entire life, terrified of being kicked out of his job as a clerk for a wool merchant and left to fend for himself. So when Eulave, a young man far more skilled than him returns to the family, Aldwin thinks his position is in danger and denounces him as a heretic after a drunken discussion on God and church doctrine. When he's informed Eulave had no intention of taking Aldwin's place nor the family of replacing him, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Aldwin is devastated]] and tries to make amends, but is murdered before that can happen. And worse, [[spoiler:he died for no reason]]: the murderer thought Aldwin had [[spoiler:seen a rare book inside a box]] and silenced him, when in fact he'd been interrupted before seeing anything.

* FridgeLogic: In ''One Corpse Too Many'', the monks of Shrewsbury offer to oversee the identification and burial of the 94 men hanged after King Stephen's forces capture the castle. Fair enough, the number or executions is historically accurate. Except... shouldn't there ''also'' have been some of [=FitzAlan=]'s men who died ''during the battle'', who would also require burial? Presumably the entire garrison wouldn't have surrendered without a fight. So, there should have been quite a few battle casualties that Cadfael and his brethren would've needed to lay out for the townsfolk to inspect and locate their fallen kin, ''besides'' the ones who were captured and hanged.

* FridgeLogic: In ''One Corpse Too Many'', the monks of Shrewsbury offer to oversee the identification and burial of the 94 men hanged after King Stephen's forces capture the castle. Fair enough, the number or executions is historically accurate. Except... shouldn't there ''also'' have been some of [=FitzAlan=]'s men who died ''during the battle'', who would also require burial? Presumable the entire garrison wouldn't have surrendered without a fight...? If so, there should have been quite a few battle casualties that Cadfael and his brethren would've needed to lay out for the townsfolk to inspect and locate their fallen kin.

** This is how Hugh Beringar, a loyal official, views [[spoiler:Bourchier, alias Cuthred]] betraying his liege in her darkest hour.
* TearJerker: In ''The Leper of St. Giles'', the old man Lazarus chooses to go quietly on his way after giving aid to, and setting matters right for, Iveta de Massard and Joscelin Lucy. He doesn't even linger long enough for them to thank him. Only Cadfael knows the truth--that he is [[spoiler:Guimar de Massard, Iveta's grandfather, reported as having died of battle wounds in the Holy Land. He is no longer actively afflicted with leprosy and is no danger to anyone, but the illness has left him grotesquely disfigured, and he is content to remain dead in the eyes of the world now that he knows his granddaughter will be safe and happy]].

* FunnyMoments: Brother Oswin being repeatedly described as a PersonOfMassDestruction. It's not that he deliberately breaks things, he's just that clumsy, and he ''tries''. Even his NeverMyFault attitude isn't malicious.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Corbière]] in ''Saint Peter's Fair'' crosses it when he implies that he'll rape Emma--or at least molest her--if she doesn't give up the MacGuffin.

* MorePopularExpy: Creator/EllisPeters wrote a couple of spin-off novels from her ''Literature/FelseInvestigates'' series set in India, featuring a Hindu holy man and amateur sleuth called Swami Premanathanand as a charater who is strongly similar to Cadfael. She then started writing the Cadfael books. Cadfael was a huge hit and got a TV adaptation, while only Peters' committed fans remember Premanathanand.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Corbière]] in ''Saint Peter's Fair'' crosses it when he threatens to rape Emma.