Sister Fidelma

Sister Fidelma is a fictional detective, the eponymous heroine of a series by Peter Tremayne (pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis). Fidelma is both a lawyer, or dalaigh, and Celtic religieuse.

Fidelma usually solves crimes in company with her partner (and eventually husband) Brother Eadulf, a Saxon religieux. Though Eadulf has often been compared to Sherlock Holmes' well-meaning but somewhat obtuse Dr. Watson, he usually proves essential to solving the mystery at hand (if only in a small way). A true companion, he has saved Fidelma's life more than once.

The Sister Fidelma stories are set in the middle of the 7th century, mainly in Ireland. They are historical whodunnits in the literary tradition of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. Peter Tremayne's novels are extremely complex and usually feature the interaction of several subplots involving political intrigue, personal relationships, religious conflict, or characters' desires for personal or monetary gain.

Biography

Fidelma was born into the royal family of Munster in the late 630s. Her father, King Failbe Fland, died c. 637/9, during Fidelma's infancy. Fidelma was raised as an Eoghanachta princess. She studied civil and criminal law, especially the brehon laws, under the supervision of Brehon Morann of Tara. During her student years, Fidelma had an unhappy love affair with Cian, a warrior of the High King's bodyguard, who eventually abandoned her to marry the daughter of the High King's steward (who, ironically, later divorced him on the grounds that he was sterile). Her pre-occupation with Cian interfered with her concentration and devotion to her studies and nearly caused her to be expelled from the Brehon Morann's classes. Emerging from the affair battered but unbowed, she applied herself wholeheartedly to her studies and eventually qualified as an anruth, the second highest rank in the Irish legal system. In the novels, she pursues a career as a dalaigh to the Brehon Court of Ireland.

On the advice of her mentor Abbot Laisran of Durrow, Fidelma became a religieuse of the Celtic Church, joining St. Brigid's mixed abbey at Kildare. She later left this community some time after her return from Rome for reasons outlined in the story "Hemlock at Vespers" and now refers to herself as "Fidelma of Cashel" rather than "Sister Fidelma". Strong-minded and independent, Fidelma often chafes at the structure of the religious life; she seems to have become a religieuse more as a career move (monasteries were the intellectual centers of seventh-century Ireland) than as an expression of Christian devotion. In the novel A Prayer for the Damned, Fidelma considers renouncing her religious vows but decides against it. Fidelma's anam chara or "soul friend" (the Irish equivalent of a confessor and spiritual guide) had been her friend Liadin, as Fidelma had been to her, but Liadin later betrayed and broke her oath to Fidelma (see the sbort story "At the Tent of Holofernes" in Hemlock at Vespers). Since that time Fidelma had no real anam chara, but in The Leper's Bell she realizes that she has unknowingly come to regard Eadulf as her anam chara and finally recognizes him as such. Even so, she still continues to seek advice from clerical mentors, particularly Abbot Laisran and Brother Conchobar of Cashel.

In 664, Fidelma accompanied the Irish delegation to the Synod of Whitby, where she met Brother Eadulf (quite literally running into him); later, they were asked to work together to investigate the murder of Abbess Etain of Kildare, a leading member of the Church of Columba faction (see Absolution by Murder). Following a little initial hostility on Fidelma's part towards Eadulf, the murderer was uncovered, and after the Synod concluded Fidelma and Eadulf journeyed together to Rome, where they were asked to investigate the murder of Archbishop-designate Wighard (see Shroud for the Archbishop). After the case was successfully resolved, Fidelma returned to Cashel (on the way stopping at the seaport of Genua to visit her old teacher Brother Ruadán and becoming involved in the events of Behold a Pale Horse) and in 665 became involved in solving the murder of famed religious scholar the Venerable Dacan (see Suffer Little Children).

In 666 when Fidelma was called upon to investigate the finding of a headless body in an abbey well, she also became involved with the mystery of a deserted Gaulish ship on which (she learned) Eadulf had been traveling to Cashel as an emissary of Theodore of Tarsus, the new Archbishiop of Canterbury, and from which he and the entire crew had been taken captive (see The Subtle Serpent). Returning to Cashel together after rescuing Eadulf, revealing the murderer and uncovering a plot against Munster, Fidelma and Eadulf soon became nearly inseparable (see The Spider's Web, Valley of the Shadow and The Monk Who Vanished). After nearly a year together, they again separated, with Eadulf (reluctantly) intending to return to Canterbury and Fidelma intending to go on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. James in Iberia.

Events didn't go quite as planned. Fidelma had only just arrived in Iberia after a very eventful voyage (see Act of Mercy) when she received a message from her brother Colgu that Eadulf had been charged with murder. Hurrying back to Ireland, she reunited with Eadulf at the Abbey of Fearna, proved his innocence and uncovered the true killer as well as the reasons behind the crime (see Our Lady of Darkness). Eadulf then convinced Fidelma to accompany him to Canterbury and then, after their business with Archbishop Theodore had been accomplished, to visit his former home of Seaxmund's Ham (see Smoke in the Wind, the short story "The Lost Eagle" in Whispers of the Dead and The Haunted Abbot). At some point during their travels, they revealed their true feelings for and to one another, began a physical relationship (resulting in Fidelma's pregnancy) and entered into a temporary marriage of a year and a day (with Fidelma as Eadulf's ben charrthach or "loved woman" and Eadulf as Fidelma's fer comtha). After their return to Cashel in 667, their son Alchu ("Gentle Hound") was born sometime between June and July of that year.

The last three months of 667 turned rocky; Fidelma and Eadulf's relationship was seriously troubled by Fidelma's suffering from (but refusing to admit that she suffered from) what is now called postpartum depression. While Fidelma and Eadulf were away solving a series of serial killings (see Badger's Moon), Alchu's nurse was found murdered outside the castle of Cashel and little Alchu was missing, believed to have been kidnapped. Despite objections that they were too emotionally involved to investigate properly, Eadulf was able to track down and recover Alchu and Fidelma uncovered the reason why Alchu's nurse had been murdered (see The Leper's Bell). In February 668, they celebrated a permanent marriage, despite the interruption caused by their investigation into the murder of Abbot Ultan (see A Prayer for the Damned). After the events of Dancing with Demons in the winter of 669-670, she and Eadulf were made members of the Nasc Naidh, an elite corps of bodyguards to the kings of Munster, by King Colgu and entitled to wear the golden torc of that order.

In 665, Fidelma's cousin King Cathal Cu Cen Mathair died and Fidelma's older brother Colgu succeeded to the throne of Munster (see Suffer Little Children). (The historical King Colgu ruled from A.D. 665 to A.D. 678.) In the wake of her brother's succession, Fidelma becomes increasingly involved in Irish court politics and diplomacy, including thwarting several plots against the kingdom of Munster, solving the murder of the High King Sechnassach (see Dancing with Demons) and acting as advisor to the Irish delegation to the Council of Autun summoned by Bishop Leodegar in 670 (see The Council of the Cursed). After uncovering the person responsible for the murder of her cousin (see The Dove of Death), Fidelma decides to renounce her religious vows and become full-time legal advisor to her brother, a decision she believes Eadulf will support. Her belief proves wrong and leads to a bitter quarrel between them, resulting in a physical separation between them, Fidelma remaining in Cashel and Eadulf going to the abbey of Ruan. During the weeks of the separation and due to Muman's Chief Brehon Baithen's intentions of retiring becaise of a serious and possibly fatal illness, Fidelma becomes determined to succeed Baithen as Chief Brehon and Colgu agrees to have her name submitted among the other candidates (although he informs her that he must remain neutral and that the final decision must lie with the Council of Brehons).

The murder of Brother Donnchad at the abbey of Lios Mor leads Colgu and Bishop Segdae to send Fidelma to investigate but on the condition that Eadulf accompany and assist her (see The Chalice of Blood). Although they are able to work together as before, the breach is evident and even though the investigation is successfully concluded, Fidelma is determined to follow her ambition through.

Themes in the Sister Fidelma series

In the course of the series, Sister Fidelma journeys to many different parts of Western Europe, including Ireland, Wales, Northumbria, Hispania, Brittany, Francia and Rome. The differences between the societies she encounters and her native country is an ongoing theme throughout the series. Through Fidelma's adventures, Peter Tremayne introduces his readers to his views and interpretations of events and conflicts of 7th century Ireland. Major themes in the Sister Fidelma series include:

Inter-Societal Themes: Differences between Celtic society and other societies of the time

• The system of government, in particular the method of selecting a ruler. (Celtic society's semi-democratic system, versus the Anglo-Saxon system of primogeniture.)
• Legal systems, conventions of legal proceedings (including methods of establishing innocence or guilt), and punishments for criminals.
• Political alliances, truces, and disputes between different countries.
• The legality of slavery.
• The role of women. (Relatively unrestricted in Celtic society; much more restricted in Roman and Anglo-Saxon societies.)

Intra-Societal Themes: Issues within Celtic society itself.

• Conflict between local (the five provinces of Ireland) and central (the High King at Tara) political authorities.
• Conflicts between different clans or regions of Ireland.
• Various aspects of Irish society, including language, geography, history, medicine, professions, customs, food, and hygiene.

Religious Themes

• The ongoing struggle between Celtic and Roman forms of Christianity for supremacy in the British Isles.
• The meeting of older pagan and newly-introduced Christian forms of worship (sometimes this occurs easily in the Fidelma series, other times bitter conflicts result).
• The use of secular or traditional Irish law versus the Penitentials.
• The question of whether clergy should be celibate.
• The value of superstition and astrology.

Novels and collections of short stories

1. Absolution By Murder (1994)
2. Shroud for the Archbishop (1995)
3. Suffer Little Children (1995)
4. The Subtle Serpent (1996)
5. The Spider's Web (1997)
6. Valley of the Shadow (1998)
7. The Monk Who Vanished (1999)
8. Act of Mercy (1999)
9. Our Lady of Darkness (2000)
10. Hemlock At Vespers (collection of short stories) (2000)
11. Smoke in the Wind (2001)
12. The Haunted Abbot (2002)
13. Badger's Moon (2003)
14. Whispers of the Dead (collection of short stories) (2004)
15. The Leper's Bell (2004)
16. Master of Souls (2005)
17. A Prayer for the Damned (2006)
18. Dancing with Demons (2007)
19. Council of the Cursed (2008)
20. The Dove of Death (2009)
21. The Chalice of Blood (2010)
22. Behold A Pale Horse (2011)
23. The Seventh Trumpet (scheduled for publication July 2012)

External links

• International Sister Fidelma Society