page_title: The Summer of the Danes
section_title: Political Events in the Church and within Wales
hierarchical_section_title: The Summer of the Danes / Setting in history / Political Events in the Church and within Wales
context_page_description: The Summer of the Danes is a medieval mystery novel by Ellis Peters, set in 1144. It is the eighteenth in the Cadfael Chronicles and was first published in 1991.
  Brother Cadfael is pleased to join his young friend Mark, now a deacon, on a mission of church diplomacy in Wales. Travelling in the safety of the Prince of Gwynedd's train, they are brought to unexpected dangers, as they seek to keep a young Welsh woman free from harm.
context_section_description: Unlike most of the Brother Cadfael chronicles, the Summer of the Danes is set in north Wales, specifically Gwynedd. Wales was then divided into many principalities. Owain Gwynedd tried to unite many of them through negotiation, dynastic marriage and conquest. Historically, he and his brother Cadwaladr were several times estranged and reconciled. Cadwaladr did indeed enlist the help of a Danish fleet from Dublin to regain his lands. This conflict with Owain Gwynedd is a major thread of the plot of the novel.
  Their encounter was at Abermenai Point, opposite the southwest corner of the Isle of Anglesey; Cadwaladr came with a group of Danes from Dublin in his hope of again being in his brother's good graces and perhaps regaining his lost lands in the north of Ceredigion just south of the border with Gwynedd.
  After the instance in this novel, Danes from Dublin acted in Welsh affairs, specifically after Owain's death in 1170, on behalf of his dispossessed son Hywel. Prior to that, in the Great Revolt of 1166, Danes from Dublin were hired by Henry II of England to harass the coast while his armies fought the Welsh on land. They were ineffective, and Henry II lost on land as well.
  Another driving force of the story is the tension within the Church, represented at the time by Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and churchmen in Wales who wished to preserve independent Celtic organisation and forms of their Christian religion. Among others, the Celtic Christian tradition allowed priests to be married and have children, while the Roman practice was newly enforcing celibacy among all priests. The See of Saint Asaph was reestablished the year before the story; Theobald appointed a Norman to impose the doctrines of Rome. Deacon Mark alludes to the Claim of Metropolitan Status of the See of Saint David's, which would make it equal to Canterbury. This was opposed by Theobald. He moved to impose the Roman rite on all of Wales by 1148. This change at Saint Asaph attracts Deacon Mark and Brother Cadfael into Gwynedd and pushes Heledd out of it.
caption: Wales in the 12th Century – Isle of Anglesey at top
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