Fidelma was sitting with her brother on the bastion of the walkway of the abbey’s high walls overlooking the inlet. The small bay was quiet and deserted now, apart from a few local coastal barca and fishermen’s boats. The great assembly of ships bearing the High King and his entourage, the Archbishop of Armagh and Fianamail of Laigin and his retinue, had all departed. Even the threatening warship of Mugrón, which had seemed an immovable part of the scenery of the inlet, had weighed anchor and followed the Laigin fleet away from the coasts of Muman. What was left was a quiet, tranquil scene.
‘Truly, Fidelma,’ Colgú was more boisterous and no longer looking tense or weary, ‘you have shown that your reputation is well founded.’
Fidelma gave an indifferent shrug.
‘There is nothing to be satisfied about,’ she replied. ‘If I were not the instrument of the downfall of these evil people, then it would have been someone else. Didn’t Euripides say that evil people by their own nature can never prosper?’
Colgú looked suddenly solemn.
‘I believe that you are thinking more of Salbach than of young Nechtan, aren’t you? If you had not brought about Salbach’s downfall at this stage then I think that many people would have lost their lives in the resolution of that evil. At least the Corco Loigde can appoint a new chieftain and one, I trust, with more honour and humanity in him. And, perhaps, Osraige will be more content with the freedom to choose their native rulers again. So far as I am concerned, Salbach’s dishonour is equally shared by Scandlán.’
Fidelma look at him approvingly.
‘That is good. Although I cannot prove it, I believe that Scandlan of Osraige was involved in this plot to destroy all opposition to his dynasty. As for young Nechtan, if he accepts me as his advocate, I shall defend him,’ Fidelma said firmly. ‘He was the prisoner of his circumstance and his fear was great.’
‘But his hand did strike those blows into Dacán’s chest,’ Colgú pointed out.
‘And terror guided his thoughts and lent him the strength. There are degrees of culpability in all things.’
‘Well, the spectre of war has diminished thanks to you, Fidelma.’
‘For this time, at least,’ Fidelma smiled wryly. ‘My mentor, the Brehon Morann of Tara, used to say that the path of mankind through history was preceded by forests and followed by deserts and wastelands.’
‘He was no optimist,’ grinned Colgú.
Fidelma grimaced.
‘If you can divorce yourself from people then you are bound to make the observation that mankind has very little to commend it,’ she said. ‘Great art and philosophy does not come out of the human condition. It arrives in spite of the human condition.’
The chimes of the vesper bell caused them to glance up simultaneously at the abbey’s bell tower. Colgú grinned at his younger sister and placed a brotherly arm around her shoulders.
‘Come, let us go and eat heartily. There is time to be gloomy later. I think it ill behoves you to be the pessimist, little sister.’
Fidelma allowed herself to be led towards the refectory by her brother.
‘Well, the reverse is in pretending that everything is well in life when we are so wretched. No,’ she held up her hand to stop her brother’s disgruntled protest. ‘I will say no more. Let us go to eat. It was Euripides who said that when one’s stomach is full, contention ceases.’
Brother and sister, arm in arm, turned towards the grey granite buildings of the abbey.
Fidelma’s
World
Muman (Munster)
7TH CENTURY A.D.
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
Sister Fidelma of Kildare, a dálaigh or advocate of the law courts of seventh-century Ireland
Cass, a member of the King of Cashel’s bodyguard
Cathal, the dying King of Cashel
Colgú, the tánaiste or heir-apparent of Cashel, and Fidelma’s brother
At Rae na Scríne
Intat, a bó-aire or local magistrate of the Corco Loígde
Sister Eisten, caring for orphans
Cétach and Cosrach, young brothers
Cera and Ciar, young sisters
Tressach, an orphan boy
At the abbey of Ros Ailithir
Abbot Brocc, a cousin of Fidelma
Brother Conghus, the aistreóir or doorkeeper
Brother Rumann, the fer-tighis or steward of the abbey
Brother Midach, the chief physician
Brother Tóla, the assistant physician
Brother Martan, the apothecary
Sister Grella, the librarian
Brother Ségán, the fer-leginn or chief professor
Sister Necht, a novice and assistant hostel keeper
Men of the Corco Logde
Salbach, chieftain of the Corco Loígde
Scandlán, his cousin and petty king of Osraige
Ross, captain of a coastal barc or sailing vessel
Men of the kingdom of Laigin
The Venerable Dacán, the deceased
Fianamail, the king of Laigin
Forbassach, his Brehon or judge
Abbot Noé, brother of the Venerable Dacán; abbot of Fearna and advisor to Fianamail
Mugrón, captain of a Laigin warship
Midnat, a Laigin sailor
Assíd of the Uí Dego, a merchant and sea captain from Laigin
At Sceilig Mhichil
Father Mel, father superior of monastery of Sceilig Mhichil
Brother Febal, a monk
At Molua’s House
Brother Molua, who runs an orphanage
Sister Aíbnat, his wife
At the Great Assembly
Sechnassach, the High King of Ireland
Barrán, the Chief Brehon of Ireland
Ultan, Archbishop of Armagh, Chief Apostle of the Faith
HISTORICAL NOTE
The Sister Fidelma mysteries are set during the mid-seventh century A.D.
Sister Fidelma is not simply a religieuse, a member of the community of St Brigid of Kildare. She is also a qualified dálaigh, or advocate of the ancient law courts of Ireland. As this background will not be familiar to many readers, this foreword provides a few essential points of reference designed to make the stories more readily appreciated.
Ireland, in the seventh century A.D., consisted of five main provincial kingdoms: Indeed, the modern Irish word for a province is still cúige, literally ‘a fifth’. Four provincial kings—of Ulaidh (Ulster), of Connacht, of Muman (Munster) and of Laigin (Leinster)—gave their allegiance to the Ard Rí or High King, who ruled from Tara, in the ‘royal’ fifth province of Midhe (Meath), which means the ‘middle province’. Even among these provincial kingdoms, there was a decentralisation of power to petty-kingdoms and clan territories.
The law of primogeniture, the inheritance by the eldest son or daughter, was an alien concept in Ireland. Kingship, from the lowliest clan chieftain to the High King, was only partially hereditary and mainly electoral. Each ruler had to prove himself or herself worthy of office and was elected by the derbfhine of their family—three generations gathered in conclave. If a ruler did not pursue the commonwealth of the people, they were impeached and removed from office. Therefore the monarchial system of ancient Ireland had more in common with a modern-day republic than with the feudal monarchies of medieval Europe.
Ireland, in the seventh century A.D., was governed by a system of sophisticated laws called the Laws of the Fénechas, or land-tillers, which became more popularly known as the Brehon Laws, deriving from the word breitheamh—a judge. Tradition has it that these laws were first gathered in 714 B.C. by the order of the High King, Ollamh Fódhla. But it was in A.D. 438 that the High King, Laoghaire, appointed a commission of nine learned people to study, revise, and commit the laws to the new writing in Latin characters. One of those serving on the commission was Patrick, eventually to become patron saint of Ireland. After three years, the commission produced a written text of the laws, the first known codification.
The first complete surviving texts of the ancient laws of Ireland are preserved in an eleventh century manuscript book. It was not until the seventeenth century that the English colonial administration in Ireland finally suppressed the use of the Brehon Law system. To even possess a copy of the law books was punishable, often by death or transportation.
The law system was not static and every three years at the Féis Temhrach (Festival of Tara) the lawyers and administrators gathered to consider and revise the laws in the light of changing society and its needs.
Under these laws, women occupied a unique place. The Irish laws gave more rights and protection to women than any other western law code at that time or since. Woman could, and did, aspire to all offices and professions as the coequal with men. They could be political leaders, command their people in battle as warriors, be physicians, local magistrates, poets, artisans, lawyers, and judges. We know the name of many female judges of Fidelma’s period—Bríg Briugaid, Áine Ingine Iugaire and Darí among many others. Darí, for example, was not only a judge but the author of a noted law text written in the sixth century A.D. Women were protected by the laws against sexual harassment; against discrimination; from rape; they had the right of divorce on equal terms from their husbands with equitable separation laws and could demand part of their husband’s property as a divorce settlement; they had the right of inheritance of personal property and the right of sickness benefits. Seen from today’s perspective, the Brehon Laws provided for an almost feminist paradise.
This background, and its strong contrast with Ireland’s neighbours, should be understood to appreciate Fidelma’s role in these stories.
Fidelma was born at Cashel, capital of the kingdom of Muman (Munster) in southwest Ireland, in A.D. 636. She was the youngest daughter of Failbe Fland, the king, who died the year after her birth and was raised under the guidance of a distant cousin, Abbot Laisran of Durrow. When she reached the ‘Age of Choice’ (fourteen years), she went to study at the bardic school of the Brehon Morann of Tara, as many other young Irish girls did. Eight years of study resulted in Fidelma obtaining the degree of Anruth, only one degree below the highest offered at either bardic or ecclesiastical universities in ancient Ireland. The highest degree was ollamh, still the modern Irish word for a professor. Fidelma’s studies were in law, both in the criminal code of the Senchus Mór and the civil code of the Leabhar Acaill. She therefore became a dálaigh or advocate of the courts.
Her role could be likened to a modern Scottish sheriff-substitute, whose job is to gather and assess the evidence, independent of the police, to see if there is a case to be answered. The modern French juge d’instruction holds a similar role.
In those days, most of the professional or intellectual classes were members of the new Christian religious houses, just as, in previous centuries, all members of professions and intellectuals were Druids. Fidelma became a member of the religious community of Kildare founded in the late fifth century A.D. by St Brigid.
While the seventh century A.D. was considered part of the European ‘Dark Ages’, for Ireland it was a period of ‘Golden Enlightenment’. Students from every corner of Europe flocked to Irish universities to receive their education including the sons of the Anglo-Saxon kings. For example, Ald-frith, who became king of Northumbria from A.D. 685 – 705, was educated at Bangor and achieved a reputation in Ireland as a poet in the Irish language. Three of his poems still survive in ancient texts. At the great ecclesiastical university of Durrow, at this time, it is recorded that no less than eighteen different nations were represented among the students. At the same time, Irish male and female missionaries were setting out to reconvert a pagan European to Christianity, establishing churches, monasteries, and centres of learning throughout Europe as far east as Kiev, in the Ukraine; as far north as the Faroes, and as far south as Taranto in southern Italy. Ireland was a by-word for literacy and learning.
However, the Celtic Church of Ireland was in constant dispute with Rome on matters of liturgy and ritual. Rome had begun to reform itself in the fourth century, changing its dating of Easter and aspects of its liturgy. The Celtic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church refused to follow Rome, but the Celtic Church was gradually absorbed by Rome between the ninth and eleventh centuries while the Eastern Orthodox Churches have continued to remain independent of Rome. The Celtic Church of Ireland, during Fidelma’s time, was much concerned with this conflict.
One thing that marked both the Celtic Church and Rome in the seventh century was that the concept of celibacy was not universal. While there were always ascetics in both churches who sublimated physical love in a dedication to the deity, it was not until the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325 that clerical marriages were condemned but not banned. The concept of celibacy in the Roman Church arose from the customs practised by the pagan priestesses of Vesta and the priests of Diana. By the fifth century Rome had forbidden clerics from the rank of abbot and bishop to sleep with their wives and, shortly after, even to marry at all. The general clergy were discouraged from marrying by Rome but not forbidden to do so. Indeed, it was not until the reforming papacy of Leo IX (A.D. 1049 – 1054) that a serious attempt was made to force the western clergy to accept universal celibacy. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, priests below the rank of abbot and bishop have retained their right to marry until this day.
The condemnation of the ‘sin of the flesh’ remained alien to the Celtic Church for a long time after Rome’s attitude became a dogma. In Fidelma’s world, both sexes inhabited abbeys and monastic foundations which were known as conhospitae, or double houses, where men and women lived raising their children in Christ’s service.
Fidelma’s own house of St Brigid of Kildare was one such community of both sexes in Fidelma’s time. When Brigid established her community at Kildare (Cill-Dara = the church of oaks) she invited a bishop named Conlaed to join her. Her first biography, written in A.D. 650, in Fidelma’s time, was written by a monk of Kildare named Cogitosus, who makes it clear that it was a mixed community.
It should also be pointed out that, showing women’s coequal role with men, women were priests of the Celtic Church at this time. Brigid herself was ordained a bishop by Patrick’s nephew, Mel, and her case was not unique. Rome actually wrote a protest in the sixth century at the Celtic practise of allowing women to celebrate the divine sacrifice of Mass.
To help readers locate themselves in Fidelma’s Ireland of the seventh century, where its geo-political divisions will be mainly unfamiliar, I have provided a sketch map and, to help them more readily identify personal names, a list of principal characters is also given.
I have generally refused to use anachronistic place names for obvious reasons although I have bowed to a few modern usages, eg; Tara, rather than Teamhair; and Cashel, rather than Caiseal Muman; and Armagh in place of Ard Macha. However, I have cleaved to the name of Muman rather than the prolepsis form ‘Munster’ when the Norse stadr (place) was added to the Irish name Muman in the ninth century A.D. and eventually anglisised. Similarly, I have maintained the original Laigin, rather than the anglicised form of Laigin-stadr which is now Leinster.
Armed with this background knowledge, we may now enter Fidelma’s world. This story is placed in the year A.D. 665.
Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not …
– Matthew, 10:14
Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing concealed that shall not be revealed; and nothing hidden that shall not be known.
– Matthew, 10:26
The Sister Fidelma novels by Peter Tremayne
Absolution by Murder
Shroud for the Archbishop
Suffer Little Children
*The Subtle Serpent
*forthcoming
SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN. Copyright © 1995 by Peter Tremayne. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or
reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
First published in Great Britain by Headline Book Publishing
eISBN 9781466814035
First eBook Edition : March 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tremayne, Peter.
Suffer little children : a Sister Fidelma mystery / Peter Tremayne.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-312-15665-0
I. Title.
PR6070.R366S84 1997
823’.914—dc21
97-8805
CIP
First U.S. Edition: August 1997
Suffer Little Children Page 32
