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Lion Hudson - Mel Starr

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151 pages

English

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'Hugh de Singleton is a delight... the well-crafted plot, the excellent period detail and the flashes of humour.' Donna Fletcher Crow, author of The Monastery MurdersMy life would have been more tranquil in the days after Martinmas had I not seen the crows. Whatever it was that the crows had found lay in the dappled shadow of the bare limbs of the oak, so I was nearly upon the thing before I recognized what the crows were feasting upon. The corpse wore black.Master Hugh is making his way towards Oxford when he discovers the young Benedictine - a fresh body, barefoot - not half a mile from the nearby abbey.The abbey's novice master confirms the boy's identity: John, one of three novices. But he had gone missing four days previously, and his corpse is fresh. There has been plague in the area, but this was not the cause of death: the lad has been stabbed in the back. To Hugh's sinking heart, the abbot has a commission for him ...

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Publié par	Lion Hudson
Date de parution	15 août 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781782641100
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0450€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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The Unquiet Bones
A Corpse at St Andrew s Chapel
A Trail of Ink
Unhallowed Ground
The Tainted Coin
Rest Not in Peace
The Abbot s Agreement

Text copyright 2014 Mel Starr This edition copyright 2014 Lion Hudson
The right of Mel Starr to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Lion Fiction an imprint of Lion Hudson plc Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England www.lionhudson.com/fiction
ISBN 978 1 78264 109 4 e-ISBN 978 1 78264 110 0
First edition 2014
Acknowledgments Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton, a member of the Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved. NIV is a trademark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover image: iStock
For the reverends R. C. Morrell, Henry Steel, G. H. Bonney, Don Bastian, William Cryderman, Dean Parrott, Dwight Knasel, Ralph Cleveland, Michael Hambley, Bruce Rhodes, and Craig Watson.
Respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
In the summer of 1990 my wife Susan and I discovered a lovely B&B in the village of Mavesyn Ridware. The proprietors, Tony and Lis Page, became friends. We visited them again in 2001, after they had moved to Bampton. I saw then that the village would be an ideal setting for the tales I wished to write. Tony and Lis have been a wonderful resource for the history of Bampton. I owe them much.
When Dan Runyon, Professor of English at Spring Arbor University, learned that I had written The Unquiet Bones , he invited me to speak to a fiction-writing class about the trials of a rookie writer. Dan sent some chapters to his friend Tony Collins. Thanks, Dan.
And many thanks to Tony Collins and the fine people at Lion Hudson for their willingness to publish an untried author. Thanks especially to my editor, Jan Greenough, who excels at asking questions like, Do you really want to say it that way? and Wouldn t Master Hugh do it this way?
Ms. Malgorzata Deron, of Poznan, Poland, has offered to maintain my website. She has done a wonderful job. To see the results of her work visit www.melstarr.net
Abbot: the leader of an abbey, generally elected by monks of his abbey with the approval of the bishop of the diocese.
Angelus Bell: rung three times each day; dawn, noon, and dusk. Announced the time for the Angelus devotional.
Ascension Day: forty days after Easter. In 1368, May 26.
Balloc broth: a spiced broth, used most often to prepare eels or pike.
Banns: a formal announcement, made in the parish church for three consecutive Sundays, of intent to marry.
Beadle: a manor official in charge of fences, hedges, enclosures, and curfew. Also called a hayward.
Calefactory: the warming room in a monastery. Benedictines allowed the fire to be lit on November 1. The more rigorous Cistercians had no calefactory.
Candlemas: February 2. Marked the purification of Mary. Women traditionally paraded to the church carrying lighted candles. Tillage of fields resumed this day.
Castile (soap) : a mild soap imported from Spain.
Chapter: the monks of an abbey met each morning. During the meeting a chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict was read. Therefore the place of meeting was the chapter house, and the assembled monks were the chapter.
Chauces: tight-fitting trousers, often of different colors for each leg.
Choir: the east end of the abbey church where monks stalls were located. Here they gathered to celebrate the canonical hours and daily mass.
Compline: the seventh and last of the daytime canonical hours, observed at sunset.
Coney: rabbit.
Corpus Christi: the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. In 1369, June 15.
Cotehardie: the primary medieval outer garment. Women s were floor-length, men s ranged from thigh-length to ankle-length.
Cotter: a poor villager, usually holding five acres or less. He often had to work for wealthy villagers to make ends meet.
Cresset: a bowl of oil with a floating wick used for lighting.
Daub: a clay and plaster mix, reinforced with straw and/or horse hair.
Demesne: land directly exploited by a lord, and worked by his villeins, as opposed to land a lord might rent to tenants.
Dexter: a war horse, larger than pack horses and palfreys. Also, the right-hand direction.
Dower: the groom s financial contribution to marriage, designated for the bride s support during marriage and possible widowhood.
Dowry: a gift from the bride s family to the groom, intended for her support during marriage and widowhood, should her husband predecease her.
Explorator: a monastic official whose duty was to ensure that an abbey or priory was secure for the night. Also called an a roundsman.
Farthing: one fourth of a penny. The smallest silver coin.
Franklin: a medieval English landowner of free but not noble birth.
Gloucester College: the main Benedictine house in medieval Oxford University, now Worcester College.
Groom: a lower-rank servant to a lord, ranked between page and valet.
Guest-master: the monastic official in charge of providing for abbey guests.
Habit: a monk s robe and cowl.
Hallmote: the manorial court. Royal courts judged free tenants accused of felonies; otherwise manorial courts had jurisdiction over legal matters concerning villagers. Villeins accused of homicide might also be tried in a manorial court.
Hayward: also called a beadle, he served under the reeve. Usually a half-yardlander or a mid-level villager.
Horn dancers: men wearing deer antlers who danced in the town marketplace at Michaelmas. Probably derived from an ancient pagan hunting custom.
Infirmarer: the monastic official in charge of the abbey infirmary and the health of the monks.
King s Eyre: a royal circuit court, presided over by a traveling judge.
Kirtle: the basic medieval undershirt.
Kitchener: the monastic official who was in charge of preparing abbey meals.
Lammastide: August 1, when thanks was given for a successful wheat harvest. From Old English Loaf Mass.
Lauds: the first canonical service of the day, celebrated at dawn.
Lay brother: not a monk, yet he had taken vows and was considered a member of the community. Chiefly responsible for agricultural and industrial work to ensure the self-sufficiency of the house.
Liripipe: a fashionably long tail attached to a man s cap.
Madder: a plant the roots of which were used to make a red dye.
Martinmas: November 11; the traditional date to slaughter animals for winter food.
Maslin: bread made with a mixture of grains, commonly wheat and rye or barley.
Michaelmas: September 29. This feast signaled the end of the harvest. The last rents and tithes for the year were then due.
Midsummer s Eve: June 23/24.
Misericord: the Rule of St. Benedict prohibited eating flesh, except for monks who were ill. In 1336 Pope Benedict XII permitted Benedictines to eat meat four days each week so long as it was not served in the refectory or during a fast season. A special place called the misericord was the site of these carnivorous meals.
Muntelate: lamb stewed with onions, egg yolks, lemon juice, and spices.
Nones: the fifth canonical office, celebrated at the ninth hour of the day (about 3 p.m.).
Obedience: a monastic office. The Precentor, the sacrist, the almoner, the infirmarer, and the kitchener were among the obedientiaries holding an obedience.
Page: a young male servant, often one learning the arts of chivalry before becoming a squire.
Palfrey: a gentle horse with a comfortable gait.
Pannaging: allowing pigs to forage in a forest upon payment of a fee to the lord.
Parapet: the upper level of a castle wall.
Pottage: anything cooked in one pot, from soups and stews to simple porridge.
Precentor: the monastic official who directed the church services.
Prime: the second office of a monk s day, an hour or so after lauds.
Prior: the second in authority in an abbey; the leader of a priory.
Reeve: the most important manorial official, although he did not outrank the bailiff. Elected by tenants from among themselves, often the best husbandman. He had responsibility for fields, buildings, and enforcing labor service.
Refectory: the monastery dining hall.
Reivers: Scottish raiders who often pillaged the northern counties of England.
Reredorter: the monastery toilets.
Retrochoir: the area immediately behind the monks choir, occupied by the sick and infirm, and also often by novices.
Sackbut: an early form of trombone used in Renaissance music.
Sacrist: the monastic official responsible for the upkeep of the church and the vestments, and also time-keeping.
St. Catherine s Day: November 25. St. Catherine was the most popular female saint of medieval Europe. Processions were held on her feast day.
St. John s Day: June 24.
St. Stephen s Day: December 26.
Salver: a tray for serving food or beverages.
Scriptorium: the copying room in a monastery.
Sext: the fourth of the canonical hours, celebrated at midday.
Shilling: twelve pence. Twenty shillings made one pound, but there was no one-pound coin in the fourteenth century.
Tenant: a free peasant who rented land from his lord. He could pay his rent in labor service or, more likely by the fourteenth century, in cash.
Terce: the third canonical office of the day, celebrated about 9 a.m.
Toft: the land surrounding a house, often used