{"id":11671,"date":"2019-02-19T20:14:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T01:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=11671"},"modified":"2025-07-02T16:19:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T20:19:51","slug":"the-heretics-apprentice-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11671","title":{"rendered":"The Heretic’s Apprentice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Heretic’s Apprentice<\/a><\/em> (1989) Ellis Peters<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Set in England in 1143.<\/p>\n

Elave has returned from the Holy Land with his Master’s body–the man died while on pilgrimage, not during the Crusades–and bearing a gift for his adopted daughter.<\/p>\n

Although the gift causes problems, the first problems stem from Elave thinking on his own about God and faith.<\/p>\n

One way to be sure of saying nothing that can be taken amiss is to say nothing at all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s one thing to know that heresey had been a problem in the early church, but it’s something else entirely to see a young man locked up for professing suspect beliefs.<\/p>\n

(H)ere is no wild man bent on mischief, but a sound, hardworking fellow, profitable to his master and I doubt not honest and well-meaning with his neighbours. Do you not see how much more dangerous that makes him? To hear false doctrine from one himself plainly false and vile is no temptation at all, to hear it from one fair of countenance and reputation, speaking it with his heart\u2019s conviction, that can be deadly seduction. It is why I fear him.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…Augustine\u2019s \u2018Against Fortunatus\u2019 to read. There he might find, written some years before the saint\u2019s more orthodox outpourings, in one of his periods of sharply changing belief: \u2018There is no sin unless through a man\u2019s own will, and hence the reward when we do right things also of our own will.\u2019 Let Elave commit that to memory, and he could quote it in his own defence. More than likely Anselm would take him at his word, and feed the suspect all manner of quotations supportive to his cause. It was a game any well-read student of the early fathers could play, and Anselm better than most.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There might be a bit more theology in this book that some might like, but I rather enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

\u2018I do believe we have been given free will, and can and must use it to choose between right and wrong, if we are men and not beasts. Surely it is the least of what we owe, to try and make our way towards salvation by right action. I never denied divine grace. Surely it is the greatest grace that we are given this power to choose, and the strength to make right use of it. And see, my lord, if there is a last judgement, it will not and cannot be of God\u2019s grace, but of what every man has done with it, whether he buried his talent or turned it to good profit. It is for our own actions we shall answer, when the day comes.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a nice little mystery, and I love the historical and theological bits, even if they aren’t to everyone’s tastes. <\/p>\n

Publisher: MysteriousPress
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Heretic’s Apprentice (1989) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1143. Elave has returned from the Holy Land with his Master’s body–the man died while on pilgrimage, not during the Crusades–and bearing a gift for his adopted daughter. Although the gift causes problems, the first problems stem from Elave thinking on his own about God […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,30,190,33,8,41],"tags":[120,119,549,877,878],"class_list":["post-11671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-british","category-cozy","category-historical","category-mystery","category-reread","tag-brother-cadfael","tag-ellis-peters","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-medieval","tag-the-anarchy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-32f","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24140,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24140","url_meta":{"origin":11671,"position":0},"title":"The Heretic’s Apprentice","author":"Michelle","date":"December 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Heretic's Apprentice (1989) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #16) Set in Shrewsbury, England in 1143 \u2018There is no sin unless through a man\u2019s own will, and hence the reward when we do right things also of our own will.\u2019 Let Elave commit that to memory, and he could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Heretic's Apprentice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Heretics-Apprentice.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6164,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6164","url_meta":{"origin":11671,"position":1},"title":"The Heretic’s Apprentice","author":"Michelle","date":"November 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Heretic's Apprentice (1989) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1143. William of Lythwood has returned from his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in a coffin. He died of illness on his return home, and his attendant Elave has brought his body back to his family. However, a visiting cleric\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-heretics-apprentice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Heretics-Apprentice.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6113,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6113","url_meta":{"origin":11671,"position":2},"title":"Monk’s Hood","author":"Michelle","date":"October 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Monk's Hood (1980) Ellis Peters","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10977,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10977","url_meta":{"origin":11671,"position":3},"title":"Monk’s Hood","author":"Michelle","date":"August 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Monk's Hood (1980) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1138. A blind eye is the easiest thing in the world to turn on whatever is troublesome. Too much trust is folly, in an imperfect world. He felt in his heart that that was sin, the sin of despair; not despair\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Monks-Hood.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10987,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10987","url_meta":{"origin":11671,"position":4},"title":"Saint Peter’s Fair","author":"Michelle","date":"August 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Saint Peter's Fair (1981) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1139 The Abbey is having it's annual horse fail--Saint Peter's Fair--and the merchants of the town of Shrewsbury are unhappy, for unlike the abbey, the town took damage the previous year when King Stephen took the town, and the Abbey\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Saint-Peters-Fair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11145,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11145","url_meta":{"origin":11671,"position":5},"title":"An Excellent Mystery","author":"Michelle","date":"October 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"An Excellent Mystery (1985) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1141 The war between Stephen and Maud continues, leading to the burning of much of Winchester. This causes two monks to appear at the abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, seeking refuge and shelter at their brother abbey. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/An-Excellent-Mystery-e1511012747949.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}