The Medieval Murderers

AD 848.Bernwyn of Lythe, the young daughter of an ealdorman, spurns marriage and chooses to remain a virgin dedicated to Christ. When she is found murdered in the chapel where she kept her nightly vigils, it is thought that she has fallen victim to the Viking raiders who are ravaging the country and the butterflies found resting on her body are taken to be a sign from God.

But what if Bernwyn was not all she seemed? Could the saintly deeds attributed to her have been carried out by someone else and the people have set up a shrine to a false virgin?

Throughout the ages, St Bernwyn comes to be regarded as the patron saint of those suffering from skin diseases, and many are drawn on pilgrimage to her shrines. But from a priory in Wales to the Greek island of Sifnos, it seems that anywhere that St Bernwyn is venerated, bitter rivalry breaks out. So when a famous poet is inspired to tell the story of the saint, perhaps it is little wonder that he finds himself writing a satirical piece on the credulity of man.

1154, Oseney Priory, Oxford. When the first performance of The Play of Adam ends in tragedy, the author is compelled to pen a grim warning for the generations that follow: 'BEWARE THE SINS OF ENVY AND VAINGLORY, ELSE FOUL MURDER ENDS YOUR STORY'. But his words are not heeded, and as the play is performed in many guises throughout the ages, bad luck seems to follow after those involved in its production.

Bath Abbey, 1199. The monks' peaceful existence is turned upside down when the Abbey's unpopular prior is found dead on Solsbury Hill. Sir Symon Cole and his wife, Gwenllian, arrive to investigate, and determined to get to the bottom of the suspicious circumstances surrounding the prior's death, Gwenllian launches a daring investigation that puts her in great danger, and Sir Symon accepts a challenge to visit the hill at night.

Bermondsey Priory, 1114. A young chaplain succumbs to the temptations of the flesh - and suffers a gruesome punishment. From that moment, the monastery is cursed and over the next five hundred years murder and treachery abound within its hallowed walls... Even the poet Chaucer finds himself drawn into the dark deeds and violent death which pervade this unhappy place.

A mysterious book of prophecies, written by a sixth century Irish monk, has puzzled scholars through the ages. Foretelling wars, plagues and rebellions, the Black Book of Bran is said to have predicted the Black Death and the Gunpowder Plot. But only one thing is certain: whoever comes into possession of the cursed book meets a gruesome and untimely end...

1067. In the desolate wastes of Greenland, a band of hunters stumble across a strangely-shaped stone which has fallen from the sky. Over the next six hundred years, the Sky-Stone will fall into the hands of crusading knights, a wicked manor-lord of Devon, a group of radical young kabalists, the dying King Henry III and a band of travelling players. But treachery, discord and violent death follow for all who seek to possess it.

Five historical mystery writers bring their own characters to these interlinked tales, which tell the story of a cursed Norman sword. From a scandal in 13th century Venice to the battlefield of Poitiers in 1356, as the Sword of Shame passes from owner to owner, it brings nothing but bad luck and disgrace to all who possess it...

Five interlinked mysteries from some of the finest historical writers in the UK: Simon Beaufort, Philip Gooden, Susanna Gregory, Michael Jecks, Bernard Knight and Ian Morson. Each author brings their own characters to the tale, which spans over nine hundred years.