The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth
The cover art of Pillars of the Earth (US edition)
Author	Ken Follett
Country	UK  (Wales)
Language	English
Genre(s)	Historical fiction
Publisher	William Morrow, NY (US edition)
Publication date	1989
Media type	Print (hard / paperback)
Pages	976 (US paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0451207149 (US paperback edition)
Followed by	World Without End

The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in Kingsbridge, England. It is set in the middle of the 12th century, primarily during the time known as The Anarchy, between the time of the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Becket.

The book traces the development of Gothic Architecture out of the preceding Romanesque Architecture and the fortunes of the Kingsbridge priory against the backdrop of actual historical events of the time. Although Kingsbridge is the name of an actual English town, the Kingsbridge in the novel is actually a fictional location representative of a typical market town of the time.

Until this novel was published, Follett had previously been known for writing in the thriller genre. The Pillars of the Earth became Follett's best-selling work.

The book was listed at no. 33 on the BBC's Big Read, a 2003 survey with the goal of finding the "nation's best-loved book". The book was also selected for Oprah's Book Club in 2007.

A sequel, entitled World Without End, was released in October 2007.

Plot

Tom Builder is a poor but honourable stonemason who lost his job as a builder because the cruel, sadistic lord William Hamleigh was turned down by young Lady Aliena when he proposed marriage, as Tom Builder was building their new home. Starving and destitute, Tom's wife Agnes dies in the forest while giving birth to their third child; Tom cannot feed the baby boy, and in his grief he leaves the child on Agnes's grave, takes his remaining two children, shy Martha and cruel Alfred, and becomes companion of Ellen and her odd, red-haired son Jack, whom Tom meets accidentally when he thinks that he is going to die away in the forest himself. Alfred immediately despises Jack, a hatred which takes on a grave form later on. After many hardships the family settles down in Kingsbridge, where Prior Philip wants to build a cathedral. Jack also meets Aliena and falls in love with her.

Then William Hamleigh discovers that Aliena's father, Earl Bartholomew, has taken the side of the Empress Maud and is therefore disloyal to King Stephen. He takes Bartholomew's castle by force, arrests the earl, and rapes Aliena while her younger brother Richard is forced to watch. Before he dies in prison, Earl Bartholomew asks Aliena to swear that she will never rest until her brother Richard is Earl. Fleeing the castle penniless and alone except for Richard, Aliena sees her father, takes an oath to make him earl again and takes up buying and selling wool, and in a twist of fate meets Prior Philip, who agrees to buy her wool for a fair price. In the process they invent the wool futures market. Both go to live in Kingsbridge, where all fight against Waleran Bigod, a selfish, power-driven priest, but eventually the Crown approves the building of a cathedral. Ellen and Tom marry, and Jack is thrilled to see Aliena again.

In the following parts of the book Prior Philip is working hard to turn Kingsbridge into a successful, respectable town, but it is difficult to do so with the civil war raging through England and the battles between Queen Maud and King Stephen, who are fighting over the throne. Jack and Aliena fall in love, but when William burns Kingsbridge (and her fortune in wool), killing Tom in the process, Aliena marries now-wealthy Alfred in an attempt to fulfill her oath to her father. Alfred promises to pay Richard's expenses as he fights against the Hamleighs to regain the Earldom. Aliena makes love with Jack once just before her wedding with Alfred, and Jack leaves England heartbroken. Alfred is cold and abusive (he is impotent). Alfred then persuades Philip to let him replace the cathedral's wooden roof with a stone vault. The walls were not designed for the enormous weight of a stone vault and the church collapses, killing 79 people on the day of its consecration. In the rubble Aliena gives birth to a baby with bright red hair like Jack, and Alfred throws her out. Ellen arrives from the forest to see her grandson and advises Aliena to seek out Jack, who was heading for Compostela to look for work. During his pilgrimage Jack meets Moorish scholars and mathematicians in Toledo and helps build Saint Denis Basilica in Paris, thus learning how to build rib vaulting and pointed arches. He is reunited with Aliena in St. Denis. Passing through Cherbourg, Jack learns that his father comes from there (the name "Jack Shareburg" had been anglicised from "Jacques Cherbourg"), and meets his grandmother, cousins, and other family members. But when he comes back to Kingsbridge, Prior Philip denies Jack and Aliena a proper marriage, stating that Alfred and Aliena are still married.

Years later a new cathedral is being built and Alfred suddenly returns to Kingsbridge. Bishop Waleran Bigod and the Hamleighs have teamed up, aiming for the downfall of Kingsbridge, Philip and Aliena. (They had attempted to build a cathedral at Shiring, but they ran out of money.) Aliena befriends William Hamleigh's miserable young wife and takes the castle of Shiring from within, securing the earldom for her brother Richard and fulfilling her oath to her father. Later Alfred succumbs to his envy for his stepbrother and lust for his own wife; he attempts to rape Aliena and is killed by Richard. William Hamleigh, now Sheriff of Shiring, attempts to arrest Richard for murder. Prior Philip decides that the best thing to do is for Richard to go to fight in the Holy Wars, the Crusades. Richard escapes William Hamleigh and leaves the earldom to be run by Aliena, who can finally, at long last, marry Jack.

Many years pass. Kingsbridge cathedral is finally completed, in the "French Style", and becomes famous around England for its beauty: it is the first Gothic cathedral in England. Jack has solved a vexing problem — transverse stresses from wind, which causes hairline cracks in the clerestory — by independently inventing the flying buttress. In a sudden plan of attack, the bitter Bishop Waleran Bigod publicly accuses Prior Philip of breaking the clerical law of chastity; Waleran claims that the monk Jonathan (Tom Builder's son, now grown, whom he had raised in the monastery) was really Philip's secret child. Jack connects Jonathan with Tom Builder's lost baby, and Ellen swears in court that Jonathan is indeed Tom Builder's son. When Bishop Waleran accuses her of lying under oath, she accuses Waleran of perjury, resulting in a fight and the death of her lover, Jack's father. It is revealed that Percy Hamleigh (William's father), Waleran Bigod, and the former Kingsbridge Prior James conspired to kill the only survivor of the White Ship — namely, Jack Shareburg — to cover up the fact that the sinking of the White Ship was an assassination by powerful barons who wanted to throw the succession into confusion so they could get a monarch they could better control. Bigod is ruined by this scandal, and lives out the rest of his days as a humble monk.

Meanwhile William Hamleigh has gone on leading a miserable, wasteful life, weaving in and out of the political web. His ultimate downfall occurs when he joins a group, under the flag of King Henry II, who plot to assassinate the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. Prior Philip happens to be with Becket when the assassination occurs, witnessing everything, and he uses the rage and injustice felt by the people to lead a protest against Hamleigh and the King, claiming Becket as a saint and a martyr. Hamleigh is arrested by Aliena's son, charged with sacrilege; he is convicted, and hanged. The Pope lays an Interdict on Henry's Norman possessions until King Henry repents and is symbolically whipped by Philip (now Bishop of Kingsbridge) and other leading clergymen. At the end the author concludes that royal authority is no longer absolute.

Background

In the 1999 Preface to The Pillars of the Earth Follet informs readers that: "When I was a boy, all my family belonged to a Puritan religious group called the Plymouth Brethren. For us a church was a bare room with rows of chairs around a central table... So I grew up pretty much ignorant of Europe's wealth of gorgeous church architecture."

When Follet embarked on the task of writing The Pillars of the Earth he notes that he "read a couple of books on architecture and developed an interest in cathedrals. Before too long, it occurred to me to channel this enthusiasm into a novel. I knew it had to be a long book. It took at least thirty years to build a cathedral and most took longer because they would run out of money, or be attacked or invaded. So the story covers the entire lives of the main characters. My publishers were a little nervous about such a very unlikely subject but, paradoxically, it is my most popular book. It's also the book I'm most proud of. It recreates, quite vividly, the entire life of the village and the people who live there. You feel you know the place and the people as intimately as if you yourself were living there in the Middle Ages."^[1]

Major characters

• Jack Jackson (known later as Jack Builder): Son of Jack Shareburg (Jacques Cherbourg) and Ellen; a clever young architect and skilled stonemason who has spent his life loving Aliena and dreaming of building a cathedral. He learns mathematics in Spain and the techniques of Gothic Architecture in France, then builds a new Kingsbridge Cathedral, the first Gothic Cathedral in England. His lifelong curiosity about his father is finally satisfied at the end through revelations from Ellen, Remigius and Waleran.
• Tom Builder: A penniless builder and architect whose lifelong dream is to build a cathedral; stepfather to Jack. Loyal and diligent, he has a love for building and family, though he is blind to Alfred's cruelty. Was notable for his great height. He was later killed by William Hamleigh in a raid that burnt down Kingsbridge.
• Ellen: Daughter of a knight. She was unusual in knowing English, French and Latin, and in being literate. The lover of Jack Shareburg and the mother of Jack Jackson, she lives in the woods and is considered by some to be a witch after she cursed the men responsible for her lover's execution; it is thought that eventually her curse destroys Percy Hamleigh and his odious son William, Prior James and Waleran Bigod. She later becomes the wife of Tom Builder. She later curses the marriage of Aliena and Alfred: the curse is thought of effectively destroying Alfred.
• Prior Philip: A resourceful and dedicated monk, whose dream is to see Kingsbridge rise to greatness. He becomes the benevolent ruler of Kingsbridge — allocating resources, organising commerce, resolving disputes and meting out justice, essentially without armed force. His moral strictness frustrates several sympathetic characters, but is completely devoid of malice. In the novel finale he became Bishop of Kingsbridge.
• William Hamleigh: The son of a minor lord, with a sadistic streak and an obsession with Aliena — who, by refusing to marry him, had blocked his rise from the country landed gentry to the nobility. He temporarily gains the earldom of Shiring but eventually loses it. He lives for power and revenge, but fears Hell, which often gives both his adversaries and his allies an advantage over him. In the end his ambitions destroy him.
• Aliena: Daughter to the Earl of Shiring, the intended bride of William Hamleigh. She refuses to marry him and is raped because of it, after her father loses the earldom; later she becomes the lover/wife of Jack. She is very beautiful and haughty. Makes an ill-considered vow to her dying father that she would help her brother regain the earldom, then becomes a wealthy wool merchant to support her brother's knightly ambitions. Unwisely marries Alfred and, after a long struggle, is finally reunited with Jack.
• Richard (Richard of Kingsbridge): Aliena's younger brother, a knight who as a young boy witnesses his sister's rape by William Hamleigh. Becomes a skilled soldier and leader, although he is completely dependent on Aliena for money. Organises the town's defences before William's attempted second raid on Kingsbridge. Becomes the Earl of Shiring but is obliged to join a Crusade after killing Alfred. Settles in the Holy Land leaving Aliena to run the Earldom. Upon Richard's death Aliena's son, Tommy, becomes Earl.
• Alfred Builder: Tom's son, a dimwitted and often cruel mason who later marries Aliena. As a youth he repeatedly beats Jack; as a man he marries Aliena for spite, to keep Jack from having her, and is consistently impotent with her. He builds a stone vault on Kingsbridge Cathedral, which collapses, killing dozens, the day it is dedicated. He is eventually killed by Richard when he tries to rape Aliena.
• Agnes: First wife of Tom Builder and mother to Martha and Alfred; dies in the woods while giving birth to Jonathan.
• Martha: Daughter of Tom, sister to Alfred, stepsister to Jack. Timid and mild-mannered, often bullied by Alfred. She is in love with Jack, but realising he will never return her feelings, she dedicates her life to serving him and his wife and children, remaining unmarried.
• Waleran Bigod: A cunning, devious, morally bankrupt yet devout cleric, who constantly schemes his way into more power. Allies himself with the Hamleighs and often plots with William to bring about Philip's and Aliena's downfall. Eventually outwits himself: he accuses Philip of fornication and being Jonathan's father, but Ellen exposes his perjury (which had falsely condemned Jack Shareburg for theft) and ends his career.
• Jonathan: Infant son of Tom and Agnes Builder but raised by Prior Philip and the Kingsbridge monks when Tom abandons him on Agnes's grave. Grows up to be even taller than Tom. Eventually succeeds Philip as Prior of Kingsbridge.
• Lord Percy Hamleigh, Earl of Shiring: Power-driven and greedy father of William. After disposing of the traitor Earl Bartholomew, Percy is given the earldom by King Stephen. He is an effective ruler who is largely influenced by his wife, Regan. He dislikes sharing the Shiring stone-quarry with Kingsbridge Priory and impedes the building of the cathedral. He dies of a seizure, leaving a weakened and indebted earldom. He was one of the perjurors who had Jack Shareburg hanged.
• Lady Regan Hamleigh, Countess of Shiring: William Hamleigh's mother. She is physically hideous, but is smart and manipulative and effectively has control over her husband and son. She influences many of the decisions made by William and is the one person he truly loves. She instils in him a fear of Hell and dies of a heart attack at about the age of 60. William has a church built in her memory.

Minor characters

• Jack Shareburg (Jacques Cherbourg): a jongleur who is the only survivor of the wreck of the White Ship, lover of Ellen and father of Jack Jackson; hanged in the Prologue.
• Francis of Gwynedd: Philip's brother, orphaned with him in Wales and raised by monks; chooses to become a secular diocesan priest rather than a monk affiliated with a religious order. Becomes the secretary of Robert of Gloucester, later of Empress Maud, then of Henry II. More worldly than Phillip, he saves his brother when he is taken prisoner after a battle; he gives him valuable political insight and inside information.
• Tommy (later called Thomas): son of Jack and Aliena. With no talent for building but a talent for administration and command, he becomes the Earl of Shiring and orders William's hanging for his involvement in the assassination of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• Sally: daughter of Jack and Aliena. She takes after Jack and becomes an artisan working on the Kingsbridge Cathedral, designing and making the stained-glass windows.
• Raschid Alharoun: Jack's friend in Toledo, a Christian Arab merchant, who introduces Jack to many scholars, scientists and mathematicians (who are engaged in translating Euclid from Arabic into Latin). Jack comes close to marrying Raschid's daughter, but he decides he'd rather build a cathedral in Kingsbridge than rich merchants' houses in Toledo; he resumes his travels and is found by Aliena.
• Walter: William Hamleigh's groom/squire. Accompanies him through much of the novel, and assists in the memorable attack on Aliena and Richard.
• Johnny Eightpence: A dimwitted yet resourceful monk who nurses baby Jonathan by dipping a rag in goats' milk. This act prompts Philip to take Johnny with him to Kingsbridge to assist in young Jonathan's upbringing.
• Remigius: The former Sub-Prior of Kingsbridge under the old Prior James. He attempts to secure the position of Prior, but Philip's appearance and election usurps Remigius's ambitions. He then serves as Philip's Sub-Prior, but serves also as an ally to Waleran Bigod. After leaving the Abbey, then subsequently falling from Waleran's favour, he is forced to beg until being invited back by Philip, to live out his days as a lowly monk. His testimony at Philip's trial helps to clear Philip, as he received the former Prior's confession regarding Jack Shareburg.
• Cuthbert Whitehead: Kingsbridge Priory's cellarer. An early ally of Philip after his arrival in Kingsbridge.
• Milius Bursar: Kingsbridge Priory's former kitchener and later bursar, responsible for the accounts of the Priory, he is also an early ally of Philip's and aids him in becoming Prior and running the priory.

Adaptations

Board games

There have been two separate board games based on The Pillars of the Earth.

A German-style board game by Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler was published in 2006^[2] by Kosmos at the Spiel game fair as Die Säulen der Erde . The game sold out long before the fair ended. It has been awarded the 2007 Deutscher Spiele Preis, the Spanish "Game of the Year 2007"^[3] and the Norwegian "Best Family Game of 2007"^[4] and the GAMES Magazine Game of the Year 2007.^[4] An expansion pack was published in 2007 and English-language versions of both the base game and the expansion have been published by Mayfair Games.

A different, trivia game attributed to E. Follett was first published in 2008 by British publisher Sophisticated Games.

TV Series

A Germany-Canada co-production spearheaded by Munich-based Tandem Communications and Montreal-based Muse Entertainment in association with Ridley Scott's Scott Free Films have signed up actors to bring this historical novel to the TV screens, with the premiere set for the second half of 2010. ^[5] The series includes the following cast^[6]:

Ian McShane as “Waleran”
Donald Sutherland as “Bartholomew”
Rufus Sewell as “Tom Builder”
Matthew Macfadyen as “Prior Philip”
Sarah Parish as “Regan Hamleigh”
David Oakes as “William Hamleigh”
Robert Bathurst as “Percy Hamleigh”
Hayley Atwell as “Aliena”
Sam Claflin as “Richard”
Eddie Redmayne as “Jack”
Liam Garrigan as “Alfred”
Skye Bennett as “Martha”
Gordon Pinsent as “the Archbishop”
Natalia Worner as “Ellen”
Anatole Taubman as “Remigius”
Goetz Otto as “Walter”
Jody Halse as “Johnny Eightpence”
David Bark Jones as “Francis”

References

External links

• The Pillars of the Earth on Ken Follett's website
• The Pillars of the Earth series official website
• IMDB listing for Mini-series
• Tandem Communications' Pillars pages