<P> While the book has been praised for its description of Medieval life, it also features some historical inaccuracies . Some of these might be to make the characters and the plot more suited for modern readers while some are clear anachronisms: </P> <Ul> <Li> One of the characters is called Francis, as is an imaginary person when Philip is lying to Waleran Bigod in Chapter 2, ii . It is unlikely that anybody would bear this name fifty years before the birth of Francis of Assisi . Indeed, Francis (Italian: Francesco, meaning "frenchman") was the saint's nickname, while his Christian name was Giovanni (John). The name became widespread only due to the saint's fame . </Li> <Li> Shareburg could not have been anglicized as such, because in the Norman pronunciation of the modern town Cherbourg, the Cher - element was pronounced (tʃɪr -) or (tʃɛr -) and was the same in Anglo - Norman, (tʃ) would have been retained in Middle English as well . (ʃɛr -) is Modern French . In the Old and Middle English and Anglo - Norman documents, Cherbourg is mentioned with different spellings from the 11th to the 15th century: Kiæresburh, Chirburg (h), Chierebour, Cheerebourg, Chierbourg (h), Ch (i) erburg (h), Chierbourc, Chirbourg (h), Chirburt, Chireburgh, etc . </Li> <Li> The English nobility of that period were Norman immigrants, together with other continental nationalities such as Bretons, Frenchmen (Paris and Île - de-France), Flemish and Angevin people . Anglo - Norman was the language of the court and upper class and it did not spread far into the rest of the English society . The ability of ordinary Englishmen to speak French was considered unusual, but Thomas Becket's parents for example, who did not belong to the nobility, were traders and emigrated to England from Normandy and they were not the only ones . Thus, many of the encounters across social classes presented in the book have been characterized as implausible by some critics, although in fact bilingualism was then emerging in English society for practical and mercantile reasons . For example, the noblewoman Aliena (presumably a native Norman French - speaker) becomes a successful wool merchant, communicating with the Anglo - Saxon - speaking locals and running a successful business among them . </Li> <Li> Significantly, Tom and Ellen are rebuked for perpetrated fornication, and give the excuse that there was no priest at hand . Yet the diriment impediment "lack of form" dates back to no earlier than the Council of Trent, and clandestine marriages were only forbidden by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 . The contemporary practice (as treated, for instance, by St. Thomas, S. th . Supp. 45) would have well made it possible for them to marry at once, without a priest, possibly taking their children as witnesses . Even more significantly, unmarried couples were fairly common throughout medieval society, and while the social standing of the woman would have been somewhat lowered by being a "concubine" and not a married woman, the fact itself carried no social stigma and scarcely provoked any intervention by law and church . </Li> <Li> Follett depicts Toledo, in medieval Spain, as a country with no wheat supposedly due to a lack of proper flat terrain to cultivate it . In reality, the Kingdom of Castile's plains, to which Toledo belonged, were actually famous for their rather extensive wheat fields . </Li> <Li> Santiago de Compostela, northwest of Spain, is portrayed as a very hot city, like southern Spain is . In reality, Galicia, the northwest region of Spain, is cool and rainy . However, it does have warm weather during summer . </Li> <Li> Tom tries to find a hibernating squirrel "in the dead leaves on the forest floor (...) to put in the broth . He was unlucky ." Squirrels found in the UK do not hibernate, although they are known to be lethargic in times of deep cold . (These would have been red squirrels in Medieval times .) </Li> <Li> Sugar is mentioned several times in the book . Sugar was not available in England at that time, except in courtly circles: "It is reported that the household of Henry III was using sugar in 1264, but not until 1319 was sugar in more general use in Britain ." </Li> <Li> Corn (maize) is also mentioned . However, corn as we know it today was not known in medieval Europe, since it is native to the Americas, and it was only after 1492 that it was traded to Europe . It should be noted that in British English, "corn" can also be a generic term for grains such wheat, maize, oats, and barley, that can be used to produce flour which is Follett's likely meaning . </Li> <Li> The priory storeroom is said to contain hops, which were not used in the UK for food production until centuries later . </Li> <Li> Lots of people in the book are reported as having breakfast, though there is some debate on whether all people in those times ate breakfast at all . </Li> </Ul> <Li> One of the characters is called Francis, as is an imaginary person when Philip is lying to Waleran Bigod in Chapter 2, ii . It is unlikely that anybody would bear this name fifty years before the birth of Francis of Assisi . Indeed, Francis (Italian: Francesco, meaning "frenchman") was the saint's nickname, while his Christian name was Giovanni (John). The name became widespread only due to the saint's fame . </Li> <Li> Shareburg could not have been anglicized as such, because in the Norman pronunciation of the modern town Cherbourg, the Cher - element was pronounced (tʃɪr -) or (tʃɛr -) and was the same in Anglo - Norman, (tʃ) would have been retained in Middle English as well . (ʃɛr -) is Modern French . In the Old and Middle English and Anglo - Norman documents, Cherbourg is mentioned with different spellings from the 11th to the 15th century: Kiæresburh, Chirburg (h), Chierebour, Cheerebourg, Chierbourg (h), Ch (i) erburg (h), Chierbourc, Chirbourg (h), Chirburt, Chireburgh, etc . </Li>

Ken follett books pillars of the earth trilogy