The events of the book take place in 1350. Matthew Bartholomew, who is the main character, is a scholar in Michaelhouse. Michaelhouse is a former college of the University of Cambridge, that existed between 1323 and 1546, when it was merged with King's Hall to form Trinity College. Michaelhouse was the second residential college to be founded.
St Michael's Church is a church which is mention frequently. The parish church of St Michael probably dates back to the foundation of the city of Cambridge itself. The Church was designed to serve both the parish and the college.
When the deaths start to happen, Cambridge is immersed in its fair (Stourbridge Fair). Stourbridge Fair was once the largest and most famous trade fair in medieval Europe, held annually on Stourbridge Common in Cambridge. First chartered in 1211, it grew into a bustling tent-city with named streets before fading in the 20th century.
Another college which is mention is King's Hall. King's Hall was one of the earliest constituent colleges of University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1317, the second after Peterhouse.
There are many words in the field of religion, especifically church ceremonies, that the novel is full of.
- A chalice is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. This word is now used almost exclusively for the cups used in Christian liturgy as part of a service of the Eucharist, such as a Catholic mass.
A paten or diskos is a small plate used for the celebration of the Eucharist.
A piscina in a church is a shallow stone basin or sink set into the wall or mounted near the altar. Used by priests since the Middle Ages, it drains directly into the earth rather than the sewer to reverently dispose of holy water and rinse sacred communion vessels.
A pardoner is a medieval church official who was authorized to absolve individuals of their sins and grant papal indulgences in exchange for financial donations. While rooted in the Catholic practice of granting pardons for the truly penitent, pardoners were often notorious for abusing their power and selling fake relics for personal profit.
One of the things that Bartholomew explains to his students is the concept of trepanation. Trepanation is the surgical practice of drilling, scraping, or cutting a hole in the skull.
The novel mention stwo decommissioned churches: St John Zachary and All Saints'-Next-the Castle.
The church of St. John Zachary, is first mentioned in the taxation of 1217. The church was probably destroyed soon after 25 July 1446, when the first stone of King’s College Chapel was laid. By 1453 it had been rebuilt at the charges of Henry VI at the north-west corner of the Old Court of King’s College, on a site now occupied in part by the departmental libraries of the University.
All Saints by the Castle is no longer traceable, its site, on the western side of the Huntingdon Road where it entered the castle enclosure, being occupied by a walled nursery garden. The depopulation after the Black Death was such that in 1365 Bishop Langham of Ely united the parish with that of St. Giles, and the church fell into ruins, which are indicated on the map of 1634.
Bartholomew investigates some guilds which are said to be worshippers of the devil. One is the gild of the Holy Trinity. The Guild of the Holy Trinity was an important medieval religious guild. It founded Wisbech Grammar School in 1379 above the south porch of St Peter's Church. The Guild was a powerful force in the later Middle Ages. With other guilds it was also responsible for maintaining sea banks and sluices in the area.
Tumpington is where Edith, Bartholomew's sister, lives.
The mercenaries who de Belen hired fought at Crecy. The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King Philip VI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France during the Hundred Years' War, resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French.
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