The fictional town of Kingsbridge in the novel is based on Winchester, as Follet explained in the first episode of his Channel 4 2013 documentary series "Ken Follett's Journey into the Dark Ages".
Obleganje Winchestra leta 1141, del "Anarhije" (državljanske vojne) med kraljem Štefanom in cesarico Matildo, je pomemben element v detektivskem romanu "An Exellent Mystery", del kronike "Brother Cadfael", Edith Pargeter opisuje kot Ellis Peters.