42 pages • 1 hour read
Ken FollettThe Pillars of the Earth
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1989A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 17-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 17 Summary
The year is 1170, 35 years after Jonathan was first left in Philip’s care in the opening section of the book. Henry II is ensconced as king and is in dispute with Thomas Beckett, the archbishop of Canterbury. Richard has stayed on the crusade, and Aliena has ruled the earldom for years. This feud throws the church’s power into political disarray. William, now 54 years old and suffering from gout, retains his position as sheriff. He still harbors a corrosive resentment.
The cathedral is finished, and within its walls Philip holds a ceremony to name Jonathan, now in his mid-thirties, as the new sub-prior. At the ceremony, William and Walerian scheme, as in years before. Walerian realizes that he may be able to use Jonathan against Philip and accuses him before the church authorities of “fornication and nepotism” (921). To Philip’s dismay, the archdeacon in charge of overseeing his case is Peter of Wareham, the angry young man Philip punished long ago. In the political confusion of Beckett’s absence, Philip has few avenues of redress; he must find Jonathan’s true father if he wants to retain his position. Tom told no one of the baby’s origin, and Ellen is the only living witness to Jonathan’s path on the day of his birth.
The children of Jack and Aliena are now in their twenties. Sally has become renowned for her craftsmanship in stained glass, a medium made possible by the techniques in large-window architecture perfected by her father. Tommy, their son, has become a knight. Johnathan comes to see Jack on a fact-finding mission. Coordinating their information, they conclude the truth of Jonathan’s birth and abandonment. Together, they go to see Ellen, now 62 and still living in the forest. She takes Jonathan to his unmarked mother’s grave, and Jonathan swears to build a small chapel there “so that no traveler on this stretch of road will ever have to spend a cold winter’s night sleeping in the open air’’ (934).
Ellen, Jack, and Jonathan appear during Philip’s trail and tell them everything they know. When Walerian protests, Ellen angrily explains Walerian’s perjury in protecting the people who sunk the white ship so many years ago and condemned Jack’s father to death. To Philip’s surprise, Remigius confirms the conspiracy. The trial ends in pandemonium, and Philip is redeemed.
Chapter 18 Summary
King Henry II sends a writ to Kingsbridge. Walerian is to become the bishop of Lincoln, a significant step up for the otherwise disgraced bishop. The king recommends archdeacon Peter to take his place, installing yet another hostile bishop to thwart Kingsbridge. Philip decides he will appeal directly to the exiled Beckett in France. He travels there and finds Beckett sympathetic to his cause but powerless to stop the appointment until he is reinstated in Canterbury. Henry II’s traveling court is nearby, with Philip’s brother Francis among them. Together, the two brothers work out a compromise that will bring Beckett back to England, and the two powerful leaders agree to it. A shaky truce is formed.
Soon after, Henry II and Beckett are quarrelling again, in part because of Walerian’s gossip and interference. A large group of knights are selected to arrest Beckett at Canterbury cathedral. William is among the knights present, and Philip is among Beckett’s entourage. The arrest turns violent, and the king’s men slaughter Beckett within the cathedral walls. Immediately, Philip encourages the emotional reaction of Beckett’s servants and the nearby townspeople, who begin to collect his blood and revere Beckett as a martyr.
Within three years, Henry II is stymied by the outrage of his bold and unprecedented order. Beckett is martyred, and Philip is made the bishop of Kingsbridge. Richard dies in the crusade, and his nephew Tommy is instated as the new earl of Shiring. Aliena and Jack move to Kingsbridge, where Aliena continues in a successful wool trade, and Jack continues to perfect the Kingsbridge priory. To quell Beckett’s martyrdom, William is caught attempting to steal his body. Philip and Tommy rule over his case, and William is hanged in sight of Kingsbridge priory and of the townspeople he once attacked. Later, when King Henry II submits to public flogging in penance for going against the church, Philip is among those doing the flogging.
Chapters 17-18 Analysis
The final part of the book takes a sweeping jump forward in time. In 1170, we see that Jack’s work has come to fruition. The Kingsbridge Cathedral is a monument to Jack’s eccentric travels, to his modern sensibility, and to Philip’s steady guidance.
The final chapters of the book conclude with an historical incident distinct from the Anarchy. Beckett’s mistreatment and martyrdom by Henry II is arguably the more famous of the two historical subjects. The novel weaves the two incidents through the character’s reactions to and participation in both events. William, of course, has learned nothing. He continues to operate by force, assuming that he’ll be rewarded even when he’s in the wrong. His death by hanging mirrors the death of Jack’s father in the prologue. Whereas Jack’s father dies with a clear conscience, producing a beautiful song as his last act on earth, William dies without dignity, painfully, and alone. It is a crowd-pleasing (if bloodthirsty) end for a villainous character.
Philip, on the other hand, demonstrates his growth. An earlier Philip would have shied away from stoking the plainly false superstitions of those who would attempt to martyr Beckett after his death. An older Philip realizes that victory often derives from narrative, and so he encourages the behavior. Soon after, Beckett’s death becomes a global incident, and Henry II and his conspirators are vilified and reduced. The historical impact of Beckett’s death is subject to many interpretations about the supremacy of local power versus the global power of the Church. For Follett, Beckett’s death represents the triumph of shared civilizational values over the barbarity of immediate power.
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