The Pillars of the Earth (miniseries) for the series, and in the view of one reviewer "great liberties are taken with the actual history". For example, the birth of Henry II and the death of his grandfather Henry I timelines are shortened in episode 1, given that young Henry was born in March 1133, and the older Henry died in December 1135. Further, geographically, Henry II was living in Maine when Henry I fell ill in Normandy while hunting. Similarly in episode 4, both King Stephen and Robert of Gloucester are captured at the Battle of Lincoln. While it is accurate that Stephen was captured in
Treaty of Alton Treaty of Alton The Treaty of Alton was an agreement signed in 1101 between Henry I of England and his older brother Robert, Duke of Normandy in which Robert agreed to recognize Henry as king of England in exchange for a yearly stipend and other concessions. The agreement temporarily ended a crisis in the succession of the Anglo-Norman kings. The previous year, Henry had seized the throne on the death of his brother William II, even though Robert had been William's acknowledged heir. Robert's absence in the First Crusade at the time of William's death, as well as his poor