The novel takes place during the period of the Crusades, although it does not specify which one. It mentions that Sir Rolf has campaigned in the Holy Land and visited the "rotting courts of Eastern Europe",Chapter 10. an allusion to the Byzantine Empire in its decline. Sir Rolf's tyranny is attributed in part to "new notions of cruelty and luxury" picked up in the latter place. The novel also alludes to the Norman Conquest as a historical background, depicting Nottingham as a town divided between Saxon and Norman boroughs, and comparing the battle between Robin and Wessex to the Battle of Hastings.
