Italy’s greatest novel and a masterpiece of world literature, The Betrothed chronicles the unforgettable romance of Renzo and Lucia, who endure tyranny, war, famine, and plague to be together. Published in 1827 but set two centuries earlier, against the tumultuous backdrop of seventeenth-century Lombardy during the Thirty Years’ War, The Betrothed is the story of two peasant lovers who want nothing more than to marry. Their region of northern Italy is under Spanish occupation, and when the vicious Spaniard Don Rodrigo blocks their union in an attempt to take Lucia for himself, the couple must struggle to persevere against his plots—which include false charges against Renzo and the kidnapping of Lucia by a robber baron called the Unnamed—while beset by the hazards of war, bread riots, and a terrifying outbreak of bubonic plague. First and foremost a love story, the novel also weaves issues of faith, justice, power, and truth into a sweeping epic in the tradition of Ivanhoe, Les Misérables, and War and Peace. Groundbreakingly populist in its day and hugely influential to succeeding generations, Alessandro Manzoni’s masterwork has long been considered one of Italy’s national treasures. Translated by Archibald Colquhoun

Alessandro Manzoni (Milan, March 7, 1785 — Milan, May 22, 1873) was an Italian writer and poet, one of the most important figures in the literature of his country. Manzoni composed his masterpiece, "I Promessi Sposi" (" The Betrothed"), between 1821 and 1840. The work "The Betrothed" tells the story of two young peasants who intend to marry but are "hindered" by a local lord, Don Rodrigo, who has a network of agents at his disposal. "The Betrothed" is a historical novel that cannot be met with indifference.

Alessandro Manzoni was a giant of nineteenth-century European literature whose I promessi sposi (The Betrothed, 1928) is ranked with War and Peace as marking the summit of the historical novel. Manzoni wrote “Del romanzo storico” (“On the Historical Novel”) during the twenty years he spent revising I promessi sposi. This first English translation of On the Historical Novel reflects the insights of a great craftsman and the misgivings of a profound thinker. It brings up to the nineteenth century the long war between poetry and history, tracing the idea of the historical novel from its origins in classical antiquity. It declares the historical novel—and presumably I promessi sposi itself—dead as a genre. Or perhaps it justifies I promessi sposi as the climax of a genre and the end of a stage of human consciousness. Its importance lies both in its prospective and in its retrospective contributions to literary debate.

The story is set in the seventeenth century, in the Duchy of Milan, then a Spanish possession in northern Italy; however, the plot is merely a pretext for the author to weave a timeless and universal tale that touches on every human feeling, passion, and behavior. In compelling fashion, love, hate, prejudice, vengeance, forgiveness, fear, courage, crime, punishment, redemption, treachery, loyalty, religion, superstition, love of country, devotion to duty, generosity, greed, art, science, politics, economics, and emigration come together in this book, making it, unquestionably, one of the giants of foreign literature. The book opens as two of Don Rodrigos toughs order the local parish priest, Father Abbondio, not to marry Lucia to Renzo--she a beautiful, honest and deeply religious country girl, he a sensible, upright and God-fearing craftsman. Don Rodrigo is an arrogant aristocrat able to impose his will on those around him thanks to an overall social structure that favors the powerful and preys on the downtrodden. He has forbidden the marriage because he has bet his cousin that he will seduce Lucia, and has set a deadline for his deed. The fearful priest obeys Don Rodrigos order, but a saintly monk, Brother Christopher, tries to dissuade him from lusting after the girl. Irritated by the friars plea, Don Rodrigo decides to kidnap Lucia, to be certain of possessing her before the expiration of the bet deadline. He fails because Lucia is not at home at the time of the attempted abduction. Trying to take advantage of a loophole in the law which allows two people to declare themselves man and wife (provided a priest is present), she and Renzo have gone to Father Abbondios residence, to force him to witness their exchange of vows. However, Father Abbondio, afraid of Don Rodrigos retribution, foils the two young peoples attempt. His screams cause his sexton to ring out the general alarm from the churchs bell tower. The fiancs, the would-be kidnappers, and the entire village are thrown in total disarray. Brother Christopher helps Lucia find safe haven in a convent, and makes arrangements for Renzo to find work in Milan, away from Don Rodrigos fury. Immediately after arriving in Milan, Renzo is, however, caught up in a bread riot sparked by a government-decreed price increase. He is framed and arrested as one of the riot ringleaders, but is able to escape to a neighboring country, where he is forced to disguise his identity. Since Don Rodrigos is not powerful enough to infiltrate Lucias place of asylum, he seeks the help of another man, "whose long arm often reached farther than his enemies eyes." Lucia is treacherously abducted and taken to this ferocious overlords castle, from where she is to be turned over to Don Rodrigo. However, the overlord has secretly been harboring serious concerns over his past crimes. Lucias plight and pleadings help precipitate his crisis of conscience. He goes to see Cardinal Federigo, who is on a pastoral visit in a nearby village, and, with the Cardinals encouragement, decides to change his way of life. Lucia is freed unharmed, but is still unable to return home because of the ever present threat from Don Rodrigo. So, she goes to live in Milan, under the protection of a powerful, well meaning, but rather eccentric couple. There, she has to wage a constant struggle with herself, because on the night of her abduction she had made a vow that she would remain a virgin if she could safely come out of that predicament. Though still deeply in love with Renzo, she is determined to keep her vow because of her strong religious faith. War, famine and pestilence further complicate the lives of the two young people but, at long last, Renzo is able to go looking for Lucia, and finds her in a hospital, recovering from the plague. Brother Christopher, who had gone to that same place to care for the diseased and the moribund, counsels Lucia on her vow, and releases her from it. Don Rodrigo dies from the plague, and the two fiancs are finally free to marry. They move to Renzos adopted country and from then on lead a comfortable and serene life, made all the more pleasant by their past suffering and their trust in God.

"Now, translator Federica Brunori Deigan presents lyrical English-language versions of these two tragedies which, taken together, dramatize the first two epochs in Manzoni's "history of Italy." (The Betrothed completes the triptych, illustrating the period of Spanish domination.) Long unavailable in English, The Count of Carmagnola and Adelchis are distinguished by their dramatic power and thematic gravity. Manzoni considers the interactions of Christian morals and Machiavellian politics through deft psychological portraiture, ultimately revealing the course of history as a fabric woven by individuals free will according to a logical pattern of actions and reactions, within the vaster providential plan, that human eyes can only dimly perceive."--BOOK JACKET.

The Betrothed ("I Promessi Sposi") is one of the greatest European historical novels. As its title impies, it an epic love story in Lombardy on the late 1620s. It is no spoiler to say, and you will be relieved to know, that the two young lovers eventually marry. But it is what happens along that way that makes The Betrothed so engaging and instructive. The Betrothed fictionalizes in great detail the historical realities of the Thirty Years War and the Great Plague that struck Milan around 1630. "They heard with a smile of incredulity and contempt any who hazarded a word on the danger, or who even mentioned the plague. The same incredulity, the same blindness, the same obstinacy, prevailed in the senate, the council of ten, and in all the judicial bodies. Cardinal Frederick alone enjoined his curates to impress upon the people the importance of declaring every case, and of sequestrating all infected or suspected goods. The Tribunal of Health, prompted by the two physicians, who fully apprehended the danger, did take some tardy measures; but in vain. A proclamation to prevent the entrance of strangers into the city was not published until the 29th of November. This was too late; the plague was already in Milan."

Set in Lombardy during the Spanish occupation of the late 1620s, The Betrothed tells the story of two young lovers, Renzo and Lucia, prevented from marrying by the petty tyrant Don Rodrigo, who desires Lucia for himself. Forced to flee, they are then cruelly separated, and must face many dangers including plague, famine and imprisonment, and confront a variety of strange characters - the mysterious Nun of Monza, the fiery Father Cristoforo and the sinister 'Unnamed' - in their struggle to be reunited. A vigorous portrayal of enduring passion, The Betrothed's exploration of love, power and faith presents a whirling panorama of seventeenth-century Italian life and is one of the greatest European historical novels.