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The Betrothed : The Great Plague of Milan - Alessandro Manzoni

The Betrothed

The Great Plague of Milan

By: Alessandro Manzoni

Hardcover | 24 June 2020

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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."


Industry Reviews

"What beauty! What truth! What originality!"

"In that of the plague at Milan, and the famine preceding it, his manner becomes bolder, his touch more free and majestic, without losing any of its exquisite delicacy."

- Count O'Mahony, Critical Remarks on Manzoni's Betrothed

Other Editions and Formats

Paperback

Published: 1st May 1984

Paperback

Published: 27th April 2011

Paperback

Published: 12th June 2020

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