Books with title Quentin Durward,

Although France is the scene of this romance, the hero and several other characters are members of the Scottish guard to the French King. The period is that when chivalry and feudalism are passing away, and the governments becoming centralized, Louis XI of France is, in fact, warring against his most powerful vassal, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.Quentin Durward, a Scotch youth, comes to Tours, where his uncle is a member of the celebrated Scottish bodyguard, and seeks military service. First, however, he meets the pretended merchant, Maitre Pierre, who is actually King Louis himself; and next the young adventurer narrowly escapes hanging for interfering with a public execution. He is enrolled among the guards and finds favor in Louis's eyes by aiding him against the attack of a frenzied boar, in a hunt.On the same day of the hunt, the Count de Crevecoeur, on behalf of his master, openly renounces allegiance to Louis, and also demands the surrender of Isabelle de Croye, the Duke's ward, who has fled from Burgundy to escape a political marriage ...

This eBook edition of "Quentin Durward" has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices.Quentin Durward is an archer who has left behind poverty in Scotland to join the Archers of the French King Louis's Scottish Guard and finds him-self involved in the medieval rivalry between Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. The conflict starts when Louis incites the citizens of Liège to revolt against Charles, and they murder Charles's brother-in-law, under the command of the bandit-captain William de la Marck. In the meantime, the Burgundian heiress Isabelle de Croye takes refuge at Louis's court, but Louis betrays her and decides to give her hand in marriage to the bandit-captain de la Marck. Quentin is appointed to be her personal guard on the journey to Flanders, and he is determined to prevent the treachery and earn the lady's love.

The scene of this romance is laid in the fifteenth century, when the feudal system, which had been the sinews and nerves of national defence, and the spirit of chivalry, by which, as by a vivifying soul, that system was animated, began to be innovated upon and abandoned by those grosser characters who centred their sum of happiness in procuring the personal objects on which they had fixed their own exclusive attachment. The same egotism had indeed displayed itself even in more primitive ages; but it was now for the first time openly avowed as a professed principle of action. The spirit of chivalry had in it this point of excellence, that, however overstrained and fantastic many of its doctrines may appear to us, they were all founded on generosity and self denial, of which, if the earth were deprived, it would be difficult to conceive the existence of virtue among the human race.Among those who were the first to ridicule and abandon the self denying principles in which the young knight was instructed and to which he was so carefully trained up, Louis XI of France was the chief. That sovereign was of a character so purely selfish—so guiltless of entertaining any purpose unconnected with his ambition, covetousness, and desire of selfish enjoyment—that he almost seems an incarnation of the devil himself, permitted to do his utmost to corrupt our ideas of honour in its very source. Nor is it to be forgotten that Louis possessed to a great extent that caustic wit which can turn into ridicule all that a man does for any other person's advantage but his own, and was, therefore, peculiarly qualified to play the part of a cold hearted and sneering fiend.The cruelties, the perjuries, the suspicions of this prince, were rendered more detestable, rather than amended, by the gross and debasing superstition which he constantly practised.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935. Hardbound, 9.5 inches tall by 7.5 inches wide, 422 pages. In addition to the cover art, the title page features a full color illustration by C [Charles] Bosseron Chambers, with nine additional color plates. The story was written in 1823; this Scribner Illustrated Classics edition was first published in 1923, this is a later printing.

Quentin Durward (1823), Scott's first "European" novel, was an experiment in transferring the historical romance to foreign soil. Fifteenth-century France, the French Revolution, and contemporary Britain all come together in this sharp-eyed novel of political expediency and intrigue. The young Scottish adventurer Quentin Durward embarks upon a dangerous journey through the forest of the Ardennes seeking a name, a partner, and a position in the world. Meanwhile, the machiavellian King Louis XI of France, maneuvers his realm out of the hands of feudal barons and into centralized control--which Scott believed to characterize the modern state. This, the only edition of Quentin Durward available, includes a map of Quentin Durward's journey, an introduction, and comprehensive explanatory notes.

Sir Walter SCOTT (1771-1832), son of Walter Scott, a Writer to the Signet, was born in College Wynd, Edinburgh, educated at Edinburg High School and University, and apprenticed to his father. He spends part of his childhood in the rural Scottish Borders at his paternal grandparents' farm at Sandyknowe. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that characterised much of his work. He was called to the bar in 1792. At the age of 25 he began to write professionally, translating works from German. His first publication being rhymed versions of ballads by Gottfried August Bürger in 1796. He then published a three-volume set of collected ballads of his adopted home region, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. In 1820, Scott was created baronet. Scott´s influence as a novelist was incalculable: he established the form of the “Historical Novel”, and the form of the short story with “The Two Drovers” and “The Highland Widow”. He was avidly read and imitated throughout the 19th cent, and there was a revival of interest from European Marxist critics in the 1930´s, who interpreted his works in terms of historicism. Postmodern tastes favoured discontinuous narratives and the introduction of the "first person", yet they were more favourable to his work than Modernist tastes. Scott is now seen as an important innovator and a key figure in the development of Scottish and world literature.“Quentin Durward” (1823). This is Scott's first novel set in continental Europe. The history centers on the rivalry between Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Louis incites the citizens of Liège to revolt against Charles, and they seize and murder Charles's brother-in-law, Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège, under the command of, William de la Marck, Louis's ally, who was hoping to install his son in Louis de Bourbon's place.

"Quentin Durward" (first published in 1823), Scott's first "European" novel, was an experiment in transferring the historical romance to foreign soil. Fifteenth-century France, the French Revolution, and contemporary Britain all come together in this sharp-eyed novel of political expediency and intrigue. Quentin Durward is a young adventurer and soldier of the Scottish guards seeking fame and fortune in the France of Louis XI (1461-1483). Embarking upon a dangerous journey through the forest of the Ardennes seeking a name, a partner (there is a romance involving his love for Isabelle, Countess of Croye), and a position in the world, he knows little and understands less, but Scott represents his ignorance and naivete as useful to "the most sagacious prince in Europe" who needs servants motivated solely by the desire for coin and credit and lacking any interest in France, which would interfere with the execution of his political aims. Meanwhile, the Machiavellian King Louis XI of France, maneuvers his realm out of the hands of feudal barons and into centralized control –which Scott believed to characterize the modern state. In Quentin Durward Scott studies the first modern state in the process of destroying the European feudal system at a time when the feudal system, which had been the sinews and nerves of national defense, and the spirit of chivalry, by which, began to be innovated upon and abandoned by those grosser characters, who centered their happiness in materialism. The reception accorded "Quentin Durward" astounded Scott, his friends and his publishers. France, Germany and Italy went mad over him, realizing then, as now, that this miracle worker had given to European literature an unsurpassed picture of Louis XI and his age. His fame, the world over, was thenceforth permanently fixed. It was cheering news for Scott.

The plot centres on the medieval rivalry between Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Louis incites the citizens of Liège to revolt against Charles, and they seize and murder Charles's brother-in-law, Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège, under the command of Louis's ally, William de la Marck, who was hoping to install his son in Louis de Bourbon's place (a real historical event which occurred in 1482). At the time of the murder, Louis is present in Charles' camp at Peronne, hoping to fool him with a false display of friendship. Charles, however, sees through his mask of deceit, accuses him of instigating the uprising, and has him imprisoned. Louis's superior coolness of mind permits him to allay Charles's suspicions and to regain his liberty. In a sub-plot, the Burgundian heiress Isabelle de Croye takes refuge at Louis's court when Charles attempts to give her hand in marriage to his odious favourite Campo-Basso. Louis, in turn, resolves to give her in marriage to the bandit-captain William de la Marck, and sends her to Flanders under the pretence of placing her under the protection of the Bishop of Liège. She is guarded on her journey by Quentin Durward, an archer, who has left behind poverty in Scotland to join the Archers of Louis's Scottish Guard. Quentin prevents the intended treachery and earns Isabelle's love. Charles, though, promises her in marriage to the Duke of Orléans (heir to the French crown) but she refuses, and, in anger, the Duke promises her to whoever brings him the head of de la Marck. This Quentin does with the help of his uncle, Ludovic Lesley, and wins Isabelle's hand.