The Betrothed
by Walter Scott
Set during the Third Crusade (1189-92), Betrothed is the first of Scott's crusader stories, and although set in Welsh marches, it is a crusader novel as it relates to those who stayed at home. The fiancé is Evelina, the daughter of a Norman warrior who was a victim of the crusade because she was supposedly forced by the Church to fulfill her husband's vow to accept the Cross. It is divided for three years. The horrors of an arranged marriage and the fact that it is a "reward" when men try to have it are clearly understood - the hero is never free; its fate is always determined by the free will of men.
