The Betrothed (Scott novel)
novel by Walter Scott
The Betrothed is one of the Waverley novels by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1825. Set in the Welsh Marches in the 12th century, it is the first of two Tales of the Crusaders, the second being The Talisman.
Parts of the novel were incorporated into Francesco Maria Piave's libretto for Giuseppe Verdi's 1857 opera, Aroldo, itself a re-working of an earlier Verdi opera, Stiffelio.
Composition and sources
At the beginning of April 1824, two months before he completed Redgauntlet, Scott envisaged that it would be followed by a four-volume publication containing two tales, at least one of which would be based on the Crusades. He began composition of the first story, The Betrothed, in June, but progress was to be excruciatingly slow. Initially the problem was numerous interruptions with visitors to Abbotsford. By mid-August proofs had only passed the middle of the first volume and in September Scott was able to write only sporadically, so that the first volume was not complete until early October. Then there were objections to the novel from James Ballantyne, and it is likely that at some point in the autumn Scott changed course and began the companion novel The Talisman. On 17 December it was actually decided that The Betrothed should be formally laid aside, though the second volume was well advanced, and the sheets already printed were sealed up. In mid-February 1825 the December decision was rescinded and composition was complete by mid-March, though Scott returned to the work to adjust the conclusion at the beginning of June.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Betrothed (Scott novel)” as novel by Walter Scott. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as novel by Walter Scott. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3232591. VIAF identifies the subject as 185260495. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1825, 1857 and 1824.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Betrothed (Scott novel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.