page_title: The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)
section_title: Chapters 18–24: Lucia and the Unnamed
hierarchical_section_title: The Betrothed (Manzoni novel) / Plot summary / Chapters 18–24: Lucia and the Unnamed
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Illustrazione tratta da "I promessi sposi" dell'incontro tra l'Innominato e il cardinal Federigo (capitolo 23) English: Picture from "I promessi sposi" of the Unnamed and Cardinal Federigo Borromeo (chapter 23)
context_page_description: The Betrothed is an Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1827, in three volumes, and significantly revised and rewritten until the definitive version published between 1840 and 1842. It has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language.
  Set in northern Italy in 1628, during the oppressive years of direct Spanish rule. It is also noted for the extraordinary description of the plague that struck Milan around 1630.
  The novel deals with a variety of themes, from the illusory nature of political power to the inherent injustice of any legal system; from the cowardly, hypocritical nature of one prelate and the heroic sainthood of other priests, to the unwavering strength of love. The novel is renowned for offering keen insights into the meanderings of the human mind.
  I promessi sposi was made into an opera of the same name by Amilcare Ponchielli in 1856 and by Errico Petrella in 1869. There have been many film versions of I promessi sposi, including I promessi sposi, The Betrothed The Betrothed, and Renzo and Lucia, made for television in 2004.
  In May 2015, at a weekly general audience at St.
context_section_description: News of Renzo's disgrace comes to the convent, but later Lucia is informed that Renzo is safe with his cousin. Their reassurance is short-lived: when they receive no word from Fra Cristoforo for a long time, Agnese travels to Pescarenico, where she learns that he has been ordered by a superior to the town of Rimini. In fact, this has been engineered by Don Rodrigo and Count Attilio, who have leaned on a mutual uncle of the Secret Council, who has leaned on the Father Provincial. Meanwhile, Don Rodrigo has organised a plot to kidnap Lucia from the convent. This involves a great robber baron whose name has not been recorded, and who hence is called l'Innominato, the Unnamed.
  Gertrude, blackmailed by Egidio, a neighbor (acquaintance of l'Innominato and Gertrude's lover), persuades Lucia to run an errand which will take her outside the convent for a short while. In the street Lucia is seized and bundled into a coach. After a nightmarish journey, Lucia arrives at the castle of the Unnamed, where she is locked in a chamber.
  The Unnamed is troubled by the sight of her, and spends a horrible night in which memories of his past and the uncertainty of his future almost drive him to suicide. Meanwhile, Lucia spends a similarly restless night, during which she vows to renounce Renzo and maintain perpetual virginity if she is delivered from her predicament. Towards the morning, on looking out of his window, the Unnamed sees throngs of people walking past. They are going to listen to the famous Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Federigo Borromeo. On impulse, the Unnamed leaves his castle in order to meet this man. This meeting prompts a miraculous conversion which marks the turning-point of the novel. The Unnamed announces to his men that his reign of terror is over. He decides to take Lucia back to her native land under his own protection, and with the help of the archbishop the deed is done.
caption: The Unnamed with Cardinal Borromeo
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