Karl Smelyi - Skott Val'ter

One of the most striking and colorful figures of the European Middle Ages, without a doubt, is the Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold, who ruled in the middle of the 15th century. His enemies gave him the epithet "Horrible" and his descendants poetically called him "the last knight." He dreamed of becoming king and, quite possibly, would have achieved his goal, if not for the tragic death at the Battle of Nancy. Charles's name is inextricably linked to the name of the French King Louis XI. Their irreconcilable struggle is narrated by the famous English writer Walter Scott in his historical novel "Carl the Bold". The author masterfully describes the historical reality on the pages of the book, as if he witnessed certain events. The historical novel, according to Scott, should reproduce history more than scientific and historical research, because dry archaeology it complements psychological content, passions and views that create the history of people. In order to solve this problem, the historical novel must, along with political events, depict the privacy of ordinary people - to combine broad political action and love affair, real historical faces of the persons of the fictional. Therefore, in his novel "Carl the Bold", against the background of the main storyline of the confrontation between two legendary personalities of the medieval era, the writer tells the story of a father and son traveling through Switzerland incognito with a secret mission. Their path is full of dangers and heroic feats.