Ivanhoe, Chapter 38 summary
Chapter 38 of 44 · 14 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 38, Rebecca refuses to abandon her faith and receives permission to defend her innocence through a champion against Brian de Bois-Guilbert, with only three days to arrange the combat. Higg carries her appeal to Isaac of York, and Isaac and Rabbi Ben Samuel separate to seek help through Wilfred of Ivanhoe and paid warriors.
What happens
- Rebecca rejects Beaumanoir’s offer of survival through confession and conversion, insisting instead on her request for a champion.
- Beaumanoir appoints Brian de Bois-Guilbert as the Order’s champion and sets the combat for the third day at the lists of Saint George.
- Rebecca faces execution if no champion appears or her champion loses, and Higg agrees to carry her message.
- Higg encounters Isaac of York and Rabbi Ben Samuel near the Preceptory, and Isaac collapses after seeing Rebecca’s scroll.
- Ben Samuel reads Rebecca’s appeal, which names Wilfred of Ivanhoe as a possible source of assistance.
- Isaac leaves to seek Wilfred, Ben Samuel heads toward York to recruit a fighter, and Higg complains of their neglect.
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In this chapter
What to notice
Rebecca answers the comparison between her fragile glove and the Order’s steel armor by asserting the greater weight of innocence.
Quick check
What does Ben Samuel undertake to do after reading Rebecca’s message?
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