Ivanhoe Summary

England is in turmoil. The animosity between Saxons and Normans has reached fever pitch, four generations post the Norman invasion. King Richard is held captive in Austria, returning from the Crusades while his power-hungry brother, Prince John, misrules the country. Norman nobles, under his rule, misuse their authority, seizing Saxon lands and reducing landowners to serfdom. This stokes the anger of Saxon nobles, especially the passionate Cedric of Rotherwood, who disowns his son Ivanhoe for siding with King Richard. Ivanhoe, moreover, has feelings for Rowena, Cedric's ward, who Cedric has plans to wed Athelstane, a descendent of a past Saxon King, in a bid to resurrect the Saxon royal lineage.

Ivanhoe, unbeknownst to his father, has returned home incognito as a religious pilgrim and further disguised as the Disinherited Knight, he competes in the grand tournament at Ashby-de-la-Zouche. With assistance from an enigmatic Black Knight, he overcomes his nemesis, Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert, winning the tournament. On winning, he reveals his identity and crowns Rowena the Queen of Love and Beauty, but is severely injured and faints. Concurrently, Prince John learns that Richard might have escaped his Austrian imprisonment, igniting a plot with his counselors to prevent Richard from reclaiming his throne in England.

Prince John plots to wed Rowena to de Bracy who impatiently kidnaps Cedric's group on their way home from the tournament and imprisons them at Torquilstone, Front-de-Boeuf's castle. The captives include Cedric, Rowena, Athelstane, Ivanhoe and a Jewish father-daughter duo, Isaac and Rebecca who have been nursing Ivanhoe's wounds. De Bracy and de Bois-Guilbert unsuccessfully try to secure Rowena and Rebecca's affections respectively. During a subsequent battle involving the Black Knight and Robin Hood's band of outlaws, the villains are defeated, the prisoners freed but de Bois-Guilbert manages to abduct Rebecca before the castle is set aflame by enraged Saxon woman Ulrica, killing her and Front-de-Boeuf. The Black Knight, later revealed as King Richard, thwarts an ambush by Waldemar Fitzurse, and returns to England. Athelstane bows out, allowing Ivanhoe to marry Rowena. Meanwhile, Rebecca, who is accused of witchcraft by the Templars, is defended by Ivanhoe in a trial-by-combat against her captor, de Bois-Guilbert, who dies of his own conflicted emotions. Rebecca and her father Isaac then set sail for Granada, while Ivanhoe embarks on a heroic career serving King Richard until the king's sudden death brings his earthly pursuits to a halt.