''Kraljeva hči'' is a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n author

Igor Škamperle Igor Škamperle (born 21 November 1962) is a Slovenian sociologist, cultural theory, cultural theorist, novelist, essayist, mountaineer and translator. He was born in a Slovene language, Slovene-speaking family in Trieste, Italy. He studied com ...

. It was first published in 1997 by Založba Devin ( Cankarjeva založba)

Content

The story follows Ernest Fabian, a history professor from Trieste, who travels to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

after receiving a mysterious invitation. On the train, he falls in love with his fellow passenger Katka Živan, who lives between Ljubljana and Prague, and they begin a romantic relationship. In Prague, master Karl Belehar recruits him into a Masonic lodge, where he is to represent Slavic and Slovenian interests in a project for a new European order. Just before a lodge session, Katka’s husband Mathias Breital, also a key member of the group, discovers their affair, prompting the lovers to retreat to a mountain solitude, though they cannot endure it. Ernest attends the session, while Katka returns to Ljubljana. With the help of the mysterious antiquarian Karl Mardohaj Zalman, Ernest catches the Freemasons in a symbolic card game in a monastic library, where, under German influence, they decide the fate of the lands. He disrupts the game and leaves, choosing privacy and his love for Katka over the lodge. Parallel to this, a historical narrative unfolds about

Emperor Rudolf Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hou ...

II’s alchemist Mihael Meier, with whom Ernest identifies so deeply that he feels his wounds. In 1592, Mihael Meier searches for mercury ore with Andrej Vok Rožmberk in the Czech mountains. He sleeps with a peasant widow, Jerina, experiences a peak during the Midsummer Night, but she is later burned as a witch, and he flees back to court. In 1599, Emperor Rudolf II grants religious freedom, only to revoke it in 1609; three years later, mentally ill, he dies. His successor, Matthias of Habsburg, loses interest in alchemy. The defeat of the Czechs at White Mountain on November 8, 1620, marks the start of the Thirty Years’ War.

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{{1990s-novel-stub

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