'.liiimsissstimifsmmt ^i s sim i simfii im m swai as m /^9 (Qatnell UntQetBiti} ffifbrarg attrata, IRew f nvb BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 i miEBUB^ARY LOAN Cornell University Library PQ 6147.C5T45 Spanish and Portuguese romances of chiva 3 1924 027 880 420 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027880420 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, Manager LONDON : FETTER LANE, E. C. 4 NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY ^ CALCUTTA^ MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. MADRAS ) TORONTO : THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TOKYO : MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY THE REVIVAL OF THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY IN THE SPANISH PENINSULA, AND ITS EXTENSION AND INFLUENCE ABROAD BY HENRY THOMAS, D.Litt. NORMAN MACCOLL LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, I916 CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1920 I\^<^32.0'] PREFACE THE following chapters represent, in an extended form, a course of six lectures on Spanish and Portuguese romances of chivalry delivered as the Norman MacColl lectures in the University of Cam- bridge during the Spring of 191 7. Their chief object is to provide a comprehensive review of a remarkable popular literary movement which began in the Spanish Peninsula about the turn of the fifteenth century, spread over western Europe, including our own coun- try, and having flourished and exercised a considerable influence for a time, died out so completely as to be well-nigh forgotten nowadays except by students. Various aspects of the movement, and a number of the problems connected with it, have been treated by diffe- rent writers in modern times; their results have been taken into account, occasionally with corrections, in the following pages, and some new material has been con- tributed, especially in the later chapters. The early editions of these romances of chivalry, which are in most cases the only existing editions, are extremely rare; but the writer has had facilities for studying or examining the romances, either in Spanish libraries, or in the still richer collections, public or private, in England. The following sketch — the first to relate in connected form the fortunes of these romances in the various countries they invaded — is off^ered as some return for the advantages enjoyed. Having at hand the vi PREFACE resources of the British Museum, the writer could not refrain from supplementing the narrative with foot- notes giving in most cases the original authority for statements made, or in some cases additional matter which it did not seem convenient to include in the text. While the ordinary reader need not be burdened by these foot-notes, it is hoped that with their help the student may be saved some trouble. How far the writer has relied on his predecessors in the same field will be evident from the references in the text. To all, and especially to those whose names appear in the bibliography, he gratefully acknowledges his in- debtedness. H. T. April, 1920. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. The Romance of Chivalry in the Spanish Peninsula before the year 1500 . . i II. Amadis de Gavla and its continuations 41 III, The Palmerin Romances ... 84 IV. Smaller Groups AND Isolated Romances 119 V. The Prevalence and the Decline of the New Romances in the Spanish Peninsula 147 VI. The Extension of the New Romances ON the Continent . . . . .180 VII. The New Chivalresque Romances in England ...... 242 APP. I. Leandro el Bel ..... 302 II. Anthony Munday and Lazarus Pyott . 310 Bibliography 316 Index . • • • • • -321 In these chapters the present system of accentuation for Spanish words is followed only inciting the names and works of modern authors, and modern editions of ancient works. CHAPTER I THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY IN THE SPANISH PENINSULA BEFORE THE YEAR 1500 LAST yeari being the tercentenary of the death of -/ Cervantes, many who had hitherto known Bon Quixote only from pictorial illustrations were no doubt tempted to make acquaintance with the text of that immortal masterpiece. They cannot have read very far without realising the existence of a body of literature almost certainly unknown to them before. If they were methodical enough to read the preface, they would gather that Don Quixote was, "from beginning to end, an attack upon the books of chivalry," and if they were persevering enough to read to the last chapter they would see Cid Hamet Benengeli hang up his pen, satisfied and proud at having accomplished his desire of " delivering over to the detestation of mankind the false and foolish tales of the books of chivalry." In the course of their reading, they would acquire some vague idea as to what is meant by these books of chivalry, more especially from "the diverting and important scrutiny which the curate and the barber made in the library of the Ingeni- ous Gentleman 2," and they would form a very precise ^ 1916. See preface. ^ Don Quixote, pt i. ch. vi. Throughout these pages Ormsby's translation is used for all quotations from Don Quixote; his rendering of cura — ^really a parish priest — is therefore retained outside these quotations for the sake of uniformity. 2 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. estimate of their defects and demerits from the judg- ment delivered by the Canon of Toledo in his conversa- tion with the curate when, to his great amazement, he came across Don Quixote "enchanted" and imprisoned in the cage^ : To tell the truth, senor curate, I for my part consider what they call books of chivalry to be mischievous to the State; and though, led by idle and false taste, I haVe read the beginnings of almost all that have been printed, I never could manage to read any one of them from beginning to end; for it seems to me they are all more or less the same thing; and one has nothing more in it than another; this no more than that And though it may be the chief object of such books to amuse, I do not know how they can succeed, when they are so full of such monstrous non- sense. For the enjoyment the mind feels must come from the beauty and harmony which it perceives or contemplates in the things that the eye or the imagination brings before it; and nothing that has any ugliness or disproportion about it can give any pleasure. What beauty, then, or what proportion of the parts to the whole, or of the whole to the parts, can there be in a book or fable where a lad of sixteen cuts down a giant as tall as a tower and makes two halves of him as if he was an almond cake? And when they want to give us a picture of a battle, after having told us that there are a million of com- batants on the side of the enemy, let the hero of the book be opposed to them, and we have perforce to believe, whether we like it or not, that the said knight wins the victory by the single might of his strong arm. And then, what shall we say of the facility with which a born queen or empress will give herself over into the arms of some unknown wandering knight? What mind, that is not wholly barbarous and uncultured, can find pleasure in reading of how a great tower full of knights sails away across the sea like a ship with a fair wind, and will be to-night in Lombardy and to-morrow morning in the land of ^ Pt I. ch. XLvn. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 3 Prester John of the Indies, or some other that Ptolemy never described nor Marco Polo saw? And if, in answer to this, I am told that the authors of books of the kind write them as fiction, and therefore are not bound to regard niceties of truth, I would reply that fiction is all the better the more it looks like truth, and gives the more pleasure the more probability and possibility there is about it. Plots in fiction should be wedded to the under- standing of the reader, and be constructed in such a way that, reconciling impossibilities, smoothing over difficulties, keeping the mind on the alert, they niay surprise, interest, divert, and entertain, so that wonder and delight joined may keep pace one with the other; all which he will fail to effect who shuns verisimilitude and truth to nature, wherein lies the perfection of writing. I have never yet seen any book of chivalry that puts together a connected plot complete in all its numbers, so that the middle agrees with the beginning, and the end with the beginning and middle; on the contrary, they construct them with such a multitude of members that it seems as though they meant to produce a chimera or monster rather than a well- proportioned figure. And besides all this they are harsh in their style, incredible in their achievements, licentious in their amours, uncouth in their courtly speeches, prolix in their battles, silly in their arguments, absurd in their travels, and, in short, wanting in everything like intelligent art; for which reason they deserve to be banished from the Christian commonwealth as a worthless breed. The Canon's criticism is not an attractive advertise- ment of our subject, which is the very romances of chivalry here so roundly condemned. These books repre- sent a revival in the Spanish Peninsula, almost entirely within the limits of the sixteenth century, of a class of literature which had originated, flourished, and de- clined, at a much earlier period elsewhere. Yet in spite of the justness of the Canon's censure, they occupied. 4 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. so long as their vogue lasted, a most prominent posi- tion in the realm of polite literature, especially in their native land, but generally too in the rest of cultured Europe — Italy, France, Germany, Holland and Eng- land — over which they spread. Two of them, Amadis of Gaul and Palmerin of England, were excepted even by Cervantes from the general condemnation which he levelled against their class, and have since been recog- nised as respectively a Spanish and a Portuguese classic. We are therefore not without excuse if we devote a few hours to considering the origin and nature of these romances, their development within the Peninsula, and their extension abroad. The revival of which we have spoken began with the publication of the romance Amadis de Gaula. It is still uncertain whether this was first printed at the end of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century; but although it was not, as the curate in T)on Quixote^ had heard say, "the first book of chivalry printed in Spain," it certainly was the father of the "innumerable pro- geny2" which sprang up in Spanish and Portuguese literature during the succeeding hundred years. To understand properly the new literary movement con- stituted by this revival, we must first of all consider briefly the original development of the romance of chivalry, and then bridge over as far as possible the interval between the two. Fortunately one portion of our task is lightened by the fact that the original move- ment concerns our own literature very nearly: its general outlines are therefore well known to all in any way 1 Pt I. ch. VI. 2 Ft II. cli. I. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 5 interested in letters. A few facts may however be re- called, and certain features emphasised, for the purpose of comparison at a later stage. The literature of chivalry which flourished in west- ern Europe during the Middle Ages is nothing more or less than a natural evolution, an inevitable degeneration, of that wealth of epic poetry localised in northern Gaul during the period following the Prankish invasion. At the end of the eleventh century, as the battle of Has- tings reminds us, the French chanson de geste, represent- ing the epic material crystallised around national or local heroes, still inspired the soldier on the battlefield. During the twelfth century the scene of its appeal began to extend from its normal theatre, the castle with its assembled barons, to the market place, where it served to amuse the populace at fair or festival. From the middle of the thirteenth century it descended one step further: from a public entertainment it became a pri- vate recreation ; it was no longer sung or declaimed in the baronial halls or open squares, but read in the seclusion of the chamber. Various changes accompanied the in- crease in the numbers, and deterioration in the quality, of the audience. The trouvere, in earlier times often a soldier, like those to whom he sang, became a mere man of letters, retailing material to his inferior substi- tute, the jongleur, who passed from town to town and from village to village, supplying the popular wants and therefore influenced by the popular tastes. When the jongleur ceased to attract audiences, and his wares were no longer recited but read, this material, originally in assonanced, then in various forms of rhyming verse. 6 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. according to the period, degenerated into prose, and produced the romance of chivalry properly so called. Obviously this stage was not reached without con- siderable developments in the spirit and substance of the original epics. The chief developments in the sub- stance were its simplification through the formation of cycles, and its subsequent amplification through the addition of purely invented matter — for both of which the httr jongleurs of the thirteenth and fourteenth cen- turies were mainly responsible. Travelling as they did from place to place, and depending on popular favour, they were under the necessity of making the smaller and the local legends of general appeal, and this they did by absorbing, assimilating, fusing them with the larger and national legends. Hence a vast and diverse mass of material became reduced roughly to the three cycles of Jean Bodel's well-known couplet: Ne sont que trois matieres a nul homme attendant, De France et de Bretaigne et de Rome le grant. In the formation of these cycles much of the apparent historical value of the epic was sacrificed, and so, when the public grew accustomed to the. jongleurs' usual stock- in-trade, and began to clamour for new sensations, these gentlemen had little scruple in extending their repertory out of their own imagination, thus bringing us nearer to the romantic fiction of less remote times. The division into three cycles indicated in Bodel's couplet corresponds to a threefold origin of the epic material, and it is therefore natural to find that each cycle had a characteristic spirit of its own. The matiere de Rome is the least important of the three groups, and i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 7 along with all that relates to the eastern Mediterranean may be neglected for our present purpose; from that source came little more than the setting of some of the romances we are to consider. The keynote of the matiere de France^ which centred round the person of Charlemagne — a Teutonic seed germinating in the soil of feudal and Christian France — is a lofty idea of honour and sacrifice in the service of God and the Emperor, and a high sense of the value of an oath of fealty, for the breaking of which, no matter what the provocation or justification, there could never be any proper atone- ment. The matiere de Bretagne, of Celtic origin, is the most important for us at the present moment; fortu- nately too it is the most important for our own literature, and its consequent familiarity, in its various forms, to all English people who have any literary interests what- ever, renders unnecessary a description of the Breton lays or the early romances of chivalry which developed from them and the corresponding French chansons de geste. The French trouveres had made themselves complete masters of the matiere de Bretagne by the middle of the thirteenth century, and in appropriating the myths of the passionate, imaginative and idealistic Celts, they were confronted with new and strange elements: the fantastic, the mysterious, the marvellous. Woman had played but a minor part in their native cycle, but in the Tristan legends there was presented to them the love of woman, illicit but ineluctable, as a feverish, delirious, all-consuming passion; adventures, perilous and marvellous, undertaken for capricious 8 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. or for futile reasons — in a word, knight-errantry — were exhibited to them in the legends of the Round Table; a new and strange symbolism and mysticism were introduced with the legend of the Holy Grail. Much of what was new in the spirit of the Celtic tales was alien to the trouvere's own character; consequently it suffered considerable modification in the process of adaptation. The more practical genius of the French trouveres — chief among them the matter-of-fact Chre- tien de Troyes — in making the matiere de Bretagne con- form to the Christian and feudal standards, stripped it of much of its subtlety and mystery, and the fantastic, the marvellous and the miraculous tended to become merely extravagant, and even at times absurd. At the same time the refining influence of the southern trouba- dours removed much of the savagery or wildness of the French and Celtic cycles; the society became more elegant and luxurious, the material more civilised, more formal, more conventional. But as a result of all this, woman emerged with her status raised, while honour and love were the mainspring of the action, whether in the gorgeous pageants or the strange adventures of the later romances. These are the tales which spread over most of Europe, and with which few people who read at all can avoid becoming to some extent familiar. Here we need only concern ourselves with the study of their fortunes south of the Pyrenees in the Middle Ages, as a necessary step towards understanding the revival which took place there during the sixteenth century. The growing Christian kingdoms in the north of the Spanish Peninsula had their own epic poetry, et pour i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 9 cause. But the cantares de gesta developed on different lines from the chansons de geste. Simple and severe, and free from the influence of the fantastic and marvellous, they retained a reputation for veracity, and were either incorporated in the learned historic or quasi-historic compilations of later times, or else reappeared as the short popular ballads. The way was therefore free for the passage not only of the varied subject-matter of the northern French epic, but also for the varying forms it assumed. That advantage was taken of this is clear from the ballads themselves. In their existing form, it is true, few of them date back even to the fifteenth century, but many of them celebrate the heroes of the Charlemagne cycle, and their present state implies a long ancestry on the other side of the Pyrenees. There were indeed very good reasons why the legends that had collected round Charlemagne should be naturalised there at an early period. Some of them told of wars carried on against the very infidels with whom the Christian kingdoms were contending for their lost inheritance, and the theatre of action of the Chanson de Roland, the finest poem in the whole matiere de France, was in Spain itself. Those who had at heart the interests of the shrine of St James at Compostela in Galicia made the most of these circumstances. Various opinions are held as to the composition of the pseudo-Turpin Chronicle, but it is generally agreed that it was begun, if not altogether written, at Santiago de Compostela. When the pious compilers of that work — in its way a learned book of chivalry — utilised the Charlemagne legends to " boom" the historic associations of the pilgrim-wav to the lo THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. Apostle's shrine, religion and literature rendered each other mutual services, and literature at any rate has amply repaid any debt it may have incurred. So success- ful was the pseudo-Turpin Chronicle in Spain that it started a patriotic protest, a national rival, in the fabu- lous figure of Bernardo del Carpio, victor at Ronces- valles, whose very creation is a testimony to the popu- larity of the opposite faction. It was from the pseudo- Turpin Chronicle that the author of the Poema de Fernan Gorifalez — written in the third quarter of the thirteenth century — drew his list of Carlovingian heroes i. To the Charlemagne series belongs a theme incorporated in the thirteenth century Cronica General'^ compiled under the direction of Alfonso the Learned : the legend oiMaynete y Galiana, claimed by some Spanish scholars as a native addition to the cycle. This is the story, which exists in various fornis, of Charlemagne's stay in Toledo and his marriage with Galiana, the Moorish King's daughter. Another version of the same story is embedded in the Gran Conquista de Ultramar^, an enormous compilation relating to the Crusades, adapted from the Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum of William of Tyre, perhaps through the medium of the French Histoire ^ Stanza 352, edition of C. Carroll Marden, 1904: Carlos [e] Valdouinos, Rroldan e don Ojero, Terryn e Gualdabuey, (e) Arnald e Oliuero, Torpyn e don Rrynaldos e el gascon Angelero, Estol e Salomon e el otrro (su) conpan[n]ero. " Sections 597-599, edition of R. Menendez Pidal, 1906 {Neuva Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, vol. v.), pp. 340-343. * Bk II. ch. XLiii., edition of Gayangos, 1858 {Biblioteca de Autores Espaiioles, vol. xliv.), pp. 173-185. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 11 (TEracle. Besides the Maynete y Galiana, the Gran Con- quista de C///r«»?«r includes among its varied elements the story o£Berta^, mother of Charlemagne, and the Cavallero del Cisne^ ; and if we accept the common opinion that the compilation belongs to the end of the thirteenth century, then those sections represent the earliest specimens of the romance of chivalry in the Spanish language. But it is now thought that the Grari Conquista de Ultramar was begun, certainly that it was ended, at a much later date. This is convenient, for it lends increased importance to the Historia del Cavallero de Dios que avia for nombre Cifar, the first real Spanish romance, immature and transitional indeed, but still a romance of chivalry. The only early edition of El Cavallero Cifar is that of 1512, a unique copy of which exists in the Bibliotheque Nationale^. Its rarity is an excuse for the opinion, held until quite recent times, that it was a sixteenth century production — merely one more of Amadis of GauVs " innumerable progeny." The discovery of a manuscript of the romance, also in the Bibliotheque Nationale*, and the reprinting of the text^ in 1 872, raised El Cavallero Cifar from the rank of a late imitation to that of an early ^ Bk II. ch. XLiii. pp. 175-178. 2 Bk I. ch. xLvii.-cxxxv. pp. 26-87. * A copy was once in the library of Ferdinand Columbus. The entry in the MS. catalogue which he himself compiled may be quoted because it gives the contemporary price of the romance. " 2056. Cronica de cifar . . . Imp. e seuilla por Jacobo Croberger a. 9. de Junio de. 15 12 . . . costo. 60. mrs e m^". del campo por Junio de. ISI4-" * A second ms. — the only other known — ^is now in the BibUoteca Nacional at Madrid. ^ By H. Michelant, in the Bibliothek des litterarischen Vereins in Stuttgart, Bd cxii. 12 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. work of capital importance. The manuscript contains a prologue^ not to be found in the 1 5 1 2 edition. From this we can gather roughly the date by which the romance was completed, for the unknown author, pro- bably a Toledan cleric, here mentions the pardons granted by Pope Boniface VIII, in the year 1300, to all who should visit the churches of St Peter and St Paul in Rome; and he describes how the body of Gonzalo Garcia Gudiel (f 1299), the first Toledan Cardinal, and the first Cardinal to be buried in Spain, was translated from Rome to Toledo by Ferrand Martinez, Arch- deacon of Madrid. The account is a minute one ; it even records the touching detail that the worthy Archdeacon bore all the expense of the journey to Rome and back himself — e costol muy grand algo — "and it cost him a very great deal, one thing because the way was very long, from Toledo to Rome, another thing because he had to take a larger company at his own charge to do honour to the Cardinal's body, another thing because all the way provisions were very dear by reason of the countless people who went on this pilgrimage to Rome from all parts of the earth." The events described, which took place in the first two or three years of the fourteenth century, are clearly of very recent occurrence, and we may accept as a rough date for the composition of the romance the turn of the thirteenth century. We are justified in considering at some length a Spanish romance of so early a date. ^ Reprinted by Charles Philip Wagner at the end of his thesis The Sources of El CavaUero Cifar {Revue Hisfanique, torn. x. 1903), on which the account here given is mainly based. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 13 The story oiEl Cavallero Cifar is said in the prologue to be "translated from Chaldean into Latin, and from Latin into Romance." There are not wanting those who have soberly suggested that by Chaldean is meant Greek ; but the whole statement is not to be taken seriously. This pretence of translation was a common device for lending authority to fiction, before pure fiction was in repute. It is frequently met with in the Spanish romances of chivalry, and we may remark that it goes back at least to the days of those veracious historians, so popular in the Middle Ages, Dares the Phrygian and Dictys of Crete^. The printer of the edition of 1 5 1 2 divided the story into three books, corresponding to three very distinct sections into which the narrative quite naturally falls. ^ According to the preliminaries, Dares the Phrygian's History of the Fall of Troy was found in Athens by Cornelius Nepos, who trans- lated it into Latin, dedicating his version to Sallust. More to the present point, however, is the story of the discovery of Dictys of Crete's Trojan War. Dictys wrote his memoirs of the war in Phoenician characters on palm-leaf rolls which by his direction were placed in a metal casket and buried with him. The truth about Troy remained hidden till in the thirteenth year of Nero's reign an earthquake occurred at Gnossos. The tomb of Dictys, amongst others, was opened up, and some passing shepherds noticed the box. Disappointed with its con- tents, they took the puzzling roUs to Eupraxides, the local squire, who recognised their value and showed them to Rutilius Rufus, the gov- ernor of the island. The governor sent Eupraxides with the rolls to Nero, by whose orders this story was deciphered and translated into Greekj 'from which it was turned into Latin by Lucius Septimius. Eupraxides was suitably rewarded, but we are not told that the shepherds received anything. This is the type of story which regularly served to introduce the sixteenth century Spanish romances of chivalry. 14 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. The first book is a secularised adaptation of the legend of St Eustace or Placidus. Placidus, the commander of the Emperor Trajan's forces, converted to Christianity while out hunting through Christ himself appearing to him in the form of a stag with the cross between its horns, is baptised with his wife and his two boys, he receiving the name Eustachius, she that of Theospita. Being subsequently tried and afflicted like Job, Placidus departs for Egypt with his family. On the way a series of misadventures overtakes him, and he loses success- ively his wife and his children ; but all of them, though separated, are safe. In the course of time the Barbarians invade Roman territory, and search is made for Placidus, who is eventually found, brought back to Rome, and placed in command of the army. The army, which in- cludes the two lost sons among its recruits, sets out and comes to the town where Theospita is living. There follows a general recognition, and when the Barbarians are defeated, the reunited family returns to Rome with the triumphant army. But here a new Emperor has arisen who is intolerant towards Christians. During the sacrifice of thanksgiving Placidus reveals himself as a Christian, and suffers martyrdom along with his family. The following brief summary of the first book of El Cavallero Cifar will show how the unknown author has adapted this legend. The noble knight Cifar lived in Indiajvith his wife Grim a and their two boys, Garfin and Roboan. Cifar was a brave and prudent soldier, but poor and out of favour with the King, for his horses and cattle had an evil and expensive habit of coming to an untimely end i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 15 within ten days after passing into his possession — a reminiscence of the early trials of Placidus. Discouraged by this, he decides to try his fortunes elsewhere, mindful of the prophecy that he shall some day be a king like his ancestors. He sets out with his wife and children, loses his horse on the customary tenth day, but next day arrives on foot at Galapia, to find the Lady of the City besieged by a neighbouring Count. Siding with the citizens, Cifar succeeds by his skill and prudence in raising the siege, reconciling the enemies, and marrying the Count's son to the Lady of the City. Pursuing his journey after a month's time, Cifar has a new horse — for ten days; and worse misfortunes await him. A < lioness carries ofF one of his children, the other is lost, and when he tries to cross the sea, the sailors make off with his beautiful wife, leaving him on the shore. And here the author reveals the source of his story by making Cifar pray that he may be reunited to his wife and chil- dren, even as "Eustachio" and his wife "Teospita" and their children "Agapito" and "Teospito" were reunited. Encouraged by a voice from heaven, Cifar travels on and soon falls in with a new and original figure, a Ribaldo. After testing each other's mettle, the two join forces as knight and page, in order to carry out the Ribaldo's scheme for winning the King of Menton's daughter for his new master. The King of Menton is besieged, and his daughter's hand and the succession to the throne is offered to the knight who shall free the city. By feigning madness, Cifar passes through the besieging host, and succeeds in relieving the c ity. He is rewarded with the Princess's hand, and when the old 1 6 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. King dies, succeeds him on the throne. The difficulty of the bigamous marriage is to some extent overcome by his informing his new wife that he is under a vow of chastity as penance for a sin he has committed. /■ We must now return to the original wi fe, who on being kidnapped by the sailors prays to the Virgin Mary \ for protection. Her extreme beauty leads to a quarrel among her captors, which results in the same way as that between the cats of Kilkenny. Grima is now alone in the ship ; but the Christ-child , taking his seat above the sail, guides the vessel and its rich cargo safely to port. K Grima is thus able to indulge a taste for founding con- vents and asylums, and coming eventually to the capital of Menton, she undertakes to build there a refuge for fijos dalgo viandantes. Cifar has by this time succeeded to the throne, and in an interview which Grima has with him in order to obtain the royal consent, the long-parted husband and wife recognise each other, but keep silent. Their two children,<^Garfin and Roboan/had not perished, and being by this time of age for knighthood, they repair to the chi valrous court of the King of M en- ton, and stay in the refuge founded by their own mother, who comes to recognise them through their discussion of the elder son's escape from the lioness being over- heard and reported to her. Grima and the two youths have so much to say to each other on the night of their discovery that they fall asleep together and are so found by a messenger from the Queen next morning. For this supposed crime the King condemns Grima to be burned, but before the sentence can be carried out he gathers i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 17 from the youths' story that they are his own sons, and the mother is therefore pardoned. The two sons are knighted, and along with the Cavallero Ami go (the former Ribaldo) they subdue tho^tebellious Count Nason .^ The Count is burned, his ashes are cast into an enchanted l ake, and his country is given to the elder son Garfin. Theyoung Queen now very considerately dies, and the original family is happily reunited after the King's formal recognition of his first wife and his two sons. That is the skeleton of the first book of El Cavallero Cifar. The second book is a parenthesis, due to the author's succumbing entirely to the didactic tendency of his times. It is i ntroduced with some naturalness as the instructi ons given by the K ing of Menton to his two sons, the elder of whom is to succeed him, while the younger chooses to seek his fortune as a knight-errant. The King's sermon does not concern our present pur- pose ; all we need say of it here is that it consists of a practically literal copy of a recently pubUshed (1878) thirteenth century didactic work, the Flores de Filosofia, eked out by passages from the second of the Siete Partidas ^ of Alfonso the Learned and the Castigos e Documentos, > together with a few Biblical allusions and some miscel- laneous illustrative anecdotes. The real story is resumed in the third book , which contains the knightly adventures of the younger son Roboan. Setting out with the Cavallero Amigo a nd three hundred knights, his first great adventure is to secure the independence of the sorely-tried kingdom of <^Pandulfa, and win the heart of the Lady Seringa its ruler ^y\.n immediate marriage however would not have 1 8 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. suited the author's convenience, so Roboan resumes his travels, taking with him the lady's ring as a souvenir. After further adventures he reaches the Empire of Trigrida, and soon becomes the Emperor's chief coun- sellor. But the jealousy of the other counsellors leads to his unwittingly incurring the Emperor's severe dis- pleasure, and he is banished by being placed in an un- manned boat which wafts him to an enchanted island. His strange life here ends with his being transported back to Trigrida in the same magic boat, and restored to the Emperor's favour. . fantastic and marvellous element is introduced in the ^ inserted episode of the Cavallero Atrevido^yThe Daunt- <\ less Knight determines to explore the enchanted lake Iinto which the ashes of the rebellious Count Nason had been cast. He is borne down through its waters by the Lady of the L ake to a marvellous realm below, and becomes lord of both realm and lady. In seven days his mistress presents him with a wonder child, who in seven days more attains to full stature. The knight is soon tempted to unfaithfulness by the beauty of a maiden he sees; whereupon his lady changes into a horrible demon, while he and his son, in the midst of a tremen- dous earthquake, are hurled up through the waters of the lake to the world above, and to his men who are still waiting for him. After the didactic interlude of the second book, the ' " ^ Celtic influence becomes more marked in the last book. '^ It is indeed noticeable in the changed spirit of the story, > in Roboan's voluntary choice of knight-errantry as a profession, as compared with his father's almost en- forced wanderings; and Roboan, the brave, elegant and > 1 Bk I. ch. cx.-cxvii. < 20 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. courteous, has all the properties of a sixteenth century chivalresque hero. But the main influence is to be found in an episode not essential to the narrative^ : Roboan' s adventure in the enchanted island — a parallel to the story of the Dauntless Knight in the first book. When Roboan reaches the island in the magic boat, he is pre- sented to the Empress, who at once takes him for her husband. After a time a beautiful woman — this time the Devil in disguise — thrice tempts him to be unfaithful to the Empress, by promising him successively a mas- tiff, a falcon, and a horse, each the most wonderful of its kind in the world. The horse is his undoing, for it runs away with him to the magic boat, and he is wafted back to the unromantic world, leaving behind the Em- press, the babe she is to bear him, and his happiness. His only memento is a magic banner, which brings success in all its owner undertakes. Even if the author had not mentioned by name Arthur^ and Gawain^, the indebtedness of El Cavallero Cifar to the Breton cycle is obvious. It is now time for us to consider briefly, as we did with the mature de France y to what extent this matter e de Bretagnevi2& known beyond the Pyrenees previous to the fourteenth century. We shall not expect to find either very early or very abundant traces of its passage, for if the spirit of the cycle was alien to the French genius, it was still more so to the Catalan, the Aragonese, the Castilian; and we must generally allow too for the absence of direct > ^ Bk III. ch. xxx.-xxxix. ^ ^ Bk I. ch. cv. y ^ Bk in. ch. XXXI. The form used is Yuan. > i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 21 contact. Yet references in early literature show that the cycle found its way across the Pyrenees through more than one channel. ' Through the medium of the Provenfal troubadours the Celtic legends reached Catalonia at an early date, as is shown by the mention of the main themes — Erec, Tristan, Crawain, Lancelot — in a poem by Guiraldo de Cabrera written about the year 1 1 70^ ; and at a later date actual copies of some romances existed in the li- braries of King Martin of Aragon (f 1410)^ and Prince Charles of Viana (ti46i)^. But these legends also ^ followed the same route as the Charlemagne legends, and found an equally natural outlet in Galicia and ^ Given in full by Manuel Mila y Fontanals: De los Trovadores en Espana, 1861, in the section devoted to Guiraldo de Cabrera, pp. 265-277. In the form of a reproach directed against the " Juglar Cabra," the poem gives the various themes which should form part of every respectable jongleur's stock-in-trade. The references to the Breton cycle occur in the following lines : Ni sabs d'Erec Ni de Gualvaing Con conquistec Qui ses conpaing L'esparvier for de sa rejon . . . Fazia tanta venaison . . . Ni de Tristan Ni d'Arselot la conten^on. C'amava Yceut a lairon, ^ 2 See the Translat del Inventarifet dels lihres los quals erem del . . . Rey en Marti, in the Inventari dels hens mobles del rey Marti d'Arago, printed by J. Masso Torrents in the Revue Hispanique, 1905, tom. xii. pp. 413-590; along with other romances we find in the list (No. 71): "Item vn altre hbre appellat profacies de Merli en frances." ^ 3 See La Bibliotheque de Don Carlos, Prince de Viane, printed by Paul Raymond in the Bibliothique de VEcole des CharUs, 1858, ser. iv. tom. IV. pp. 483-487 : (No. 35) "Item. Del Sant Greal en ffrances." (No. 38) "Un altre [libre] de cavalleria." (No. 40) « Item. Tristany de Leonis en ffrances." < 22 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. Portugal, where there existed not only a flourishing school of lyric poetry, but also, we may assume, a kin- dred spirit — a heritage from early Celtic inhabitants, in- creased by communication with more thoroughly Celtic lands. Both Alfonso the Learned (11284)^ and his grand- son. King Dinis of Portugal (t 1325)^, mention Tristan in their poems, and other references might be added. But from our point of view these references sink into insignificance beside the actual existence of five Lays de Bretanha at the beginning of the manuscript Canzoniere portoghese Colocci-Brancuti^ in the Vatican. These lyrics are free translations from the French, and show how familiar the matihre de Bretagne must have been to the Galician and Portuguese trovadores even in the thir- teenth century. Evidence of a knowledge of the cycle derived from a more learned source — Geoffrey of ^ See // Canzoniere fortoghese Colocci-Brancuti fubblicato . . . da Enrico Molteni, 1880, p. 155. No. 468 (360) contains the following: . . . ca ia paris Damor non foy tarn coitado Nen tristam nunca soffrero Tal affam. . . . It may further be noted that Alfonso in his Cantigas de Santa Maria (edition of the Real Academia Espanola, 1889, vol. 11.) mentions "rei Brutus," "rey Artur " (No. 35, pp. 52, 54), MerUn (No. 108, pp. 165, etc.), and "o breton Artur" (Cantigas de las fiestas de Santa Maria, No. 9, p. 581). ^ See Das Liederhuch des Konigs Denis von Portugal, edited by H. R. Lang, 1894, No. 36, p. 37: . . . e o mui namorado Tristam sei bem que nom amou Iseu quant' eu vos amo, esto certo sei eu. ' Molteni's edition, Nos. 1-5^ pp. 7-9. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 23 Monmouth's Latin Chronicle — is found in the Livro v das Linhagens^ of King Dinis's illegitimate son, Pedro, . Conde de Barcellos (11354). This work, compiled in / the middle of the fourteenth century, gives a genea- , logical account of the English kings from Brutus to ^- Arthur, which is noteworthy moreover because it con- tains the story of King Lear. During the latter part of the fourteenth and throughout the fifteenth century, interest in the cycle increased, partly no doubt owing to the influence of King J ohn I's English consort — Phi lippa, daughter of John of Gaunt, a nd mother of P rince H e nry the Navigator^ Noble Portuguese'Iaiiii^^ lies are found selecting Christian names for their chil- dren from the legends — Iseu, Genebra, Viviana, etc., for the girls, Tristao, Langarote, Percival, etc., for the boys^jjustas later we shall find Christian names selected from the Amadis romances in other countries. Actual copies of the Breton romances were injhe royaljibra- ries";~a document discovered at, Eyora. gives a list of books^ in the possession of King Edward (■t"i438), son of John I and Philippa, which includes Tristan ^ Merlin , and a Livro de Galaaz. Furthermore there exists in the Imperial Library at Vienna a fourteenth century Portu- guese translation or adaptation of the Quite du Saint ^ Livro das Linhagens do Conde D. Pedro, in Portugaliae Monumenta Historica . . . Scriptores, 1856; etc., vol. i. fasc. 2, tit. 2, pp. 236-245. ^ See the section Js novellas da Tavola Redonda em Portugal in Theophilo Braga's Curso de historia da litUratura fortugueza, 1885, pp. 144-148. * Memoria dos livros do uso d'elrei Dom Duarte, in J. I. Roquete's edition of that monarch's Leal Conselheiro, 1842, pp. xx-xxii: (No. 29) Livro do Tristam, (No. 32) Merli, (No. 35) O Livro de Galaaz. 24 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. Graal, which has recently been partly printed^, and another Portuguese manuscript on the same theme has been recorded^, but is now lost. > Turning to the more important Castilian literature, we find that references to the Celtic legends previous to the fourteenth century are few, and that, such as they are, they derive from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin Chronicle. The earliest known reference occurs in the first part of the yf«i2/^5 7b/i?t/««w — compiled in the second quarter of the thirteenth century — where it is recorded how Arthur fought with Modred at Camlan^. Alfonso the Learned's Grande et General Estoria, begun in the next quarter of the same century — a different work from the Estoria d'Espanna or Cronica General mentioned in con- nexion with the Charlemagne cycle — contains the story of Brutus* ; and the Gran Conquista de Ultram ar, which drew upon the Charlemagne cycle, also mentions the Round Table 5, and is otherwise indebted to the Celtic cycle. This brings us to the point at which we left the Charlemagne cycle; we can now conveniently com- bine the different cycles and the various miscellaneous K."^ A Historia dos Cavalleiros da Mesa Redonda e da Demanda do Santo Graall, edited by K. von Reiohardstoettner, Bd i. 1887. ^ By F. A. de Varnhagen, who discovered the preceding; see his Cancioneirinho de trovas antigas colUgidas de um grande cancioneiro da Bibliqtheca do Vaticano . . . Edigao mats correcta, 1 872, pp. 165, etc. ^ See the edition in torn, xxiii. of Fr. Henrique Florez: Espana Sagrada, 1767, p. 381 (edn. 2, 1799, p. 382): "Lidio el Rey Zitus (sic) con Modret su sobrino en Camblenc, Era DLXXX." * See Jose Amador de los Rios: Historia critica de la literatura espanola, 1861, etc., torn. v. pp. 28, 29. * Ed. cit., ch. xLni. p. 180: ". . . lldmanle el juego de la tabla redonda; que no por la otra que fue en tiempo del rey Artiis." i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 25 romances, and consider the references to them in litera- ture, and such translations as are known to have been made, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. An e'^ddence of the rising popularity of these themes occurs in the first quarter of the fourteenth century in ?• the Libra de la Caza, by Alfonso the Learned's nephew, Don Juan Manuel. From this work it appears that the Castilians named their falcons after the Celtic heroes^. just as the Portuguese did their babies at a later period. •> The Poema de Alfonso Onceno, by the mediocre Rodrigo Yafiez, who may have been a Galician, mentions various Carlovingian heroes, and also Tristan and Merlin ^ ascribing to the latter a lengthy prophecy of the Moorish overthrow at the battle of the Salado. Towards the middle of the century Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita, > at the end of his Libra de Buen Amor, mentions as very patterns of true lovers both Trista n and Flores and Blancaflor , the fabulous ancestors of Charlemagne^. Towards the end of the fourteenth century the Chan- cellor Pero Lopez de Ayala, a complacent turncoat ?. 1 See the edition by G. Baist, 1880, pp. 42, 44. Two falcons are mentioned, one called Lanzarote (evidently suggested by the technical term lanzar), the other Galvan. 2 Edition of F. Janer, in his Poetas castellanos anteriores al sigh xv {BihliotecadeAutoresEspaiioles, vol. lvii.), 1864, pp. i^JJ-SSi- St. 1739 mentions El arfobispo don Torpin, el cortes Obniero, and el Roldan palafin; St. 1773, Pepinos, rey de Franfia; st. Z174, Anrrique, fijo de Oliua; St. 409, la farpa de don Tristan; st. 242, Mebrin, and st. 1807- 1842 give his prophecy. ' » Edition of J. Ducamin, 1901, st. 1703: Ca nunca fue tan leal blanca flor a frores nin es agora tristan con todos sus amores. For another mention of Tristan about this time, see p. 56, n. i. 26 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. whose career was as adventurous as that of Cervantes, in a stanza of his Rimado de Palacio to which we shall have to refer again, confesses, as Cervantes also might have done, to having wasted much time in his earlier days over profane books, amongst which he includes Lancelot of the Lake^.A^he famous Cancionero de BaenUy compiled about the middle of the fifteenth century — another work to which we shall have to refer later — is full of references to the heroes of numerous romance^ : Guinevere, Yseult, Tristan, Galahad, Lancelot, Charle- magne, Roland, Paris and Viana, FloresjinABlancaflor, E imque fi de Oliva , and others^. All this points to a great increase in the popularity of these heroes in Castile, and we are therefore not surprised to find some of them figuring in early Spanish ballads. For instance Lancelot is the central figure in that beginning Tres hijuelos habia el Rey, tres hijuelos que no mas. . . already described as old by the celebrated Humanist Antonio de Nebrija in his Gramatica sobre la lengua castellana, printed in 1492^. And we have previously * The passage in question is referred to and quoted in the next chapter (see p. 54). ^ The passages are too numerous to specify; one of them is quoted in full in the next chapter (see pp. 54, 5 5), and several others are mentioned in the notes. ^ The following lines from this romance are quoted on sig. c. 7b, introduced thus : . . . Como en aquel romance antiguo. Digas tu el ermitano que hazes la vida santa: Aquel ciervo del pie bianco donde haze su morada. Por aqui passo esta noche un ora antes del alva. Cf. also sig, d 2a. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 27 mentioned the certainty of some of the existing Charle- magne ballads dating back to earlier times. There was an excellent reason for the growing popu- larity of the various French romances in Spain at this time, for during the fourteenth century they began to _, be translated into Castilian. There^re two fr agments of ^..<^, a^anish Tristan^ in existence which are even ascribed to the first third of that century, but the period to which most of the translations belong is the latter part of the ^^ fourteenth, and the fifteenth century. One or two of these may be mentioned here. Of the Charlemagne series one of the earliest to be translated is the Nol>/e Cuento del Emperador Carles Maynes de Roma y de la buena Emperatriz Sevilla, the manuscript of which forms part of a collection in the Escorial. To the same series belongs the Historia de Enrique fi de Oliva, mentioned as we have seen in the Poema de Alfonso Onceno and in the Cancionero de Baena, and referred to by Cervantes as the " book in which the deeds of Count Tomillas are related^." Anotherromance of different style and origin, but in due course attached to the Charlemagne series, > is the Floresy Blancaflor known to the Archpriest of Hita, and mentioned in the Cancionero de Baena. This story became hispanicised quite early, and must have been translated by the fifteenth century. Other Spanish translations of French romances were forthcoming when the printing press came to propagate them. ^ ^ The larger fragment is in the Vatican; one page of it has been reproduced by Ernesto Monaci in his Facsimili di antichi manoscritti, 1881-92, No. 6. The other fragment was discovered by Sr. D. Adolfo Bonilla y Sail Martfn in the binding of a ms. in the BibUoteca Nacional at Madrid. ^ Don Quixote, pt i. ch. xvi. 28 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. The increase in popularity of the romance of chivalry in Spain synchronised with an increase in the practice of chivalry. The spirit of the romances, especially in their more courtly form, was hardly such as would have developed unaided among the knights and the knightly adventures of which the Peninsula had its full share. But the theoretical acquaintance with chivalry acquired from the romances was supplemented by the example of those paladins who came from other lands to help the Christians in Spain to fight the Infidel, or of such "Mirrors of Knighthood " as the Black Prince or Du Guesclin, who helped them to fight each other. The more highly developed chivalrous code of France and England influenced Spanish knightly practice, mainly on the superficial and theatrical side, and incidentally facilitated the spread of the literary expression of that code — the romances. The complete adoption by the Spaniards of the manners and conventions of chivalry in their most extravagant form is seen in the "Paso Honroso" of 1434, one of the famous feats which made Don Quixote^ believe all romances were true. On this occasion, to free himself from wearing every Thursday an iron chain round his neck — the self-imposed badge of his servitude to a noble lady — Suero de Quiiiones, a Leonese knight, undertook with nine comrades to tilt against all comers for thirty days at the bridge of Orbigo, near Astorga. A tournament was arranged under royal patronage, and only after some seven hun- dred courses had been run, and when one of the oppos- ing knights had been killed, and many on both sides ^ Pt I. ch. XLIX. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 29 wounded, including all but one of the defenders, was the champion deemed to have acquitted himself honour- ably. This preposterous affair is soberly recorded, as though there was nothing particularly extraordinary about it, in the Cronica de Juan el Segundo^, from which we gather too that Castilian knights — some known to Don Quixote^ — not only displayed their prowess in their native land, but also maintained their country's credit abroad. By the time of the Catholic Kings, Hernando del Pulgar could claim that more Spanish knights went northwards than foreign knights came southwards in search of adventures^. There were 1 Ch. ccxL. (1433, ch. v.). A more circumstantial' — and somewhat different — account is given in the Lihro del Passo Honroso . . . Cofilado de vn lihro antiguo de mono •par F. luan de Pineda, 1588. This work, of some three hundred pages, is abbreviated from the account of an eye- witness, "Pero Rodriguez Delena escriuano de nuestro senor el Rey don luan, y su Notario publico." For other enterprises undertaken by Spanish knights at home, be- tween 1430 and 1440 only, see the Cronica^ ch. ccxxxvii. (1433, ch. 11.), ccxLiv. (1434, ch. IV.), cccxn. (1440, ch. xvi.), and abroad, ch. ccxxxix. (1433, ch. IV.), CCLV. (143s, ch. III.), ccLXvii. (1436, ch. iv.). 2 Pt I. ch. XLIX. s Claras varones de Costilla, 1789, tit. 17, pp. 106, 107 : "Yo por cierto no VI en mis tiempos, ni lei que en los pasados viniesen tantos Caballeros de otros Reynos e tierras estranas k estos vuestros Reynos de Castilla e de Leon por facer armas i todo trance, como vf que fueron Caballeros de Castilla i las buscar por otras partes de la Christiandad. Conosci al Conde Don Gonzalo de Guzman, e k Juan de Merlo : conosci a Juan de Torres, e 4 Juan de Polanco, Alfaran de Vivero, e 4 Mosen Pero Vazquez de Sayavedra, 4 Gutierre Quixada, e 4 Mosen Diego de Valera- e of decir de otros CasteUanos que con 4nimo de Caballeros fueron por los Reynos estranos a facer armas con qualquier Caballero que quisiese facerlas con ellos, e por ellas ganaron honra para sf, e fama de valientes y esforzados Caballeros para los Fijosdalgo de Castilla." 30 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. special reasons why this should be the case; but it is clear that reality and the romances were approximating in Spain during the fifteenth century, thus making possible the revival we have to consider. The way was further prepared by a series of events which happened during the latter half of the fifteenth century, greatly influencing the life and extending the outlook of Europe — not least of the Spanish Peninsula. The capture of Constantinople by the Turks affected Spain more than most countries of western Europe. The revival of classical learning, enormously stimulated by this event, began to influence Spain more and more; but here in the south-west of Europe, as in the south- east, the Cross and Crescent were in conflict, and a gain in power and prestige at one point was felt at the other. In Spain men's eyes were turned anxiously eastward — we shall see that fact reflected in the Spanish romances — and a renewed local eiFort was made against the Infidel. The conquest of his last remaining stronghold, the kingdom of Granada, by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 was considered adequate compensation for the loss of Constantinople, and the unification and pacification of Spain under the Catholic Kings led to a more magni- ficent courtly life which favoured the development of a native series of romances of chivalry. The year 1492 witnessed the beginnings of another and more important conquest — that of the New World. The voyages of discovery of Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Magellan enlarged the mental horizon of medieval Europe. The vague, inaccurate and exaggerated reports of adventures as marvellous as those of the existing i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 31 romances of chivalry stimulated and quickened the imagination — of the Spaniards and Portuguese especi- ally — rather than appealed to the intellect. The early maps, scientific repositories of the newly acquired know- ledge, fringed as they often are with undiscovered countries inhabited by strange shapes of men and beasts, help to explain the vague geography and the fabulous monsters of the sixteenth century romances. Along with a mental expansion similar to that which occurred at a somewhat later date in England, there was in Spain during the last quarter of the fifteenth century an intellectual speeding-up due to the introduction of the newly discovered art of printing with movable characters. Authorship as a profession became com- mercially practicable, and literature tended towards fixed types owing to the possibility of rapid reproduc- tion and imitaton. The first type to establish itself successfully was the romance of chivalry, in the sixteenth century. The foun- dations for this success were already being laid in the last decade of the previous century, when translations of six French romances were printed in the Peninsula^. Two of these belong to the Celtic cycle : El Baladro del sabio Merlin, of 1498, which exists in a unique copy, and Merlin y demanda del Sancto Grial, of 1 500, which has disappeared. Two more belong to the Charlemagne series: Paris e Viana, of c. 1494, and 1495, and Enrique ^ For details see Haebler's Bibliografia ihhica del sigh XV, 1903, 17. Other translations appeared in the sixteenth century; an idea of the number published in the first third of that century can be gathered from the late Konrad Burger's Die Drucker und Verleger in Spanien und Portugal von 1 501-1536; 1913. 32 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. fi de Oliva, of 1498, all existing in unique copies. A fifth, La Estoria del noble Vespasiano, of c. 1490, and 1499, appeared also in Portuguese, in 1496. The last is Oliveros de Castilla y Artus de Algarbe, of 1499, in which the moral and religious element is as prominent as the chivalrous. That those translations were selected for printing at this period is an indication of the popularity in Spain of romances of chivalry, regardless of their style and origin. A more important symptom was the beginning of the creation of native romances about the same time. Amadis de Gaula itself was certainly in existence, and may have been printed in the fifteenth century; but all that concerns this romance must be left for a separate chapter. Before we can proceed to that chapter we must consider two other native fifteenth century romances. Both these are Catalan romances, and neither of them conforms to the type which became so popular during the sixteenth century. In one, Curialy Guelfa, the senti- mental element prevails. This work is little known, and was without influence, for it was not printed till the beginning of the present century 1. All that need be said of it here is that it mentions Tristan and Lancelot as having been already translated into Catalan. The other romance, Tirantlo Blanch, is of considerable importance, and of especial interest to us in England. Tirant lo Blanch was first published at Valencia in 1490^. It is therefore the earliest existing romance of ^ Edited by Antoni Rubi6 y Lluch, 1901 ; see his note 4 to bk i. for the French influence on the romance. 2 Only three copies have survived; one is in the British Museum. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE i^oo 33 chivalry printed in the Peninsula. More is known about its composition than is usual with these early romances. It was begun by Johanot Martorell in 1460, as we learn from the dedication. The colophon tells us that Martorell died after finishing three parts, and that the fourth and last part was added by Marti Johan de Galba at the instance of the noble lady Isabel de Loris. Marto- rell professes to have translated his section from English into Portuguese, and then, for the benefit of his country- men, from Portuguese into Catalan. This may of course be the usual pretence, such as that of El Cavallero Cifar to be translated from Chaldean into Latin and from Latin into Romance. On the other hand the fact that Tirant lo Blanch is dedicated to a Portuguese prince — "DonFerrando dePortogal " — lends some colour to the claim that a Portuguese version of the story once existed. That there was an English original of the whole work is certainly untrue; but Martorell — like the author of El Cavallero Cifar before him, and, Cervantes after him — may well have begun his romance without any very clear idea as to how it would develop. He may have started with an English original by his side, for the first portion of the story closely resembles a well-known English romance. He may even have been in England, as indeed he claimis to have been^. The action of the story opens in this country, and the author's descrip- tions of English practices and customs argue a first- hand acquaintance with these islands. He certainly knew something of the geography of England and the sea-route thither; but this last fact reminds us that he 1 In his dedication. 34 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. may have gathered his information from sailors and merchants in his native land. However he acquired his information, his use of it increases our interest in a romance of considerable merit and historical import- ance. The first twenty-seven chapters of Tirant lo Blanch are based on the second part of the story of Guy of War- wick, in which the hero, wedded to Felice, is happy for the usual fortnight, but then, struck with remorse for his undevout life, abandons his wife and unborn child, and goes on a pilgrimage in the East. After fighting the Saracen giant Amarant, and once more assisting Sir Terry in Germany, he returns to England, an old man, to champion his country against the African giant Colbrand, the representative of the Danes under Anlaf. Having killed the giant, he visits his wife in disguise, becomes a hermit, and finally dies in his wife's arms. Martorell reveals the source of his opening chapters by copying the name — William, Earl of Warwick^ — while somewhat altering the story. In a fit of disgust the Earl is said to have gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After spreading a report of his death, he returns to England in disguise and settles down in retirement hard by where his Countess is still living. In due course the King of Canaria attacks and invades Britain, and the English King is driven from London to Warwick, where he is besieged. The Earl thereupon comes out of his retirement, kills the Canary King, and routs his host; but he again retires to a life of solitude, after revealing himself to his wife. ^ In the form "lo comte Guillem de Veroych " or " Varoych." i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 35 At this stage we are introduced to the hero, Tirant lo Blanch, a young French squire who has come over with thirty companions to receive the honour of knight- hood and to take part in the tournaments held to cele- brate the English King's marriage with the French King's daughter. Falling asleep upon his horse, Tirant strays from his comrades, and wakes to find himself in the presence of the retired Earl of Warwick, who is seated beneath an English oak near a cool spring, reading the ^rl>re de Batalles, a manual of chivalry. After a discussion on the subject which is near to the heart of both, the young hero is dismissed with a pre- sent of the book, and a request to call again on his return from the tournaments. Arrived at the court, Tirant is knighted and by his uniform success becomes the champion of the tourna- ments. His chief victims are those four brothers-in- arms, the Dukes of Burgundy and Bavaria, and the Kings of Poland and Friesland. A retainer of the last- named, Don Kirielayson de Muntalba, comes to Eng- land to avenge his liege lord, but dies of grief on behold- ing the latter's tomb surmounted by the memorials of Tirant's triumph. His brother, Thomas de Muntalba, succeeds in reaching the lists, only to add one more to the number of Tirant's conquests. The tournaments over, Tirant returns to his native land, visiting the noble hermit on his way. Scarcely has he had time to recover from his English adventures before he learns that the Island of Rhodes is besieged by the Sultan of Cairo. Along with the French King's youngest son and a number of knights he hastens to the 36 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. islanders' assistance, and soon raises the siege. The company have just time to return to Sicily and marry the French King's son to the local Princess, when a messenger from the Emperor of Constantinople arrives requesting help against the Grand Turk and a Moorish Sultan, The French knights set out to aid the Greeks, and immediately on their arrival Tirant is appointed Captain-general of all the Greek forces by land and sea. The sudden promotion is justified, for the Turks and their allies are so badly mauled in several encounters that they are obliged to request a truce. On the Greek side the interval is occupied by feasts and tourneys, as well as intrigues between the Greek ladies and the foreign knights, which for the realism of their telling have made the romance notorious. The young squire Ypolit falls a victim to the elderly Empress, and Tirant himself, with the connivance of the damsel Plaerdema- vida, becomes entangled with the Princess Carmesina; he also has the misfortune to captivate the widow Reposada, who causes trouble between the lovers by means of a stratagem like that employed by Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing. On the expiration of the truce, Tirant and a chosen army embarked to deal a decisive blow against the Turks; but a storm drove the vessels on to the African coast. This provides a new theatre for Tirant's prowess. Numerous kings are overthrown, and some half million heretics converted to the true faith, when thoughts of Carmesina and the unfinished enterprise against the Turks cause the hero to return to Constantinople. As he goes at the head of a formidable army, the Grand i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 37 Turk and the Sultan are utterly vanquished, and he himself is rewarded with the Greek Empire and the hand of the Princess Carmesina. Before the marriage can be celebrated, however, he dies of pleurisy; the shock kills the Princess, and when the old Emperor hears of the double fatality he dies of grief. The Empress, having settled the details of the funeral, proceeds to solace herself with the squire Ypolit, whom she raises to the throne. After three years she dies and bequeaths him the Empire, which he soon shares with an English Princess. Tir ant lo Blanch represents a considerable advance on El Cavallero Cifar, though not in the direction which the romance of chivalry was soon to take; even the im- perfect summaries given above reveal a greater unity in the construction of the later story. Martorell knew the French and Breton cycles, but once past his preli- minary chapters he used them sparingly, and he is quite remote from their spirit: he drew more of his inspira- tion from the times in which he lived, and where he chose to depend on literary sources he had of course a wider choice than his unknown predecessor^. Besides imitating the story of Guy of Warwick^ he borrowed whole passages from Ramon Lull's Libre del orde de Cavayleria, which is the Arbre de Batalles of the noble hermit. The adventurous portion of the romance is modelled on the amazing career of Roger de Flor, as 1 For the literary sources of Tirant lo Blanch see Lluis Nicolau i d'Olwer: Sobre les fonts catalanes del Tir ant lo Blanch (in the Revista de Bibliograjia Catalana), 1905, and Juan Givanel Mis: Estudio critico de Tirant lo Blanch (in the Archivo de Investigaciones Historicas), 191 1; ako separately, 1912. 38 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. narrated in Ramon Muntaner's Chronica^ but just as the author oiEl Cavallero Cifar avoided the martyrdom of Placidus and his family, so Martorell, or Galba, steered clear of the Catalan hero's treacherous death. Martorell was susceptible to the prevailing didactic tendencies, and he is indebted for the sententious element in his story to Guillem de Cervera, the Jew Jahuda Bonsenyor, and the Majorcan Pax or Pachs, The amorous incidents show the influence of the French Histoire d'Eracle and — through the medium of Bernat Metge — of Boccaccio, though here especially the author drew from the life, and left no flattering picture of the morality of his age and country. Martorell has little use for the marvellous and fantas- tic; among the few intrusions of magic is the ancient story, which he perhaps knew from Sir John Mande- ville^, of the damsel converted into a dragon and re- stored to human shape by a young hero's kiss^. He also lacks the vivid imagination and the exuberant pen of the later romance-writers we are to discuss. In spite of the length of his story, his style is terse and his manner realistic. The creator of the damsel Plaerdemavida and the widow Reposada is in an obvious literary concatena- tion with the Archpriest of Hita, who gave us Trota- conventos and others. The originators of Celestina, of Lazarillo de Tormes, and of Rinconete and Cortadillo, are his natural successors. ^ Compare Tirant lo Blanch, ch. ccccx. (original edn.; ch. cccxcv., edn. of 1873, etc.) and Sir John Mandeville's Travels, ch. iv. 2 The story made familiar to English readers by Leigh Hunt in his essay The Daughter of Hippocrates. i] IN THE PENINSULA BEFORE 1500 39 Small wonder therefore that in the "diverting and important scrutiny" Cervantes allows the curate to be so eulogistic when the overladen housekeeper drops a volume which turns out to be what Don Quixote else- where calls! tjjg "never sufficiently praised Tirante el Blanco." "God bless me!" said the curate with a shout, "Tirante el Blanco here! Hand it over, gossip, for in it I reckon I have found a treasury of enjoyment and a mine of recreation. Here is Don Kyrieleison of Montalvan, a valiant knight, and his brother Thomas of Montalvan, and the knight Fonseca, with the battle the bold Tirante fought with the mastiiF, and the witticisms of the damsel Placerdemivida, and the loves and wiles of the widow Reposada, and the empress in love with the squire Hipolito — in truth, gossip, by right of its style it is the best book in the world. Here knights eat and sleep, and die in their beds, and make their wills before dying, and a great deal more of which there is nothing in all the other books. For all that, I say he who wrote it, inasmuch as he produced such fooleries deliberately, deserved to be sent to the galleys for life." Tirant lo Blanch did not impress the general public so favoura^ply as it did Cervantes, At least its success was moderate. It was reprinted in 1497, that edition being even rarer than the first, and it has twice been reprinted in modern times^. It appeared in Spanish in 151 1, in Italian in- 1538, and in French about a century later, both the Italian and the French versions being more 1 Pt I. ch. XIII. 2 In Barcelona, 1 873-1905, and in New York, 1904, the latter being a magnificent facsimile of the first edition, made by Mr Archer M. Huntington, from the copy then in his possession, and afterwards presented by him to the Hispanic Society of America. 40 THE ROMANCE OF CHIVALRY [ch. i than once reprinted. It is clear that Martorell aimed at creating a mirror of knighthood and an ideal pair of loyal lovers ; it is equally clear that he failed in a task for which his realistic tendencies disqualified him. The man who was to succeed where Martorell miscarried was working about the same time on his redaction oiAmadis de Gaula, an old story whose origin should have engaged our attention before now, if the chronological method of treatment had been strictly followed. All that concerns Amadis de Gaula, however, deserves a chapter to itself. For the consideration of that romance, and the revival which followed its publication, this brief sketch of the fortunes of the romance of chivalry in the Spanish Peninsula previous to the sixteenth century has prepared the way. CHAPTER II JMADIS DE GAULA AND ITS CONTINUATIONS WHEN the curate and the barber made their diverting and important scrutiny in Don Quixote's library, the first volume that Master Nicholas handed to his companion was The Four Books of Amadis of Gaul. "This looks mysterious," said the curate, "for this, as I have heard say, was the first book of chivalry printed in Spain, and from this all the others derive their birth and origin; so it seems to me that we ought inexorably to condemn it to the flames as the founder of so vile a sect." " Nay, sir," said the barber, " I, too, have heard say that this is the best of all the books of this kind that have been written; and so, as something singular in its line, it ought to be pardoned." " True," said the curate, " and for that reason let its life be spared for the present." The barber's information was more correct than the curate's ; for while it is true that Amadis de Gaula was the father of the "innumerable progeny i" that sprang up in Spanish literature during the sixteenth century, it is most improbable that the book was the first of its kind printed in Spain. There are indeed rumours ^ of an edition of 1496; but even this is some distance from 1490, when Tirant lo Blanch was first published at 1 Don Quixote, pt 11. ch. i. 2 For the references see G. S. Williams: The Amadis Question (in the Revue Hisf unique, tom. xxi.), 1909, Appendix, p. 1 55. 42 AMABIS BE GAULA \cn. Valencia. The first known edition oiAmadisde Gaulawas not printed till 1508, and this printed edition is the earliest version of the romance that has come down to us. The curate was nearer the truth in associating Amadis of Gaul with the mysterious, for the fates seem to have conspired from the first to involve in obscurity every detail connected with this romance. We do not know the exact name of the author. In the edition of 1 508 it is given as Garcirodriguez de Montalvo, in later editions as Garci Ordonez de Montalvo, and elsewhere^ as Garcia Gutierrez de Montalvo ; all sources are agreed, however, that he was Regidor of the most noble city of Medina del Campo. We do not know when he wrote the book. All we do know is that his preface was written between 1492 and 1504, as in it he mentions the fall of Granada and speaks of both Ferdinand and Isabella as still living : — the interval will of course be narrowed down to between 1492 and 1496, if the rumour of an edition of the latter year turns out to be correct. Again, we do not know to what extent he is responsible for the text as it stands. In the heading to the introduction he says that he "corrected it from the old originals, which were corrupt and badly composed in ancient fashion through the fault of different and bad writers, deleting many superfluous words, and adding others of a more polished and elegant style, relating to chivalry and the deeds thereof^." ^ In the Sergas de Esplandian, the fifth book of Amadis de Gaula, for which see below. ^ Original of 1508: " . . . y corregiole delos antiguos originales que estauan corruptos : y mal compuestos en antiguo estilo : por falta delos n] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 43 What were these old originals? Who, or even what country produced them? When did they come into being? On these questions there has raged a most prolific literary controversy, without it being yet pos- sible to arrive at a definite conclusion. Before we attempt to outline this controversy, however, we may do well to ensure some interest in the subject by giving first of all a brief account of the book round which it centres; for even the most reckless enthusiast would hardly pretend that Amadis of Gaul now claims more than a limited circle of readers. The chronology of the story is vague. According to the opening words the action takes place "not many years after the passion of our redeemer and saviour Jesus Christ ' ' ; but we meet with a civilisation sufficiently complex to include, if not the modern gun and Bible, at least the medieval mass and lombard^. The geo- graphy is equally vague. Gaul is intended for Wales (though it might sometimes be taken rather for France). The scene is laid mainly in England. Certain of the towns are quite clear; Bristoya is Bristol, Vindilisora is Windsor, and so on; while the King of Great Britain holds his " Cortes " in London, which even " not many differentes y malos escriptores. Quitando muchas palabras superfluas: y poniendo otras de mas polido y elegante estilo : tocantes ala caualleria : y actos della." ^ It is only fair to state that the introduction of cannon into the original is clearly an oversight. They are only once mentioned — ^in the particular form cited — ^in the second chapter of the fourth book, which is no doubt Montalvo's own addition. In Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts' French translation the anachronism is extended, much to Southey's disgust. 44 AMABIS DE GAULA [ch. years after the passion of our Redeemer" was "like an eagle above all the rest of Christendom^-" The following is a brief sketch of the plot — for when stripped of the " enchantments, quarrels, battles, chal- lenges, wounds, wooings, loves, agonies, and all sorts of impossible nonsense " which so possessed Don Quixote's brain 2, the book has a respectable plot. Amadis is born of the secret union of Perion, King of Gaul, and the Princess Elisena. With the help of her confidante Darioleta, the Princess conceals the birth of her child, and to avoid the censure of the world places him in an ark which is launched on a stream and carried out to sea. A Scottish knight who is crossing from "Little Britain" rescues the infant, takes him to Scot- land, and rears him under the name " Child of the Sea." Transferred while still a boy to the court of the King of Scotland, the foundling there meets Oriana, the young daughter of Lisuarte, King of Great Britain. And here the romantic side of the story is ushered in with a passage that is beautiful for its simplicity : The Child of the Sea was now twelve years old, but in stature and size he seemed fifteen, and he served the queen; but now that Oriana was there, the queen gave her the Child of the Sea that he should serve her, and Oriana said that it pleased her, and that word which she said the Child kept in his heart, so that he never lost it from his memory, and in all his life he was never weary of serving her, and his heart was surrendered to her, and this love lasted as long as they lasted, for as well as he loved her did she also love him. But the Child of the Sea, who knew nothing of her love, thought himself presumptuous to have ^ Original of 1508, bk i. ch. xxxi.; Southey's abridged translation, bk I. ch. xxxn. 2 Don Quixote, pt i. ch. i. ii] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 45 placed his thoughts on her, and dared not to speak to her; and she who loved him in her heart was careful not to speak more with him than with another; but their eyes delighted to reveal to the heart what was the thing on earth that they loved best^. This provides the motive for the rest of the story. The obscure Child of the Sea, to win his mistress's esteem, and to justify himself for placing his heart on one who "excelled all others in goodness, and beauty and parentage 2," gets himself knighted by — unknowing and unknown — his own father, Perion, who had mean- time married Amadis's mother Elisena and had another son Galaor, now grown up. The remainder of the book centres round the achievements of these brother-knights Amadis and Galaor, who typify respectively the con- stant and the fickle lover. Amadis in various encounters proves himself the best knight in the world, and fighting for King Perion slays the giant King Abies of Ireland. After the battle, by means of a ring, Amadis is recognised by King Perion as his son, and now seems in a position to claim his mistress and close the book with an appropriate cere- mony. But that would entail a sacrifice of nine-tenths of the story. After a series of adventures by different knights. King Lisuarte is deprived of his kingdom through the machinations of Arcalaus the wicked en- chanter, and both he and his daughter are taken pri- soners. Lisuarte is restored by Galaor; Amadis rescues Oriana, and from this rescue springs a secret son ^ Original of 1508, bk i. ch. iv.; Southey's abridged translation (here quotedi)i bk i. ch. v. 2 Original of 1508, bk i. ch. viii.; Southey's abridged translation, bk I. ch. IX. 46 AMADIS DE GAULA [ch. Esplandian, the hero of a later story — for it was essen- tial that these heroes should be ignorant of their lofty parentage till they had proved their worth. Here again an opportunity of ending the story is avoided, and the first book closes with a few miscellaneous adventures, including the restoration of the Princess Briolanja to her dead father's kingdom, and her passion for Amadis — a minor incident which has been tampered with, and so has acquired importance for the history of the text. In the second book Amadis obtains possession of an enchanted island, called the "Firm Island," having overcome its spells by virtue of being the most loyal lover in the world. As a set-ofF to this he temporarily loses Oriana, who dismisses him in a fit of jealousy; whereupon he changes his name to Beltenebros and retires to a life of penance on the Pena Pobre — a course which Don Quixote consciously imitated in the Sierra Morena^. Soon Amadis is forgiven, and again all is well with the world. But not for long. Two wicked counsellors poison King Lisuarte's mind against Amadis and his companions, who are driven from the court. The third book tells of discord in Lisuarte's court, of the early years of Esplandian, and of the adventures of Amadis as the " Knight of the Green Sword," and afterwards the "Greek Knight," in Bohemia, Turkey, Greece, and the Devil's Island, where he slays a fiery monster. The main theme advances again towards the end of this book, when Lisuarte hands over Oriana, much against her will, to the ambassadors of the Emperor of Rome, whom she is to marry. While the ^ Don Quixote, pt i. ch. xxv. II] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 47 ambassadors are conveying Oriana to Rome by sea, Amadis, back from his eastern travels, opportunely appears at the head of a powerful fleet and carries off his mistress to his stronghold in the "Firm Island." At the opening of the fourth book the breach between Lisuarte and Amadis is complete. Each of them sum- mons his allies for the ensuing struggle, in which Lisu- arte is worsted. The death of the Roman Emperor in battle removed the chief cause of the quarrel, so that when the already weakened Lisuarte is unexpectedly attacked by forces stirred up against him by the wicked enchanter Arcalaus, Amadis turns his army against his former opponent's new enemy, whom he completely overthrows. Lisuarte, moved by this generosity and the newly acquired knowledge that Amadis and Oriana are already the parents of a very promising son, consents to the young couple being publicly united. All the inte- rested ^parties repair to the "Firm Island," and there Oriana, having successfully proved the enchanted "Arch of True Lovers" and the "Forbidden Chamber" — an adventure reserved for the fairest and most faithful woman in the world — is married to Amadis amidst general rejoicing. After an anti-climax of several chapters, the story ends with the enchantment and imprisonment of King Lisuarte, which provides an excuse for a sequel. Without further explanation the above summary is insufiicient either to show the relation oi Amadis of Gaul to its predecessors, or to account for its influence on the thought and habits, on the literature and life of its time in several countries. To whatever period or country 48 AMABIS BE GAULA [ch. the romance ultimately belongs, it is indebted both for its general conception and for its incidents to the French romances of the Breton and Charlemagne cycles. The Celtic influence pervades the whole book: from that source derive many of its names of persons and places, the ideal and the marvellous elements it contains, the unpractical adventures and the aimless combats inspired by the love of a lady, and the knight's despair when de- prived of his lady's favour, as illustrated by Amadis's penance on the Pefia Pobre, which is imitated from Tristan^. Without Tristan and Lancelot indeed, Amadis would not have existed ; we have thus an anterior limit for the period of origin of the romance. But Amadis of Gaul is not a mere copy of existing models. Sr Menendez y Pelayo has well said that its author wrote "the first idealistic modern novel, the epic of loyalty in love, the code of honour and courtesy, which schooled many generations By combining well-known elements, all of Celtic or French origin, he created a new type of novel, rather universal than Spanish^." Amadis of Gau/ creates a higher chivalry,re- taining the theatrical side of the older chivalry, its rules and its formalities, but transforming and ennobling its spirit. The elimination of coarseness in word and ^ Compare Amadis, ch. xlv. (bk n. ch. ii.) etc., with Tristan, pt i., where Tristan, having surprised a message from Yseult to Kahedin, and thinking that the Queen has deceived him, disappears in order to give vyay to his frenzy. For the relation of the names and episodes in Amadis to those of the French romances, see G. S. Williams, op. cit., pp. 39-145. * Origenes de la Novela {Nueva Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles), torn. I. 1905, Introduction, p. cxxvi. ii] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 49 deed which is the chief contribution of courtly influ- ences to the chivalrous ideal, is- complete in Amadis. Even the later imitations of Amadis^ while developing the openings for licentiousness provided by their ori- ginal, display that delicacy which, in the words of Burke, " robs vice of all its evil by depriving it of all its gross- ness." But the capital feature oi Amadis is the new con- ception of love, embodying the protest of a more moral and religious age against the frenzied or adulterous passion of the Celtic stories. The secret union of Perion with Elisena, and of Amadis with Oriana, is no offence against purity, for such unions are represented as valid in the sight of God, and as binding, if not altogether regular, in the sight of man; the secrecy is merely a device for relieving the tediousness of virtuous love by providing a romantic interest. Love is depicted as a lasting adoration ; the adored one — and, through her, woman in general — is idealised and made the centre of a new social order, devoted to the service of womanhood. Amadis and Oriana are jointly the type of perfect lovers, as they are respectively of the perfect knight and lady. The new scheme of things is best illustrated by the prophecy concerning Amadis uttered early in the book by his fairy-godmother Urganda the Unknown^ — well known to more favoured generations because she opens the series of commendatory verses prefixed to Bon Quixote. Urganda foretells that Amadis shall be the flower of knighthood in his time; he shall cause the strongest to stoop, he shall enterprize and finish with honour 1 The traditional translation of " Urganda la Desconocida "; more properly, " the Unrecognised." T. 4 so AMADIS BE GAULA [ch. that wherein others have failed, and such deeds shall he do as none would think could be begun nor ended by body of man. He shall humble the proud, and cruel of heart shall he be against those who deserve it, and he shall be the knight in the world who most loyally maintains his love, and he shall love one answerable to his high prowess^- It is as much to the credit of Montalvo as of Cer- vantes that Don Quixote is able to visualise Amadis as a man of lofty stature, fair complexion, with a handsome though black beard, of a countenance between gentle and stern in ex- pression, sparing of words, slow to anger, and quick to put it away from him^. For Montalvo's characters are well sustained, if slightly sketched. When knights fell in love with their mistresses as readily as they fell out with each other, and in each case sought prompt satisfaction, there was little occasion for the study of the passions, tender or otherwise. Human nature necessarily occu- pies a minor place in this romance of ideal chivalry; the occasional weakness of Amadis, the somewhat petty jealousy of Oriana, and the unreasonable prejudices of Lisuarte are among the few human traits. It is impossible to determine Montalvo's precise share in the story he has preserved for us ; but the style at any rate is largely due to him. The language is in the main simple if prolix, varied with rhetorical and flowery passages. The original characters and incidents were no doubt multiplied by Montalvo, who skilfully main- tained a unity of purpose throughout an intricate maze '^ Original of 1508, bk i. ch. 11.; Southey's abridged translation, bk I. ch. in. ^ Don Quixote, pt 11. ch. i. ii] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 51 of adventures. To the modern reader the succession of combats, the ultimate result of which can always be fore- seen, is wearisome. The giants, the monsters, and the intrusions of magic too are distasteful; but the giants and monsters are not excessive, and the magical element is not obtrusive, nor is it any the worse for being usually on the side of the villain. By the simple admission that sixteenth-century tastes differed from our own, it is easy to account for the vogue and influence oiAmadis of Gaul. Having thus described the story of which Montalvo tells us that he "corrected it from the old originals, which were corrupt and badly composed in ancient fashion through the fault of different and bad writers," we are now in a position to return to the question of what these old originals were, and when and where they came into being. It may be assumed that most EngUsh people who know Amadis of Gaul know it through the excellent abridged translation made by the Laureate Southey, and that their knowledge of the Amadis question is derived from Southey's preface. It seems advisable therefore to make a brief summary of the position taken up in this preface, and let that be the basis of further explana- tion. According to Southey's title-page and preface the ■question admits of no possible doubt whatever. "Ama- dis of Gaulv}2,% written by Vasco Lobeira, a Portugueze, who was born at Porto, fought at Aljubarrota, where he was knighted upon the field of battle by King Joam of Good Memory, and died at Elvas, 1403." Southey then goes on to deny most indignantly the claims of the "Comte de Tressan — who himself made an abridged £2 AMADIS DE GJULA [ch. French translation — that the Spaniards originally took thcAmadis romance from the French^. His own position is substantiated by "unquestionable testimony," and his opponent is accused with all the force of italics and abuse, of "French reasoning" founded on a "con- catenation of contingencies." Southey doubtless knew as much on this subject as anyone in his day; but his remarks were published two years before the battle of Trafalgar. Spanish studies, to say nothing of inter- national amenities, have progressed since that day, and the general tendency has been to upset Southey's verdict and justify the Frenchman. France, Spain and Portugal have each claimed to be the cradle of the Amadis romance, France at one time on the strength of " certain manuscripts oi Amadis in the Picard language" — ^which the first French translator "remembered," but which are not treated seriously now — and more recently because of the resemblance between Amadis and the early French romances; Spain' and Portugal base their respective claims on tradition and on references to the romance in their litera- tures, both before and after Montalvo's version. It would be impossible in the space at our disposal to ^ Southey, in the preface to his abridged translation, writes: " D'Herberay remembered certain manuscripts of Amadis in the Picard language, and these he thought might be the originals which Montalvo modernized." This refers to the following passage from the preface to Herberay's translation of the first book of Amadis (1540): " . . . Et aussi pource qu'il est tout certain qu'il fut premier mis en nostre langue Francoyse, estant Amadis Gaulois, & non Espagnol: Et qu'ainsi soit i'en ay trouue encores quelque reste d'ung vieil liure escript a la main en langaige Picard, sur lequel i'estime que les Espa- gnolz ont fait leur traduction." ii] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS $3 reproduce, however briefly, all the arguments that have been brought up in support of each of these sides. Let us therefore marshal such references as occur in pre- Montalvo days, and let them as champions wage their countries' literary war. The method is not inappropriate to our subject. At first matters go all in favour of the Portuguese. The Cancioneiro Geral compiled by Garcia de Resende and published in 151 6 contains references to Oriana in stanzas composed by Nuno Pereyra^ and Jorge da Silveyra2 in 1483 — that is, 25 years before the earliest known edition of the Spanish version. About the same distance further back they receive an overwhelming re- inforcement which makes the Spanish cause look hope- less. In the Chronica do Conde Bom Pedro de Menezes, written by Gomes Eannes de Zurara (or Azurara) be- tween 1458 and 1463, Amadis is not only mentioned, but also said to be composed by Vasco deLobeira^, who, as Southey has told us, died on the field of battle in 1403. This, the earliest mention of an author, has a decisive ring about it. But it is still open to the French to claim that Vasco de Lobeira learned the story from the soldiers ^ Original edition, fol. i. verso, col. 3 : Se o disesse horyana C iseu allegar posso. . . . * Ihid. fol. II. verso, col. 3 : Alegaysme vos iseu C oriana com ella. . . . * Bk I. ch. Lxiii. ; see the edition in torn. 11. of the Collecgao de livros ineditos de historia portugueza . . . publicados . . . poryosSCorrSa da Serra, 1792, p. 422: ". . . e assy o Livro d' Amadis, como quer que soomente este fosse feito a prazer de hum homem, que se chamava Vasco Lobeira em tempo d'ElRey Dom Fernando, sendo toda-Ias cousas do dito Livro fingidas do Autor." This is the earliest known Portuguese refer-, ence to Amadis. 54 AMJDIS DE GAULA [ch. of Du Guesclin or the Black Prince during their in- cursions into the Peninsula; while the Spaniards, taking courage from the subsequent attributions which range from an unknown Spanish-speaking Moor to no less a person than Saint Teresa, refuse as yet to surrender. And this obstinacy is justified. True, in view of Vasco de Lobeira's early date, little satisfaction is to be derived from a mention of Amadis and Oriana by Juan de Duenas^, who flourished during the reign of John II of Castile^ (1406— 1454). But when Pero Lopez de Ayala, the Chancellor of Castile, confesses in his Rimado de Palacio (composed between 1367 and 1403) to wasting his time over Amadis ^, we gather that the romance was at any rate known in Spain during Vasco de Lobeira's lifetime. It was very well known apparently. In the Canciofiero de Baena (compiled c. 1445) no less than nine references are made to Amadis or his comrades*. One of these occurs in a poem by Francisco Imperial, ^ In a poein in the Coleccim de poesias de un cancionero inldito del sigh XV, edited by A. Perez G6mez Nieva, 1884, Juan de Duenas speaks of "el tiempo d' Amadis" (p. 70) and mentions "la gentil Oriana " (p. 71). ^ Traces of the influence of Amadis are already visible in Spain during this reign. In the brief chivalresque story of Ardanlier y Liesa, told in Juan Rodriguez de la Camara's El Siervo litre de amor (c. 1440), there is apparently a reminiscence of the "Firm Island" of Amadis. ' Stanza 162, edition of F. Janer in Poetas castellanos anteriores al sigh XV {Biblioteca de Autores EspaOoles, tom. lvii.), 1864, p. 430: Plogome otrosi oyr muchas vegadas, Libros de deuaneos e mentiras probadas, Amadis, Lanzalote e burlas asacadas, En que perdi mi tiempo a muy malas jornadas. * Besides the two extracts given below, the Cancionero de Baena (i 85 1) contains references to Amadis (Nos. 38, 349), Oriana (No. 572), Lisuarte (Nos. 188, 301, 395), and the minor character Macandon (No. 72). n] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS SS where Amadis and Oriana are already enrolled among the world's famous lovers : All the fond love that for Achilles' sake, For Paris and for Troilus of yore, For Tristan and for Lancelot of the Lake, Their sweetest ladies and their dearest bore, Fall to the happy pair; such love, and more Than all the love of Paris and Viana, Of Amadis and of fair Oriana, Of Flores and of gentle Blancaflor^. From another, in a poem by Pero Ferrus, or Ferrandes, who belongs to the last half of the fourteenth century, it is clear that there already existed a version of Amadis in three books. A list of heroes includes: Amadis fairest and best — No power of blinding snow or rain E'er heeded he, nor were in vain His loyalty and fame confessed. His deeds of valour in three books Are writ, and he who therein looks Shall say, God grant him holy rest^. 1 Edition of 1851, No. 226: Todos los amores que ovieron Archiles, Paris e Troyolos de las sus senores, Tristan, Lanjarote, de las muy gentiles Sus enamoradas e muy de valores; El e su muger ayan mayores Que los de Paris e los de Vyana, E de Amadis e los de Oryana, E que los de Blancaflor e flores, * No. 305 : Amadys el muy fermoso, Las Uuvias e las ventyscas , Nunca las fall6 aryscas Por leal ser e famoso: Sus proesas fallaredes En tres lybros e dyredes Que le Dyos de santo pose. $6 AMADIS DE GAULA [ch. This early reference to an Amadis in three books shakes our faith in Vasco de Lobeira's authorship; and recently M. Foulche-Delbosc has discovered an even earlier reference, the earliest known instance of a men- tion of Amadis, in the Spanish translation of Egidio Colonna's De regimine principum, made about 1350 by Johan Garcia de Castrogerizi. ]sjo^ ^g have been- told by Southey that Vasco de Lobeira was knighted on the battlefield of Aljubarrota, and Gayangos assumes^ with some plausibility, from his being knighted immediately before the battle, that he had just turned twenty at the time. But the battle of Aljubarrota took place in 1385, and it is clear therefore that if Vasco de Lobeira wrote Amadis he must have been a very precocious youth — if Gayangos is correct he must have written it at the early age of at least minus fifteen. We must give up the story of Vasco de Lobeira, and with it the tempting legend of the soldiers of Du Guesclin and the Black Prince. Just when the Portuguese cause seems lost, how- ever, a new champion arises in the form of the recently published Canzoniere portoghese Colocci-Brancuti^, which ^ See the Revue Hispavique, 1906, torn. xv. p. 815. Amadis is mentioned with Tristan and Cifar in matter supplied by the translator, ^ Libras de Caballerias {Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, tom. xl.), 1857, P- ^ii- * Edited by E. Molteni, i88o. No. 244 (230) contains the following: Le[o]noreta fin rosetta bella sobre toda fror fin Roseta nome metta en tal coi[ta] uossa amor. A critical text is given by Carolina Michaglis de Vasconcellos in the Zeitschrift fur romanische Philologie, 1880, Bd iv. pp. 347-351. n] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 57 contains a poem identical in part with a song sung by Oriana in the second book oiAmadis^- The poem in the Canzoniere is attributed to a Joham de Lobeira who flourished in the last half of the thirteenth century. What has happened seems clear enough. The sword of Marius may have rusted, while the fame of him who wrote the Aeneid may be immortal. But we treat of lesser days. The Portuguese tradition of an early version by a Lobeira appears to be justified — only the obscure man of letters Joham has been confused with and yielded before the more famous warrior Vasco of a century later. 'X\\2iX.Amadis was known in Portugal soon after Joham de Lobeira's time can be shown from the text itself. Reference has already been made to a tampering with the Briolanja episode at the end of the first book. . In what must have been the original version, Briolanja, restored to her dead father's kingdom by Amadis, falls madly in love with her befriender, and offers him her person; but Amadis resists the temptation with that '^ Original of 1508, ch. liv (bk 11. ch. xi.). The song has the following re rain. Leonoreta fin roseta blanca sobre toda flor fin roseta no me meta en tal cuyta vuestro amor. Gayangos, followed by many eminent scholars who should have noticed the mistake, prints "sin roseta" in his edition of Amadis in the Libros de Caballerias. It may be noted that Southey in his abridged translation (bk n. ch. xii.) quotes the Spanish text correctly, and trans- lates the refrain thus : Leonor, sweet Rose, all other flowers excelling. For thee I feel strange thoughts in me rebelling. 58 AMJDIS BE GAULA [ch. loyalty to Oriana which is as essential to the nature of the story as it is to his own character. In Montalvo's text we are told that this episode was altered by order of the "infante don Alfonso de Portugal," out of com- passion for the beautiful Briolanja^. This Alfonso can be no other than King Dinis's son, who succeeded to the throne in 1325; the story which he altered may well have been a Portuguese version, in which case the application of the Lobeira tradition to the earlier Joham de Lobeira receives further support. Joham de Lobeira is the last of our champions, and we are just about to award the prize when France steps in and reminds us of the close resemblance, roughly indi- cated above, between Amadis and the French romances '^ Original of 1508, ch. xl.: "... fue por ^te d'lla reqrido: q d'l y d' su jsona sin ningun entreuallo senor podia ser: mas esto sabido por amadis die enteramete a conoscer q las agustias: y dolores co las muchas lagrimas d'rramadas por su senora oriana : no sin grand lealtad las passaua: ahu q el senor infante do alfonso de portugal auiendo piedad desta fermosa dozella, de otra guisa lo madase poner. ensto hizo lo q su merced fue mas no aqllo q en efecto d'sus amores se es- criuio. ..." Montalvo proceeds to give two amended versions of the incident. These he may owe to the "different and bad writers" he corrected, though the second may possibly be his own solution. In the first Briolanja accomplishes her desire, trading on the fact that in granting an unconditional boon a medieval knight drew a blank cheque upon his honour. When called upon to fulfil a promise made without thought of the consequences, Amadis saves his honour at the expense of his fidelity to Oriana by the latter's express command. According to the other version Briolanja is satisfied with Galaor instead of Amadis. This, Montalvo tells us, is the more likely story, for Galaor marries Briolanja in the fourth book. We are probably largely indebted to Montalvo both for the fourth book and for this piece of match-making. n] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 59 of chivalry, claiming on the grounds of an improved knowledge of comparative literature that the germ of Montalvo's story must have formed part of the matilre de Bretagne. Modern opinion indeed may be summed up in a manner that distributes the inter- national honours very evenly. Great Britain provides in the main the scene and the actors of the story, which reached the Iberian Peninsula through the medium of the French jongleurs. Spain has the earliest known version and the earliest mention oiAmadis; but Portugal has a tradition of an author which appears to justify itself to an even remoter period. Did Spain or Portugal receive the story first .'' Its most natural progress would seem to be from French literature into the Portuguese via Galicia; but it must be remembered that its route thither lay through two ancient capitals of Castile, Burgos and Leon, both of which offered opportunities for a leakage into the Castilian. Until further evidence is available, he would be a bold man who should attempt to decide the question. The days in which we are now living favour boldness, and certainly that quality is not lacking in the latest contribution to the Amadis question, made by one who in his time has played many parts. In 19 14, Dr Theophilo Braga, formerly first President of the Portu- guese Republic, and now occupying the honourable position oi doyen of Portuguese scholars, communicated to the Portuguese Academy of Sciences the results of his researches on the undated Hebrew edition of the F/m Book of Amadis of Gaul, of which he had become acquainted with two complete copies, one in the British 6o AMABIS BE GAULA [ch. Museum, the other in the Jewish Seminary at Breslau, as well as a small fragment in private hands in London. The communication, now available in print^, opens with the arresting statement that "before Ordonez de Mon- talvo's translation and amplification oi Amadis de Gaula^ the exclusive source of the French, Italian and English versions, a translation was made into Hebrew, de- scribed by Wolf as existing in the Oppenheim library^." Dr Braga shows that such a translation could not have been printed in Spain, because there was no Hebrew printing there in the last quarter of the fifteenth century, owing to the stupid fanaticism of which Ferdinand and Isabella were the blind instruments. Only in Portugal was there sufficient tolerance to favour the production of a Hebrew version of Amadis. The Portuguese Jews, attracted by the resemblance of the early chapters of Amadis to the story of Moses, must have made and printed the Hebrew version of the First Book some- where between 1485 and 1497, in which year Hebrew books were prohibited also in Portugal. As Montalvo's Spanish version did not appear till 1508, it follows that the Hebrew translation, which is very concise, was made from the Portuguese ; that it represents, so far as the first and finest portion of Amadis is concerned, the original Portuguese text before it was marred by Mon- talvo's paraphrases and amplifications. '^ Versao hebraica do Amadis de Gaula, in the Trabalhos da Academia de Sciencias de Portugal, 1915, 1916, torn. 11., in. ^ The subsequent history of the Oppenheim collection is given by Dr Braga : he should therefore have traced the Oppenheim copy of the Hebrew Amadis to the Bodleian Library — making a third copy known; the press-mark betrays the provenance (0pp. Printed, 4°, 1418). n] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 6i These statements are supported by facsimiles, by learned notes on Hebrew printing in Portugal, and by a "retroversion" of the introductory chapter from the Hebrew into Portuguese, alongside Montalvo's intro- ductory chapter, part of which is repeated in Portuguese with "Montalvo's rhetorical amplifications " italicised. Dr Braga praises his friend Professor Benoliol, who is responsible for further "retroversions," for discovering that there are many Portuguese idioms in the Hebrew text. He remarks with no little pride that only a Portu- guese scholar would have noticed this. As to the last remark, Dr Braga is quite right, and if all his statements were as sound, we should be rejoicing with him over this discovery of a direct reflexion of a primitive Portuguese original. His arguments are reasonably conclusive, providing his original assertion is true. But it is easier to dictate in the Republic of Portugal than in the Republic of Letters, where the statements of the highest authorities are subject to scrutiny and revision. Let us take the copy of the Hebrew version in the British Museum and examine it. One of the leaves not facsimiled by Dr Braga is the title-page, which, after describing the book, goes on: "and I the least of printers, Eleazar ben Gershom Soncino, have laboured to publish it from a foreign language in the holy tongue, and he who translated it was the wise physician Jacob ben Moses of Algaba." Now the words "least of printers" are not to be taken quite literally, otherwise we might arrange with Dr Braga that Eleazar ben Gershom Soncino should print whenever and wherever we please. The career of the 62 AMABIS BE GAULA [ch. various members of the celebrated Soncino family of printers is well known ^, and it is on record that Eleazar, son of Gershom Soncino, succeeded to his father's business in Constantinople, where he printed a number of Hebrew books between 1534 and 1547, some of them agreeing typographically in every respect with the Amadis of Gaul. It will need something much nearer positive proof than anything Dr Braga adduces to make us believe that the Hebrew version of Amadis was not printed in Constantinople somewhere about the year 1 540, and that the translation was not made from Mon- talvo's text, perhaps from one of the editions printed in Italy — say the popular Venice edition of 1 533. In spite of Dr Braga, it is more natural to take the Hebrew version as an abridgment of the Spanish text than to regard the latter as an amplification of a Portuguese original reflected by the former. That it is more difficult to abridge than to amplify, as Dr Braga asserts, may well be doubted; at any rate more people have abridged Amadis than have amplified it. Take merely the opening words of the story: "Not many years after the passion of our redeemer and saviour Jesus Christ, there lived in Little Britain a Christian King named Garinter." In the Portuguese translation of the Spanish text printed by Dr Braga partly in italics in order to reveal the form of the primitive Portuguese original, the initial phrase "Not many years after the 1 See, for example, G. Manzoni: Annali tifografici dei Soncino, 1883-86; M. Soave: Dei Soncino celebri tipografi italiani, 1878; G. Zaccaria Antonucci : Catalogo di opere . . . stampate dai celebri tipografi Soncini, 1868. ii] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 63 passion of our redeemer and saviour Jesus Christ," is italicised as being one of Montalvo's rhetorical ampli- fications. "Only a Portuguese scholar" would recog- nise the presence of that phrase as denoting a Christian amplification, rather than its absence as indicating a Jewish excision, Dr Braga's picture of Montalvo blow- ing Spanish bubbles with these Portuguese soap-suds, made from the "retroversion" of the Hebrew Amadis, is not convincing. Enough, perhaps more than enough, space has been devoted to the subject oiAmadis of G«a/ previous to the publication of Montalvo's version. Let us now return to the year 1 508 and look forwards instead of backwards, Montalvo's Four Books of Amadis of Gaul achieved a striking popularity. It at once became a recognised manual of chivalry and courtesy, and founded a literary fashion which for one half century largely, and for an- other in a lesser degree, absorbed the Spanish imagina- tion. In spite of the fact that all the Spanish issues were in folio form, and were evidently not intended for the most destructive section of the populace (the infatuated Manchegan, it will be remembered, "sold many an acre of tillage-land to buy books of chivalry to read^"), editions have been thumbed almost or entirely out of existence. There is but one copy known of the 1 508 ■ edition — and that is in the British Museum — a splendid example of printing from one of Spain's most artistic presses, that of " George Co^i Aleman," of the most noble and most loyal city of Saragossa. But there are about 30 editions and rumours of editions between 1 508 1 Don Quixote, pt i. ch. i. 64 AMADIS BE GAULA [ch. and 1587 — the year before the Armada^. Of these editions only one more need be mentioned. This is an edition, with wood-cuts, of 151 9, the next that has sur- vived, although of this only five copies are recorded — one of them again in the British Museum. It was printed by Antonio de Salamanca, and though no place of printing is given, we know that this was Rome from the inclusion of a papal privilege to print six books of Amadis for ten years granted in 1519 to "Antonius martini de Salamacha in Vrbe comorans." Mention has already been made of Montalvo's state- ment, in the heading to the introduction to Amadis, as to the part he played in the composition of the book. Towards the end of his preface he says that he corrected three books of Amadis, and translated and emended a fourth, these being the four books that have occupied our attention up to the present. In the same place he tells us this translation and emendation extended to the Sergas^ de Esp/andian, his son, which till now no man remembers to have seen, but which by good fortune was discovered in a ^ It is usually only possible to state vaguely the number of editions of these romances, for between them and us some three centuries of bibliographers have intervened and obscured our vision. The following editions of Books i.-iv. of Amadis are recorded by G. S. Williams, op. cit. Appendix, pp. 155-167; where the date is bracketed, the compiler records no copy in a past or present collection, but in some cases the edition certainly existed: [1496], 1508, [15 10, Salamanca; Seville], 1511, J5J9, 1521, [1524], 1526, 1531,1533, 1535, IS39. IS4S. IS47. Seville, [1547, Salamanca], 1551, 1552, 1563, [1565, 1574], I57S> Salamanca, [1575, SeviUe; 1575, Salamanca; 1576], 1580, 1586, [1587, 1589]. Throughout these pages italicised dates denote that a copy of the edition concerned is in the British Museum. * " Las Sergas " has generally been interpreted as "las Ipya" — the feats — a formation something like the English newt and the French ii] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 65 stone tomb underneath the floor of a hermitage near Con- stantinople, and brought by a Hungarian merchant to these parts of Spain, in writing and on parchment so antique that only with difficulty could it be read by those who knew the language^. This is of course mere bluff, such as we have already seen employed in EI Cavallero Cifar and Tirant lo Blanch, and such as we shall find frequently imitated, down to Don Quixote itself, which, it will be remembered, we are supposed to owe to an Arab historian, Cid Hamet Benengeli^. All it means in the present case is that Montalvo was alive to the sweet uses of advertisement, and that having himself prepared a Fifth Book, he was preparing his public for the same. The Fifth Book is again referred to in a separate preface attached to the fourth book, while Montalvo's commerciality breaks out in the text itself in the third book^, where we are referred to a "branch which springs from these books, called the Sergas de Esplandian." It was indeed with a lierre. But the real derivation has been given by M. Foulche-Delbosc in the Revue Hispanique, 1910, torn, xxiii. pp. 591-593. '^ Original of 1508: "... corrigiedo estos tres libros de Amadis; que por falta delos malos escriptores: o componedores : muy corruptos y viciosos se leya. y trasladando y enmedado el libro quarto con las sergas de Espladian su hijo: q hasta aqui no es en memoria de ninguno ser visto: que por gran dicha parescio en vna tumba de piedra: que debaxo dela tierra en vna hermita: cerca de Costantinopla fue hallada: y traydo por vn vngaro mercadero: a estas partes de Espana: en letra y pargamino tan antiguo: que con mucho trabajo se pudo leer: por aqllos que la lengua sabian." 2 Don Quixote, pt i. ch. ix. etc. * Original of 1508, ch. lxxiv. (bk in. ch. x.) ; Southey's abridged translation, bk in. ch. xi. 66 AMADIS DE GAULA [ch. title very similar to this that the book appeared, doubt- less not for the first time, in 1510: ^^The Sergas,de Esplandian, son of Amadis of Gaul, called the branch of the Four Books of Amadis." We pay little attention to the statement that it was "written in Greek by the hand of the great master Elisabad" — for this is no other than a Greek physician whom Amadis picked up during his eastern adventures in the third book. More to the point is the statement that it was corrected and translated by one who is here described as "Garcia Gutierrez de Montalvo, Regidor of Medina del Campo, who also corrected and emended the four books of jimadis." The book is of course Montalvo's own composition. Of the story nothing more need be said than that Esplandian finally becomes Emperor of Constantinople, Montalvo having shifted his scene of operations to a geographical area in which he is more at home than he is in Great Britain. In this Montalvo was copied by his numerous successors; hence the classification of Amadis of Gaul and its continuations and imitations as the Greco-Asiatic cycle of romances. The literary value of Esplandian is of the slightest ; it is sufficiently indicated by the verdict of the curate in Don Quixote after he had spared the life of the Four Books of Amadis : " Let us see that other which is next to it." " It is," said the barber, " the Sergas de Esplandian^ the lawful son of Amadis of Gaul." " Then verily," said the curate, " the merit of the father must not be put down to the account of the son. Take it, mistress ii] AND ITS CONTINUATIONS 67 housekeeper; open the window and fling it into the yard and lay the foundation of the pile for the bonfire we are to make." And truly this and the succeeding continuations of Amadis are for the most part but poor exaggerations of their original. The giants become more gigantic, the monsters more monstrous as time goes on. This is inevitable when each new hero is the son of the pre- ceding hero, and proves himself invincible by over- coming his already invincible father. Yet Esplandian met with success. It went through some ten editions^ between 1510 and 1588 — the fateful year itself. The edition of 15 10 — doubtless not the first^ — no longer exists, but we know of it from an entry ^ in Ferdinand Columbus's catalogue. The first existing edition is that of 1 52 1, a copy of which is in Paris. The only other edition that need be mentioned is the next in date, a copy of which is in the British Museum. It was printed in 1525 by Jacobo de Junta and Antonio de Salamanca. No place of printing is given; the name Antonio de ^ The following editions are recorded with certainty: 151 o, 1521, 15^5, 1526 (Burgos), 1526 (Seville), Z542, 25^7 (Burgos), ^5*7 (Sara- gossa), is88. ^ The Fifth Book, Esplandian, is dated 31 July, 1510, while the colophon of the Sixth Book, Florisando, bears the date 15 April, 1510. Unless the latter date is a misprint, there must therefore have been an edition of Esplandian printed before 15 April, 15 10. We cannot explain 1510 in this date as 1511, on the understanding that the new year began at Easter — ^which fell on 20 April in 1511 — for it was not the Spanish practice to begin the new year with this feast. ^ No. 3331 : "Las sergas de esplandian hijo de amadis de gaula llamadas Ramo delos. 4. lib. de amadis. . . . Imp. e seuj^ por maestre Jacobo Croberger. 31. de Julio ano. 15 10. costaro juntamete c6 el sexto lib. de amadis. 13. Reales en vall 1562,^5*0- 3 No. 4124: "La historia de palmerin de oliua tradu9ida de griego en espaiiol por franfisco vasquez Imp. en salamaca a. 22. de enero de. 1516. Costo en salamaca. 4. reales a. 27. de marfo de. 1525." 92 THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [ch. country is the third, published at Seville in 1525, of which a copy has recently been acquired by the British Museum from a private library. A Venice edition of 1526 is in another private library, while the British Museum possesses also the second Venice issue of 1 534. But the popularity of Palmerin de Oliva is attested in another way. On the 3rd July, 1512, just over six months after the publication of the first edition of that romance, there was published, again at Salamanca, a Second Book of the Emperor Palmerin in which are re- counted the noble and valorous deeds of Primaleon and Polendos^ his sons and other excellent foreign knights who came to his court. Although the book goes by the name of Primaleon, with Polendos second on the title-page, the adventures of the latter constitute the first portion of the romance. Brought up at the court of the Queen of Tarsis, he inaugurates an illustrious career by laughing merrily when one of his boon companions kicks an inoffensive old woman across the floor of the palace. Hereupon the old woman remarked, among other things, that "he in no wise resembled his father the famous Emperor of Constantinople, who was always kind and considerate to everyone, both great and small^." Polendos, of 1 In chapter xcv. (or xcvi., according to the edition) of Palmerin de Oliva it is explained that the name Polendos was bestowed on this son " in order that he might take the names of Pahnerin and of his grandfather Florendos." ^ Ch. IV. (edition of I534-): "Ay don Polendos como en ninguna cosa paresces a tu padre aquel famoso emperador de costantinopla que enel siempre uuo toda mesura Scbondad para losgrades&lospequenos: y esta mesura no hay en tique asreydodel mal queestetudonzel me hizo." hi] the PALMERIN romances 93 obscure origin like all chivalresque heroes, pricks up his ears at this, and following up the clue discovers that Palmerin de Oliva, under the influence of an excellent supper, had once failed in his fidelity to PoHnarda, and that he himself is really the son of Palmerin and the Queen of Tarsis. He now turns over a new leaf, and sets out for Constantinople to introduce himself to his father. By the time he arrives there on his first visit, which modesty compels him to make in disguise, he is already an accomplished hero, able after a short interval to attempt the rescue of his lady, the Princess Francelina, who is a captive in an enchanted castle. Sending her on to Constantinople, he proceeds to rescue the King of Thessaly, who is no other than Francelina's father. This stands him in such good stead, when he openly returns to Constantinople, that as early as chapter twenty he is able to turn Christian and be betrothed to his lady. At this point we meet with Primaleon, whose adven- tures, with those of Duardos of England, fill the rest of the book, which is in three parts. Primaleon is now of age to be knighted, and he arranges a tournament in honour of the marriage of his sister Policia with Arnedos, son of the King of France. One of the knights who comes to this tournament is Prince Perequin, the lover of Gridonia, a Duchess's daughter, "whose beauty was such that men spoke of nothing else throughout the land." Perequin's mission is to slay Primaleon in revenge for the death of Gridonia's father, the Duke of Ormedes, who had been killed by Primaleon's father. So far from fulfilling this mission, however, he is him- 94 THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [ch. self slain by Primaleon ; whereupon the beautiful Gri- donia, "who loved him with all her heart," vows that she will only marry the man who shall bring her Pri- maleon's head. These harsh terms cause consternation among her numerous wooers ; threats of mutiny follow, and Gridonia is hidden away for safety in a strong castle. Primaleon of course overcomes the various aspirants to Gridonia's hand and his own head, and eventually reaches the castle where she is staying. Her beauty is fatal to him. He naturally conceals his identity, and with a touch of humour — a rare thing in a chivalrous romance — he undertakes " to place Primaleon's head in her hands." When in the end he keeps his promise, he is readily forgiven, and valour and beauty soon lay the foundations for succeeding volumes. Like its predecessor Palmerin de Oliva, Primaleon is not without advocates, both ancient and modern. Juan de Valdes, a severe critic of the romances, in his Dialogo de la Lengua, composed about the year 1535, allows that Amadis of Gaul, Palmerin and Primaleon may be read for the sake of the language^. As we shall see when dealing with the spread of these romances in Italy, Torquato Tasso speaks of Primaleon in laudatory terms. In recent times Menendez y Pelayo thought that the most interesting portion of the romance was the love- story of Prince Duardos of England, who disguised himself as a gardener in order to woo Flerida, the Em- peror of Constantinople's daughter. On that romantic 1 Edition of 1895, p. 414; speaking of another work, he says: "a mi ver, se puede leer para lo que pertenece a la lengua despues de Amadis de Gaula, Palmerin i Primaleon." Ill] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES 95 episode the Portuguese poet Gil Vicente based his tragi-comedy Don Duardos. This the great Spanish critic describes as a delicious idyll throughout, ending up with an incomparable ballad, one of the most ex- quisite examples of Gil Vicente's lyrical verse, which alone justifies the existence oiPrimaleon^. Nevertheless, the general consensus of opinion classes this romance among the army of continuations which fail to sustain such merit as their originals may possess. Cervantes ignores it in the "diverting and important scrutiny" — that is, unless he tacitly includes both books under the title Palmerin de Oliva. Yet Primaleon was as popular in Spain during the sixteenth century as was Palmerin de Oliva. There were some ten editions in the original language between 151 2 and 15882. As with Palmerin^ a single copy of the first edition is recorded^, whose location is now unknown. The earliest edition in the British Museum is that of Venice, 1 534. And now, having given something of the story and the record of these two romances, we are in a position to consider the question of their authorship. 1 Origmes de la Novela, Introduction, torn. i. pp. cclxvii, cclxviii, where that ballad is quoted. 2 The following are recorded with certainty: 1512, 1516, 1524, 1528, 1534, 1563, J566, 1585, 1588. A copy of the edition of 152413 entered in Ferdinand Columbus's catalogue, No. 4125: "Libro segundo de palmerin q trata de los hechos de primaleon tradufido de griego en espanol. por franfisco vasquez Imp. en seuilla p". de otubre de. 1524. Costo en salamaca yinco reales y m". a. 27. de marjo de. 1525." * Catalogue des livres rares et fricieux, manuscrits et imfrimis, com- psant la hibliothlque de M. Chedeau, Paris, 1865, No. 990. The date of this first (Edition is given in the Chedeau catalogue as "a tres dias del mes de JuHo, MVXII (sic) anos." 96 THE PJLMERIN ROMANCES [ch. It has already been shown that whoever wrote Palmerin de Oliva was acquainted with Montalvo's Amadis of Gaul and its continuation Esplandian. The earliest known editions of these two romances are dated 1508 and 1 510 respectively, so that the interval during which Palmerin de Oliva and Primaleon must have been composed is a short one'^, for, as has been said, the first edition of the former is dated 22 December, 151 1, and of the latter, 3 July, 1512. We have therefore no fascinating problem of remote original sources as with Amadis. We are dealing with a simple imitation belong- ing to the early years of the sixteenth century. The evidence goes to prove that both books were written by a single person — indeed, it could hardly be otherwise in the case of two works produced with so short an interval between them. The fact that Primaleon is called the second book of Palmerin de Oliva signifies next to nothing. Little more is proved by the fact that, in the chapter of the first book in which the origin of Polendos, one of the heroes of the second book, is recounted, we are promised the story of his adventures. But the author of the dedicatory epistle addressed to Luis de Cordoba, afterwards Duke of Sessa, which is prefixed to Primaleon, speaks of " Palmerin, which I recently published under the protection of your name." And that the writer of this dedicatory epistle is the author of the book we have — though we hardly need it — the evidence of Francisco Delicado, the inappropri- ately named cleric who is responsible for the scandalous ^ This remains true even if the rumour of a 1496 edition of Amadis nf Gaul should prove correct. Ill] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES 97 Lozana andaluza, and who edited the Venice edition of 1534 of both our romances. Who this author was we do not know. In the dif- ferent editions of the two books there are numerous references to the author; but they leave us little wiser than before. All that can be done is to bring together these references, and leave them to speak for themselves. To begin at the beginning then, in the first edition of Palmerin de Oliva there occur at the end some Latin verses addressed to the reader by Juan Aguero de Tras- miera. As was often the case in the sixteenth century, these verses are meant for ornament rather than for use, and their effect is confusion on essential points. But it is clearly stated in them that the author was a woman, as in the following couplet : Inclitus ecce pater palmarum collige floras Quos seuit: quos dat femina corde tibi. This is a flowery version of what is implied in a simpler line a little further on : Hunc lege que^ tractat femina multa sua. Here we have a plain assertion that a woman wrote the book. And we may perhaps assume she was a Spanish woman from a couplet which says : Quanta sol lunam superat nebrissac^ doctos: Tanta ista hispanos femina docta viros: As the sun outshines the moon, and Nebrissa^ the scholars, so this learned woman outshines the men of Spain. Later there comes a couplet which has caused much trouble : Femina composuit: generosos atq, labores Filius altisonans scripsit c arma libro, 1 Sic, for quo. ^ I.e. Antonio de Nebrija, the great Humanist. T. 7 98 THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [ch. which seems to be a laboured way of stating that a woman wrote the book, but that her son contributed the fighting. So far the first edition ^ of Palmerin de Oliva\ but the first edition of Primaleon spoils everything by telling us in the colophon that "this second book of Palmerin called Primaleon was translated — as also the first called Palmerin — from Greek into our Castilian tongue and corrected and emended in the most noble city of Ciudad Rodrigo by Francisco Vazquez 2." What does this mean? "Translated from the Greek into Castilian" is usually in such contexts merely a way of saying " com- posed," and if this were an ordinary case we should naturally assume that Francisco Vazquez wrote both Primaleon and Palmerin de Oliva. As will be seen below, however, sixteenth century opinion did not accept him as the author, but clung to the story of the lady given in Palmerin de Oliva. Are we perhaps to understand that Francisco Vazquez is a pseudonym of the lady who, it would then be im- plied, wrote the two books, or are we to understand that one Francisco Vazquez (perhaps her son) corrected what the lady had written ? Where several interpretations are possible, we must be content to leave the matter un- decided. The story grows as editions increase. Francisco ^ The verses are quoted above from the Venice edition of 1534; they occur in the first edition, 1511, but not in that of 1525. ^ " Fue trasladado este segundo Hbro de Palmerin Uamado Primaleo y ansimesmo el primero Uamado Palmerin de griego en nuestro lenguaje castellano j corregido y emendado en la muy noble ciudad de Ciudad- rodrigo por Francisco Vasquez." (Quoted in the Chedeau Catalogue.) Ill] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES 99 Delicado, referred to above, in his introduction to the second part of Primaleon (Venice edition, 1534), adds the touching detail that "the composer was a woman and while spinning at her wheel she thought of very beautiful things^." In the introduction to the third part he says: "but I do not know who wrote the book, for no name is given either at the beginning or the end . . . and people are of opinion that the composer was a woman and daughter of a carpenter." And then, after censuring the Toledan edition of 1 52 8, he goes on : " but the fault lies in the printers and publishers who have ' desdorado ' — who have ' taken all the shine out of — the lady Agustobrica's work for the sake of filthy lucre^." So the lady had a name apparently — Agustobrica — a name which sets us wondering what her mother called her. But we may spare ourselves the trouble, for according to some Spanish verses^ at the end of the 1 563 edition of Primaleon, this name appears to be not that of the lady, but that of the place in which she lived — in short she would seem to be a lady of Burgos, for that is what the place-name implied to a sixteenth century writer or reader. And that is as far as we can get in this problem. 1 "... la que lo compuso era muger y filado el torno se pesaua cosas mas fermosas que dezia ala postre." 2 "... mas no se quien lo hizo porque caUo su nombre al principio y al fin. . . . Y es opinion de personas que fue muger la que lo compuso fija de un carpintero Mas el defeto esta en los impresores, y en los mercaderes que han desdorado la obra dela seiiora Agustobrica conel ansia del ganar." * The essential lines are as follows : Es de Augustobrica aquesta labor Que en Medina se ha agora estampado. 7—2 loo THE PJLMERIN ROMANCES [ch. In simple terms then, thp upshot of these perhaps purposely mystifying references is that both Palmerin and Primaleon were written by a woman of Burgos, said to be a carpenter's daughter, with the assistance of her son, perhaps identifiable with the Francisco Vazquez who is said to have revised the work, and who is other- wise unknown. That these romances should be by a native of Spain is a matter of satisfaction to all Spaniards; that they should be by a Spanish woman is displeasing to some, owing to the immoralities they profess to detect in what are after all two very harmless books. But it is time to pass on to the other volumes of the series. Primaleon and the beautiful Gridonia had four sons. Some of the later chapters in the third part of Primaleon had treated of the early adventures of one of these sons, named Platir. In i^JJ the Palmerin series was carried forward a stage further by the publication at Valladolid of a romance called after this Platir^. The unknown author was anxious to monopolise the whole career of his hero, and so in his first chapter he reproved the writer of Primaleon for having started Platir off on a career of several chapters, whereas in truth he was only born on the day that Palmerin died^, and that event happened on the last page of the last part of Primaleon. ^ Existing accounts of the series usually insert a romance called Polindo between Primaleon and Platir. But Polindo has nothing to do with the Palmerin series ; it will be dealt with in its proper place in the next chapter. 2 "Pues estado assi casado como vos auemos dicho primaleon con la linda gridonia, ouo enella quatro fijos varones: y el postrero que fue este platir : nascio el mesmo dia que murio su aguelo palmerl, avnque en primaleon se tiene el contrario esta fue la verdad." Ill] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES loi The sixth book oiAmadis has taught us what to expect of continuations which thus fall foul of their predecessors, and we are not surprised to find that Vlatir was only printed once. Cervantes regarded it as the very nadir of romantic chivalry. When the original fragment of the veracious chronicle of Don Quixote ended abruptly in the midst of that terrific battle between the gallant Biscayan and the valiant Manchegan, Cervantes could not bring himself to believe that such a brave story had been left maimed and mutilated, for he deemed it " a thing im- possible and contrary to all precedent that so good a knight should have been without some sage to under- take the task of writing his marvellous achievements ; a thing that was never wanting to any of those knights-errant who, they say, went after adventures; for every one of them had one or two sages as if made on purpose, who not only recorded their deeds but described their most trifling thoughts and follies, how- ever secret they might be; and such a good knight could not have been so unfortunate as not to have what Platir and others like him had in abundance^-" Small wonder that the curate, in the "diverting and important scru- tiny," saw no reason for clemency in The Knight Platir, and sent it to the bonfire after the others without appeal. All that need be said of this romance here is that the author ends by threatening a second part which a merci- ful providence prevented from being written, or at any rate from surviving. With Platir we are generally supposed to come to an end of the Spanish Palmerin series, for although there is 1 Don Quixote, pt i. ch. ix. I02 THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [ch. an Italian romance called Flortir, dealing with the adven- tures of a son of Platir so named ^, which professes to be translated from the Spanish, no copy of a Spanish ver- sion is known to exist, and the words "translated from the Spanish " are often used in these romances merely as an advertisement. Reasons however have been given for supposing that in this case they really mean what they say, and that there was a Spanish original. The case for and against has been summarised by Mr Purser^, who, writing in 1904, expressed the opi- nion that "no printed Spanish Flortir ever existed." Since then, a writer in a Spanish review^ has claimed Flortir as originally a Spanish work, owing to the many instances of the verb accappare to be found in the existing Italian version. In the context in which it is employed this verb is as rare in Italian as acabar is frequent in Spanish, and the presumption is that any work in which it is frequently used should be of Spanish origin. The objection that, after translating several of these Spanish romances, an Italian writer might easily have caught the trick of using that verb, and so have employed it in an original work, may be met by pointing out that it is not found in a continuation of Flortir which was admittedly composed in Italian. But there is another reason for thinking that Flortir originated in Spain. The first edition of the French '^ Like Polendos, Flortir is a portmanteau-word. It commemorates the hero's descent from Florinda and Platir. ^ Of. cit.. Appendix xii. pp. 433-437. ' Jose de Perott, in Cultura Espanola, Madrid, August, 1909, No. xv. P- 734- m] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES 103 version of Primaleon contains a privilege which is dated almost exactly four years earlier than that granted by the Venetian Senate for the printing of the Italian Flortir. From the extract quoted below^ it would appear that the French translator of Primaleon^ Franfois de Vernassal, knew of a book oi Flortirm 1549. This could not have been the Italian Flortir \ it must have been a Spanish Flortir^ which indeed is adumbrated in the Italian version. We need not be concerned because Cervantes does not mention Flortir. After all, he makes no mention of Primaleon. With Flortir then certainly, if not with Platir, the Spanish contributions to the Palmerin series come to an end, for the next and most famous book, the Palmerin de Inglaterra^ which Cervantes would have treated as reverently as Homer's works, is now definitely proved to be of Portuguese origin. But following the procedure adopted in dealing with the first two books of this series, a brief synopsis of the romance is here given, before the question of the authorship is discussed. There are two heroes in this story. Palmerin of Eng- 1 The privilege is dated 1 5 October, 1 549, and contains the following : "... Receu auons I'humble supUcation de nostre cher & bien ame Francois de Vernassal: contenant comme auec grand peine & trauail d'esprit il a mis en Franfois, tant selon I'exemplaire ItaKen qu'Espagnol les histoires de Primaleon, Platir, & autres faisans la suite de celle de Palmerin d'OHue. . . . Pourquoy nous ces choses considerees . . . auos . . . audit supliant otroye priuilege licence & permission d'imprimer ou faire imprimer & mettre en lumiere & uete . . . lesdites trois histoires de Primaleon Platir & Flortir faisans quatre Uures a la suite de celle de Palmerin d'Oliue," etc. The privilege in the Italian Flortir is dated 24 October, 1553. 2 See the note on the next page. I04 THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [cii. land and Floriano of the Desert, twin sons of Don Duardos, son of Fadrique, King of England, and Fle- rida, daughter of Palmerin de Oliva^; so that here we deal with the same generation as in Platir. Immediately after they had been baptised the twins were carried off by a savage as food for his hunting lions, but his wife took pity on their innocent lives and brought them up with her own son. When the twins had attained to boyhood, Floriano, going astray while hunting, was found by a knight and taken to London, where he became an attendant on his mother Flerida, while about the same time Palmerin was found on the sea-shore by his uncle Polendos and taken to Constantinople, where he became an attendant on his cousin Polinarda, daughter of Primaleon. Naturally none of these parties knew of the relationship existing between them, and equally naturally Palmerin fell in love with Polinarda, who becomes the heroine of the book. In due course the two young men are armed knights and set forth on the great adventure of the day, which was no other than the rescue of their own father, who all the time from shortly before their birth had been a prisoner in the castle of the giant Dramusiando. All attempts to rescue him had failed. The castle was enchanted. It could only be found at the enchanter's pleasure, and when it was found the would- be rescuer had to engage in a series of tilting bouts, all of them carefully graduated up to the final, in which the giant Dramusiando himself, reputed the best fighting ^ The Spanish form of the proper names is retained, as although this book was originally written in Portuguese, several of the char- acters began their career in the earlier Spanish books of the series. Ill] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES 105 man of his time, had to be encountered. Floriano first essays the adventure, and reaches the final, in which he is about to be overcome when he is carried off to safety by Daliarte of the Dark Valley, a magician half-brother of his. Palmerin however succeeds by the help of an enchanted shield. Rescuers and rescued now adjourn to London, and Daliarte reveals the relationship of the parties. We then enter upon the adventures at the castle of Miraguarda^ which Cervantes found so excellent and of such admir- able contrivance^. A strange knight appears on the scene, the champion of Miraguarda, a damsel of such fatal loveliness that she threw all Spain into disorder and had to be retired to a castle in the midst of theTagus. The strange knight bears her likeness on his shield, to the protection of which against all comers his life is wholly devoted, while it is equally the sole object in life of every knight with the least pretension to respecta- bility to win the shield from him. Hence both Floriano and Palmerin contend with the strange knight, but their battles are drawn; which was only to be expected, for the strange knight turns out to be Florendos, brother of Polinarda. Miraguarda however did not expect it, and disgusted with her ineffectual champion, she packs him off on a year's furlough, during which he is not to bear arms. Dramusiando turns up opportunely to protect the shield, which of course Florendos has to leave behind. '^ Miraguarda's castle, the castle of Almourol, still exists near Thomar, with the name and in the position assigned to it in Palmerin of England. A photograph of the castle forms the frontispiece to Mr Purser's essay. 2 See the paragraph quoted at the beginning of this chapter. io6 THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [ch. Meantime Floriano has been captured by a Turkish galley and presented — ^as usual — to the Grand Turk, who had — as usual — an inflammable daughter named Targiana. She had already sent her lover, Albaizar, after the Miraguarda shield, and she now loses rather more than her heart to Floriano. Albaizar, possibly with the object of saving time, filches the Miraguarda shield during the night and brings it to Constantinople, pretending he has won it in fair fight. The relations between Targiana and Floriano have meantime become quite platonic, and by a ruse the two leave the court of the Grand Turk en route for Constantinople, whither Targiana is attracted by the prowess of her lover Albaizar, who is successfully defying the world in the matter of the Miraguarda shield. The journey is enli- vened by a drawn battle between Floriano and a strange knight who turns out to be Palmerin, by the carrying off of Targiana by a stranger during this battle, and her rescue by a Black Knight, who turns out to be Florendos. In a side issue Palmerin rescues the enchanted Princess Leonarda- — an adventure open only to the knight who is foremost in valour and most faithful in love. Being himself engaged to Polinarda he bestows this Princess on his twin-brother Floriano. Meantime a messenger, accompanied by three fero- cious giants, arrives from the Grand Turk, the Sultan of Persia, and allies, threatening war on the Emperor of Constantinople unless he gives Polinarda in marriage to the Sultan, marries Florendos to the Sultan's sister, and hands over Floriano, who had run away with Targiana, to the Grand Turk. Owing to previous Ill] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES 107 engagements the Emperor declined, and there followed a contest between the three ferocious giants and Pal- merin, Floriano and Dramusiando, who of course succeed in killing their opponents. Treachery on the part of the Grand Turk leads to more trouble and pre- pares us for the approaching climax. But Floriano staves off the end a little by enchantments and adven- tures which befel him especially in Spain and France, and an episode connected with four French ladies which happened during his stay at the court of France is of the greatest importance in the question of the authorship of the romance. On his return to Constantinople, the desire of the aged Emperor Palmerin de Oliva to see his grandchildren married leads to a matrimonial bee, when Palmerin of England weds Polinarda, Floriano weds Leonarda, Florendos weds Miraguarda, and so on. These marriages took place only just in time, for very shortly afterwards Constantinople is attacked by an allied fleet of Turks, infidels and heretics. The first attempt at landing failed, but the Christian losses were great, and they retired to their fortifications. Thereupon the Turks landed, at the same time burning their ships. The op- posing forces met in a desperate battle which lasted till night separated them. Most of the principal Christian knights perished, and during the pause that followed this battle the aged Emperor died also. After a few days' rest the armies prepare for the final struggle, but just as they are about to engage, the whole battlefield is covered by a dense cloud sent by the magician half- brother Daliarte of the Dark Valley, who read in the mystic future that the Turks would win and capture the io8 THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [ch. city, slaying all the defenders. Under the cover of this cloud Daliarte carried off all the principal ladies to a place of safety in the Perilous Isle. Three days later the post- poned final battle began, and it turned out that Daliarte had misread the signs, for when darkness came on only a few warriors survived, and they were all Christians, among them Primaleon and Florendos, both desperately wounded. The dead Princes were conveyed to the Perilous Isle and buried in the Sepulchre of Princes. The rescued Princesses returned to their homes, but a few widowed ladies remained on the island. They are there still. For Daliarte, whenever he went abroad, used to enchant the island in such a manner that it became invisible, and in the end he was slain with many wounds upon a bridge in Ireland, without having undone the enchantment. Wherefore it is believed that it is at this day in the state in which he left it. This would be a notable thing to see, if any one in our time should by his knowledge be able to disenchant it, and see if the emperor Palmerin de Oliva be still there, with the other kings, princes, and knights, who were there deposited after the manner which ye have heard, and the queens and princesses also who remained alive, accompanying the empress, who may well be envied; for friendship so rare, and actions so famous, are worthy of great praise, and to be greatly envied^- This somewhat lengthy sketch of the plot of Pal- merin of England will not be of much help to those who wish to test the parallel drawn by Cervantes between this romance and the works of the poet Homer. It may however serve to explain how Palmerin could be re- ^ The final paragraph in Southey's abridgment of Munday's version, 1807. in] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES 109 garded in several countries during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as a rival oi Amadis of Gaul. Like the other books of the series, Palmerin of England is modelled on the Amadis romances. Palmerin himself corresponds to Amadis, Floriano of the Desert to Galaor ; Dramusiando is a useful substitute for Arcalaus, while Amadis's treatment of Briolanja is paralleled by Florendos's behaviour towards Arnalta. Yet though Palmerin of England lacks originality, it is, as Cervantes says of certain of its incidents, of admirable contrivance. The plot works up to a climax while interest and sus- pense are maintained as in no other early work of the kind. The style, although naturally tainted with the rhetorical affectation of its antecedents, is in general rightly estimated by Cervantes: "the language is polished and clear, studying and observing the style befitting the speaker with propriety and judgment." All critics agree that the principal characters are not dummies; they are real and different. And all critics agree in regarding Palmerin of England as a Portuguese classic, a landmark in the development of Portuguese prose into a cultivated medium of literary expression. But by this mention of a nationality we are begging a question which has been fought almost as fiercely as that of the original nationality of Amadis of Gaul. In each case the quarrel lies ultimately between the Portu- guese and the Spaniards, and in each case the Portu- guese have the best of a most interesting argument. In discussing the rival claims it will be well — as with Amadis of Gaul — to take as a starting-point the opinions of Southey, for most English people who are acquainted I lo THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [ch. with Palmerin of England know it through Southey's abridged revision of Anthony Munday's translation, published in 1807. Southey is as dogmatic about the authorship of Pal- merin of England as he is about that of Amadis of Gaul, and with better success in the present case. His title- page announces simply: ^^ Palmerin of England, by Francisco de Moraes." But in his preface he has to confess that the earliest forms of the work known to him are a French version published at Lyons in 1553, and an Italian version published at Venice in 1555, both of which profess to be translated from the Spanish; while the earliest known Portuguese version was not published till 1567, and professes to be translated from the French. Southey however not only sees no reason for denying, but finds internal evidence for accepting, the Portuguese tradition claiming the work as an ori- ginal Portuguese production of Francisco de Moraes. He only feels bound to parallel the publication of a translation before its original by references to Vathek and Coleridge's translation of JV aliens tein^. But twenty years before Southey was writing, a Portuguese editor of Palmerin of England had suggested a French origin for the romance^, and for twenty years afterwards there was doubt as to whether it was originally Portuguese or French, with a leaning in favour of the former. ^ Menendez y Pelayo, op. cit., Introduction, torn. i. p. cclxxii, men- tions a closer parallel: the publication of the Nise lastimosa (1577) of Fr. JeronimoBermudez before the Casiro (1598) of Antonio Ferreira. ^ See p. 5 of the preface to the edition of 1786. Ill] THE PALMERIN ROMANCES 1 1 1 At last however Vicente Salva, a Regent Street book- seller, seemed to settle the question definitely by finding a copy of a Spanish version printed at Toledo in 1347, 1548. As this was earlier than any other version, and five years earlier than the French version, which professes to be a translation from the Spanish, Salva's find was welcomed as a lost original. At first Salva attributed this Spanish original to Miguel Ferrer, who wrote the dedications prefixed to the two parts, in which the book is spoken of as "this my little fruit," " this my labour," and so on. Later however he assigned it to Luis Hur- tado, because his son had found this name in an acrostic, headed " El auctor al lector," which follows the dedica- tion in the first part^. And this solution of the origin and authorship of the romance was accepted and sup- ported by giants like Gayangos and Ticknor. The story of the revolt against this settlement, during which several famous names in different countries parted with some of their credit, is too long to be told in detail here. The question has recently been definitely settled once more — this time quite definitely — ^in favour of the Portuguese and Francisco de Moraes, by Mr Purser, in his exhaustive treatise on Palmerin of England men- tioned above^. Only the briefest summary of results can be given here. Miguel Ferrer, a member of the Toledan family of printers and booksellers, is at most an editor of the 1 The initial letters of the verses read downwards thus : Lvys hvrtado avtor al lector da salvd(s). 2 With this should be read Professor Fitzmaurice-Kelly's notice in the Revue Hispanique, 1903, torn. x. pp. 614-635. 112 THE P^LMEiJ/iV ROMANCES [ch. Spanish version, and both the authorship of Luis Hur- tado and the Spanish claim to the romance offer but a feeble resistance to a critical examination. The chrono- logical test has laid many a literary pretender low, and it has dealt unkindly with Luis Hurtado. In his Three Hundred Stanzas of the Triumph of Virtues in Defence of Illustrious Women^, which for the benefit of mankind has remained unpublished, he tells us that he wrote this work in 1582, being then a time-worn veteran of ten lustres. Ingenious people have calculated from this that Hurtado was born in 1532, and that he was therefore some fifteen years old when the Spanish romance was published. It does not require much deliberation to reject a boy of less than fifteen, the son of a poor shop- keeper at Toledo, who never rose to be more than a needy local cleric and publisher's hack, as the author of a work which contains evidences of great maturity, a considerable knowledge of the world, and an intimate acquaintance with a foreign court. We can hardly expect the discoverer of an acrostic to read the verses themselves ; but anyone who cares to wade through them as far as the second line^ will see that Hurtado would ^ Las trecientas del triunpho de virtudes en defensa de illustres mugeres. After giving the date, the author goes on : Al tiempo que cuento, el orbe en que vivo Me habie trabajado diez lustros de anos. (Quoted by Antonio Neira de Mosquera in the Semanario Pintoresco Espaiiol, Madrid, 1853, p. 222.) ^ The first two verses are as follows : Leyendo esta obra, descreto lector vi ser espejo : de echos famosos. " Reading this work, courteous reader, I saw it to be a mirror of famous deeds." m] THE P^Z.M£i?ZA/^ ROMANCES 113 have been the last person to claim the authorship of the book openly for himself. It is easy also to show that the Spanish text, with its mistakes and omissions and confusions, to say nothing of its nearly always mentioning the river Tagus in its Portuguese form, is a composite translation, and a bad one at that. The Portuguese text on the other hand is an acknowledged masterpiece of style. Its author speaks favourably of Portugal and in places disparagingly of Spain. He is acquainted with Portuguese topography, and not with Spanish. He knows the sea and the things of the sea. "With the Portuguese text of Palmerin of England there is a dedication by Moraes to Maria, sister of King John III of Portugal. It is clear from internal evidence that this was written in the lifetime of John III, who died in 1557, ten years before the publication of the earliest existing Portuguese edition. This dedication further reveals that it was penned during the year 1 544-'^ ; so that the text itself must have been finished about this time. A Portuguese Palmerin of England must have existed therefore some three years before the Spanish version was published, and we naturally assume Moraes, who signs the dedication, to be the author. Moraes was just the right person to have written this romance. He was the son of the Grand Treasurer of Portugal, and may reasonably be supposed to have 1 The following sentence occurs in the dedication (edition of 1786, copied from that of 1592): " Eu me achei em Franca os dias passados, em seruifo de dom Francisco de Noronha, embaizador delRey nosso Senhor e vosso irmao." Noronha had left France before April, 1544. •I* O 114 THE P//Z,MEi2/A^ ROMANCES [ch. moved in courtly circles. In 1 540 he accompanied the Portuguese minister, Francisco de Noronha, to Paris, where he remained till 1 543 or 1 544 — so that his stay in the French capital tallies in point of time with what is to be inferred from the above-mentioned dedi- cation. While in Paris Moraes fell in love with a French lady whom he calls Torsi, a Maid of Honour to Queen Leo- nor, the Portuguese Consort of the French King. He was rejected, and in his Dialogos^ there is a Defence of his suit, undoubtedly written by him, though not pub- ished till 1624. Now the four French ladies at the court of France who have already been mentioned as figuring in certain episodes in Palmerin of England are called Telensi, Mansi, Latranja, and Torsi. But these are real persons whom Moraes met in Paris : Mile de Theligny, Mile de Macy, Mile de L'Estrange and Mile de Torcy — the last real enough to figure as la belle Tony in Bran tome 2. Two of these ladies ("Latranja" and "Mansy") Moraes mentions in a letter of his which is still extant^. After this there can be no doubt that Palmerin of England is originally Portuguese and the work of Francisco de Moraes, who moreover in his own day enjoyed the sobriquet of "o Palmeirim." ^ pp. 36-47 : " Desculpa de huns amores que tinha em Paris com hua dama Francesa da Raynha Dona Leaner, per noma Torsi, sendo Portuguez, pela qual fez a historia das Damas FrancezaS no seu Palmeirim." 2 (Euvres computes, ed. L. Lalanne, 1864-82, torn. i. p. 31, and elsewhere, ^ The letter, which is dated lo Dec. 1541, is printed by Theophilo Braga in his Questdes de litteratura e arte portugueza (1881), pp. 254-257. Ill] THE P J LMERIN ROMANCES 115 The bibliography of Palmerin of England bears this out. Until a few years ago the Spanish version had never been reprinted. Of the Portuguese version we have, besides a putative edition of circa 1 544, the first extant edition of Evora, 1567, of which only two copies are known ^, an edition of Lisbon, 1592, which calls itself the second edition, and an edition of Lisbon, 1786., which actually calls itself the fourth edition, because the editor had before him a copy of an unknown edition, no doubt the lost first edition, which has since again disappeared. There is also a more modern edition, published at Lisbon in Moraes' Obras, i8^2i Moreover, with Palmerin of England the Palmerin series .comes to an end as far as Spain is concerned, whereas several continuations were added in Portuguese. Francisco de Moraes' Palmerin of England was in two parts. In i£8y there appeared at Lisbon the third and fourth parts of Palmerin of England, by Diogo Fernan- dez, with Duardos the Second, son of Palmerin and Polinarda, as hero. This work was reprinted in 1604. In 1602 there appeared, also at Lisbon, the fifth and sixth parts of Palmerin of England, by Balthasar Gon- ^alves Lobato. The hero is Clarisol de Bretanha, son of the above Duardos. At the end of this book a seventh part is promised, and indeed manuscript continuations have been recorded 2, but mercifully they have never got beyond the manuscript stage. As with Amadis of Gaul, so too with the Palmerins, 1' One in the Bibliotheca da Ajuda, Lisbon, the other in the Biblio- teca Nacional, Madrid. 2 W. E. Purser, op. cit.. Appendix iii. pp. 393-394. 8—2 ii6 THE P^Z.MEi?/iV ROMANCES [ch. the actual books of the series do not quite exhaust the family's productiveness within the Peninsula. In both cases there are ballads and plays founded on the ro- mances, but they are much fewer in the present case, for the Palmerin series was never so popular as the Amadis series, nor was any member of the Palmerin family so popular as Amadis of Gaul himself. This was natural enough, for not only had Amadis the advantage of priority, but all the books of the series appeared in the one country, whereas the Palmerin series was divided between Spain and Portugal. There is only one ballad based on the Palmerin series, that of Don Duardos y Flerida, already mentioned in connexion with the book of Primaleon. Although it forms part of a play written by a Portuguese, this ballad was an early favourite with the Spaniards, for it was incorporated in the Cancionero de Romances^ published at Antwerp in the middle of the sixteenth century; it has recently been made accessible to English readers in Mr A. F.-G. Bell's little volume of Gil Vicente's lyrics^. Three dramatic pieces owe their origin to our pre- sent series. Doctor Juan Perez de Montalvan, who, as we have already seen, was indebted to Feliciano de Silva's Florisel de Niquea for one of his plays, made use of the first book for another, his Palmerin de Oliva, o la encan- tadora Lucelinda, The second book, Primaleon, inspired not only Gil Vicente's Don Duardos, which contains the above-mentioned ballad, but also Hortensio Felix ^ See the edition in facsimile published by R. Menendez Pidal^ 1914, ff. 253-254. Cf. also Duran, No. 288. * Lyrics of Gil Vicente, 1914, pp. 90-93. in] THE P^LMEiS/iV ROMANCES 117 Paravicino y Arteaga's Comedia intitulada la Gridonia, eielo de amor vengado^. Palmerin of England, the best book of the series, produced neither ballad nor play. Yet it had its com- pensations, for it appealed to other famous writers besides Cervantes. There are references, apparently very early references, to this book in two light pieces of verse by Camoens^, probably written during the poet's resi- dence at Court, 1 542— 1 546 ; and if the probability could be turned into a certainty, any lingering doubt as to the Portuguese origin of Palmerin of England would be dis- sipated. Dom Francisco de Portugal, our authority for the Amadis stories connected with Diego de Mendoza and Simon de Silveira, had no doubt on the subject, for he mentions Palmerin of England in support of his patriotic prejudice as to Portuguese preeminence in all things, at the same time quoting Gongora to the effect that Palmerin deserved commemorating in bronze^. This same Simon de Silveira, who swore upon the Gospels that everything in Amadis of Gaul was true, is the hero of another story which shows that Palmerin of England had its devotees, even if it had not, like Primaleon, its dolientes who knew the story by heart. 1 In Obras posthumas, diuinas, y humanas, de Don Felix de Arteaga, 1641, ff. 121-189. * See C. Michaelis de Vasconcellos : Palmeirim de Inglaterra (in Zeitschrijt filr romanische Philologie, 1882, Bd vi. pp. 216-219), and W. E. Purser, op. cit.. Appendix i. p. 378. On the following pages both authors quote interesting references to Palmerin of England from autos of Antonio Prestes, of somewhat later date. * Arte de Galanteria, iSjOjp.gS: "Palmeirin de Inglaterra, porquien dizia Don Luis de Gongora, que se le deuian bronzes." 1 1 8 THE PALMERIN ROMANCES [ch. hi The hardened old sinner (t 1^74 or 1575) was still un- repentant, if not on his deathbed, at least on his wedding-night. We are told^ that he courted a Maid of Honour ardently and long. When at length the lady married him, he took a delicate revenge; for on the first night of their wedding, after they had retired, he asked for a candle, and began to read in Palmerin of England, over which he spent so much time that the lady, taking it amiss, said to him: " Sir, is that what you married for? " Whereupon he replied : " And who told you. Madam, that marriage was anything else? " But once more, with these quotations and stories illustrating the popularity of particular books, we are encroaching on a section of our subject in which the vogue of the romances in general will be considered. Before that section is reached, a brief account must be given of one or two smaller groups and a few miscel- laneous romances which are also numbered among Amadis of GauVs "innumerable progeny." ^ By Pedro Jose Suppico de Moraes : Collecfoo . . . de Afothegmas, 1761, pt I. bk I. p. 33 : " . . . Casou em fim com a ta] Senhora, per quem fizera tantos extremes, tantas finezas de amor; e na primeyra noyte do dia das suas vodas, assim que se recolh^rao, pedio D. Simao huma vela, e poz se a ler per Palmerim de Inglaterra, no que gastou tanto tempo, que parecendo desproposito a Dama, Ihe disse: Senhor, para isso casastes? Respondeo elle: E quem vos disse a v6s, Senhora, que o casar era outra cousa." The story is late, and probably apocryphal; but its existence is still evidence. CHAPTER IV SMALLER GROUPS AND ISOLATED ROMANCES IN the two preceding chapters an account has been given of the two great families of Peninsular romances of chivalry. The initial success which made such large families possible led to the formation of a few smaller groups, and the gradual accumulation of a number of isolated romances. All these are frank imi- tations, and like the later books of the Amadis and the Palmerin series, they reproduce the most striking features of the original founders, with less success in copying their merits than in exaggerating their defects. We shall only be justified in considering at any length those romances which exercised some influence outside their own country. The most important of the smaller groups from this point of view is the next largest — ^the Espejo de Prin- cipes y Cavalleros, a late-comer into the field. The first part of this romance, in three books, was written by Diego Ortuiiez de Calahorra and published in 1562; a second part, in two books, was added by Pedro de la Sierra in 1581; while third and fourth parts, each in two books, brought the group to a close in 1589. These last two parts were written by Marcos Martinez, a native of Alcala de Henares, who may possibly have consorted with Cervantes. I20 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. In this group there are no awkward problems of authorship ; but it may be mentioned that the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros is often confused with three other romances which have either a similar title or a hero with a similar name. The confusion will be more compre- hensible if the reader is introduced to the chief characters in the present story. To summarise the whole plot of yet another of these romances of chivalry would be vain repetition ; but it will not be wasting time to give a brief account of the story, for some knowledge of it will be useful when we come to the spread of the new romances to England, where the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros played, or is reputed to have played, a considerable role. For a few chapters, before it has time to earn its reputation as a vast compendium of chivalresque non- sense, the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros, or, to use its English title, The Mirror of Knighthood, is not without interest. It begins with the fashionable pretence of recording the worthy deeds of the mighty Emperor Trebacio, and the valiant acts of the knights of his time, "according as Artemidoro the Grecian hath left them written in the great volumes of his Chronicle^." At twenty-five years of age Trebacio, a descendant of Achilles, was reigning in Epirus, where his ancestors had been kings before him. When, about this time, the Emperor of Greece died without issue, Trebacio was elected in his stead, for besides being of great fame, he was "of conditions very noble, pleasant, loving to all, liberal, courteous, sufFerable, pitiful, and above all very '^ In the quotations the quaint language of the Elizabethan trans- lation is here generally followed. iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 121 desirous to entertain in his Court." He was called the great Trebacio, because he was eight feet high, and "very strong timbred," but withal so affable and courteous, that never might be noted in him one little fault. Wherefore his historians say, that he was the crown of the Greeks, and the clear mirror of all the princes and knights of the world. Whence also this his Chronicle borroweth this title, especially having therein to remember the marvellous deeds of the Knight of the Sun, with Rogicler, both sons unto Trebacio. Since whose time, all the adventures of the ancient and famous knights were clean forgotten, and since whose time, neither Ulysses, of whom Homer speaketh, neither any other songs or sonnets, ballads or interludes, were heard in Greece; only with these two knights they were familiarly acquainted. When Trebacio came to Constantinople, he found him- self saddled with a dynastic feud of long standing between the Greeks and the neighbouring Hungarians. The King of the Hungarians, Tiberio, was a person of some importance, for, besides Hungary, he ruled over "Olandia, Selandia, Flandes, Sueuia, Bauaria, Austria, Alemana, Albia, Daunia, Marcomandia, Perusia and many other provinces." Small wonder that he deemed himself one of the mightiest kings of the earth, and prepared to invade Greece. Tiberio had a daughter, Briana, "the most beautiful princess that was to be found in all those parts, so that for the fame of her beauty many mighty princes sought her hand." To increase his power, this lord of many provinces decides to marry his daughter to a powerful ally, and so the suit of Prince Theoduardo, son of Oliverio, King of Great Britain, is granted on condition that he brings an army of twenty thousand chosen men-at-arms to help in the war 122 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. against Greece. Meantime Tiberio invades Greece with his own forces, proposing to get as far as he can, and then await Prince Theoduardo's reinforcements. His scheme fails, however, and he is driven back to Bel- grade, in Hungary, where he is "held" by Trebacio. Unfortunately for his peace of mind, Trebacio learns from a prisoner the story of the Princess Briana, who was then fourteen years old, and who was with her mother ,the Queen Augusta in the Monasterio de la Ribera, near Buda, waiting for Prince Theoduardo to join her. Trebacio, the invincible, "was now vanquished by the only hearsay of a gentlewoman's commendation," and his one thought was how to give remedy to his amorous passion. He could not ask for the hand of the Princess, for he was at war with her father, and besides, she was already promised. Driven to desperate action by the news that Prince Theoduardo had entered Belgrade with twenty chosen men, he summons twelve trusty knights, unfolds to them the secret of his heart, and wins their sympathy for his hard lot. Leaving his uncle the King of Bohemia in charge of the war, Trebacio with his bodyguard steals secretly from the camp and waylays Prince Theoduardo, midway between Belgrade and Buda, as he is on his way to join his Prin- cess. The rivals meet, of course, in single combat. It is sad to have to relate of a son of the famous English King Oliverio, who lived sufficiently long ago for his blood to be coursing in an attenuated form in all our veins, that he vas "by inclination given to somewhat less modesty in his talk than behoved such a Prince." Death is his due reward. Trebacio, the affable and courteous, in iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 123 whom " never might be noted one little fault," utters a touching and chivalrous lament over the body of the dead Prince, and appropriates his clothes. Omitting the lament, his attendants have meantime administered similar treatment to all the Prince's bodyguard, except two. Dressed in the trappings of the fallen, the victors now proceed to Buda guided by the two knights who have been spared. Trebacio is received as Prince Theo- duardo by the Archbishop of Belgrade and presented to Briana, by whose beauty he is greatly abashed ; and as he is able to produce, from Prince Theoduardo's pockets, letters giving the royal consent to his marriage, the happy pair are united by the Archbishop "with all the ceremonies and words which the Church ordaineth." The intention was that the marriage should not be consummated till after the war, lest some accident should happen in the meantime to the supposed Prince ; but at the end of three days, Trebacio, in the approved manner of the romances, finds his way into his lady's garden, and there, what time the radiant beams of Phoebus began to pierce the close-entwined jasmines with their slender golden darts, were begotten those two noble children, the Cavallero del Febo — the Knight of the Sun — and Rosicler. With admirable delicacy, the author of the Mirror of Knighthood defends his heroine, and assures us that all this was "somewhat against her will," but that, seeing Trebacio was her husband, "she pardoned him his boldness in troubling her." Trebacio now recalls the war and hastens towards Belgrade. And here the author's anxiety to reach the adventures of the Knight of the Sun and Rosicler leads 124 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. him into the first of his razny faux pas into the magical. Halting for the night, Trebacio dreams that his mis- tress is being carried off by two giants, and wakes to find his dream apparently come true. Pursuing the unsub- stantial chariot in which the phantom Briana is being abducted, he enters the usual magic boat, which in a very short time brings him to the inevitable enchanted island — in this case somewhere in the Black Sea. Here we are glad to leave him, unmindful of his mistress Briana, living wantonly with Lindaraxa, the lady of the enchanted castle on the island. Meanwhile, after much sorrow and search for the Emperor and Prince in their respective camps, the King of Bohemia retires from before Belgrade, while the English army goes dejectedly home. Saddest of all is Briana. Even her twin sons fail to bring her the comfort they should, for she decides to conceal their birth — according to the convention of the romances — ^until her marriage can be openly solemnized. After the fashion set by Esplandian, one of the twins had on his left side a little face shining like a miniature sun, the other had the mark of a rose on his chest, so they were baptised El Cavallero del Febo and Rosicler respectively. In due course they develop into the principal heroes of the first part; but we need not follow in detail their adventures, which consist of more than usually marvellous battles, meetings, partings and reunions, ranging over the three known continents of the Old World. Rosicler's search after adventures takes him to England, where he becomes the lover of Princess Olivia, sister to the Prince Theoduardo his father had slain. The love-story of this iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 125 couple follows closely that of Amadis and Oriana, The Cavallero del Febo becomes amorously entangled with Lindabrides, a Princess of Tartary, and the Amazonian Princess Claridiana. The night before his wedding to the former, this hero of the Mirror of Knighthood is overcome by the thought of his faithlessness to the latter, and, like a more recent hero of fiction, he "bolts from the Imperial Court^." His subsequent adventures include a desperate all-day encounter with the disguised and enraged Claridiana, who is unaware of the sacrifice he has made for her; finally the two are reconciled and united, their son Claridiano providing a new hero for Pedro de la Sierra's second part. Even from the above sketch, the imitations of earlier romances in the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros are obvious enough. The name Briana belongs to the series begun by Oriana in Amadis of Gaul, and continued by Griana in Palmerin de Oliva. Rosicler is modelled on Amadis, and the wavering Cavallero del Febo carries on the tradition of the fickle Galaor. It will be remembered that Master Nicholas, the village barber in Don Quixote, used to say^ that neither Palmerin of England nor Amadis ^ The incident is more delicately recorded in the commendatory verses by the Knight of Phoebus himself prefixed to Don Quixote: I scorned all empire, and that monarchy The rosy east held out did I resign For one glance of Claridiana's eye, The bright Aurora for whose love I pine. A miracle of constancy my love. . . . The last line shows that Theodnardo was not the only character in the Mirror of Knighthood who was "given to somewhat less modesty than behoved such a Prince." * Don Quixote, pt i. ch. i. 126 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. of Gaul "came up to the Knight of Phoebus, and that if there was any that could compare with him it was Don Galaor, the brother of Amadis of Gaul." The incidents have even less originality than the characters. It is hard to find anyone who has a good word to say for the first two parts; but the third part has been commended for the relative superiority of its language, although its author too frequently copied the affected style of Feliciano de Silva's continuations of Amadis. Yet the first and second parts were several times reissued, and all four parts are among the few romances to be printed after the appearance of Don Quixote^. Their history does not quite end here, for like the Amadises and the Pa/»?^r/«j, they gave rise to a number of ballads 2, and the Knight of the Sun appeared upon the stage, at least in name^; Calderon himself did not scorn to draw upon the group for his Gran Comedia el Castillo de Lindabridis. ^ The following editions are recorded: pt i. 1562, 1580, 1583, 1586, 1617; pt II. 1581, 1385, 1589, 1617; pt in. IV. 1589, 1623. Pellicer, in his notes to Don Quixote, mentions a fifth part as existing in ms. in his day in the BibUoteca Nacional, Madrid. 2 Thirteen hy Lucas Rodriguez are given by Duran in his Romancero General (Nos. 338-350), 1854, torn. i. pp. 186-197. * Among the four hundred plays of Luis Velez de Guevara is one entitled El Cavallero del Sol, and there is an auto. El Cavallero del Febo, by Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla. How slight is the connexion between these plays and the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros may be judged from the fact that in the plays the' names of the characters are taken from various romances. In the auto of Rojas Zorrilla, moreover, the Cava- llero del Febo is another name for Christ (cf . Amadis in Lope de Vega's auto. La Puente del Mundo), Amadis de Grecia represents the human race, and so on. iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 127 Only the first part of the Espejo de Principes y Cava- lleroswz.s published in Italian. The whole work appeared in French some years after Don Quixote \ but in England it met with an early welcome and considerable success. The fortunes, and not the merits, of this small group are responsible for the notice which it has obtained here. As we have said, the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros has been confused with three other romances^. The first is the Espejo de Cavallerias, a romance of the Char- lemagne series which reached Spain somewhat late via Italy, and which was rather leniently treated by Cer- vantes in the "diverting and important scrutiny" in Don Quixote's library: Taking down another book, the barber said, " This is The Mirror of Chivalry." " I know his worship," said the curate, " that is where Senor Reinaldos of Montalvan figures with his friends and comrades, greater thieves than Cacus, and the Twelve Peers of France with the veracious historian Turpin; however, I am not for condemning them to more than perpetual banishment, because, at any rate, they have some share of the invention of the famous Matteo Boiardo, out of which the Christian poet Ludovico Ariosto also wove his web. ..." The next romance is The First Part of the Pattern and Pinnacle of Mighty Deeds, in which are recounted the immortal exploits of the Cavallero del Febo el Troyano. This obvious imitation of the first part of the Espejo de Prin- cipes y Cavalleros was written by Estevan Corbera, a Barcelonese, and published in 15^6. Its hero is de- ^ The confusion is perpetuated in the notes to the most recent editions of Motteux's translation of Ddn Quixote. 128 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. scended from Hector and Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons, who fell in love with each other at the siege of Troy — Trebacio in the prototype was descended, it will be remembered, from Achilles. The scene of El Cavallero del Febo el Troyano hovers between Persepolis, Troy and Lisbon, and the story is concerned equally with Christians and Pagans, Trojans and Persians. The third romance is the Cavallero del Sol of Pedro Hernandez de Villaumbrales^, which appeared in 1552. This is a religious allegory modelled on the romances of chivalry, as may be gathered from its full title: Libra intitulado ■peregrinacion dela vida del hombre, puesta en batalla debaxo delos trabajos que sufrio el cavallero del Sol, en defensa dela Razon natural. The opponents of this Knight of the Sun include the "saluage vicio bruto," the "gigante peccado monstruoso," and the various champions of the Seven Deadly Sins. Of this type of story more will be said shortly; we must now return to the romances of chivalry proper. Next to the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros, the most interesting romance to us is Don Belianis de Grecia, which was also more successful in our own country than elsewhere outside its native land. The four parts of this story came out in the years 1547, 1579^. They are supposed to be taken from the Greek, in which they were written by the sage Friston^; but the pretence is ^ The name is given as Pedro Hernandez de Villalumbrales in the book. * The following editions are recorded: pt i. 11. 1547, 1564, 1579, 1580, 1587; pt III. IV. 1579, 1587. ' The name which caused some trouble to Don Quixote's house- keeper {Don Quixote, pt i. ch. vh.). iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 129 quite dropped in the colophon to the third and fourth parts (i 579), which tells us that these parts were "com- posed by the Licentiate Geronimo Fernandez, likewise the author of the first and second parts." It should interest those who complain of the redundant and flowery style of the Spanish romances of chivalry to find the author in his preface to the first part complaining of " our defective speech, so wanting in that wealth of words of other nations, especially of the rich tongue in which the story was written^." The complaint is a reminder that, with all its faults, the romance of chivalry was in more than one country, especially as we shall see in France, a training-ground for the writing of verna- cular prose. It is unnecessary to analyse the romance Belianis de Grecia. The hero has achieved immortality by de- scribing his own character in a sonnet included among the commendatory verses prefixed to Don Quixote'. In slashing, hewing, cleaving, word and deed, I was the foremost knight of chivalry, Stout, bold, expert, as e'er the world did see; Thousands from the oppressor's wrong I freed; Great were my feats, eternal fame their meed; In love I proved my truth and loyalty; The highest giant was a dwarf for me; Ever to knighthood's laws gave I good heed. My mastery the Fickle Goddess owned, And even Chance, submitting to control. Grasped by the forelock, yielded to my will .... 1 "... Dado caso que en nuestra lengua tan corta, y tan falta de la sobra de palabras de las otras naciones, principalmente de aquellas de la tan fecunda en que estaua escripta, que no se como en manera alguna puedan ser declaradas ..." (edition printed at Estella, 1564). T. 9 I30 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. The hero's modesty prevents him from mentioning one feature which distinguishes him from his fellow-immor- tals. Being neither enchanted nor invulnerable like the majority of these invincible knights, and being further, as he himself suggests, not backward in the fight, he suffered accordingly. " Who was more slashed or slash- ing than Don Belianis .'' " asks Don Quixote'^; and Clemencin has counted just over a hundred wounds, all of them serious, in the first two parts of his history. Don Quixote, who had "almost seen and heard and talked with" this inimitable knight^, was, it will be remembered, not at all easy about the wounds which Don Belianis gave and took, because it seemed to him that, great as were the surgeons who had cured him, he must have had his face and body covered all over with seams and scars. He commended, however, the author's way of ending his book with the promise of that inter- minable adventure; and many a time he was tempted to take up his pen and finish it properly as is there proposed *- Don Quixote's affection for this romance* prepares us for the lenient treatment it received in the "diverting and important scrutiny," where the hero's choleric dis- position is reproved. The curate, after sparing Amadis of Gaul and Palmerin of England, wishes to let the others perish without further question or query. ^ Don Quixote, pt ii. ch. i. ^ Ibid, pt I. ch. XIII. * Ibid, pt I. ch. I. * In spite of his " A fig for Don BeUanis " {ibid, pt i. ch. xxv.), where he is speaking comparatively. It may be added that Belianis de Grecia is one of the few minor romances of chivaby mentioned in Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda's spurious continuation of the first part of Don Quixote. iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 131 " Nay, gossip,", said the barber, " for this that I have here is the famous Don Belianis." "Well," said the curate, "that and the second, third, and fourth parts all stand in need of a little rhubarb to purge their excess of bile, and they must be cleared of all that stuff about the Castle of Fame and other greater affectations, to which end let them be allowed the over-seas term, and, according as they mend, so shall mercy or justice be meted out to them; and in the mean time, gossip, do you keep them in your house and let no one read them." With the Espejo de Princifes y Cavalleros and Don Belianis de Grecia may be associated Florando de Ingla- terra, for one of its three parts was the only other romance to be published in English. The subject-matter, and the fact that the story professes to be translated from the English, may have had something to do with this. Although written in Spanish, Florando de Inglaterra is a Portuguese addition to chivalresque literature. It was published in 1545 in Lisbon, and was dedicated to the knights, matrons, and maidens of that city, of which the unknown author^ was a native. This romantic person professes that, being absent in England, owing to the differences in language, dress, and customs, as well as the little intercourse between natives and foreigners, he became, in the words of Petrarch, " a bird of night that flees the sun," and retired to his lodging when business was over, in order not to waste time or to wander about the streets as a spectacle in a strange land; and with a view to employing him- self in honest labour he translated into Castilian from the English, a strange and barbarous tongue, this present work. "^ Mr Purser gives reasons for identifying him with the translator of the Portuguese Palmeirim de Inglaterra into Spanish. See his Palmerin of England, 1904, Appendix xii. pp. 450-454. 9—2 132 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. We should be more inclined to believe this unflattering account of the social qualities of our ancestors if we were not informed that the real authors of this chronicle were Polismarco and Palurcio, respectively secretary and scribe to the Emperor of Rome, " men of clear judg- ment and knowledge," but unrecorded in the annals of English literature. The story tells the great and marvel- lous adventures which the valiant and mighty Prince Florando de Inglaterra, son of the noble and mighty Prince Paladiano, accomplished for love of the beautiful Princess Rosalinda, daughter of the Emperor of Rome. This romance, in which we are not surprised to find that Portugal receives the most favoured nation treatment, was never reprinted in the Peninsula, and its influence there was consequently small enough for it to be dis- missed with a brief mention here. It was not translated into Italian ; but thp first part, which is almost entirely occupied with the adventures of Florando's father Pala- diano, was translated into French as the Histoire Palla- dienne, to which, as we shall see later, a certain interest attaches, and this Histoire Palladienne passed into English as Palladine of England, and had a fair success in this country. The Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros and Belianis de Grecia were the only Peninsular romances to be trans- lated into all three languages, Italian, French, and Eng- lish. Florando de Inglaterra, the only one of the romances to spread beyond the Pyrenees which was not translated into Italian, exhausts the number of those which ap- peared in French and English. Half a dozen other romances were translated into Italian only, and these rv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 133 may be grouped together here and treated less fully than those which more nearly concern our own land. The most popular is the Book of the Invincible Knight Lepolemo, son of the Emperor of Germany, calling himself the Knight of the Cross, which ran through some ten editions between 1521 and 1600^. It is injudicious to attribute this popularity to the book's merits, for they are only relative : the story has been commended as being less marvellous, and less confused in its geography, than most of its class. But the Knight of the Cross well deserves the fate it met with in the "diverting and im- portant scrutiny ": " For the sake of the holy name this book bears," said the curate, " its ignorance might be forgiven; but then, they say, ' behind the cross there's the devil '; to the fire with it." The scene is to a large extent laid in Africa, and the pretended author is the Arabian chronicler Xarton, who may have suggested Cid Hamet Benengeli to Cervantes. The real author is Antonio de Salazar, according to Ferdinand Columbus's catalogue^, which is our only authority for the first edition of 1521. The earliest existing edition, that of 1525, was revised by Juan de Molina, the translator of Appian into Spanish. During the year of publication of the last dated edition there ^ The following editions are recorded: 1521, 1525, 1534, 1545 (2), 1548 (2?), 1562, 1563, and a Seville edition sine anno, a copy of which is in the British Museum. 2 No. 4069: " Cronica de lepolemo Uamado el cauallero de la cruz hijo del emperador de alemana copuesta en arauigo por xarto y tras- ladada en castellano por aloso de salazar. . . . Imp. en Valencia anno .1521. 10. april. costo en medina del capo .95. mfs. a .19. de nouiebre de .1524." 134 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. was added a second part, Leandro el Bel {1563)^ which purports to have been written in Greek by the wise King Artidoro. This romance is only remembered now because of its dedication, in which the writer speaks of his Colloquios matrimoniales, and of having published the Twelfth Book of Amadis^. The mention of the Collo- quiosmatrimomalesreyealsihe culprit as Pedro de Lujan^. An earlier romance in this group, if it really existed in Spanish, is The Valorous Knight Polisman. No copy of the book is known, and the only reputed edition, that of 1 51 7, is mentioned on very doubtful authority*. ^ The dedication addressed to " Juan Claros de Guzman, Conde de Niebla," etc., contains the following passage: "... auiendo gozado dela beneuolencia de vuestra excelencia. Quado los dias passados le ofreci mis Colloquios matrimoniales. Los quales fuero de vuestra excelencia recebidos : con aquella afabiliadad {sic) que vuestra excelencia acostumbra. Con lo qual yo e tornado atreuimiento de edicar {sic) a vuestra excelencia esta obra, aunque mal compuesta y peor ordenada. La qual compuse estando en ratos de vacuaciones {sic) de mis estudios. Como siempre acostumbre despues de auer sacado a luz el dozeno libro de Amadis por tomar alguna recreacio enel tiempo que a mis estudios, Y otras ocupaciones puedo hurtar." ^ Hence Pedro de Lujan has hitherto passed as the author of Leandro el Bel; but he really translated this romance — not of course from the Greek, but from the Italian of Pietro Lauro. See Appendix i. ' Leandro Fernandez de Moratin: Origenes del Teatro Espariol {Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, torn. ii. p. 174, in a list in the pre- liminary Discurso historico) ; " Historia del valeroso caballero Polisman Florisio . . . Por Fernando Bernal, Valencia, 1517." This very suspicious entry was copied by Pascual de Gayangos: Libras de Caballerias, 1857, p. Ixxvii, and by Bartolome Jose Gallardo : Ensayo de una Biblioteca Esfanola, 1863-89, No. 1054, both of whom wrongly give the date as 1527. Later writers always quote Gayangos or Gallardo. An edition of Fernando Bernal's romance Floriseo is recorded as having been printed at Valencia in 1 5 17. Mora tin's Polisman Florisio must have arisen from a confused note of this edition. iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 135 There is, however, an Italian Polisman, first published in 'i573^y which professes to be " nouamente tradotta di lingua Spagnolain Italiana, Da m. Giouanni Miranda." The concatenation of the names Polisman and Ascot in this story suggest an English origin ; but Ascot is the name of a person and not a place. The fact that the translator's name is given as Miranda, and that there figures in the story "un capitano onorato, che hauea nome Miranda amicissimo di Polisman 2," seems to indicate that the romance was written by Miranda in Italian^. The statement that it was translated from the Spanish may well be a pretence such as we have met with elsewhere, and may have given rise to the con- fused rumour of a Spanish edition. The remaining romances of this group may be dis- missed briefly. The four books of Felix Magna were apparently written in Barcelona, where they were first published in 1531*. Gayangos^ suggests that this romance "should perhaps be classified amongst those of the Round Table." The scene indeed opens in Lon- don "a few years after King Arthur was lost," which in itself is reminiscent of Amadis, and it is not long before we meet with the Emperors of Rome and Constantinople, the Sultan and the Grand Turk, and all the other regular figures of the new romances. Felix Magna was closely '^ Reprinted 1612. Untrustworthy authorities cite editions of 1572 and 1593, but these dates probably arise from misprints. 2 Ch. xxiii. ^ Nothing is known of a second part, devoted to Polisman's son Polidoro, promised at the end of the book. * Reprinted in 1543 and 1549. ^ Libras de Caballerias, 1857, p. liv. 136 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. followed by Florambel de Lucea, which purports to be translated from the English by Enciso, a servant of the Marquis of Astorga. All five books of this romance were published in 1532, and reprinted in 1548I. Va- lerian de Ungria, the only edition of which is that of 1540, was written by Dionys Clemente, a Valencian notary, and is supposed to contain historical allusions. Cristalian de Es'pana is of interest as being written by a woman, like the first two books of the Palmerin series. In the first edition of 1343 we are simply told that the story was corrected and emended from the ancient originals by "una senora natural de la noble y mas leal villa de Valladolid." In the only other edition, that of I §86 (in the colophon, i^Sf), the lady's name is given as Beatrix Bernal, who in the privilege^ is stated to have "composed" the book. Passing to the romances which circulated only in the Peninsula, we may deal first with two small groups, all the books in which are extremely rare. The larger of the two groups begins with Clarian de Landanis, first published in 1 5 1 8 ^. A second part, devoted to Clarian and his brother Riramon de Ganayl, was added by "maestre Alvaro," physician to the Count de Orgaz. The only existing edition is dated ISJS; but the first edition, dated 1522, is known from Ferdinand Colum- '^ Books 1-3 of this edition are in the British Museum. ^ This privilege shows that Beatriz Bernal died before the second edition came out, for it concedes the right to print her mother's work to " Juana Bernal de Gatos, widow, of the city of Valladolid, daughter and sole heiress of Beatriz Bernal deceased, formerly wife of the Bachiller Torres de Gatos." ' Reprinted in 1527 and 1542. iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 137 bus's catalogue^. Another second part, by Jeronimo Lopez, was published in 1550. This has hitherto passed as a reprint of the preceding; but it relates the adventures of Clarian's son, Floramante de Colonia. A third part, dated 1524, was, until recently, only known from another entry in Columbus's catalogue^ ; but a copy is now in the Biblioteca Nacional at Madrid. It deals with the adventures of the "Cavallero de la Triste Figura,"and has been identified by Sr Rodriguez Mari'n^ as the romance which suggested the title "Knight of the Rueful Countenance" given to Don Quixote by Sancho Panza after their encounter with the funeral procession*. A fourth and last part, con- cerning Lidaman de Ganayl, came out in 1^28. The second group is not so large as bibliographers would have us believe. It begins in 1516 with Floriseo, Knight of the Desert^ by Fernando Bernal, a relative of the Beatriz Bernal who wrote Cristalian de Espaha. Floriseo too was in Ferdinand Columbus's collection^, ^ No. 4120: " Libro segundo de la historia de don clarian de landanis traduzido en castellano per aluaro fisico. . . . Imp. en toledo a .5. de nouiebre de .1522. Costo en madrid seys reales y m". per hebrero de .1525." 2 No. 41 19: " Libro terfero de la historia de don clarian de landanis en espanol. . . . Imp. en toledo a diez de lunio de .1524. Costo enqua- dernado en pergameno en madrid siete rreales por marjo de .1525." 3 See his article, El Cahallero d^ la triste Figura y el de los Espejos, in the Boletin de la Real Academia Espahola, 1915, torn. 11. pp. 129-136. * Don Quixote, pt i. ch. xix. ^ No. 2708 : " Historia de floriseo compuesta por heri^o. bernl . . . Imp. e Valencia por dio. de gumiel anno de .1516. a .10. de mayo, costo .128. mrs e m». del campo por lulio de .1518." Antonio, op. cit., tom. I. p. 370, records a reissue of 1517. 138 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. as well as a ballad^ by Andres Ortiz based on the hero's love-story. A "third part" of this romance, entitled Reymundo de Grecia, and apparently by the same author, was published in 1324. Attempts have been made to force other romances — for instance, the Polisman men- tioned above, and the Florindo to be mentioned shortly — into a gap which they do not fit, for the simple reason that no gap exists between Floriseo and Reymundo de Grecia. Both books are so rare that there is eveiy excuse for the erring bibliographer; but a copy oi Floriseo is in the Biblioteca Nacional at Madrid, and a copy of Reymundo de Grecia is in the British Museum. The former romance is in two parts, while the latter ro- mance expressly states that it continues the story at the point where the second of those two parts leaves ofF^. Three romances may be grouped together as being the youthful indiscretions of writers of great repute. Claribalte, printed at Valencia in i^ig by the printer of the notorious Cancionero de obras de burlas frovocantes a la risa, was the work of the famous Captain and historian ^ No. 4084: " Romanfe hecho por andrez ortis de los amores de floriseo y la reyna de bohemia en espanol. I. quien viese tal ventura. vos me qrays jdonar. es en 4°. Costo en medina del capo .3. blacas a .23. de nouiebre de .1523." This ballad isDuran: Romancero general. No. 287, beginning " Quien hubiese tal ventura," and ending " Que me querais perdonar." ^ The British Museum copy is imperfect at the beginning; it opens thus: "Dicho es ya enel segudo libro dela hystoria d'l rey Floriseo en que lugar c por la manera secreta q fue engendrado c nascido Rey- mundo. . . . Agora dize la hystoria que siedo Reymudo de edad de seys anos fue quitado delas amas que le hauian criado. ..." iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 139 of the West Indies, Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, who was destined later to become a severe critic of the romances of chivalry. In some verses at the end, addressed to the reader by Mosen Jeroni Artes, this story is described as an "obra gentil y nueua," but of course it is much indebted to its predecessors, including Tirant lo Blanch. Clarimundo, printed at Coimbra in 1522^, professes to be translated from the Hungarian, but it was really written by the celebrated Portuguese his- torian of the East Indies, Joao de Barros^. Moraes, the author of Palmerin of England, probably knew Barros ; he certainly knew Clarimundo, for he borrowed from it. The third romance is Clarisel de las Flores — it will be observed that three great minds leapt to the same commencement. Clarisel de las Flores was written by Jeronimo de Urrea, the translator of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Olivier de La Marche's Chevalier Delibere, and Sannazaro's Arcadia. Urrea's own romance is of little historical interest, for only a small portion of it has been published, and that quite recently^; but it ha^ been favourably noticed by various critics, both before and after publication. The seventeenth century * According to the bibliographers, Clarimundo was first printed in 1520. Mr W. E. Purser, in his Palmerin oj England, 1904, Appendix xii. p. 440, shows that the reputed edition of 1520 could not possibly have existed; he also disproves the existence of an edition of 1553, and gives the complete list of editions thus : 1522, 1555, 1601, 1742, lygi, 1843. * Dom Francisco de Portugal: Arte de Galanteria, 1670, p. 96, writes: " Clarimundo en parte flores de los primeiros anos del mayor hystoriador humano." 3 By the Sociedad de Bibli6filos Andaluces, 1879, with an introduc- tion by Jose Maria Asensio y Toledo. HO SMALLER GROUPS [ch. historian Juan Francisco Andres de Ustarroz states, in his Aganipe de Cisnes Aragoneses ^, that Clarisel de las flores Contiene suavfsimos amores. And, since printing was invented, Clarisel de las Flares is one of the few books that have had a monograph devoted to them while still in manuscript^. Three other romances are known at least by name because Cervantes mentions them in Don Quixote. Cirongilio de Tracia, written by Bernardo de Vargas and published in 1^4^, was one of the romances which cap- tivated the landlord of the inn, his wife, their daughter, and Maritornes. The printer of Cirongilio de Tracia was certainly not of the same mind as Geronimo Fer- nandez, the author of Belianis de Grecia, concerning the poverty of the Spanish language, for when adding the colophon, he described the romance he had just printed as " newly turned into Spanish in a style so elegant that in a manner of speaking it improves on Ciceronian Latin." What Bernardo de Vargas understood by elegance of style may be gathered from his method of conveying the impression of sunrise : With diificulty the rubicund father of the untutored youth Phaeton, revealing himself in the northern tropic of the lower hemisphere, advanced on swift Phlegonian chariot to dear the ^ Quoted by Asensio in his introduction to Clarisel de las Flores, p. xiv. ^ J. Borao y Clemente: Noticia de Don Jeronimo Jiminez de Urrea y de su novela caballeresca inidita Don Clarisel de las Flores, 1866. iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 141 golden and profulgent path of the twelfth zodiac, sending from his fourth sphere to the circumference of the immovable earth most certain harbingers of his approach^- Love he introduces thus : I think indeed that you will know him by these signs; but for your better instruction, I will tell you his name. His name is Love, Love they call him to whom he is not known, known he is to those who have seen him, seen him have they who should not guard against his treason, treason thrice-blessed is his, his the glory unequalled, unequalled the torment of his displeasure, displeasure in glory abounding, abounding in whole contentment and joy, joy which cometh not without sadness, sadness ever followed by death, death the way to a new and more blessed life, life not devoid of distress, distress that has stolen my senses, senses too weak to resist him, to resist him a madness, madness to yield to his sway^. ^ Bk II. ch. XI. The translation may have obscured the beauties of the original, which is as follows : Con dificultad aquel rubicudo padre del indoto mancebo Faeton, descubriendose porel tropico septentrional del baxo Emisperio, vino para abrir la aurea y profulgente via del duodecimo zodiaco, encima del carro veloz flegoneo: embiando de su quarta esfera ala circunferecia dela inmouible tierra mensajeros muy ciertos de su venida." ^ Bk I. ch. XXX.: "Bien creo que le conocereys por estas seiias: pero para mejor informaros, vos quiero dezir su nombre. Su nombre es amor: amor le llaman los que no le conocen: conocen le los que le vieron: vieron le los que no deuieran guardar se de su traycio; traycion bienaueturada es la suya ; suya es la gloria sin par : sin par es el tormeto que da por pena; pena que en gloria redunda: redunda en entero con- tentamiento y plazer : plazer es que no viene sin tristeza : tristeza a quien siempresiguelamuerte : muerteq es causa de nueua ymas bienaueturada vida: vida q no carece de alteracion: alteracion q robo mis sentidos: sentidos no basta a resistirle: resistirle es locura: locura es darle lugar." Not content with this improvement on Ciceronian Latin, the author attempts similar improvements on Horatian Latin. Three chapters earlier he describes how the hero, having overcome the knight who 142 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. As an example of the heights to which Cicero could not attain, Love is enough. Contemporary readers seem to have been somewhat sceptical as to the merits of the new style, for Cirongilio de Tracia was never reprinted, nor did the promised con- tinuation Crisocalo ever appear — which the landlord, his wife, their daughter, and Maritornes no doubt lamented more than we need to do. Another of their favourites was Felixmarte de Hircania, written by Melchior Ortega, and printed in 1556. This romance, which is in three parts, was successful enough to be reissued in 155^^., and it shall be proved later that an Englishman has read it. The curate in the "diverting and important scrutiny" in Don Quixote's library, however, showed little respect for other people's appreciation, and sufE- held in thrall the Maid of the Fountain, finds this lady "dando muy grades saltos y desonestos: assi que las piernas descubria per cima d'la rodilla," and singing the following song: Es tan grande mi alegria Singular y muy crescida mi alegria tan sin par muy crecida tal que veo tan sin par que yo creeria tal que veo mas subida yo creeria y aun diria mas subida no es oyda diria ser singular. ni ygual que la que posseo. It is only fair to add that Vargas did not invent the figure of speech here employed. Antonio de Nebrija in his Gramatica sobre la lengua castellana (1492) gives the following example (sig. g 4b) from Alonso de Velasco : Pues este vuestro amador. Amor que pone dolor. Amador vuestro se da. Dolor que nunca se va. Dase con penas damor. and, he adds, " llama se anadiplosis que quiere dezir redobladura." ^ In spite of this, nothing is known of " la quarta parta que se queda imprimiendo," with a mention of which the book closes. iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 143 cient disrespect for the romance itself to quote the title incorrectly: " Senor Florismarte here?" said the curate; "then by my faith he must take up his quarters in the yard, in spite of his marvellous birth and visionary adventures, for the stiffness and dryness of his style deserve nothing else; into the yard with him and the other, mistress housekeeper." "With all my heart, senor," said she, and executed the order with great delight. "The other," to which the curate here refers, is Olivante de Laura ^, by Antonio de Torquemada, pub- lished at Barcelona in 1564, one of those romances whose "lucidity of style and complicated conceits were as pearls" in the sight of Don Quixote. Of two sample passages which are said to have particularly pleased him, "the high heavens, that of your divinity divinely fortify you with the stars, render you deserving of the desertyour greatness deserves," is imitated from Torquemada's romance^. Yet in this case too the curate was unmerciful: " The author of that book," said the curate, " was the same that wrote The Garden of Flowers, and truly there is no deciding which of the two books is the more truthful, or, to put it better, the less lying; all I can say is, this one shall go into the yard for a swaggering fool." The remaining romances are a friendless race, and we may without risk treat them as scurvily as we please. Like the great majority of our fellow creatures, they are recorded because they exist; beyond that they have little 1 This romance also is in three parts, and ends with the promise of a fourth part, which was never published. 2 See Don Quixote, pt i. ch. i. and Olivante de Laura, pt 11. ch. xxv. 144 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. interest for anyone. Arderique, an early and scarce book^, was printed in Valencia in 1 5 1 7 by the printer of the Cancionero de obras de burlas and the already mentioned Claribalte. Polindo, published in 1^26, achieved tardy notoriety through being wrongly connected with the Palmerin series, as we have seen. It is devoid of merit, and the second part it promises has rightly remained unpublished. Florindo, by Fernando Basurto, first pub- lished at Saragossa in 1530^, owes something to the realism of Tirant lo Blanch: the degenerate hero is addicted to the evil and pestiferous practice of gaming. He is described as the " son of the Good Duke Floriseo of the Strange Venture," and hence he has been chosen to connect Floriseo and Reymundo de Grecia ; but Floriseo, Knight of the Desert, is no relation whatever to the Good Duke, and, as we have already pointed out, there is no gap between these two romances. Lidamor de Escocia, by Juan de Cordova, printed in 1534, provokes no comment. Philesbian de Candaria, printed in 1542, is mentioned by Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda in his spurious continuation of Don Quixote^. Febo el Troyano, by Estevan Corbera, printed at Barcelona in /57<5, has already been referred to as one of the romances liable ^ A copy is entered in Ferdinand Columbus's catalogue, No. 4076 : La historia de arderique en espafiol. . . . Imp. en valenjia a .8. de mayo de .1517. Costo en medina del capo. 85. mfs a .21. denouiebre de .1524." 2 F. A. Ebert, Allgemeines bibliographisches Lexikon, 1821-30, cites an edition of 1526, which is accepted as a Saragossa book by J. M. Sanchez in his Bibliografia Aragonesa; but the edition of 1530, con- taining a royal privilege dated 19 July- 1528, has all the appearance of being the first edition. ' See ch. i. where the name is printed Don Florisbran de Candaria. iv] AND ISOLATED ROMANCES 145 to be confused with the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros. Policisne de Boecia, by Juan de Silva y de Toledo, note- worthy as being the last of his race in Spain, appeared in 1602, the very year in which Balthasar Gongalves Lobato's Clarisolde Bretanha (the fifth and sixth parts of Palmerin of England) brought these romances to an end in Portugal. After 1602 no new romance was printed^, and comparatively few were reprinted, in either country. But our list of names is not yet complete. Two romances, Leoneo de Ungria^ printed in 1520, and Luci- dante de Tracia, printed in 1 534, are known only from Ferdinand Columbus's catalogue^. Two more, the Cava- llero de la Rosa and Leonis de Grecia, were in the library of the Duke of Calabria^, to whom Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes dedicated his Claribalte. These once existed, some of them perhaps still exist, in print. A number of others have remained in manuscript, but they '^ Assuming O Valente Lucidoro, by Emmanuel Casado Bigino, Lisbon, 1648 (mentioned by Antonio, op. cit., torn. i. p. 343) to be either not a romance of chivalry or not a first edition. ^ No. 41 18: "La historia de leoneo de vngria y de vitoriano de pannonia su hijo en espanol. . . . Imp. en toledo a .8. de otubre de .1520. Costo enquadernado en pergameno .170. mfs en medina del capo, a .25. de nouiebre de .1524." Lucidante de Tracia does not appear to be entered in the catalogue reproduced by Mr Huntington; Gallardo, op. cit., col. 907, describes it thus : "Lucidante de Tracia. Libro primero de la cr6nica del valeroso caballero D. Lucidante de Tracia, en espanol. Salamanca. 1534. ^^^- — Libro de caballerias enteramente desconocido, y del cual no he hallado m^s noticias que el anterior tftulo, copiado del catiilogo de la B.-CoL, donde ocupaba el niimero 15,075." 3 See the Inventario de los lihros del Duque de Calabria, Nos. 662, 716 (Revista de Archives, Bibliotecas y Museos, 1874, tom. iv. pp. 115, 116). T. 10 146 SMALLER GROUPS [ch. iv go to show that the writing of chivalresque romances was a more popular craze than even the printed editions indicate. Manuscript continuations of the Amadis and Palmerin series, as well as of the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros, have already been mentioned in the proper place. Besides these, there are three romances by Portu- guese writers whose names are known. One of them, Belinda, by Dona Leonor Coutinho ^, if a real romance of chivalry, brings the number written by a lady up to four. The other two are Lesmundo da Grecia, by Tristao Gomes de Castro^, whose Christian name seems to indicate an inherited passion for romances of chivalry, and Dominiscaldo, by Alvaro da Silveyra^. A few anony- mous Spanish romances complete the list: the third book of the Cavallero de la Luna, perhaps related to Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes's Claribalte, the hero of which assumed that title, Claridoro de Espana, Leon Flos de Tracia, Lidamante de Armenia, Marsindo, and Valfloran^. ^ See Antonio Caetano de Sousa, Historia genealogica da Casa Real Portugueza, 1735-49, vol. x. p. 565 : ". . . compoz hum livro de Caval- lariascomo titulodeZ). Belinda, que se conserva manuscrito, em diversas copias." I. F. da Silva, Diccionario bibliographico portugii-ez, 1858, etc., vol. V. pp. 178, 179, mentions such a book, on 'the authority of a corre- spondent, as existing in manuscript in Setubal. 2 See D. Barbosa Machado, Bibliotheca Lusitana, 1741-59, vol. m. p. 764. Antonio, followed by Gayangos, gives the title as Clarindo de Grecia. * Ibid. vol. I. p. 114. * For these unpublished romances see the catalogue given by Gayangos in his Libras de Caballenas. CHAPTER V THE PREVALENCE AND THE DECLINE OF THE NEW ROMANCES IN THE SPANISH PENINSULA THE method of treating these romances in groups has somewhat obscured the extent to which they over-ran the world of letters at a time when fiction was not reproduced with the present-day rapidity. A few words will suffice to make their position clear. During the hundred years following the publication oiAmadis of Gaul, some fifty new chivalresque romances appeared in Spain and Portugal. They were published at an average rate of almost one a year between 1508 and 1550; nine were added between 1 550 and the year of the Armada; only three more came out before the publica- tion of Don Quixote^- To form an adequate idea of 1 The following table, which ignores one or two doubtful romances, shows how these books accumulated : 1508 Amadis de Gaula. 1522. Clarian de Landanis 11. I5I0 Esplandian. 1524. Clarian de Landanis 111. Florisando. Reymundo de Grecia. I5II Palmerin de Oli'va. 1526. Lisuarte de Grecia [Am. 8 ) I5I2 Primaleon de Grecia. Polindo. I5I4 Lisuarte de Grecia [Am. 7). 1528. Lidaman de Ganayl. 1516 Floriseo. 1530. Amadis de Grecia. I5I7 Arderique. Florindo. I5I8 Clarian de Landanis. 1531- Felix Magna. 1519 Claribalte. 1532- Florambel de Lucea. 1520 Leoneo de Ungria. Florisel de Niquea. 1521. Lepolemo. 1533- Platir. 1522. Clarimundo. I53+- Lidamor de Escocia. 10 — 2 148 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. the number of these books in circulation, it must further be borne in mind that most of the romances were reprinted, some of them many times, especially previous to the Armada. Moreover, along with the native romances, there circulated new translations of French romances, besides reprints of some of those already mentioned as having been published in the fifteenth century. Thus, down to a quarter of a century after the publication of Amadis of Gaul, there appeared in Spain the following romances of the Celtic cycle: Tristan de Leonis, 1501; Tablante y Jofre, 151 3, and La Demanda del Sancto Grial, con los maravillosos fechos de Lanzarote y de Galaz, 15151 and of the Charlemagne cycle : Renaldos de Montalvany 1523, Historia del Emperador Carlo Magno, 1525, Espejo de Cavallerias and Morgan te y Roldan, 1533. These too were several times reprinted^. Besides the chi valresque romances proper, there sprang up a large number of sentimental romances in which the chivalresque element is an important accessory 2; 1534- Lucidante de Tracia. 1556. Felixmarte de Hircania. 1535- Rogel de Grecia I. 1562. Espejo de Principes I. 1540- Valerian de Vngria. 1563- Leandro el Bel. 1542. Pkilesbian de Candaria. 1564. Oli'vante de Laura. 1544? Palmeirim de Inglaterra. 1576. Febo el Troyano. IS45- Cirongilio de Tracia. 1579- Belianis de Grecia III, IV. Cristalian de EspaHa. 1581. Espejo de Principes II. Florando de Inglaterra. •587- Duardos Segundo. 1546. Sil'ves de la Sel'va. 1589. Espejo de Principes III, IV. 1547- Belianis de Grecia I, II. 1602. Clarisol de Bretanha. 1550. Floramante de Colonia. Policisne de Beocia. 1551- Rogel de Grecia II. ^ For details see Konrad Burger: Die Drucker und Verleget in- Spanien und Portugal von 1 501-1536, 191 3. * For these see Gayangos, Libras de Caballerias, pp. Ixxvii-lxxxiv. v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 149 but these are beyond our present scope. So too are romances of chivalry in verse ^, as well as ballads ^ based on incidents in the romances we are considering. Again, there are religious adaptations of the romances of chivalry, of which more will be said shortly. Lastly there are plays based on the romances, which have already been mentioned in the proper place. With such evidences of the prominent part these romances played in the literature of the time, it is not surprising to find that they had readers in all classes of society. The statesman Diego de Mendoza has already been mentioned as an admirer of Amadis. It was the Emperor Charles V's affection for the original Belianis de Grecia, we are told^, which induced the author to write the continuation of that story. At the other end of the social scale, two Saints succumbed to the fascina- ^ E.g. Celidon de Iberia (1583), by Gonzalo Gomez de Luque, and Florando de Castilla (1588), by Jeronimo de Huerta. See also Gayangos, op. cit., pp. Ixxxvi-lxiivii. 2 These have been mentioned in the proper place, but they may be resumed here : based on Amadis of Gaul, Duran, 335-337, on Primaleon, 288, on the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros, 338-350, on Floriseo, 287. To these add El Sueno de Feliciano de Silva, based on Amadis of Greece. * By Andres Fernandez in the Prologue (addressed to the Licenciado Fuenmayor) to his brother's Tercera y quarta parte del imbencible principe do Belianis de Grecia, 1579: " No podra el sentido humano algun corto ingenio contentar, sin passar por mil trauesses, tales que trayan a punto de perderse, el principal intento y estilo desta historia, quanto mas el de .V. merced que por espejo entre los mortales es tenido, pero auer agradado tanto a la Magestad de Carlos quinto Inuictissimo Emperador y senor nro la primera y seguda parte, que gusto de oyrla diuersas vezes dio causa a quel Auctor que fue el Licenciado Fernandez mi hermano escriuiesse tambien tercera y quarta." I50 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. tions of the chivalresque romance. According to Fran- cisco de Ribera^, the devil induced St Teresa in her youth to read books of chivalry — one of his inventions, by which he has sent many a staid and honest soul to perdition. And so she devoted herself passionately to these books, and wasted much time over them; and as she had an excellent wit, she drank in their language and style with such effect, that within a few months she and her brother Rodrigo de Cepeda composed a book of chivalry, of which a good deal could be said. We should like to be able to judge for ourselves whether this is meant for praise or for blame ; but unfortunately the ^ book does not exist. In his unregenerate days St Ignatius was likewise tempted of the devil. His leg was broken when the French besieged and captured the city of Pam- plona in 1 52 1 , and Pedro de Ribadeneira informs us^ that in the tyme of his recouery lying in his bed, and being accustomed to read prophane books of Chiualry, he asked for some such vayne Treatise, to passe the tyme withall, which seemed long, and tedious. They brought him two bookes, one of the Life of ^ Vida de Santa Teresa de Jesus, 1863 (first published in 1590), bk i. ch. V. pp. 46, 47 : ". . . haciendola leer libros de caballerfas, que es una de sus invenciones, con que ha echado i perder muchas almas recogidas 7 honestas, porque en casas k donde no se d4 entrada k mujeres perdidas y destruidoras en la castidad, hartas veces no se niega i estos libros. . . . Diose, pues, k estos libros de caballeria . . . con gran gusto, y gastaba en alios mucho tiempo; y como su ingenio era tan escelente, asi bebi6 aquel lenguaje y estilo, que dentro de pocos meses eUa y su hermano Rodrigo de Cepeda compusieron un libro de caballerfas . . . y sali6 tal, que habia harto que decir de el." * The story as given above was available for English readers in The Life of B. Father Ignatius of Loyola, Authour and Founder of the Society of lesus. Translated out of Spanish into English, by W.M. of the same Society, 1616, ch. 1. § 5, p. 7. v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 151 Christ, and the other of the Liues of Saints, there being none of those others which he would haue had in the house. From that hour he began to mend, physically, mentally, and spiritually; and it is perhaps a melancholy reflexion that, but for the regrettable bareness of those shelves, he might have given us, instead of the Society of Jesus, another romance of chivalry. Midway between the extremes of Saint and Emperor we may place the numerous admirers we read of at the dinner party in the inn so dreaded by Sancho Panza^. When the curate remarked that it was the books of chivalry which Don Quixote had read that had turned his brain, the landlord said, " I cannot understand how that can be, for in truth to my mind there is no better reading in the world, and I have here two or three of them, with other writings that are the very life, not only of myself but of plenty more; for when it is har\'est-time, the reapers flock here on holidays, and there is always one among them who can read and who takes up one of these books, and we gather round him, thirty or more of us, and stay listening to him with a delight that makes our grey hairs grow young again. At least I can say for myself that when I hear of what furious and terrible blows the knights deliver, I am seized with the longing to do the same, and I would like to be hearing about them night and day." . . . "That is true," said Maritornes, "and, faith, I relish hearing these things greatly too, for they are very pretty; especially when they describe some lady or another in the arms of her knight under the orange trees, and the duenna who is keeping watch for them half dead with envy and fright; all this I say is as good as honey." " And you, what do you think, young lady? " said the curate turning to the landlord's daughter. " I don't know indeed, senor," said she; "I listen too, and to 1 Don Quixote, pt i. ch. xxxri. 152 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. tell the truth, though I do not understand it, I like hearing it; but it is not the blows that my father likes that I like, but the laments the knights utter when they are separated from their ladies; and indeed they sometimes make me weep with the com- passion I feel for them." " Then you would console them if it was you they wept for, young lady? " said Dorothea. " I don't know what I'd do," said the girl; "I only know that there are some of those ladies so cruel that they call their knights tigers and lions and a thousand other foul names: and, Jesus ! I don't know what sort of folk they can be, so unfeeling and heartless, that rather than bestow a glance upon a worthy man they leave him to die or go mad. I don't know what is the good of such prudery; if it is for honour's sake, why not marry them? That's all they want." " Hush, child," said the landlady; "it seems to me thou knowest a great deal about these things, and it is not fit for girls to know or talk so much ! " " As the gentleman asked me, I could not help answering him," said the girl. The truth, if we can believe it is the truth, is cruder and stranger than that exquisite Httle character-sketch. Don Quixote was not the only person who believed that "the whole pack of knights-errant were truly persons of flesh and blood, who had lived in the world^." The theologian Melchor Cano tells us^ that in his day there ^ Don Quixote, pt ii. ch. i. ^ De locis theologicis libri duodecim, 1564, bk xi. p. 656: "Nam & jetas nostra sacerdotem vidit, cui persuasissimum esset, nihil omnino esse falsum, quod semel typis fuisset excusum. Non enim, vt aiebat, tantum facinus Reipub. administros commissuros, vt non soliim inuulgari mendacia sinerent, sed suo etiam communirent priuilegio: quo ilia tutiiis mentes mortalium peruagarentur. Quo san^ argumento permotus animum induxit credere, ab Amadiso & Clariano res eas ver^ gestas, quas in illorum libris commentitijs referuntur." v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 153 lived a priest who was firmly convinced that nothing was false which had once got into print^; "for," as he used to say, "our rulers would not commit so great a crime as not merely to allow lies to be spread abroad, but to bolster them up with their privilege as welP." And so he persuaded himself that Amadis and Clarian really performed all the things that are told of them in their lying chronicles. After this, there is little difficulty in accepting the extravagant stories that have been told of certain admirers of Amadis and Palmerin. Whether true or not, these stories are an evidence that the romances enjoyed widespread popularity, which was not without some justification. Not all, if most, of the romances were entirely bad, nor were they all composed by writers of small repute; and at least two other contemporary. Spanish men of letters of the high- est rank must be added to the list of those who have expressed approval of the romances, including some which are now generally condemned. Juan de Valdes, 1 Like Mopsa, in The Winter's Tale, Act iv. Sc. iv. 11. 263, 264: "I love a ballad in print o' life, for then we are sure they are true." ^ Compare Don Quixote, pt i. ch. l. : " 'A good joke, that ! ' returned Don Quixote. ' Books that have been printed vyith the king's licence, and vvith the approbation of those to whom they have been submitted, and read vidth universal delight, and extoUed by great and small, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, gentle and simple, in a word by people of every sort, of whatever rank and condition they may be — that these should be Ues!'" In this connexion may be mentioned Mr A W. Reed's discovery that the words "ad imprimendum solum " in the sixteenth century printer's phrase "Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum" are an addition made by Henry VIII himself in a Proclamation of 1528, in order to cor- rect the common misunderstanding that the phrase impliedofficial appro- bation, whereas it merely recorded the grant of a printing monopoly. 154 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. a sensitive critic and a Humanist, gives us indeed in his Dialogo de la Lengua a lengthy and detailed criticism of Amadis, after the fashion of the Canon of Toledo, in the course of which he confesses that he spent the best ten years of his life devouring these lying tales. So far he reminds us of the Chancellor Lopez de Ayala; he ends however by thus correcting the bad impression he has created: but remember that although I have said this of Amadis, I also say that it has many and very good points, and that it is well worth reading by those who would learn the language; but you must understand that you are not to hold as good and to imitate all that you find in it^. And then, after mentioning the diverse styles which are to be found in the Cronica de Juan el Segundo, he adds : "but in my opinion it may be read, from the point of view of the language, after Amadis of Gaul, Palmerin and Primaleon" — that is, the much-abused Palmerin de Oliva and Primaleon its sequel. Lope de Vega, in the dedication prefixed to his El Desconfiado^, remarks that ^ Dialogo de la Lengua (c. 1535; first published in 1737), 1895 {Roma- nische Studien, herausgegeben von E. Boehmer, Bd vi.), p. 414: " Y vosotros, senores, pensad que, aunque he dicho esto de Amadis, tambien digo tiene muchas y muy buenas cosas y que es muy dino de ser leido de los que quieren aprender la lengua, pero entended que no todo lo que en el hallaredes lo aveis de tener y usar por bueno. ..." "... pero, a mi ver, se puede leer para lo que pertenece a la lengua despues de Amadis de Gaula, Palmerin y Primaleon." Cf. the pages immediately preceding, and also pp. 342-344. ^ Trezena parte de las Comedias, Madrid, 1620, fol. 106: " Riense muchos de los libros de Cauallerias . . . y tienen razon, si los consideran por la esterior superficie . . . pero penetrando los corayones de aquella corteza, se hallan todas las partes de la Filosofia, es a saber, natural. v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 155 many people laugh at the books of chivalry, and rightly if they regard them superficially ... but if they penetrate into the heart of the matter, all the branches of philosophy — ^natural, rational and moral — are there. The most usual act of a knight-errant, such as Amadis, the Knight of the Sun, Esplandian and others, is to defend some woman out of knightly duty. This appreciation of what is good in the romances of chivalry was perhaps responsible for Lope de Vega's famous statement, " no one is so foolish as to praise Don Quixote," written privately^ before that work appeared. But expressions of approval are hopelessly outnum- bered by adverse criticisms. Alonso Lopez Pinciano, our authority for the story of the wedding-guest who fainted on reading the report of Amadis's death, seriously quotes the general commotion caused by that incident as illustrating the dangerous nature of the romances of chivalry. In another place^ he says that although some of them, such as Amadis of Gaul, Amadis racional, y moral. La mas comun accion de los Caualleros andantes, como Amadis, el Febo, Esplandian, y otros, es defender qualquiera dama, por obligacion de Caualleria." Lope de Vega is less happy in another passage (the dedication pre- fixed to his novel Las Fortunas de Diana), where he speaks of the romances of chivalry: "Fueron en esto los Espanoles ingeniosissimos, porque en la inuencion ninguna Nacion del mundo les ha hecho ventaja, como se vee en tantos Esplandianes, Febos, Palmerines, Lisuartes, Florambelos, Esferamundos, y el celebrado Amadis padre de toda esta maquina, que compuso vna dama Portuguesa." {Nouelas amorosas de los meiores ingenios de Esfaria, 1648, p. 2). 1 In a letter dated 14 August, 1604, for which see Cayetano Alberto de la 'RiiTecz: Nueva Biograjia de Lope de Vega {Obras, tom. i.), 1890, pp. 121, 122. * Phihsophia antigua foetica, 1596, pp. 468, 469; after mentioning the libros de caballerias, he goes on: " los quales aunque son graues, en quanto a las personas, no lo son en las demas cosas requisitas; no hablo 156 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. of Greece, and a few others, have much good in them, the rest have "neither verisimilitude, nor learning, nor even a noble style"; hence a friend of his called them " souls without a body," and their readers and authors " bodies without a soul." Graver writers of every class condemn the romances without any exception or reser- vation, and the severity of their language shows how serious a pest these tales had become. As early as 1535 Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, in La Historia general de las Indias'^, reminds his readers that he is " not telling them nonsense like the lying books of Amadis and those which depend on them" — and it must be remembered that one of these was his own Claribalte, published sixteen years earlier. In Las Quinquagenas de la Nobleza de Esfana^, the first volume of which has only de vn Amadis de Gaula, ni aun del de Grecia, y otros pocos : los quales tienen mucho de bueno ; sino de los demas, que ni tienen verisimilitud, ni doctrina, ni aun estilo graue : y por esto las dezia vn amigo mio, almas sin cuerpo (por que tiene la fabula, que es la anima de la Poetica, y carece del metro) y a los lectores y autores dellas cuerpo sin alma." ^ Bk VI. ch. VIII., original edition, fol. Ixiii, verso: in a discourse on metals and mines the author pauses to apologise for talking so much of gold : " Mas los hombres sabios e naturales atenderan a esta lecion, no con otra mayor cobdicia e desseo que por saber e oyr las obras de natura : c assi con mas desocupacion del entendimiento auran por bien de oyrme (pues no cuento los disparates delos libros mentirosos de amadis ni los que dellos dependen)." 2 Published by the Real Academia de la Historia, 1880, p. 481, Estanja, xliiii. : " Razon muy grande es, sancto y prouechoso, de mucha vtilidad, y nesfessario seria dexar de leer esos Ubros de Amadis: y que essos e ni otros seme j antes no se vendiesen, ni los ouiese, porque es vna de las cosas con quel diablo enbauca, e enbelesa y entretiene los nefios, y los aparta de las lefiones honestas y de buen exemplo. . . . Gran culpa, grande error, gran jeguedad e desatino es leer cosas sin prouecho, e men- tiras de que ningun bien se puede seguir, y mucho mal puede profeder." v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 157 recently been published, he writes that it would be as advantageous as it is necessary that people should cease to read these books oi Amadis\ and that neither they nor others like them should be sold, or even exist, for they are one of the means by which the devil deceives and ensnares and entertains fools, and draws them away from honest and profitable reading^. Similar sentiments are expressed by another histo- rian, Pedro Mexia, who in his Historia Imperial y ' A similar recantation has been attributed (cf. Menendez j Pelayo, op. cit., p. cclxxvii) to the "Portuguese Livy," Joao de Barros, author of the romance Clarimundo (1522); but this is due to the fact that the historian has been wrongly identified vsdth a contemporary Doctor Joao de Barros, author of the Espelho de Casados (1540). This latter work contains the following criticism of the romances of chivalry (fol. 4 of the Introduction) : " Quado OS macebos comef a a ter etedimeto do mudo gasta o tepo e liuros muy desnecesareo (jic) s pouco proueitosos ^a si ne fa outre, asi como na fabullosa historia d'amadis. nas patranhas do sato grial. nas sesaborias de palmerim. s pmaleo. e florisedo. c outros asi. q hauia mester. totalmete exterminados q jaa de nhua cousa serue. ode ha tatos outros de q se pode tirar £ueito. asi como de sato Agustinho e d' sa Jeronimo s d' Seneca, t :g passar tepo em mores fajanhas q as d' Espladia. lea a Liuio Valerio Curcio Suetonio. Eutropio. s out'os muitos historiadores ode se acharo mayores faganhas ^ ueitosas pa os 5 desejS saber e aida auisos e muy necesarias doutiinas." On the other hand, there exists a similar work, entitled Carta de Gida de Casados, actually written by another famous Portuguese historian, Dom Francisco Manuel de Mello, and containing an un- flattering reference to the romances (edition of Edgar Prestage, 1916, pp. 98, 99): " Juro a V.M. que toda a vida me enfad^rao as damas dos livros de cavalerias, porque sempre as achava acompanhadas de cacho- rros, de leoes, e de anios. Tao inimigo sou destas taes sevandilhas que nem em livros mentirosos as soffroj veja V.M. que serA nas cousas verdadeiras .' " 1^8 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. Cesarean claims, as a reward for his labour in the com- pilation, that attention which some give to the lying tales of Amadis^ the Lisuartes, the Clarions, and other monsters, which with good cause should be banished from Spain, as contagious and harmful to the State, since they cause both authors and readers to waste their time. And what is worse, they afford very bad examples, and very dangerous for morals. Leastwise they are a pattern of immorality, cruelty, and lying, and the more attentively a man reads them, the greater an adept in these vices will he become. And at least the author of such a work should never be believed, for I think it difficult for a man to tell the truth who has written ^ Edition of Seville, 1547 (Constantine the Great, ch. i.), fol. cxlii verso : "... Y en pago de quato yo trabaje enlo recoger y abreuiar, pido agora esta atencion y auiso, pues lo suelen prestar algunos, a las trufas y mentiras d' Amadis, y d' Lisuartes, 7 Clarianes, y otros portentes: q con tanta razon deuria ser desterrados d' Espana : como cosa cotagiosa y danosa ala republica, pues tan mal haze gastar el tiepo alos auctores y lectores de ellos. Y lo q es peor, que dan muy malos exemplos, c muy peligrosos para las costumbres. Alomenos so vn dechado d' deshonesti- dades, crueldades, y metiras, y segu se leen c6 tanta atencion, de creer es q saldran grandes maestros de ellas. Alomenos al auctor de semejate obra no se le deue dar credito alguno, y tengo por dificultoso, q sepa dezir verdad, quien vn libro ta grande aya hecho de mentiras, despues dela offensa q ha hecho a Dios, en gastar su tiepo y cansar su ingenio enlas inuentar, y hazer las leer a todos : y aun creer a muchos. Porque tales hobres ay que piensan que passaron assi, como las leen s oyen, siendo como son las mas d' ellas cosas males prophanas y desonestas. Abuse es muy grande y dafioso, que entre otros incouinietes, se sigue de grande ignominia y afreta alas chronicas t hystorias verdaderas, permitir que anden cosas tan nefandas, a lapar con ellas. he qrido fazer aqui esta breue digressio, eiiste proposito, porque desseo muy mucho el remedio d' ello, y si pesasse que lo auia d' ver, hablara muy mas largo, que capo y materia auia bastante para ello." This digression is omitted from the English translation made by W. Traheron, published at the beginning of the seventeenth century. v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 159 a book so full of lies, after the offence he has committed against God, in wasting his time and wearying his brains by inventing them, and making everybody read them, and many believe them. For he assures us that there are people — hke the priest mentioned by Melchor Cano — who believe that all they read happened as stated; and he complains that if is a grave abuse to allow such shameful stories to circulate alongside the chronicles and true histories, to the latters' great detriment and discredit. In language so similar that it appears to be a reminiscence of Mexia's protest, Alonso de Ulloa, the historian of the wars in Italy and Flanders, abuses the lying stories of Amadis, Palmerin, Esplandian, Primaleon, Don Clarian, and other books of the kind^, Diego Gracian, the translator of Plutarch and Xenophon, thought like Mexia concerning the harm these romances did to serious works. In the prologue to his Morales de Plutarco^, after mentioning Mexia's ^ Comentarios de la guerra contra Gutllermo Principe de Oranges, 1569, fol. 65 verso : "... Portanto rogamos al lector nos oya c6 atendon, y que no le sea enojoso este tractado, pues muchas uezes y sin sacar ningun fructo se contenta de oyr attentamente las fabulas, y trufas de Amadis, de Palmerin, de Espladian, de Primaleon, de don Clarian y de otros libros semejantes, que no ensenan sino uicios, y malas cos- tumbres, y que por esto como cosa contajosa deurian ser desterrados de la Republica por el beneficio comun." ^ Edition of 1548, sig. bb 3 recto: " . . . Y como oymos dezir a menudo en esta corte a muchas personas illustres, prudentes y religipsos de autoridad y grauedad: Torpe cosa es auiendo en nuestra espana historias verdaderas y hazaiias famosas y hechos senalados de varones esforf ados y valerosos, assi antiguas como modernas, mas que en ninguna otra nacion del mundo, dexar de celebrar y diuulgar estos de que tenemos tanta materia de escreuir tan a la mano . . . por componer patranas y mentiras en numero infinito que no siruen de otra cosa sino de passar el tiempo, o por mejor dezir perderle, sin ningun fruto de la religion, ni prouecho de las costumbres, porque como dizen las malas i6o PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. useful historical labours, he remarks that he has often heard many grave and reverend seniors complaining how disgraceful it is that while Spain has true histories and famous deeds of valorous heroes, both ancient and modern, "more than any other nation in the world," people should neglect them to write lying fables "in infinite numbers," of which he quotes by name Tristan, Reynaldos, Florisando, Primaleon, Palmerin, and Duar- dos, "and a hundred thousand others like them, teem- ing with lies." In the prologue to his translation of Xenophon^, comparing himself with the lame Spartan hablas corrompen las costumbres. Assi que en lugar de Tristanes, Reynaldos, Florisandos, Primaleones, Palmerines y Duardos, y otros cien mil tales que hinchen los papeles de mentiras, donde muchas personas muy a menudo gastan sus buenas lioras, por medio desta traslacion, tomaran vn passatiempo no menos prouechoso que deleytable y honesto, los que quisieren gozarlo, en conoscer quie fueron Empera- dores, Reyes, Principes, y esforgados capitanes, y otros varones y mugeres illustres dignos de memoria." ^ Edition of 1552, sig. i^ 6 verso-7 recto: "... Pero bien assi como aquel Lacedemonio que yua coxo a la guerra, siendo preguntado, que pensaua hazer? respondio. Ya que no haga otra cosa embotare la espada del enemigo que me matare: assi yo por el consiguiente podre responder, que ya que no haga otro prouecho alomenos embotare con la licion desta obra a los lectores Espanoles el gusto del entendimiento para leer los libros de mentiras y patranas, que llaman de cauallerias, de que ay mas abundancia en nuestra Espana que en ningunos otros reynos, auiendo de auer menos: pues no siruen de otra cosa, sino de perder el tiempo y desautorizar los otros buenos libros verdaderos de buena doctrina y prouecho. Porque las patranas disformes y desconcertadas que en estos libros de mentiras se leen, derogan el credito a las ver- daderas hazafias que se leen en las historias de verdad. Aun que ya se van apocando estos tales libros por el edito de los senores del consejo, que so graues penas prohiben que no no (sic) se impriman otros libros sino catholicos y buenos, y prouechosos a las buenas costumbres: y v] ' OF THE NEW ROMANCES i6i ■who went to the wars hoping at least to blunt the sword of the foeman who slew him, Gracian — in this respect a forerunner of Cerv'antes — hoped, by providing his contemporaries with the Greek historian in the ver- nacular, to blunt their keenness for the books of chi- valry, of which there is greater abundance in this Spain of ours than in any other kingdom, whereas there should be less, for they serve no other purpose than to waste time and to discredit other books which are true and of good doctrine and utility. The scholar and educationalist Juan Luis Vives, sometime resident in England as tutor both at Oxford and in the royal household, more than once attacked estos primeramete examinados por tales. Pero mas presto se acabarian,, si como sabemos que se hizo en tiempo del Papa Nicolao Quinto en Italia, se hiziesse assi agora en Espaiia. Los varones doctos de aquel tiempo se repartieron entre si los libros Griegos, que aula buenos para; los traduzir en latin, o en vulgar Italiano, tomando cada qual el suyo 7. J aun agora tambien lo hazen. Y assi deurian hazer agora los doctos em Espana : donde por la bondad de Dios florece el culto diuino y la religion Christiana sin macula de secta mala, y las armas mas que en otro ningu reyno: y las letras mucho mas que en los tiempos passados. Pues ay tanto numero de personas doctas, cada qual en su profession: y pues ay tatos buenos autores en Griego y en Latin, que podrian traduzirse en vulgar Castellano, de los quales assi como de mar, o rio caudal podrian sacar razones de mucha, y varia doctrina. Y no andarian los nuestros tan embeuidos en estos libros desuariados de patranas fingidas: de los quales bien assi como de charcos y lagunas de ranacuajos y ranas, no se puede sacar otra doctrina de prouecho, sine mentiras de mentiras, que todas signifies lo mismo: y al fin todas suenan vnas mismas bozes y mentiras, ni mas ni menos que aquellas ranas de las lagunas de Platon, que induze el Poeta Aristophanes en su comedia, no hazian sino cantar y repitir siempre vna misma cancion, coax, coax, coax, bebebex, bebebex, bebebex. El qual exercicio, assi el de leerlos, como el de escreuirlos es indigno y muy ageno de hombres graues y cuerdos. 1 62 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. this literature which was so contrary to his aims and ideals. In his De officio mariti (1529), which appeared in English about the year 1550^ he describes the ro- mances as written and made by suche as ■wexQ ydle c knew nothinge. These bokes do hurt both man c woman, for they make them wylye c craftye, they kyndle and styr vp couetousnes, inflame angre, c all beastly and filthy desyre^. And he deals with them in similar terms, but at greater length, in his T>e disciplinis (1531)^. But his chief assault is delivered in his De institutione fcemina Chris- tiana (1524), which also appeared in English about the year 1540. The following passage is quoted from the English translation^, in which some slight and interest- ing addition has been made to the original: ^ Thomas Paynell's translation, The office and, duetie of an husband, c. 1550, ch. IV. sig. O 7 verso. ^ De disciplinis (De corruftis artibus, bk ii. conclusion), 1612, p. 92: " Si vernaculis scribunt Unguis, vnus est totius orationis color fuscus, & dilutus, vnus habitus, sine sale, sine vlla gratia & cultu, tenere vt lectorem dimidium horae vix possit. Idcirco nee eos, nisi homo curiosus, legit, & cognoscendi temporum cupidus. Qui vero relegant, non inueniunt, vt satius ducant libros legere apert^ mendaces, & meris nugis refertos, propter aliquod stili lenocinium, vt Amadisum, & Florisandum Hispanos, Lancilotum, & mensam rotundam Gallicam, Rolandum Italicum : qui libri ab hominibus sunt otiosis conficti, pleni eo mendaciorum genera, quod nee ad sciendum quicquam conferat, nee ad bene vel sentiendum de rebus, vel viuendum, tantum ad inanem quandam, & prassentem titillationem voluptatis: quos legunt tamen homines corruptis ingeniis ab otio, atque indulgentia quadam sui: non aUter quam delicati quidam stomachi, & quibus plurimum est indultum saccareis modo, & melleis quibusdam condituris sustentantur, cibum omnem solidum respuentes." ^ Richard Hyrde's translation, The Instruction of a Christian Woman, c. 1540, sig. E 4 recto-F I recto. v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 163 What a custome is this, that a songe shall nat be regardedT] but hit be ful of fylthynes? And this the lawes ought to take \ hede of: and of those vngracious bokes, suche as be I my coutre ! T Spayn Amadise, Florisands, Tirante, Tristane, and Celestina j ye baude mother of noughtynes. In Frace Lancilot du Lake, J Paris and Vienna, Ponthus and Sidonia, c Melucyne. In Fladers, Flori and Whit flowre, Leonel and Canamour, Curias and Floret, Pyramus and Thysbe. In Englande, Parthenope^ Genarides, Hippomadon, William and Melyour, Libius and Arthur, Guye, Beuis, and many other. And some translated out of latine in to vulgare speches, as y® vnsauery coceytes of Pogius, and of Aeneas Siluius, Eurialus and Lucretia: whiche bokes but idell menne Wrote vnlerned, and sette all vpon fylthe and vitiousnes: in whom I wouder what shulde delite me but y* vice pleaseth them so moche: As for lernyng none is to be] loked for in those men, whiche sawe neuer so moche as a shadowei of lernyg them selfe. And wha they tell ought, what delyte| can be i those thyges, y* be so playne c folysshe lyes? One! kylleth .xx. hym selfe alone, an other .xxx. an other woundedi' with .C. woundes, and lefte deed, riseth vp agayne, and on ye; next day made hole c stroge, ouer cometh .ij. gyantes: and I than goth away loden with golde, and syluer, and precious stones,! mo than a galy wold cary away. What a madnes is hit of folkes, 1 to haue pleasure in these bokes? Also there is no wytte in them, | but a fewe wordes of wanton luste: whiche be spoken to moue | her mynde with, whom they loue, if it chaunce she be stedfast. J And if they be redde but for this, the best were to make bokes of baudes craftes: for i other thynges, what crafte can be hadde of suche a maker, that is ignorant of all good crafte? Nor I neuer harde man say, that he lyked these bokes: but those that neuer touched good bokes. And I my selfe some tyme haue redde in them, but I neuer foud in them one steppe either of goodnes or wyt. And as for those y* preyse them, as I knowe some that do, I wyll beleue them, if they preyse them after that they haue redde Cicero and Senec, or saynt Hieronyme, or holy scripture: and haue meded theyr lyuynge better. For often tymes y^ onely 1 64 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch; cause why they preyse them is, by cause they se in them theyr owne coditions, as in a glasse. Finally, though they were neuer so wytty and pleasat, yet wold I haue no pleasure infected with poyso: nor haue no woman quickened vnto vice. And verely they be but folisshe husbades and mad, that suffre their wiues to waxe more vngratiously subtyle by redyng of such bokes. In his Introductio ad sapientiam, first published in 1 524, Vives has a section discountenancing the reading of bad literature, in which however he does not refer specifically to the chivalresque romances : but the omis- sion is rectified by Francisco Cervantes de Salazar'^, who ■^ Obras q Francisco Ceruantes de Salazar, a hecho, glosado, y tra- duzido. . . .La tercera es la introiucion y camino para la sabiduria . . . com- puesto (sic) en latin por. . .Luys vities, buelta en Castellano, con nuchas adiciones . . .por Francisco Ceruantes de Salazar, 1546, pt m. fol. xiii verso-xiv recto (" Adicion" to the section of the original entitled "No se han de leer libros males, ni viciosos ") : "Enesto se auia mas de cargar la mano, y es enlo que mas nos descuy- damos : porque tras el sabroso hablar deles libres de cauallerias beuemos mill vicios come sabresa pon9ona, porque de alii viene el aborrecer los libros sanctos, y conteplatiuos, y el dessear verse en actos feos: quales son los que aquellos libros tratan ansi que con el false gusto deles mentirosos, perdemes el que tendriames (sino los ouiesse)'enlos ver- daderos y sanctos: enles quales: si estuuiessemes destetados dela mala po9ona deles etros hallariames gra gusto, para el entendimiento y gra frute para el anima: guarda el padre a su hija, cemo dizen tras siete paredes,para que quitada la ocasio de hablar con los hombres: sea mas buena, y dexanla vn amadis enlas manes, donde deprende mill maldades, y dessea peores cesas, que qui^a en toda la vida : aunque tratara con les hombres pudiera saber, ni dessear, e vase tanto tras el gusto de aquelle, q no querria hazer otra cosa, ocupando teliempo {sic) q auia de gastar en ser laboriesa y sierua de dies, no se acuerda de rezar ni d' etra virtud: desseando ser, otra Oriana come alii, t verse seruida de otro Amadis, tras este desseo viene luego precurarlo, dele qual estuuiera bien descuydada: sino tuuiera donde lo deprendiera, enlo mesmo cerren tambien lan(as parejas los mo9es, los quales con los auisos de tan y] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 165 translated the Work into Spanish, supplying additional matter of his own. In the "adiciones" to this section, after criticisms in the style and very much in the words of Vives himself, he complains that a father keeps his daughter, as the saying goes, behind seven walls, in order that, deprived of the opportunity of conversing with men, she may be a better woman; yet he leaves in her hands an Amadis, from which she learns a thousand depravities, and forms worse desires, which otherwise would probably never have entered her head even if she had enjoyed the society of men. And she is so taken with all she reads that she can think of nothing else, wasting the time she should have spent over her duties and devotions, longing to be just such another Oriana, courted by another Amadis; and having con- ceived this longing she soon attempts to gratify it. Young men are just the same, for with their natural desires inflamed by evil reading, their one thought is how to dishonour maidens and to shame matrons. All of which is the result of reading these books; and would to God that, for the good of our souls, those who have it in their power would prohibit them. A little further on^ he says there were then more good malos libros, encendidos con el desseo natural, no tratan sine como desonrraran la donzella, y afrentaran la casada, de todo esto son causa estos libros, los quales plega a dies por el bien de nuestras ahnas : vieden los que para ello tiene poder." ^ Ihid. fol. xiv verso-xv recto : " Porque antes me condoli del mal que se dissimula en dexar leer al pueblo libros de cauallerias: dire aqui sola vna cosa pues viene apro- posito: y es que tenemos oy dia mayor copia de libros castellanos q nunca han sido compuestos de nueuo, como traduzidos de latin y griego: ta sabrosos por su bue dezir al gusto del que los leyesse; y ta prouechosos al que se quisiesse aprouechar dellos, q visto lo que passa delos de cauallerias es mas que ceguedad la nuestra : y que cierto el demonio grangea con ellos muchas animas, pues empleandose en estos los hobres no leen donde con saber deprenderian costumbres buenas, y 1 66 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. books than ever in Spain, both original and translated from the Latin or Greek, and he laments the blind passion for the books of chivalry, for certainly the devil wins many souls by their means, since while men devote themselves to such books, they do not read those in which they will find moral and practical teaching, a fit preparation for the sacred books which particularly treat of our salvation. Another echo of Vives is to be found in Alexo Vane- gas de Busto's Tractado de orthographia y accentos en las tres lenguas principales (i 531), in one chapter of which^ the author discusses the choice of books. Referring to the strictures on the romances of chivalry quoted above from the De institutione jceminee Christiattte, he remarks that Vives "would not have written from Louvain such abuse of our native books, if he had thought that moral corruption could in any way be tolerated." In some prefatory remarks included in the works of Francisco Cervantes de Salazar^, Vanegas de Busto has a variant sabrian auisos para passar la vida, y lo que mas es: que de aqui vendrian , luego como mas sabiamente ensenados a leer los sagrados que parti- cularmente tratan de nuestra saluacion." ^ Pt II. ch. III., " dela election del libro," sig. e l verso-e 2 recto: "... no nos embiaria a dezir dede Lobayna Ludouico Viues tato mal de nfos libros vulgares: si viera el q en algua manera se podia soportar corruptio de costubres. y por esso allede d'los Amadises : y los Tirates con toda su classe, co mucha razo difunde su satyrica sana enla lena d' scelestina. q en mi verdad no ay marcial q tato mal haga en latin: qnto esta Flora patete desflora la juuetud en romace." ^ Prologo to the Appologo de la ociosidad y el trabajo, intitulado Labricio Portundo . . . compuesto por el Protonotario Luys Mexia, glosado y moralizado por Francisco Ceruantes de Salazar (in Obras q Francisco Ceruantes de Salazar, a hecho, glosado, y traduzido), 1546, sig. a 7 recto: v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 167 of that writer's criticism of the romances which has been quoted just above. Writing presumably in 1546 — the year in which the Amadis series reached its twelfth book in Spain — he notes already a certain decline in the popularity^ of the romances, which he describes as books of poisonous vanities, that with greater truth might be called "sermonarios de Sathanas," than "bla- sones de cauallerias " ; for we see that the father forbids his daughter to receive the old go-between with her messages, while on the other hand he is foolish enough " Es tanto y tan continuado el desseo que tengo de aprouechar a mis naturales, pio y benigno lector, que en quanto en mi es, y alcafo, no dexo passar occasion, de quien piense sacar algu fructo. Y porq la presente oportunidad es rayz de mucho aprouechamiento, acorde dar vna breue relacion delas obras presentes, viendo que con semejantes trabajos salen ya poco a poco de entre las manos delos pios lectores los libros q enel principio de su obra mayor llama Apuleyo libros Milesios, que son los libros de vanidades eneruoladas, que con mayor' verdad se diria sermonarios de Sathanas, que blasones de cauallerias; porque vemos que veda el padre ala hija, que no le vega y le vaya la vieja con sus mensajes, y por otra parte es ta mal recatado, que no le veda, que leyendo Amadises, y Esplandianes con todos los de su vando, le este predicando el diablo a sus solas, q alii aprende las celadas delas pon9onas secretas, de mas del habito que haze en pensamietos de sensualidad, que assi la hazen saltar de su quietud, como el fuego ala poluora." 1 Luis de Guzman, in dedicating his Historia de las Missiones que han hecho los religiosos de la Compania de Jesus (1601) to Ana Felix de Guzman, Marquesa de Caramasa, throws an interesting side-Ught on the decline of the romances at a later date in the court circle of Philip II's French Queen (t 1568). He begins: " La aficion que V. S. tiene a leer libros Sanctos y deuotos, Historias Ecclesiasticas, y verdaderas, fue conocida, desde el tiempo, que en sus tiernos Anos, comefo a seruir a la Reyna dona Ysabel nuestra seiiora, que esta en el Cielo: mouiendo V. S. con su eiemplo, a otras Damas companeras suyas, a que dexados los libros de Cauallerias, profanos, y fabulosos, tomassen los de Deuocio, Sanctidad y Verdad, como de hecho lo hiziero " 1 68 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. to allow the devil to corrupt her privately by means of these Amadises, Esplandians, and all the rest of their tribe, from which she learns, among other things, those habits of sensual thought that are as fatal to her repose as setting a match to gunpowder. The epithet "ser- monarios de Sathanas " pleased Vanegas de Busto, for he uses a similar phrase in another place^, where he speaks of these "vicious books of chivalry," of no use except as "sermonarios del diablo," with which to en- snare tender maidens. Half a century later we see Juan Sanchez Valdes de la Plata, his finger on Vanegas de Busto's page, dili- gently copying that writer's attractive phrases into the preface of his Coronica y Historia general del Hombre (1598). Of all the reasons which induced him to com- pose that moral treatise, he tells us the fourth^ was that ^ "Exposicion de la Obra" prefixed to Agustin de Almazan's translation {El Momo, 1553) of Leon Battista Alberti's Momus (towards the end of his "Conclusion segunda"), sig. a 7 verso: "... En esta differencia de fabulas escriuio Apuleyo su Asno dorado, y en nfos tiempos con detrimento de las donzellas recogidas se escriuen los libros desaforados de cauallerias, que no siruen si no de ser vnos sermonarios del diablo, con que en los rincones ca^a los animos tiernos de las donzellas." ^ In the Prologo, sig. ^2 recto: "La quarta razon es, por que viendo yo, benignissimo, y discrete lector, que los mancebos, y don- zellas, y aun los varones ya en edad, y estado, gastan su tiempo en leer libros de vanidades enerboladas, que con mayor verdad se dirian ser- monarios de Satanas, y blasones de cauallerias de Amadises, y Esplan- dianes, con todos los de su vando, de los quales no sacan otro prouecho, ni otra dotrina, sino hazer habito en sus pensamientos de mentiras, y vanidades, que es lo que mucho el diablo siempre codicia, para que con estas pon9oftas secretas, y sabrosas, las aparte del camino verdadero de lesu Christo nuestro Redentor." V, v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 169 he saw how young men and maidens, and even men of years and position, wasted their time in reading books of poisonous vanities, which might with greater truth be called "sermonarios de Satanas," and " blason6s de caua- Ilerias" — Amadises, Esplandians^znd all the rest of their tribe — from which they derive no other profit or in- struction than to accustom their minds to lying and vanities, which is ever the devil's exceeding great desire, that he may with these secret, savoury poisons draw them away from the true path of Christ our redeemer. Religious writers were naturally not less outspoken than these moralists in their censure of the chivalresque romances, and their individual efforts atone for the way in which the ecclesiastical authorities passed over in silence the growing pest. The Inquisition concerned itself with matters affecting faith and dogma, and it is curious that whereas not one of the chivalresque ro- mances proper was prohibited, a religious romance of chivalry 1, written with the express object of driving out of the world the profane variety, was placed on the Index Expurgatorius. Yet there were not wanting those who urged the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, to more effective action. Among them was Antonio de Guevara, successively Bishop of Guadix and of Mondonedo, and a favourite with contemporary Englishmen, who loved to describe him by his official title of" Preacher, Chroni- cler, and Counsellor to the Emperor Charles V." In the "argument" prefixed to his Aviso de privados y J- The Cavalleria celestial described more fully below. 170 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. doctrina de cortesanos^, Guevara mentions the Roman practice of banishing the writers of evil books, and he urges that Christians should follow their example, more especially as they have an abundance of good books, which the Romans had not. " But," he exclaims, " how far does the State today fall short of that here written and advised; for we see that men are only concerned in reading books which it is an offence to name, such as Amadis de Gaula, Tristan de Leonis, Primaleon, Cartel de Amor, and Celestina. All of which, and many others besides, should be forbidden by law from being either printed or sold; for the lessons which they teach incite sensual natures to sin, and weaken the desire to live rightly." Alonso de Fuentes, after telling the story quoted above of the doliente who knew Palmerin de Oliva by heart, pleads that the city authorities should prohibit such books for the bad example they set^. Melchor Cano, ^ First published in Guevara's Obras, 1539, sig. fl 7 recto: "O qua desuiada esta oy la republica delo q aqui escreuimos y acosejamos: pues vemos, q ya no se occupa los hobres sino en leer libros que es affrenta nobrarlos: como son, amadis de gaula, trista de leonis, primaleon, carcel de amor, ya celestina : alos qles todos y a otros mucjios coellos se deuria mendar por justicia, q no se imprimiessen, nimenos se vendiessen : porq su doctrina incita la sensualidadapeccar: yrelaxaelespirituabienbiuir." Guevara had previously expressed himself in similar terms in his Libra del emperador Marco aurelio co relax de frincipes, Valladolid, 1529, Prologo general, fol. vii. verso: "Compassion es de ver los dias y las noches que consumen muchos en leer libros vanos: es a saber, a amadis, a primaleon, a durarte {sic), a lucenda, a calixto, conla doctrina delos quales ossare dezir: que no passan tiempo: sino que pierden el tiempo: porque alii no deprende como se han de apartar delos vicios: sino que primores ternan para ser mas viciosos." ^ Op. eit., fol. cxvi recto : "... En v'dad q assi como los potifices passa- dos tuuiero cuydado d'examinar y dar por apocrifos muchos libros . . . y phibirlos ... los gouernadores y prebostes d'las ciudades, auian de hazer lo mismo k libros semejates, por el mal exeplo q d'llos resulta." v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 171 in his De locis theologicis (1564)1, appeals directly to the ecclesiastical authorities in his comments on the story of the priest who believed the romances of chivalry to be true because they were licensed by the State. What the State does, he says, is not his business to discuss; but he sorrowfully points out how detrimental it is to the Church that books should be censored for matters of faith, and not of morality. Nor is he most concerned about the Amadises and the Clarians, though they are neither learned nor helpful, not merely for living, but even for understanding life. What pains him most of all is that certain writers, with greater zeal than prudence, should counter these fabulous tales, not with true and serious histories, which would be most useful to the people, but — and here perhaps he has in mind the religious romances of chivalry — with books full of 1 P. 657: "At vero quantum ilia aduersum Reipub. administros ratio valeat, non est huius loci temporisqlie disserere. Certe hoc ego pro me ipso & animi mei sensu ac dolore pronuncio, magna ecclesie calamitate atque pernicie id soliim in libris vulgandis praecaueri, ne erroribus fidei aduersis aspersi sint, ne sint moribus exitiales non item. Nee de fabulis istis potissimum excrucior, quas modo dixi, quamok ineruditis & nihil omnino conferentibus, non dico ad benJ beateque viuedum, sed ne ad rectS quidem de rebus humanis sentiendum. Quid enim conferant mera ac Tanae nugae ab hominibus ociosis fictae, a corruptis Ingenijs versatse ? Sed acerbissimus est dolor & vix omnino consolabilis, quod dum quidam vtinam tam prudeter quam feruenter incommodum hoc reijcere ac deuitare cupiunt, non pro fabulis veras & graues historias edunt, id quod esset plebi vtilissimum, sed libros mysterioru ecclesie plenos, a quibus arcendi profani erant; id quod est, mea quidem sententia, pestilentissimum : eo vero magis, quo vulgus eos libeUos securius legit, quia probatos videt, non modo a ciuili magistratu, verum etiam ab ijs, qui doctrinse censores sunt in Christi Repub. diffiniti." 172 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. religious mysteries, which are not for laymen. All this he regards as most pestilential} the more so as the common people read those books with greater confidence because they see that they are approved, not only by the civil powers, but also by those who have been set apart in the Christian Commonwealth to censor matters of doctrine. Another eminent theologian, and withal a brilliant scholar, Benito Arias Montano, speaking in his Rheto- rical of fidelity to nature in literature, finds an oppor- tunity to abuse the numerous books of knight-errantry — Orlando, Esplandian, Amadis of Greece, Palmerin, etc. — which he describes as the abortions of stupid minds, the dregs and scum of literature. Without sense of time or place, and neither credible nor pleasing, unless sensuality and brutality are an attraction, they serve no other purpose than to corrupt morals. The Dominican Friar Luis de Granada, in his Intro- duction del Symbolo de la Fe (1582-85), more subtly and ^ Rhetoricorum libri III I, 1569, bk iii. 11. 399-411, p. 64: "... Nam quae per nostra frequenter Regna libri asduntur, veteres referentia scripta, Errantesqiie equites, Orlandum Splandina Grascu, Palmerinuqlie duces, & cjetera, monstra vocamus, Et stupidi ingenij partus, fsecemqlie librorum, CoUectas sordes in labem temporis : & quae Nil melius tractent, hominum quam perdere mores. Temporis hie ordo nullus, non vlla locorum Seruatur ratio : nee si quid f ort^ legendo Vel credl possit, vel delectare, nisi ipsa Te turpis vitij species, & fseda voluptas Delectat, moresqiie truces, & vulnera nullis Hostibus inflicta, at stolid^ conficta, leguntur." v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 173 reasonably acknowledges that there are other attractions than sensuality and brutality in the romances of chivalry. " Now," he says^, " I should like to ask those who read these lying inventions, what induces them to do so?" 'They will reply, that in the drama of life, strength and courage excite most wonder. For since death is (as Aristotle says) the last and greatest of terrors to all living things, the sight of a man scorning and conquering this most natural dread causes great admiration to the be- holders. So people flock to tournaments, bull-fights, and the like. And this applies not only to real life, but also to what is feigned and false; hence the passion for ^ Op. cit., pt II. ch. XVII., edition of Saragossa, 1583, p. 92: "Agora querria preguntar a los que leen libros de cauallerias fingidas y menti- Tosas que lo; mueue a estoF Responderme han, que entre todas las obras humanas que se pueden ver con ojos corporales, las mas admirables son el esfuerfo y fortaleza. Porque como la muerte sea (segu Aristoteles dize) la vltima de las cosas terribles, y la cosa mas aborrecida de todos los animales, ver vn hombre despreciador y vencedor deste temor tan natural, causa grande admiracion en los que esto veen. De aqui nace el concurso de gentes^, para ver justas, y toros, y desafios, y cosas seme- jantes por la admiraciS que estas cosas traen consigo. . . . Pues esta admiracion es tan comun a todos y tan grande, que viene a tener lugar no solo en las cosas verdaderas, sino tambien en las fabulosas y men- tirosas. Y de aqui nace el gusto que muchos tienen de leer estos libros de cauallerias fingidas. Pues siendo esto assi, y siendo la valentia y fortaleza de los sanctos martyres sin ninguna comparacion mayor y mas admirable, que todas quantas ha auido en el mundo . . . como no hcdgaran mas de leer estas ta altas verdades, q aquellas ta conoddas metiras? Alomenos es cierto que los sanos y buenos ingenios, mucho mas ha de holgar de leer estas historias, que las de aqllas vanidades acompanadas con muchas deshonestidades con que muchas mugeres locas se enuanecen, pareciendoles q no menos merecia ellas ser seruidas q aquellas por quie se hizieron tan grandes proezas, y notables hechos en armas." 174 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. the books of chivalry. All which Luis de Granada con- cedes, in order that he may urge people to read the true lives of the holy martyrs, whose fortitude and courage are admirable beyond compare, rather than those idle and lewd stories that turn the heads of many foolish women, who fancy themselves no less deserving of attention than the heroines on whose behalf such glorious feats of arms were accomplished. The mystic Pedro Malon de Chaide had this passage in mind when writing his Libro de la Conversion de la Magdalena (1588). But he protests too much, launch- ing out into an attack, in appropriately nautical lan- guage, on almost every form of fiction, prose and verse. We are naturally prone to evil, he writes^, and require ^ In the Prologo al Lector (edition of 1 596), fol. ii-i3:"...y como si nuestra gastada naturaleza, que de suyo corre desapoderada al mal, tuuiera necessidad de espuela, y de incentiuos para despertar el gusto del pecado, assi la ceuan con libros laciuos y profanos, a donde, y en cuyas rocas se rompe los fragiles nauios de los mal auisados mofos, y las buenas costumbres (si algunas aprendieron de sus maestros) padecen naufragios, y va a fondo, y se pierden y mal logran : porque, q otra cosa son los libros de amores, y las Dianas, y Boscanes, y Garcilasos y los monstruosos libros, y siluas de fabulosos cuentos y metiras de los Amadises, Floriseles, y don Belianis, y vna flota de semejates portentos, como ay escriptos, puestos en manos de pocos anos, si no cuchillo en poder del hobre furioso ? . . . "Que ha de hazer la donzellita, q apenas sabe andar, y ya trae vna Diana en la faldriquera f . . . "Otros lee aqllos prodigios, y fabulosos suefios y quimeras, sin pies ni cabeja de q esta Uenos los libros de qauallerias, que assi los llaman, a los que si la honestidad del termino lo supiera, con trastrocar pocas letras, se Uamaran mejor de vellaquerias que de cauallerias. Y si a los que estudian y aprende a ser Christianos en estos Catecismos les preguntays, que porque los leen, y qual es el fruto que sacan de su iicion: Responderos han, q alii aprenden osadia y valor para las armas: v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 175 no incitements to sin, such as these lascivious and pro- fane books, which he likens to rocks whereon the frail barques of foolish youths split, and their good manners (if they have acquired any from their teachers) suffer shipwreck, founder and miserably perish : for these love stories, and the Dianas, the Boscans, the Garcilasos, the monstrous books and collections of fabulous tales and lies, as the Amadises, Florisels, Don Belianis, and a fleet of similar prodigies — what else are they but a knife in a madman's hand? And what is to become of the young girl who can hardly walk, before she has a Diana in her pocket? Others read those marvels, and fabulous con- ceits and fancies, without head or tail, which abound in the books of chivalry, as they are called, though if we were to deal honestly with them we should change a few letters and call them books of ribaldry rather than chivalry. And if you ask those who get their Christi- anity from such Catechisms as these, why they read them, and what good they get out of them, they will reply, that they learn from them courage and daring in arms, breeding and courtesy towards ladies, faithful- ness and truth in their dealings, nobility and magna- nimity towards their enemies ; so that they will persuade you that Don Florisel is the Book of the Maccabees, Don Belianis the Morals of St Gregory, Amadis the Offices of St Ambrose, and Lisuarte Seneca's Books on Clemency, crian^a, j cortesia para con las damas: fidelidad y verdad en sus tratos: y magnanimidad y nobleza de animo en perdonar a sus enemigos: de suerte, que os persuadiran, que don Florisel, es el libro de !os Macabeos: y don Belianis, los Morales de Sant Gregorio : y Amadis, los officios de san Ambrosio^ y Lisuarte los libros de Clemecia de Seneca (por no traer la hystoria de Dauid, que a tantos enemigos perdono)." 176 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. not to mention the story of David, who forgave so many enemies. All these protests against the romances of chivalry had little or no effect, and certain writers tried to take advantage of their vogue by adapting them to religious uses, thus producing the religious romance of chivalry. The earliest of this artificial series, the Cavallero del Sol {1552) of Pedro Hernandez de Villaumbrales, has already been mentioned as one of the romances some- times confused with the Espejo de Principesy Cavalleros, Although never reprinted in the Peninsula, the Cavallera del Sol was translated into Italian 1, and even into German 2, no doubt more for its novelty than for its merits. The most remarkable of the romances of this class is the next in date, the Cavalleria celestial del Pie de la Rosa Fragante (1554)^, by Hieronimo San Pedro, who tells us in his preface* that we shall find the adven- 1 By Pietro Lauro: II Cavallier del Sole, 1557, reprinted 1584, 1590, 1620 (Melzi, Bibliogrqfia dei romanzi e poemi cavallereschi italiani, 1838, p. 342); also J 607. * By Matthaus Hofstetter: Der edele Sonnenritter, 161 1 (A. Schneider, Spaniens Anteil an der deutschen Litteratur des 1 6. und 17. Jahrhunderts, 1898, pp. 203, 204). * Pt I. Antwerp, 1554; pt 11. Valencia, 1554. * Epistola proemial, fol. 3 verso-4 recto: " Aqni hallara tragada no vna tabla redoda, mas muchas: no vna sola auentura, mas Venturas ^uersas; y esto no por industria de Merlin, ni de Vrganda la desco- nocida^ mas por la diuina sabiduria del Verbo hijo de Dios, alos hobres escodida, inuestigable, y secreta. Tabien vera, no al maestro Elisabad diestro enla corporal cirugia: pero muchos cirujanos acuchiUados per la experiecia de su milicia, los quales co los vnguentos de su santo exemplo, sanara alos heridos sus espirituales heridas. Hallaran tabien no vn solo Amadis de Gaula, mas muchos amadores dela verdad in- creada : no vn solo Tirante el Blaco, mas muchos tirantes al bianco de v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 177 tures contrived not by Merlin or Urganda the Un- known, but by the Divine Wisdom of the Son of God, and carried out not by a single Amadis de Gaula, but by many " Amadores de la verdad increada " ; notbyasingle Tirante el Blanco, but by many "Tirantes al bianco de la gloria." Tirante el Blanco is probably dragged in here merely for the sake of the pun, but for which the coarsely realistic Valencian romance would hardly have figured as one of the models of this strange religious allegory, where Christ is the Knight of the Lion, the Twelve Apostles the Knights of the Round Table, John the Baptist the Knight of the Desert, and Lucifer the Knight of the Serpent. The fact that the Cavalleria celestial was prohibited by the Inquisition no doubt checked this form of literature, of which there are not many more examples. In 1 570 was published the Cava- lleria Christiana of the Friar Jaime de Alcala, in 1601 the Historiay Milicia Christiana del Cavallero Peregrino, con- quistador del cielo, by another Friar, Alonso de Soria; and there are besides two or three verse romances on similar themes. The Inquisition took cognisance of the religious romances of chivalry, but ignored the profane variety. The civil authorities not unnaturally did exactly the reverse, and their activities therefore date back some- la gloria: no vna Oriana, ni vna Carmesina, pero muchas santas y celebradas matronas, delas quales se podra colegir exemplar y virtuosa erudicio. Veran assi mesmo la biueza del anciano Alegorin el sabio, y la sagacidad de Moraliza la discreta donzella, los quales dara de si dulce y prouechosa platica,mostrado en muchos passos desta Celestial Caualleria encubrados misterios, y altas marauillas, y no de vn fingido cauallero dela Cruz, mas de vn precioso Christo, q verdaderamete lo fue." 178 PREVALENCE AND DECLINE [ch. what earlier. In 1 53 1 a royal decree forbade the impor- tation into the American colonies of idle and profane books such as Amadis, and the prohibition was several times repeated. Here again the reasons were partly theological '^: it was feared that not only would works of this kind teach the Indians immoral habits, but that they would also discredit the veracity of the Sacred Books and the writings of the Fathers. In 1553 the romances were prohibited from being printed, sold or read in the New World, and two years later the Cortes peti- tioned that the prohibition should be extended to Spain itself, and that all extant copies of chivalresque romances should be collected and burned. Prohibitions and protests, however, were of little avail against these romances in the golden season of their popularity. More effective was the competition of new types of imaginative literature which in due course sprang up in rivalry: the pastoral romance, the pica- resque story, and above all the stage-play, which flou- rished even more vigorously in Spain than in England. Towards the end of the sixteenth century the romance of chivalry had clearly outworn its welcome. When in 1605 Cervantes published the first part of his Don Quixote, ^ For the various prohibitions of these romances, and for this aspect of them, see Francisco Rodrfguez Marfn, El " Quijote " y Don Quijote en Amkrica, 1911, pp. 15-19. The prohibitions with regard to the New World may have been effective at the time, but the viriter shows that at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century, just when the romances were faUing into disrepute in Spain, they found a considerable market in the colonies. He mentions con- signments of them shipped in 1586 and 1599 (p. 32), and, along with Don Quixote, in 1605 (p. 36). v] OF THE NEW ROMANCES 179 if he had not the rather doubtful distinction of killing outright an already dying race, he had at least the satis- faction of saving us from any possibility of a revival. After 1605 no new chivalresque romance was printed, and comparatively few of those already existing were reissued in their original form, though chap-book re- prints of Amadis and others have continued right down to the present day. For a time the principal heroes inspired a number of stage-plays; their memory was also kept alive by their appearance in popular pageants — for the later instances Don Quixote himself was partly responsible. As early as 1 549 a veritable chivalresque romance in miniature had been enacted before the Emperor Charles V in Flanders'-. As late as 1633 the principal heroes of various romances figured in a mag- nificent masquerade at Barcelona^, in the train of Don Quixote who had supplanted them. Doubtless they long continued to grace lesser occasions, but with these we need not concern ourselves. The chivalresque romances had ceased to be live literature in Spain by the beginning of the seventeenth century. ^ A contemporary account, entitled Relacion muy verdadera de las grandes fiestas que la Serenissima Reyna dona Maria ha hecho al Principe nuestro senor en Flandes en z'n lugar que se dize Vince, was printed at Medina del Campo in 1549, and is reprinted in full by C. Perez Pastor, ia Imprenta en Medina del Campo, 1895, pp. S7-67. But a more detailed description occupies ff. 182-205 °f Juan Christoval Calvete de Estrella's El Felicissimo Viaie d'el muy Alto y muy Poderoso Principe Don Phelippe . . . desde Espana a sus tierras dela baxa Alemana, etc., Antwerp, 1552. 2 In honour of Philip IV's brother and Viceroy in Catalonia. A contemporary account, together with much information concerning spectacles of this nature, is to be found in J. Givanel Mas, Una Mas- carada Quixotesca celehrada a Barcelona I'any 1633, Barcelona, 1915. CHAPTER VI THE EXTENSION OF THE NEW ROMANCES ON THE CONTINENT I. Italy THE Spanish conquests in Naples and Sicily, the presence of Spaniards in the Vatican and even on the Papal throne, the foundation of Spanish colleges and the formation of Spanish colonies in Italy, are sufficient reasons for the very close relations, diplomatic, military, commercial, ecclesiastical, educational, and literary, which existed between Spain and Italy about the turn of the fifteenth century. The mutual influence in literature was considerable, but the literary exchange about this time is rightly regarded as greatly in Italy's favour. The usual statement of the case, however, somewhat obscures the Spanish effort to reduce the debt. One of the chief contributions towards the main- tenance of Spanish literary credit in Italy was the new romance of chivalry. It is not surprising to find that the Spanish romances reached Italy earlier than other countries, or that they were more fruitful there than elsewhere. The old French romances had prepared the ground in Italy as in Spain, and the new Spanish ro- mances were welcomed in Italy soon after, and conse- quently very much in the order of, their publication. As early as 1 500 — ten years after its publication — Isabella d' Este, Marchioness of Mantua, was reading CH. vi] EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES 1 8 1 Tirant lo Blanch. Unabashed by its realism, we find her ten years later asking in a letter that a copy of " \in libro spagnolo nominato el Tirante" should be procured for her; and a Tirante actually figures in the inventory of her books. From a letter addressed to Isabella it appears that Niccolo da Correggio was attempting a translation of Tirant lo Blanch in 1501^. To adapt a remark made by the curate in Don Quixote^ concerning The Mirror of Knighthood, Tirant lo Blanch had " some share of the in- vention of the famous Matteo Boiardo and the Christian poet Ludovico Ariosto." Quite early in the sixteenth century the former had taken from the Valencian ro- mance the story of the enchanted dragon restored to human shape by the virtue of a kiss^, and the latter had borrowed an incident* which was afterwards utilised by Shakespeare in Much Ado About Nothing, as we shall see later. The early appearance of the Amadis series in Italy has already been mentioned: we have seen that editions ^ For the early appearance of Tirant lo Blanch in Italy see Luzio- Renier: Niccold da Correggio, in the Giornale storico della letter atura italiana, 1893, vol. xxii. pp. 70, etc. The letter referring to the translation begins thus: " III.™^ patrona mia. Mio patronee servitore de la S.V. [i.e. Correggio] avea dato principle a tradure Tirante, como vedera la S.V.J ma non ge basta 1' animo, perch^ dice que questo che vedera la S.V. h una colona e mezo e che '1 veneria alto due volte como 1' ^. . . . " 2 Ft I. ch. VI. ^ Compare Tirant lo Blanch, ch. ccccx. (cccxcv.) and Orlando Innamorato, bk 11. cantos xrv., xxvi. * The disguising of the maid in order to throw doubt upon the fidelity of the mistress. Compare Tirant lo Blanch, ch. cclxxxiii. (ccLXviii.) and Orlando Furioso, canto v. ; and see Fio Rajna, Le fonti dell' Orlando Furioso, edn. 2, 1900, pp. 149, etc. 1 82 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. of the original Four Books of Amadis of Gaul in Spanish were published at Rome in 1 5 1 9, and at Venice in 1533, and that an edition of Esplandian in Spanish came out at Rome in 1525. Naturally Amadis must have been available in Italy before 1 5 1 9. If we could believe Fon- tanini^, it was known there long before the invention of printing; but his suggestion that Dante's transforma- tions of human beings into trees in Canto xiii. of the Inferno were inspired by Amadis is based on nothing stronger than a suspicion "that Dante, who saw every- thing that could be seen in his day, might have seen" the Spanish romance. There is, however, concrete evi- dence that Amadis had reached Italy shortly after the date of the first known edition of the Spanish text: according to a letter by Pietro Bembo^, it was being read in Rome in 15 12. There is a simple reference, without explanation, to the "Firm Island" and its "Arch of True Lovers " in Castiglione's // Cortegiano^, which, though not published till 1528, was begun in 1514, finished in 1518, and in definitive form in 1524. In Mario Equicola's Libro de natura de amore'^, which appeared in 1525, there is another reference to an incident in Amadis, which assumes some general ac- ^ Delia eloquenza italiana, edition of 1737, pp. 78, 79. * Lettera di P. Bembo a Giambattista Ramusio, del 4 febbraio 1512, printed by Vittorio Cian in Un decennio delta vtta di M. Pietro Bembo, 1885, p. 206: "... Ben si pare che il Valiero sia sepolto in qual suo Amadigi." * See Vittorio Cian's second edition, 1910, p. 380. * End of bk v., edition of 1525, fol. 208 verso: " Cosi son piene de morti le carte spagnole, & esso Amadis di Gaula sotto '1 nome de bel tenebroso canta, gia che me si nega uictoria, che de lusto me era deuuta, li done more la gloria, e gloria morir la uita." vi] ON THE CONTINENT: ITALY 183 quaintance with the romance. Of much greater interest than these mere references is the fact that Ariosto read Amadis with as much profit as he read Tirant lo Blanch. Several instances of the influence of Amadis on the Orlando Furioso have been collected^, and they are all the more remarkable because they occur in the edition printed at Ferrara in 1516, only eight years after the first known edition of the Spanish romance. Another Italian poet was still more influenced by Amadis before it had been translated into Italian. Probably Bernardo Tasso became acquainted with Amadis in Italy, yet it was during his journeys in Spain in 1537 and 1539, while in the service of the Prince of Salerno, that he was persuaded to versify the Spanish romance, as we know from a statement by his son Torquato Tasso in the Apologia for his Gerusalemme Liber ata^. But Bernardo Tasso's Amadigi di Francia, a poetical version of selec- tions from the Spanish original, was not published till 1560, and meantime complete prose translations of several of the romances had appeared in Italy. 1 See Pio Rajna, op. at., pp. 130, 132, 155, 401, 407, 465^ 579. The chief comparisons made by Rajna are "L' aspra legge di Scozia" (canto IV. 59) with the adulterous woman's punishment by death (Amadis, bk i. ch. 1.), and the "paso honroso" of Rodomonte (canto XXIX.) with that of Gandalod {Amadis, bk 11. ch. vii.). 2 Ferrara, 1585, sig. A 4 recto: "Sappiate dunq; che essedo mio Padre nella Corte di Spagna per seruitio del Principe di Salerno suo patrone fu persuaso da i principali di quella corte a ridurre in Poema 1' Historia fauolosa dell' Amadigi, la quale, d giuditio di molti, & mio particolarmente, h la piu beUa che si legga fra quelle di questo genere, & forse la piu gioueuole; perche nell' affetto, & nel costume si lascia adietro tutte 1' altre, & nella uarieta de gli accidenti non cede ad alcuna che dapoi 6 prima sia stata scritta." 1 84 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. After the early references to Tirant lo Blanch men- tioned above, it is not surprising to find that the Valen- cian romance was the first to be published in Italian, or that the translation was made at the instigation of the Gonzagas of Mantua, by Lelio Manfredi^. But in Italy, as in Spain, Tirant lo Blanch was an isolated romance, and as if to emphasise this fact, the first edition of 1538 appeared in quarto, whereas all the Italian translations of Amadis of Gaul and his " innumerable progeny " came out in handy octavo form. The real invasion of the Italian world of letters by a horde of chivalresque romances of Spanish origin or inspiration began with the issue of the Italian translations of Palmerin de Oliva and Lepolemo (el Cavallero de la Cruz) in 1 544. Italian translations of books belonging to the Amadis or Pal- merin series, and of a few other romances, together with original Italian continuations, tumbled over each other in the rush for publication during the latter half of the sixteenth century. The chief conspirators were the Venetian publisher Michele Tramezzino and his hack Mambrino Roseo da Fabriano, who evidently ran an up-to-date factory for the manufacture of chivalresque romances on the most approved com- mercial lines. ^ See Luzio-Renier, of. cit., pp. 72, 73. Manfredi had abeady trans- lated Diego de San Pedro's Carcel de Amor for Isabella, his version being printed in 1514 with assistance from the Marchioness. Fired by this success he had set about translating Tirant lo Blanch in the same year. His version was finished by 1 5 19 and dedicated to Frederick Gonzaga, though it was not printed till nearly twenty years later. LeUo Manfredi seems to be the Lelio Aletiphilo who translated Juan de Flores's Grisely Mirabella as the Historia di A urdio e Isabella. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: ITALY 185 The very much abridged Cavallier de la Croce was as popular in Italy as its original was in Spain 1. Moreover a Second Book, which takes its name from Lepolemo's son, Leandro il Bello, was added by a certain Pietro Lauro in 1560^, and was several times reprinted. In accordance with custom, this continuation professes to be translated from the Spanish, and the statement has hitherto been accepted as true; but the Italian version preceded the only known edition of the Spanish version by three years, and it can be shown that the latter, issued from the suspicious house of the Ferrers in Toledo, is a translation of the former^. Palmerin de Oliva, the other romance issued in Italian in 1544, was followed by translations of Primaleon^ — divided into three books like the original — and of Platir in 1 548 ^. In 1553 appeared Part I, and in 1 554 ^ Meizi (Bibliografia dei romanzi e foemi cavallereschi italiani, 1838, pp. 349, 350) quotes nine editions between 1544 and 1606. To these must be added editions of 1628 (Crofts sale catalogue, 1783, No. 4713) and 1629 (Roxburghe sale catalogue, 1812, No. 6264). ^ It might be suspected from Melzi that there was an edition of 1550; but the edition of 1560 appears to be the first, for it contains a privilege of the Venetian Senate dated 29 November, 1559. From 1560 onwards the two books of the Cavallier de la Croce ■wexe usually printed together. ' See Appendix i. * H, Vaganay (Les romans de chevalerie italiens d'inspiration espagnole, in La Bibliofilia, 1908-9, vol. ix. pp. 121-131, and vol. x. pp. 121-134, 161-167) gives thirteen editions of Palmerin de Oliva in Italian between 1544 and 1620, and nine of Primaleon between 1548 and 1608. Editions of both works issued after 1560 were usually accompanied by the con- tinuations of Mambrino Roseo mentioned just below. * Seven editions, 1 548-1 61 1, all but the first being accompanied, by Mambrino Roseo's continuation (Melzi, op. cit., pp. 346, 347). 1 86 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. Part II oiPalmerin of England'^; the dedication of Part I is dated 21 March, 1553, that of Part II, 7 June, 1554. The book of Flortir may be assumed to have appeared in the interval between these two parts, for it came out in 1554^, with a privilege of the Venetian Senate dated 24 October, 1 553. With the Second Part of Palmerin of England the translation into Italian ceased, for the Por- tuguese continuations of this romance were not trans- lated into any language. Instead, an original Italian con- tinuation of Palmerin of England by Mambrino Roseo appeared at Venice, apparently in 1558 ^. In 1 560 there was a renewed outburst on the part of the Venetian factory, for in that year original continuations which went under the name of Mambrino Roseo were added to four of the existing books. To judge by the privileges of the Venetian Senate^ they came out in the follow- ing order: first of all a Fourth Book of Primaleon, ^ Melzi, of. cit., pp. 323, 324, quoting the "catalogo Floncel," gives the impression that there exists an edition of both parts dated 1553. The Catalogo della libreria Floncel is a sale catalogue published in Paris in 1774. In view of the dates of the dedications given above, vye must imagine that the compiler of the catalogue had before him an edition of 1553-54, ^^^ overlooked the date in the second volume. Mr Purser {Palmerin of England, Appendix in. pp. 389, 390) gives eight editions between 1553 and 1609; those after 1558 are accom- panied by Mambrino Roseo's continuation. ^ Seven editions, 1554-1608, all but the first being accompanied hy Mambrino Roseo's continuation (Melzi, op. cit., pp. 347, 348). * No edition of this date is known to exist, but one is assumed from the fact that the dedication printed in later editions is dated i April, 1558 (Melzi, op. cit., p. 323). * The dates of these privileges are: Primaleon, pt iv. 15 Jan., 1559; Palmerin de Oliva, pt 11. 29 Nov., 1559; Platir, pt 11. and Flortir, pt II. 2o Sept., 1560 (Melzi, op. cit., pp. 345, 343, 346, 347). vi] ON THE CONTINENT: ITALY 187 devoted to the exploits of the Knight Darineo, next a Second Book of Palmerin de Oliva, then a Second Book of Platir and a Second Book oi Flortir. There is only one other continuation to be mentioned. In 1566 Pietro Lauro brought out a supplement to the first twenty chapters of Primaleon, continuing the adventures of Polendo (Polendos), son of Primaleon. This supple- ment was until recently taken to be a translation^ of the Spanish romance Polindo, published at Toledo in 1526; but the two have nothing to do with one another, and the Spanish romance has nothing to do with the Pal- merin series, the similarity in names being an accident. The interpolation of these Italian continuations be- tween the somewhat close joints of the original series needed some ingenuity; but the way was prepared by the plentiful supply of enchantments. There were usually some convenient characters left stranded in a state of trance at the end of most of the original books, and having made a selection of these you explained that the other fellow must have been an ass or he would never, for in- stance, have overlooked certain papers which you have found in a private case in the magnificent library of Caloiam, Emperor of Trebizond. You are then free, on the basis of these papers, to set your characters romanc- ing chivalrously till you estimate your manuscript will fill some five hundred octavo pages, when you hustle them back to Constantinople in an enchanted ship ready for their adventures in the alreadypublishednext book. The enchanted ship disappears opportunely in a cloud of fire and smoke as soon as the passengers have landed. ^ Pietro Lauro professes to have translated this book, Uke Leandro il Bella, from the Spanish. He is no doubt the author of both. 1 88 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [cH. To make matters perfectly clear {perpiu. chiarezza del lettort) you will also, for instance, explain that the second book of Platir forms the second book of Darineo and is a newly-found adjunct to the first book of Platir, and that the second book of Darineo forms the second part to the first book of Darineo, which formed the fourth book of Primaleon, itself a newly-found adjunct to the first three books ; and that while the action of the first book of Darineo takes place before an enchantment lasting several years, the action of the second takes place after the enchantment, and that thus Darineo and Platir performed in different places but at the same epoch. And if you are Mambrino Roseo you will convey all this information in three pages of inimitably inextricable prose^, and you may be perfectly sure that you run little risk of being found out. The Amadis series had a similar history in Italy to that of the Palmerin series, and it was even more pro- ductive, though it was a couple of years later in entering the field. To judge by the privilege of the Venetian Senate, dated 1546, the First Four Books came out in that year, followed by the Fifth Book in 1 547, and the Sixth Book in 1 550. So far all the books are numbered. Feliciano de Silva's Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Books were published in 1550-1551, all three without any numeration. The Eighth Book, in spite of Brunet's note 2, was not translated; but the original Spanish ^ See Platir, pt ii. ch. i. ^ Manuel du libraire . . . Par J. C. Brunei, i860, etc., torn. i. col. 219: " II est a remarquer que dans la suite des Amadis en italien, il ne se trouve pas de 8= livre; cela vient de ce qu'on a fait du 8« livre espagnol une 2" partie du 7' italien." vi] ON THE CONTINENT: ITALY 189 numeration must be retained for the Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Books, leaving a gap for the Eighth Book, for in 1 551 also there appeared the first half only of Silva's Eleventh Book, described as the Eleventh Book, and the Twelfth Book^. Seven years later there was pub- lished the first part of the Thirteenth Book. This professed to be taken from the Spanish, like its pre- decessors. As a matter of fact no Spanish original exists, and Book Thirteen is the first of a series of additions to the Amadts romances made by Mambrino Roseo da Fabriano. The hero is Sferamundi of Greece, the son of Rogel of Greece, the hero of the Eleventh Book. A second part of the Thirteenth Book appeared in 1559, a third and a fourth part in 1 563, and a fifth and a sixth part in 1565^. These parts are sometimes numbered 1 The following editions of Books i.-xii., and of the Supplements mentioned just below in the text, are given by Vaganay, o'p. cit. (in La Bibliqfilia, 1911-13, vol. xii. pp. 112-125, 205-211, 280-300, 390-399; vol. XIII. pp. 124-133, 200-215, 278-292, 394-411; vol. XIV. pp. 87-94, 157-168): Bks i.-iv.: [1546], 52, 58, 59, 60, 72, 76, 81, 84, 89, 94, 1601, 09, 24; Supplement; 1563, 94, 1609, 24; Bk v.: [1547], 50, 57, 60, 64, 73, 92, 99, 1609, 12; Supplement: 1564, 82, 92, 99, 1600, 09, 13; Bk VI.: 1550, 51, 1600, 10; Bk VII.: 1550, 57, 59, 67, 70, 73, 78, 81, 99, 1610; Supplement: 1564, 99, 1610, 30; Bk ix.: 1550, 57, 65, 74, 80, 85, 86, 92, 1606, 15, 19, 29; Supplement: 1564, 1615, 29; Bkx.: 1551, 65, 75, 93, 94, 1606, 08, 19; Supplement: 1564, 94, 1606, 08, 19; Bk XI.: 1551, 66, [84, a mistake], 94, 1606, 08, 19; Supplement: 1564, 84, 94, 99, 1606, 08, 19; Bk XII.: 1551, 61, 64, 65, 81, 92, 1607, 29; Supplement: 1568, 81, 92, 1607, 29. These figures show the popularity of the Amadis series in Italy. They are representative, but not complete. The British Museum has the following editions, besides many of those given above: Bks i.-iv: 1557; Bk v.: 1559; Bkx.: 1561; Bkxi.:i575. 2 Vaganay {ibid., vol. xiv. pp. 426-429; vol. xv. pp. 413-422; vol. xvi. I90 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. consecutively as separate books, and so the number of books in the Amadis series is brought up to eighteen. But these six new books are only one half of Mambrino Roseo's additions. During the year in which he issued the third and fourth parts of the Thirteenth Book, he commenced appending supplements to various earlier books. Thus in 1563 he published a supplement to the Fourth Book. In the next year, before resuming the continuation of the Thirteenth Book, he produced supplements to the Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Books. The second of these Brunet wrongly takes to be a translation of the Spanish Eighth Book. The last is a substitute for the second half of the Spanish Eleventh Book, which was not translated into any lan- guage, owing perchance to its having been published after the Twelfth Book had already carried the series to its extreme limit in Spain. Finally, there appeared a supplement to the Twelfth Book in 1568^. These supplements are introduced in much the same way as the supplements to the Palmerin series. For instance, certain untranslated annals of the Emperor of Trebizond are the source of the supplement to the Seventh Book. pp. S9-63, 114-122, 382-390, 446-451; vol. XVII. pp. 106-111) records the following editions of Book xiii. : Pt i. : 1558, 69, 74, 82, 84, 1600, 10, 19; Pt II.: 1559, 60, 69, 74, 82, 1600, 10, 19; Pt in.: 1563, 69, 74, 82, 1600, 10, 19; Pt IV.: 1563, 69, 74, 82, 1600, 10, 19; Pt v.: 1565, 69, 74, 83, 1600, 10, 29; Pt VI.: 1565, 69, 74, 83, 1600, 10, 29. 1 It is only right to add that Mambrino Roseo's name does not occur on many of the title-pages, whether of the translations or of the original books; but though he may not have translated or composed all these books, as tradition would have it, he was no doubt the moving spirit in the business. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: ITALY 191 At the close of the Seventh Book, Lisuarte of Greece, Perion, Olorio and the Emperor of Trebizond were left enchanted by Zirfea, Queen of Argines. They were released from that enchantment during the course of the next book — in this case the Ninth. The problem of inserting a whole new book between these two events is overcome through the obliging intervention of the sage magician Alquife, who secretly disenchants Li- suarte and Perion, starts them on an adventurous career of some five hundred pages, and then, perceiving of his foreknowledge that the hour was fast approaching when the original quartet should be released from the enchant- ment of Zirfea, hurries back his two proteges and reduces them to the enchanted state just in time for the general awakening in the Ninth Book. Some half dozen more of our romances were trans- lated into Italian. Their history is brief. Almost all of them appeared once during the sixteenth century, and again in the early years of the next century during a minor revival which seems to have been little more than a speculation on the part of the Venetian printer Lucio Spineda. Beatriz Bernal's Cristalian de Espana came out in an anonymous translation in I557-'-, Dionys Cle- mente's Valerian de Ungria, in a translation attributed to Pietro Lauro, was published in the following year^, and the five parts oi Florambel de Lucea, translated by Mam- brino Roseo, in 1560^. Thirteen years later there appeared the Historia del valoroso Cavallier Polisman 1 Reprinted 1609 (Melzi, op. cit., p. 348). 2 Reprinted 1611 {ibid., pp. 348, 349). * Reprinted 1609 {ibid., pp. 350, 351). 192 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. (1573)1, which professes to be translated from the Spanish by Giovanni Miranda, but which is no doubt an original romance by him, as we have already seen. An interval of another thirteen years brings us to Don Belianis. The first fifty chapters of Part I of the Spanish original, translated by Oratio Rinaldi, came out in 1586; the remaining chapters of Part I and the first seventeen chapters of Part II were added by Rinaldi as a second part in 1587. To the year 1587 also belongs the translation of the first two books of Felix Magna, by Camillo Camilli. Finally these translations came to an end in 1601 — a year before the last original Spanish romance was published — with the Specchio de Prencipi et Cavalieri^, a translation of the three books of Diego Ortunez de Calahorra's first part of the Espejo de Prin- cipes y Cavalleros, made by " Melchior Escappa da Villa- roel, Gentilhuomo Spagnuolo Lionese." The notes on this and the preceding pages will have made it clear that all these romances, whether forming part of a series or not, enjoyed much the same relative popularity in Italy as in Spain. As in Spain, too, their vogue lasted close on a century, for not till 1 630 did they cease to be published in Italy. That the Peninsular romances were well known in Italy even before they were translated has already been seen. Evidences of their popularity naturally become more numerous when once they were available in the ^ Recorded by untrustworthy authorities as printed in 1572 and reprinted in 1593; certainly reprinted in 1612 {ibid., p. 349). ^ Reprinted 1610 (Vaganay, op. cit., in La Bibliofilia, 1910, vol. xi. pp. 171-182). vi] ON THE CONTINENT: ITALY 193 vernacular. Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, in his Dialogo deir imprese militari et amorose (j-SSSYt supports the use of devices and mottoes by reference to their occurrence in the Spanish romances Amadis of Gaul, Primaleon, Palmerin and Tirant lo Blanch. The "Arch of True Lovers," which at an early date had attracted the attention of Castiglione, continued to appeal to the Italians. In 1561, among the "invenzioni" repre- sented in Mantua at the festival in honour of Duke William's marriage with Eleanor of Austria, was "that of the Arch of True Lovers, described in Amadis of Gaul^." That same Arch, with its motto " clarum spero sonitum," is mentioned by Girolamo Bargagli in his Dialogo de" giuochi che nelle vegghie Sanesi si usano di fare, printed in 1572^, but written some years before. Bargagli, who displays a fairly detailed acquaintance with Amadis, also describes a reading circle in the Countess Agnolina d' Elci's house, where a select company of ladies used to meet and amuse themselves with "the books of Amadis of Gaul and of Greece, the Palmerins and Florisels," as well as the Orlando Furioso *. One of the most peculiar illustrations of the ^ Original edition, p. 6: "L' usorno similmente i celebrati ne i libri della lingua Spagnola, Amadis de Gaula, Primaleon, Palmerino, & Tirante il Bianco." These romances would be brought to the notice of English readers in the translation of Giovio's Imprese by the poet and historian Samuel Daniel published in 1585. 2 See Alessandro d' Ancona, Origini del teatro italiano, edn. 2, 1891, vol. II. p. 416 n. This writer refers to a contemporary account by Andrea Arrivabene, and to Celio Malespini's Ducento Ndvelle, pt 11. nov. XI. 3 Original edition of 1572 (but "gia piii anni fu composto"), p. 154. * Ihid., p. 66: ". . . in casa deUa Contessa Agnolina d' Elci, done T. 13 194 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch hold which these romances had obtained in Italy is to be found in the Letters of Andrea Calmo (t 1571). In a letter addressed " a la signora Orsolina," who we may safely say was not a countess, he mentions a number of articles which he is presenting to that lady. A somewhat more extensive choice seems to have been allowed at this time than is customary nowadays, for the list com- mences with "do camise fatte lavorar in Candia per man de una hebrea," on which — back and front and sleeves as well — were embroidered scenes from several more or less seemly classical fables; it ends with a coloured kerchief on which were woven all the war the pagan King Agramante had with Charlemagne King of France, the death and avenging of Julius Caesar, the history of Palmerin de Oliva, Emperor of Constantinople, and the brave deeds of Amadis of Gaul, with all the adventures of the knights of King Arthur's Round Table, and in the middle the wise Atlas, holding the world on his shoulders, and sur- rounded by the great doctors in astrology^ vna bella, & ristretta compagnia di donne si ritrouaua; lequaK oltre al Furioso, questi libri d' Amadigi di Gaula, & di Grecia, & questi Pal- merini, & don FloriseUi di leggere si dilettauano." ^ Lettere, ed. by V. Rossi (in Biblioteca di testi inediti rati, vol. iii.), 1888, bk IV. No. 36. The various presents to the lady include "do camise fatte lavorar in Candia per man de una hebrea: in una vu trovar^ a puiesi de sea cremesina, intel peto le nozze de Cupido e Psiche celebrae fra certe niole in cielo, da basso a la panza 1' inamora- mento de Priapo con la Fada Lotos int' un boscheto de ancipressi, drio le spale la copola de Marte e Venere piai soto la rede de Vulcan, in la manega zanca el trionfo de Nettuno e Tetis con Glauco, Triton e Galatea in mezo la marina, in la manega destra Orfeo sentao in cima una colina, sonando con la lira e cantando cortizao da diversi anemali . . . e per compir el presente, aceter^ un fazzuol da testa tessuo di pi colori, tutta la guera che have re Agramante Pagan con Carlo Magno vi] ON THE CONTINENT: ITALY 195 Popular as the Peninsular romances of chivalry un- doubtedly were in Italy, they were just as rarely praised by prominent Italians as they were by prominent Spaniards. The same flattering tribute of imitation which, as we have seen, Bernardo Tasso paid to Amadis of Gaul, was paid by Ludovico Dolce to the Palmerins. Dolce had written a laudatory preface to Tasso's Ama- digi di Francia, which came out in 1560. His interest in promoting the popularity of that lengthy poem is explained by the fact that he himself was preparing two similar, but even lengthier, works. In 1561 appeared his versification of Palmerin de Oliva, and next year that of Primaleon. Heredity may account for Torquato's lavish praise of Amadis in the apology for his Gerusalemme Liberata^, where he speaks of it as "in the judgment of many, and especially in my own, the finest story of its kind, and perhaps the most entertain- ing, excelling all others in the description of passions and customs, and second to none in variety of incident." His father's association with Dolce may be responsible for the inclusion of the much-abused Primaleon in another panegyric which occurs in his Discorsi delpoema heroico^. "The author of the love-story of Amadis and re de Franza, la morte e la vendeta de Giulio Cesare, 1' historia de Palmerin d' Oliva da Costantinopli e le valentisie de Amadis de Gaula, con tutte le imprese de i cavalieri de la Tavola redonda del re Artu e in mezo el savio Atalante, che tien el mondo sora de le so spale circondao da i gran dotori de la Astrologia." ^- See the extract quoted above, p. 183, n. 2. 2 Edition printed c. 1597, p. 46: ". . . ma qualunque fosse colui, che ci descrisse Amadigi amante d' Oriana merita maggior lode, ch' alcuno degU scrittori Francesi, e non traggo dj questo numero Arnaldo 13—2 196 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. Oriana," he says, "deserves greater praise than any of the French writers, not excepting Arnaut Daniel," in spite of Dante's eulogy of the latter. And he adds that "Dante would perhaps have changed his opinion, if he had read Amadis of Gaul or of Greece, or Primaleon, for love is treated as a nobler and more constant passion by the Spanish writers than by the French." As in Spain, so in Italy, such unqualified praise is rare, and only occasionally does a critic commend cer- tain qualities in the romances while falling foul of the class. Ortensio Landi reminds us of Juan de Valdes, for in "Ashort exhortation to the study of letters" appended to his La Sferza de scrittori antichi et moderni^, after asking what pleasure can be found in Amadis, the Floriseh, Palmerins, Esplandians and Primaleons, which contain nothing but the dreams of diseased minds, and tales that have neither truth nor verisimilitude, he ad- mits they have much sweetness of language, "Yet how Daniello, ilquale scrisse di Lancillotto, quantunque dicesse Dante. Rime d' Amore, e prose di Romanzi Souerchio tutti, e lascia dir gli stolti, Che quel di limo si credon, ch' auanzi. Ma s' egli hauesse letto Amadigi di Gaula, 6 quel di Grecia, 6 Prima- leone perauetura haurebbe mutata opinione: perche piu nobilmente, e con maggior costanza sono descritti gli amori da poeti Spagnuoli, che da Francesi." ^ La Sferza de scrittori antichi et modemi di M. Anonimo di Utopia, 1550, fol. 30 recto: ". . . come 6 possibile, che piacer ui possino questi, Amadis, FloriseUi, Palmerini, Splandiani & Pigmalioni (jic), ne quali, altro no si contengono che sogni d' infermi, & narrationi, che non hanno ne del uero, ne del uerisimilej non niego pero che non habbino molta dolcezza nella lingua: Oh come fareste uoi il meglio; se in uece de libri Spagnuoli, compraste tanti libri greci, donde ne diriua 1' eruditione de Latini scrittori." vi] ON THE CONTINENT: ITALY 197 much better it would be to buy Greek books instead of Spanish." Girolamo Muzio held a similar opinion concerning the chivalresque romances, but he has no concession to make. In his Cavaliero^ he says he fails to understand how gentlemen can take delight in these romances, whether Italian, French or Spanish, where the question is who can tell the biggest lies, rather than in the truths of history. And he warns these foolish people he has in mind that when their opinions on warlike matters are wanted, it is no use their quoting Ruggiero, Rinaldo, Amadis, Primaleon, or the Knights of the Round Table: they will only be laughed at. Like Ortensio Landi, he holds up to them classical models. Some talk of Alexander And some of Hercules, Of Hector and Lysander And such brave names as these. Here are the men who will be listened to with attention and approval. "^ 11 Cavaliero del Mutio, 1569, fol. 6 verso-7 recto: "Et percioche in mano di Caualieri sono assai spesso i libri de' Romanzi, siano Italiani, Fracesi, o Spagnuoli, non so perche piu delle fole di quelK dilettar si debbiano, che della verita delle historie: the in quelle fintioni altro non vi ha, se non studio di scrittori, che a gara hanno fatto di chi sa dir le maggior menzogne. Ma se pur sono si vaghi di vanita, che di quelli piu che di quelle dilettar si vogliano, si hanno da ricordare, che quando si haueranno da trattar ne' consigli delle cose alia guerra appartenenti, non vi haura luogo di allegare ne Ruggieri, ne Rinaldo, ne Amadigi, ne Primaleone, ne i Caualieri deUa tauola rotonda, iquali nominandosi sarebbe a gli ascoltanti cagion di riso, Ma se nomineranno i Lisandri, se i Pelopidi, & se i Cononi, se gli Asdrubali, & se gli Amilcari, se i Fabritij, se i Camilli, con attentione, & con commendatione saranno le tali orationi ascoltate, & approuate." 198 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. As in Spain, so in Italy, religious writers felt called upon to atone for the neglect of these romances by the ecclesiastical censorship; they are consequently more severe in their strictures than the laymen. A bishop, Luigi Lollini (ti625), whom we may set off against another bishop, Paolo Giovio, mentioned above, wrote a whole pamphlet against the "Amadisian" stories^. At a much later date Angelo Paciuchelli, in his Lectiones morales in Prophetam Jonam^, tells us that the scoundrel Luther, when he decided to corrupt Germany with his execrable heresy, had copies of the French Amadis left about in princely palaces ; these were eagerly devoured by curious courtiers, who fell victims to the strange battles, shameful loves, and unheard-of mar- vels, and so gradually acquired a loathing for the sacred writings and spiritual books. Paciuchelli's morality, we may hope, was better than his latinity : this story is due to his misinterpretation of a criticism of the romances written in Latin by a Frenchman whom we shall quote later. It was however as harmless as it is absurd, for Luther had long been dead, and so too were the chival- ^ Amuletwn adversus Amadisianae lectionis maleficia. This work is included in the 1630 editiofl of Lollini's Characteres. ^ Edition of 1672-81, torn. i. p. 4, col. I : ". . . Sceleratus Ule Lutherus, ubi Germaniam execrabili hseresi contaminare decrevit, fecit, ut lingui GaUica liber quidam donaretur, Amadis dictus, & quidem omni elegantia exornatus, per Principum aulas spargeretur. Curiosi Aulici avid^ perlegerunt, ciimque insolitas pugnas, nefandos amores, & inauditas praestigias notassent, gliscere paulatim incipiebat sacrarum paginarum spiritualidmque librorum nausea. Inde ilia, quse legerant, ipsi experiri voluere, & hac via, brevi temporis spatio, Principum Aulas adulterijs, sacrilegijs, divinationibus, maleficijs, & Judiciaria Astrologia turpiter fuerunt defasdatse." vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 199 resque romances in Italy. Fruitful enough within the limits of their class and period, they had ceased to have any significance there shortly after the first quarter of the seventeenth century. II. France We have seen that the Peninsular romances of chivalry were introduced into Italyunder princelyauspices. They made their appearance in France under royal patronage. King Francis I no doubt made the acquaintance of Amadis while a prisoner of war in Madrid, 1525—26. About the same time, and perhaps at the same place, one of his artillery officers, Nicolas de Herberay, Sei- gneur des Essarts,also made its acquaintance, and under- took to translate it into French — at the King's own instigation, according to some of the translator's rather contradictory prefaces. Continued wars interfered with the translation, and it was not till after the Treaty of Nice in 1538 between Francis I and the Emperor Charles V that Herberay had leisure to set about his task in earnest. Two years later the First Book was published by Denis Janot, and each year another book was added till 1 546, when the Seventh Book appeared. An Eighth Book was published in 1548, and with that Herberay's connexion with Amadis ceased. A Ninth Book came out in 1551, translated by the Fleming Giles Boileau and revised by Claude Colet. This seems to have aroused Herberay, who next year tried to re-enter the Amadis line of business with an original romance — he pretends it is a translation from the 200 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. Spanish — whose hero is Flores de Grece, a son of Esplandian^. In Flores de Grhe he explains his inactivity since 1548 as due partly to the death of the King, his instigator to the task of translation, and partly to a long and serious illness^. This double calamity being too much for him, he forsook Amadis and sought consolation by translating Josephus's Wars of the Jews^, which, by the way, appeared in 1553, and again in 1557, with exactly the same illustrations as had been used through- out the early French editions of Amadis. Flores de Grece never became recognised as part of the Amadis series *. The doors were definitely shut against it by the publi- cation, also in 1552, of a Tenth Book, translated by Jacques Gohorry, who added an Eleventh Book in 1 554. A Twelfth Book, translated by Guillaume Aubert, was published in 1556. Jacques Gohorry re-entered the ^ Flores de Grece was reprinted in 1555, 1561, 1572, 1573. ^ The opening words of the dedication to Henri II are worth giving for the statements they contain: "Sire i'auoys par le commandement du feu Roy vostre pare (que Dieu absolue) entreprins de mettre en lumiere toute la cronique du roy Amadis, & estoys sur la fin du huitiesme liure quant la mort donna but a ses iours: & mon maleur vn commance- ment en moy d'vne si longue & rude maladie, que pour le mieuk que i'en esperois estoit vn auancemet de mort." ^ Loc. cit.\ "Or auoye pour ces occasios desdaigne entieremet le reste du labeur d'Amadis & pris en main losephus pour mettre en Franfoys le discours qui traite de la guerre & ruine des luifz." * In an English translation in the British Museum it is described as a Supplement to Amadis de Gaule. The translator is given as W.P., to whom proper names were a stumbling-block: the author's name is printed "Mounsieur De Essule, Nicholas de Hereby." The copy in question is dated 1664, and is of the third edition; but the preface states: "It is above a hundred years since this took the English dresse on it." VI] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 201 lists in 1 57 1 with a Thirteenth Book, while a Fourteenth Book, translated by Antoine Tyron, appeared in 1 574, and again soon afterwards, revised by Jacques Gohorry. These fourteen books^ exhaust the original Spanish twelve books, to which, by a re-arrangement in the numbering, they correspond. Books 6 and 8 were not translated. The Spanish Book 7 becomes therefore the French Book 6. The French Books 7 and 8 correspond to the two parts of the Spanish Book 9, but the " Sueno " already mentioned as occurring at the end of the first part is omitted (as it was also in the Italian translation), and five chapters at the end of the second part are trans- ferred to the next book. The French Books 9 and 10 correspond to the two parts of the Spanish Book 10; but to balance the five chapters added at the beginning of Book 9, the last four chapters of the first part are transferred to Book i o. The French Books 1 1 and 1 2 correspond to the first part of the Spanish Book 1 1, with the opening chapter omitted. The second part of the Spanish Book 1 1 was not translated. Lastly, the French Books 13 and 14 correspond to the Spanish Book 12. But almost ten years before the Spanish supply became exhausted, Mambrino Roseo had brought up ^ The popularity of these books can be seen at a glance from the lists in Maximilian Pfeiffer's Amadisstudien (1905). Not counting the different issues of the same edition for various publishers, Pfeiffer records the following number of editions: Bk i, fourteen (1540-77); Bk 2, twelve (1541-77); Bk 3, eleven (1542-77); Bk 4, twelve (1543- 88); Bk 5, eleven (1544-77); Bk 6, twelve (1545-77); Bk 7, ten (1546-77); Bk 8, nine (1548-77); Bk 9, nine (1551-77); Bk 10, ten (1553-77); Bk II, nine (1554-77); Bk 12, seven (1556-77), Bk 13, seven (1571-77); Bk 14, four (1574-77). Pfeiffer's lists are not com- plete, but they are very representative. 202 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. the total to eighteen books in Italy, and the French translators now turned to him for further material. His Supplement to the Twelfth Book became the French Book 15 in 1577, and the six parts of his Thirteenth Book became the French Books 16—21 during the period 1 57 8-8 2 \ in translations made by Gabriel Chappuys. Mambrino Roseo had announced at the end of the sixth part of the Italian Book 1 3 that here was the last of the Sferamundi series^. Inthe French translation Gabriel Chappuys converts this into the statement that his Book 21 is the last of the whole Amadis series ^. Yet in 1 6 1 5, after a lapse of thirty-four years, there appeared three more books, bringing up the total to twenty-four books. Like their predecessors, these three profess to be translated from the Spanish; but they are identical with the German Books 22—24, which had long ago been published, as we shall see later. In the translations from the Italian, Gabriel Chappuys had rivals. In 1577 the first thirty-three chapters of the Italian Thirteenth Book, translated by Antoine Tyron, appeared as a French Fifteenth Book, and there are further duplicate translations: of the Nine- teenth Book by Jacques Chariot (1581), and of the ^ Pfeiffer records the following number of editions of Bks 15-21: Bk IS, four (1577-78); Bk 16, five (1575-78); Bk 17, two (1575-78); Bk 18, two (1575-79); Bk 19, four (1575-82); Bk 20, four (1575-82); Bk 21, three (1575-81). Some of these editions are obvious ghosts. * "... 1' auttor . . . impose qui fine al suo libro, & all' vltima parte dell' historia di Sferamundi di Grecia." 8 "... I'auteur . . . met icy fin au dernier liure de son histoire, tant beUe & emerueillable. Fin de I'histoire d' Amadis de Gaule, comprinse en vingt & vn hures." vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 203 Twentieth Book by Jean Boiron (1582). Further, Nicolas de Moutreux added a Sixteenth Book of his own in 1577. This competition is but one of the many evidences of the popularity of the Amadis romances in France. As in Spain, they appeared originally in folio form, and not only the different editions, but also the different issues of the same edition, show how constant was the demand for even these more costly productions. Soon, however, Paris, Lyons, Antwerp, and occasionally a minor town, were providing editions of a more conven- ient prayer-book size — a fact of which the church-going public doubtless showed itself duly appreciative at the proper time and place. These editions vary in number from fourteen or fifteen ^ with the earlier books to a single edition of each of the last three books. They cover a period somewhat less than was the case with Spain and Italy : from 1 540 to 1 6 1 5, the year after the first part of T>on Quixote appeared in French, and three years before the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War. Six years after the publication of the First Book of Amadis in French there appeared the French translation of Palmerin de Oliva'^, printed in large handsome folio ^ These numbers are almost doubled if the various issues of the same edition for different pubHshers are to be counted. * Le premier liure de Palmerin d'Oliue. . . . Histoire plaisante & de singuliere recreacion, traduite iadis par vn auteur incertain de Castillan en Franfoys, lourd & inusite, sans art, ou disposicion quelconque. Maintenant reueue, & mise en son entier selon nostre vulgaire, par lean Maugin natif d' Anglers, 1546. The "auteur incertain" is said to be Jean de Voyer, vicomte de Paulmy (Brunet, op. cit., torn. iv. col. 331). 204 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. form at Paris in 1 546 by Jeanne de Marnef, widow of the Denis Janot who in 1 540 had started the Amadis series on its prolific career in France. Palmerin de Oliva had not the advantage of being translated by one of the King's artillery officers at the instigation of the King himself, though the preface tells us^ that Nicolas de Herberay, "translator of our flourishing Amadis" began to translate Palmerin de Oliva, but gave up owing to "the clumsiness of the old translation or the duties of his royal commission." The "old translation" is ex- plained by the title-page description of this pleasant story as formerly translated by an uncertain author from Castilian into strange and clumsy French, without art or arrangement what- soever, and now revised and restored according to the common usage by Jean Maugin, a native of Angers, called le petit Angevin. Le petit Angevin informs us that he has "taken only the principal matter of the original," and that he has antiquated the battles by eliminating the cannons and arquebuses, while to make up for this he has modernised the loves to suit the French taste^. ''■ Jean Maugin, after mentioning that he hesitated long over the translation, adds: "I'auertissement que i'eu que le noble de Herberay (traducteur de nostre fleurissant Amadis) en auoit mis au net aucus des premiers cayers, m'en cuyda descourager du tout. Et ne puis penser la cause qui I'auroit empesche d'y faire poursuyte, sinon la lourderie de la vieille traduction, ou la commission ordinaire qu'il a du Roy." ^ "Et a fin (Seigneurs) que soyez auertiz de ma maniere d'escrire, ie n'ay prins de I'original que la matiere principale, sans massuietir aux propoz du traducteur antique, mal entenduz, & pirement poursuyuiz. Les discours des affaires ay abregez le plus succintement qu'il m'a este possible. Les guerres, selon leur forme ancienne, sans canons ou vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 205 Primaleon followed in 1550, the first part of it being translated in that year "from the Italian and Spanish" by Fran9ois de Vernassal, who had contributed pre- liminary verses to Jean Maugin's version of Palmerin de Oliva. In his dedication to the Duke de Guise, Vernassal tells us that he was attracted by Primaleon, which he found newly translated into Italian when he was at Rome with the Duke's brother, who had gone there to receive his cardinal's hat^. Vernassal publishes in his volume laudatory verses by Nicolas de Herberay and Jean Maugin; but whoever they convinced, they did not convince him, for it is only on condition that his readers are very good, and very numerous, that at the end of the book he promises the second part of Pri- maleon, together with translations of various works of Virgil, Poliziano, Ovid, and others^. The offer was not harquebuzes : & les amours a la moderne, sauf les foles : pource que ie les cuyde faintes, & qu'il n'en soit point de semblables. Et si en passant i'ay Tse de mataphores, similitudes, & comparaisons, aUegue fables, poesies, histoires, & inuente vers, excusez le desir que i'ay eu de mon- strer qu'en cest endroit le Franjois y est plus propre que I'Espaignol." 1 "... & en ceste peine me trouuois-ie a Rome lors que Monsei- gneur le reuerendissime & iUustrissime Cardinal de Guise vostre frere y vint receuoir son cbapeau, quad il me tomba entre les mains vne histoire freichement traduite d'Espagnol en Italien, nommee de Primaleon de Grece." 2 "Et si ie voy qu'il soit receu auec quelque peu de faueur & bon acueil . . . cela me donnera courage de vous faire voir en meiUeur ordre le second liure ... & tout le teste de nostre histoire, ensemble quelque amas de vers Frangois, tant de mon inuetion que traduction du Latin: mesmes les Eglogues de Virgile, le Rustiq de Politian, I'Oraison de Pythagoras du quinziesme de la metamorphose d'Ouide, & autres choses, dont la lecture vous pourra estre sinon vtile, aumoins recreatiue & agreable." 2o6 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. accepted : the second part of Primaleon did not appear till much later, and then the translator's name was not Vernassal. Meantime the two parts of Palmerin of England were published in French in 1552 and 1553 at Lyons, which replaces Paris as the centre for these romances. Both parts were translated by Jacques Vincent, who dedicates his work to Diane de Poitiers, compares her with Lu- cretia, and offers her a third part. She may have accepted the oifer, but she certainly never accepted the book, for the Palmerin series did not get beyond these two parts in France. A leisurely attempt, however, was made to fill up the gap left in the series. Not till 1577 was the second part oi Primaleon pub- lished ; but it made up for the delay by appearing in that year in two rival versions, a larger one of fifty-five chapters published at Paris and at Antwerp, translated by Guillaume Landre, and a smaller one of thirty-eight chapters published at Lyons, translated by Gabriel Chappuys, who translated many of the later books of the Amadis series. The third part followed in 1579, also translated by Chappuys and published at Lyons. The Italian fourth part — the adventures of Darineo, who in French becomes Darinel — was published at Lyons in 1583 in an anonymous translation which is also attributed to Chappuys. This was the only one of the Italian additions to the series to be translated into French ; and moreover neither Platir nor Flortir, nor the Portuguese continuations of Palmerin of England, appeared in French. It is clear that the Palmerins were no very serious vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 207 rivals to Amadis in France, either in extent of growth or in number of editions^. Palmerin de Oliva and the first part of Primaleon each ran through some ten edi- tions, distributed, as in the Amadis series, among Paris, Antwerp and Lyons. The early editions were large handsome folios, and the cuts which adorned the folio editions of Amadis were called upon to do duty for the Palmerins. This however was no very great strain on them, for they had previously seen active service in Josephus's Wars of the Jews. The second part of Pri- maleon counts five editions, the third part three, and the fourth part two. Palmerin of England also exists only in two editions. The Palmerin series evidently possessed much less vitality in France than the Amadis series. But editions struggled on into the seventeenth century, and two were even published after the appearance of the French translation of the first part of Don Quixote in 1 6 1 4, and just at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. Only one more French translation of a Peninsular romance of chivalry appeared during the period in which the Amadis and the Palmerin series enjoyed such vogue in France. In 1555 the first part oi Florando de Ingla- terra, dealing with the adventures of the hero's father, 1 Brunet, of. cit., torn. iv. enumerates the following editions: Palmerin de Oliva: 1546, 53, 72, 73, 76, 93, 1619 (coll. 330, 331); Pnwa- leon, pt I.: 1550, 72 (Paris), 72 (Orleans), 80, 1600, 18; pt 11. (Landre): 1577 (Paris), 77 (Antwerp); pt 11. (Chappuys): 1577 (Lyons), 88, 1612; pt III. 1579, 87, 1609; pt IV.; 1583, 97 (coll. 875, 876); Palmerin of England: 1552-53, 74 (coll. 332, 333). This list is not complete. The British Museum, which has all but six of the above editions, also possesses Palmerin de Oliva, 1605, and Primaleon, pt i. 1572 (Lyons). 2o8 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. Paladiano, was published as the Histoire Palladienne^; the translator was Claude Colet, who had shortly before revised Giles Boileau's Ninth Book of Amadis. The romance itself is unimportant, biit the French transla- tion is noteworthy as being the medium through which the story reached England, and as containing a preface by a member of La PlSiade, which will be quotea later. It is remarkable that one small group of romances and one isolated romance, which had long before been published in English, did not appear in French till after the publication of Don Quixote, when the great move- ment to which they really belong was over. The fact may be simply due to accident or caprice; but in any case it justifies us in dismissing these romances briefly. The three parts of the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros came out in French as the Chevalier du Soleil, the title being taken from the principal hero's name. The trans- lation was begun by Fran9ois de Rosset, who had already published the second part of Don Quixote in French; but he was soon superseded by Louis Douet^. The whole work appeared in eight parts between 1617 and 1626, and some of the parts were being reprinted as late as 16433. 1 Reprinted in 1562 and 1573 (Brunet, op. cit., torn. 11. col. 129). ^ Douet takes up the translation at pt 11. ch. XLiii. * The following table shows how these parts correspond to the different books of the original. The dates are those of the British Museum copies. Chevalier du Soleil. Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros. Pt I (1643) Pt I. Bk i.-Bk n. ch. xx. Pt 2 (1620, 1625) Pt I. Bk II. ch. xxi-Bk 111. ch. xxiii. Pt 3 (1620, 1633) Pt I. Bk HI. ch. xxiv-Pt II. Bk i. ch. xix. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 209 The last of the romances to appear in French was Belianis de Grece, an instalment of which came out the year before the Chevalier du Soleil was completed. The book contains a royal privilege for printing the romance, "divided into four volumes, translated from the Spanish into our tongue by Monsieur le Chevalier de Beuil." But no more was ever published than the first volume^, which is translated from the Italian, and therefore contains only the first fifty chapters of the first part of Belianis de Grecia. The Peninsular romances first reached France at a very favourable moment. A revival of chivalresque ideas — a reaction against the bourgeois reigns of Louis XI and XII — had set in under the young King Francis I, of which the meeting between that monarch and our own Henry VIII on the Field of the Cloth of Gold is a Chevalier du Soleil. Espejo de Principes y Cavdleros. Pt 4 (1633) Pt 11. Bk I. ch. xx.-Bk ii. end. Pt 5 (1626) Pt ni. Bk I. Pt 6 (162^ Pt in. Bk II. Pt 7 (1626) Pt IV. Bk I. Pt 8 (1626) Pt IV. Bk n. Brunet seems to be unaware of reprints other than those of 1643. He does not knov? the first edition of Pt 1. which is in the Library of Congress at Washington. '^ And this notwithstanding Le Romant des Romans, oil on verra la suitte et la conclusion de Don Belianis de Grece, du Chevalier du Soleil et des Amadis, by Gilbert Sauhiier, Sieur Du Verdier, 1626-29. This all too extensive work is an original composition which received the un- merited compUment of being published in EngUsh in 1640, the transla- tion having been made for the Earl of Pembroke. It brings the romances mentioned to a conjoint conclusion at the end of the seventh volume, where all the heroes and all their armies perish fighting against the Turks and their allies in what is rightly described as a terrible mUh. T. 14 2IO EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. reminder. The early books of Amadis, fortunate in having Francis I as their sponsor, were more fortunate still in their translator. Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts atoned for the freedom with which he treated the sub- ject-matter of his original, by the freedom of his French prose style. Although merely a translator, he produced a richer and suppler prose than original writers had yet created. There are numerous testimonies to the excellence of his language, apart from the laudatory verses prefixed to the books he translated. Jean Maugin, the translator of Palmerin de Oliva, insinuates in his preface his inability to approach " cest heureux langaige Essardin." Du Bellay, in La defense et illustration de la langue francaise^, praises the romancists for their "beau et fluide langage," but he wishes they would employ their talents on the old French chronicles rather than on books more suited to amuse girls. This did not pre- vent him from writing an ode^ in praise of Herberay's Amadis which Etienne Pasquier esteems his best. That excellent critic himself admits^ that the French language ^ Edited by L. Seche, 1905, bk 11. ch. v. pp. 131, 132: "Je veux bien en passant dire un mot a ceux qui ne s'emploient qu'a orner et empK- fier nos romans, et en font des livres certainement en beau et fluide langage, mais beaucoup plus propre a entretenir damoiseUes, qu'a doctement eacrire: je voudroy' bien (dy-je) les advertir d'employer ceste grande eloquence a recueiUir ces fragments de vieiUes chroniques franyoises." ^ Au Seigneur des Essars sur le discours de son Amadis, beginning " Celuy qui vid le premier," etc. * Les Recherches de la France, edn. of 1621, bk vii. ch. vi. p. 614: "... & neantmoins nostre langue ne leur est pas peu redeuable: mais sur tous a Nicolas de Herberay, sieur des Essars aux huit liures d' Amadis de Gaule, & specialement au huictiesme : Roman dans lequel vous pouuez vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 211 was under no small debt to Herberay's books oiAmadis, especially the last, in which, he says, "you may cull the finest flowers of our French tongue." The pedantic Abel Mathieu, in hi^Devis delalanguefrangaise(i^']2y-, records how, in the days of his "grande jeunesse," Herberay's writings were regarded as a model of fine language; but he objects that this same Herberay had not "sweated under the harness and travail of humane letters and good discipline." With that wisdom which comes after the event — for by this time Herberay's cueiUir toutes les belles fleurs de nostre langue Franjoise. lamais liure ne fut embrasse auec tant de faueur que cestuy, I'espace de vignt ans ou enuiron: Et neantmoins la memoire en semble estre auiourd'huy esuanotiie. Du BeUay I'honora d'vne longue Ode dans son cercueil: Qui est la plus belle de toutes les siennes." ^ Fol. 13 verso-14 recto: "Fay souuenance des ma grande ieunesse, que Nicolas de Herberay iecta es mains du peuple qlques discours d'amour, lesquels furent si honestement receuz, & auec si bo visage, que lors il fut prise, & estlme de chacun, comme vne reigle du beau parler. Et neantmoins iceluy de Herberay (comme ie croy) n'auoit pas beaucoup ronge le laurier, ne long temps sue soubs le harnois, & trauail de letres humaines, & de bonnes disciplines. En escoutant telz discours en compagnie, ou ilz estoient leuz, ie disoy mon aduis : & me sembloit le parler vn peu affecte: wie sembloient quelques liaisons doulces, & gracieuses : & quelques autres rudes, disioinctes, & mal plaisantes : qui me faisoit soub9onner, que le iugement de letres, & de sgauoir defaiUoit en I'homme. Auecques ce, il prenoit plaisir a offrir au peuple motz nouueaux, & estranges: desquelz le son m'estoit plus ennuyeux, & fascheux, & plus desplaisant a mes oreilles, que n'eust este le son d'vne clocte cassee. Aussi le peuple n'en a pas faict cas: il a laisse enseuelir tels mots en oubli, auecques le corps de Herberay, qui les auoit offerts & presentez. Autremet ne puis-ie donner aduis de tous iceux discours: car ie ne me suis pas amuse a les lire, desirant eployer le teps, & mo entendemet a discours meiUeurs, & de plus hault estat, & plus grande cosequece." 14 — 2 212 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. laurels were beginning to fade — he breaks off in his criticisms to inform us that he can tell us no more, for he had never troubled to read these trifles, being desirous of employing his time and understanding on loftier matters. Yet he confesses that, if Herberay's language seemed to him somewhat affected, it had "quelques liaisons doulces, & gracieuses." With the excellent start thus given them by Herbe- ray, the Amadis romances enjoyed for a short time an even greater popularity in France than they had in their own country. There is abundant evidence of their vogue in the literature of the period. The author of the romance Gerard d'Euphrate, published in 1 549, tells us that he had "translated" this work many years previously, but that when Herberay with his Amadis resuscitated the ancient Knights of Great Britain, to the great delight of lords and commoners, all other books were neglected, and so he kept back his own story^. This of course is mostly pretence, for Gerard d" Euphrate is an imitation of Amadis ; but the tribute to the latter romance is sincere. Brantome in his facetious way signifies the popu- larity of the Amadis romances in feminine circles, for he "wished he had as many hundreds of crowns as there ^ In the Epistle to the reader : " . . . mais le peu de recueil que I'on faisoit adoncq' des Traductions de monsieur Seissel, & Illustrations de Ian le Maire, oeuvres certes dignes de louange & merite, m'en des- couragea, fit cacher, & mettre en layette mes mynutes, iusques a I'an mil cinq cens trente neuf, que le Gentil-homme des Essars fit reuiure, & reflorir, par son Amadis, les vieux Cheualiers de la grand'Bretaigne (yssuz neantmoins de nostre prouince) auec tant d'aplaudissemens des Seigneurs, & allegresses du people, qu'estans tous autres liures postposez a cestuy, ie condannay mon Bourguignon a prison confinee, & perpetuel oubly. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 213 were young ladies, both religious and lay, who had been perverted by reading these stories^." He himself had not read them in vain, for he several times refers to characters or matters contained in them. He compares Queen Margaret of Navarre to "la belle Nicqude^," the heroine of the Spanish Ninth Book of Amadis, and elsewhere uses "la gloire de Nicquee" as a standard of comparison. He also mentions "le palais d'Apolidon" in the Firm Island which became the stronghold of Amadis, as well as the "Arch of True Lovers" that existed there 3. Dariolette, the French form for the name of the confidante of Amadis and Elisena, is with '^ CEwvres completes, ed. by L. Lalanne for the Societe de I'Histoire de France, 1864-82, torn. ix. (fiecueil des dames. — Vie des dames galantes), p. 573 : " Je voudrois avoir autant de centaines d'escus comme il y a eu des filles, tant du mo'nde que de relligieuses, qui se sont jeadis esmeues, poUues et depucellees par la lecture des Amadis de Gaule." ^ Ibid., torn. VIII. {Recueil des dames. — Vie des dames illustres: Marguerite, Reyne de France et de Navarre), p. 29, where an " hon- neste gentilhomme franjois" is quoted as remarking: "Ah! si le sieur des Essars, qui, en ses livres A' Amadis, s'est tant efforce et peine a bien descrire et richement representer au monde la belle Nicquee et sa gloire, eust veu de son temps ceste belle reyne, il ne luy eust fallu emprumpter tant de belles et riches parolles pour la despeindre et la monstrer si belle; mais il luy eust suffi a dire seulement que c'estoit la semblance et image de la reyne de Navarre, I'unique du monde; et par ainsi ceste belle Nicquee, sans grande superiluite de parolles, estoit mieux peinte qu'elle n'a este." Cf. also torn. vii. {op. cit. : Catherine de Medicis), p. 398. ^ Ibid., torn. V. (Vie des hommes illustres: Le Roy Charles IX), p. 277, and tom. x. {Poisies incites), p. 404: S'il estoit aujourd'huy un tel arc amoureux Qu'il estoit du bon temps de la brave jeunesse Des Chevaliers errans. . . . Cf. Amadis, bk 11. ch. i. etc., and bk iv. ch. xliv. 214 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. him more than once a synonym for an entremetteuse^, while another minor character, Guilan el Cuidador, re- appears as Guillot le Songeur^. The name Dariolette became so absorbed into the language that the corresponding masculine form could be used, as in Regnier's lines : Donq' la mesme vertu le dressant au pouier. De vertueux qu'il fut le rend Dariolet*. And the proverbial value acquired by another character is seen in Regnier's phrase "un conte d'Urgande et de ma mfere I'Oie*." Another satirist of the period, Tho- mas Sonnet de Courval, uses the wordDariolet^, besides mentioning Guillot le Songeur, and associating Amadis with Boccaccio and Aretino as the principal textbooks in which to study love's artifices^. In this connexion, how- ever, Sonnet de Courval is more noteworthy as providing in the following picture of the French nobility a -pendant to one of the English gentry quoted in a later section from Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. Writing about the same time as Burton, Sonnet de Courval complains ^ : 1 CEuvres completes, ed. cit., torn. ix. (pp. cit.), p. 554: " J'ay ouy parler et raconter de beaucoup de fiUes, qui, en servant leurs dames et maistresses de Dario-lettes, vouloient aussi taster de leurs morceaux." Cf. also torn. viii. (op. cit. : Madame Anne de France), p. 104. * Ibid., torn. IX. (op. cit.), p. 142: " Car quand une fois les femmes ont mis ce ver coquin amoureux dans leurs testes^ les envoyent a toute heure chez GuiUot le Songeur." Cf. the early chapters of Amadis, bk 11. 8 Satire V; in his CEuvres completes, ed, E. Courbet, 1875, p. 42. * Satire XV; ibid., p. 124. ^ Satire "Contre les Gardes Dismes "; in his CEuvres poHiques, ed. -P. Blanchemain, 1876-77, tom. i. p. 62. * "Le Hazard des Cornes "; ibid., tom. ni. pp. 55 and 61. ' "Le Gentilhomme "; ibid., tom. 11. pp. 124, 125. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 215 France n'a plus de noblesse en vertu; Le gentil-homme, en clinquant revestu. Piaffe au bal, gaussant dit des sornettes, Et ses mouUins sont vendus pour des debtes. Guerir la galle k quelque chien courant, Carrabiner, battre le paisant, Vendre un cheval, monter un mords de bride, Lire jlmadis et les Amours d'Armide . . . Ce sont tous traits de superbe et d'audace That references to the above-mentioned characters and matters should be introduced into the literature of the period, quite naturally and without explanation, shows how universally popular the Amadis romances, at any rate, must have been in France. For a time, as Pasquier tells us^, their vogue was immense: "Never was a book received with such favour as Amadis, for the space of twenty years or thereabouts." There was a special reason for this term of twenty years. As was ^ stated before, the revival of the romance of chivalry in France synchronised with a revival in chivalrous practice. Tournaments were revived during the reign of Francis I; they became more frequent in the reign of Henry II, 1 See the quotation given above, p. 210, n. 3. It may be remarked here that Pasquier is one of the few to quote the Palmerins as well as Amadis. In his chapter on the use of titles he makes the following interesting allusion in support of his contention that the term "Majesty," which, he says, began to be commonly applied to the sovereign in Henry II's time after the peace of Orcan, belongs properly to the Deity, and not to kings: " Lisez les huict premiers liures d' Amadis de Gaule, ou le Seigneur des Essars voulut representer sous vn Perion de Gaule, & sa posterite, ce qui estoit de la vraye courtizanie, Ksez le Palmerin d'Ohue, vous ne trouuerez point que ceux qui gouuernent les Rois vsent de cette fa^on de parler, Vostre Maiesti, ^c." Op. cit., bk vni. ch. v. p. 691. 2i6 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. who, under the influence of his mistress Diane de Poitiers, took personal part in some of them, till at length, in 1559, some twenty years after the publication of Herberay's First Book oiAmadis, he was accidentally killed by the Scottish knight Montgomery, the Captain of his Guard. There was an immediate slump in chivalry at the court and in the capital, which lasted some considerable time, and which helps to explain why Lyons and Antwerp replace Paris about this date as centres for the publication of the chivalresque romances. Outside courtly circles the romances continued to flourish, giving rise to the same criticisms as in other countries. The preface to the Histoire Palladienne is mainly a eulogy of the deceased translator, Claude Colet, by a member of La Pleiade, Etienne Jodelle^, who tells us that he tried long and hard to dissuade Colet from deceiving France with these lying Spanish stories, which he describes as "la reverie de nos peres, la corruption de notre jeunesse, la perte du temps, le jargon des valets de boutique, le tdmoignage de notre ignorance." Colet argued against him so adroitly, however, that at length Jodelle began to yield, and the two reached an agreement. Jodelle recognised that the romances were not a mere waste of time, and he wrote an ode for Colet's translation of the Nineteenth Book oiAmadis. ^ Colet's death provided Jodelle with one of his brightest inspira- tions. The prose preface is followed by some verses "Aux Cendres de Colet Par le mesme lodelle," beginning thus : Si ma voix qui me doit bien tost pousser au nombre Des immortelz, pouuoit aller iusqu'a ton ombre Colet, a qui la mort Se monstra trop ialuuze . . . ! vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 217 Colet in his turn promised to reform and to take to serious studies, but he wriggled out of the bargain by the simple device of dying prematurely. Montaigne's development was similar to Jodelle's. One of the Amadis romances — Don Silves de la Selva — occupied an honourable place in his library^ ; but he had written disparagingly of these romances in his essay on books 2, where he says that they did not attract him even in his early years. His language is mild com- pared with that of Franfois de La Noue, who devotes the sixth chapter in his Discours politiques et militaires to the Amadis romances 3, characterising them as "very fit instruments for the corruption of manners"; yet he says the majority of readers held them in such esteem that in Henry IPs time "if anyone had dared to find fault with them they would have spat in his face." The Reverend Father Antonio Possevino averred, in a passage that has sometimes been misrepresented, that it was the devil who inspired the thought of translating ^ See La Bibliotheque de Montaigne, by Paul Bonnefon, in the Revue d'Histoire littSraire de la France, 1895, vol. 11. pp. 313-371. Item No. 64 describes a copy of Don Silves de la Selva bearing Montaigne's signature, now in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid. ^ Essais (ed. by F. Strowski, 1906, etc., torn. 11. pp. 103, i04),bkii. ch. X.: "Quant aux Amadis & telles sortes d'escrits, ils n'ont pas eu le credit d'arrester seulement mon enfance." A converse statement, in an interesting setting, is to be found in Rene de Lucinge, Sieur des Alimes, La Maniere de lire Vhistoire, 1614, ff. 12-14. ' Original edition, Basle, 1587, p. 134; available to English readers in Edward Aggas's translation of the same year. La Noue evidently did not believe in Herberay's manuscripts in the Picard language: "Mais pour en parler au vray, I'Espagne les a engendrez, & la France les a seulement reuestus de plus beaux habillemens." 2i8 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. the Spanish Amadis into elegant French, in order to foster Luther's revolt^. The elegance of the Amadisian French led to the publication of what was called a Tresor des Amadis based on Books 1-12, gradually supplemented so as to comprise Books 13—21. This work brought together the "epistles, complaints, speeches, and challenges" contained in Amadis, " for an example to those who wish to learn the correct writing of missives or the speaking of French," as the title-page states. And if the many editions issued between 1559 and the year of publica- tion of Don Quixote are a testimony to the value of Amadis for the French language, there is also a sub- stantial memorial to the influence of the romance on French literature, for to no other book can be so clearly traced the heroic romances of the seventeenth century. Before this new literary movement Amadis and his fellows succumbed early in the seventeenth century. Yet though new editions ceased to be printed, existing copies were still being read quite late in the century. Hence Corneille in 1642 expected his audience to un- derstand the reference in the following couplet : Mais parlons du festin. Urgande et M^lusine N'ont jamais sur le champ mieux fourni leur cuisine^. ^ Bibliotheca Selecta, 1593, bk i. ch. xxv. p. 113. As mentioned above (p. 198), the passage was misunderstood by Angelo Paciuchelli, who attributed to Luther what is only said to have happened in his time. Possevino's own words are therefore given here: "... In vno Amadisio ista intueamur. Venerat hie liber aliena lingua in Gallias; Luthero autem satanas iam vtebatur tamquam mancipio in Germania; quae pene omnis aut ceciderat, aut nutabat ad casum; cumq. in solidis- simse fidei Regnum veUet inuadere, Amadisium curauit in Gallicam linguam elegatissime verti. ..." ^ Le Menteur, act u, sc. 6. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: FRANCE 219 In the pages of Scarron the same Amadisian charac- ters still crop up quite naturally which were met with in the literature of half a century earlier: of the heroes, Amadis and Esplandian ; and of the lesser lights, Ur- ganda and Darioleta. Scarron, moreover, under the cover of Destin's account of his education in the Roman comique (1651)^, ranges himself with Rene de Lucinge, mentioned in a note above, as an admirer of Amadis only in the years well preceding those of discretion. Later on we find Amadis an evident favourite with Mme de S^vigne, who was attracted by two matters in the romance which had already appealed to Brantome. In letters to her daughter, Mme de Grignan, she more than once^ familiarly refers to the chateau de Grignan as the "palais d'Apolidon," while she several times ^ uses the expression "la gloire de Niquee" as an alterna- tive for "paradise." On one occasion she even detects herself degenerating into theAmadisian style*. Further, in a letter from Emmanuel de Coulanges^ to Mme de ^ Ch. iiii. : " . . . et jusqu'a I'age de quinze ans nous nous plaisions bien plus a lire les Amadis de Gaule que les Astrees et les autres beaux romans que I'on a faits depuis. ..." For other references to charac- ters in Amadis see the Roman comique, ch. ix., Virgile travesti, bk iv. 11. 54, 55, and the verses entitled RSvSlations, St. 9, 10. 2 See letters dated 21 June, 7 October, 1671, and 22 AprU, 1689. * See letters dated 29 July, 1676 (" comme en paradis, ou dans la gloire de Niquee "), 7 August, 1676, and 30 July, 1677. Cf. also letter of 1 1 June, 1677, and one of Mme de Grignan's dated 17 December, 1690. * See letter to the Comte de Bussy Rabutin and Mme de CoUgny, dated 20 July, 1679: " II me semble que cette lettre ressemble assez aux chapitres de I'Amadis, ou a ceux qu'on a faits pour les imiter." 8 The writer, having gone into the country to meet Mme de Courtenvaux, informs Mme de Sevigne: "Nous n'avons pas manque 220 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. Sevigne, written as late as 29 October, 1694, we see Amadis apparently still being read with enjoyment, and passed on to communicate the pleasure; while some topical verses at the end of this letter, full of jesting allusions thinly veiled under Amadisian disguises, show how familiar the romance must have been in this circle. With this evidence that Amadis continued in favour among the gentry during the latter half of the seven- teenth century, it is not surprising to find La Fon- taine following the fashion. The inevitable "palais d'Apolidon" figures in his Amours de Psyche et de Cupi- dofi^. He praises the language of Amadis in the "aver- tissement" to his Contes et Nouvelles, part i (1665), and mentions a brace of its heroes in part 2 (1666)^: Celui-ci, qui donnait S, ses desirs I'essor, Comme faisaient jadis Rogel et Galaor. Like Corneille, he expects his audience to take an allu- sion on the stage, as when, in his comedy C/ymene^, Apollo asks Erato : Vous vous marierez done, ainsi qu'au temps jadis Oriane epousa Monseigneur Amadis? And those to whom this was a dark saying could find the explanation in one of his miscellaneous poems, known as the "Ballade des livres d'amour." a son arrivee ici de lui presenter I'aimable Amadis, qui est bien I'homme de la meilleure compagnie qu'on puisse entretentir, et qui est assure- ment d'une grande ressource centre I'ennui." If by " Amadis " one of the circle is meant, the passage still shows the book was being read. ^ About the middle of the first book. 2 In "La Fiancee du roi de Garbe," 11. 624, 625. The French commentators, having apparently forgotten Rogel de Grecia, note: " Rogel pour Roger." * 11. 438, 439. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: GERMANY 221 With La Fontaine praising the language of Amadis, it is natural that he should have provided dedicatory verses for the libretto by Philippe Quinault, based on the romance, which was put on the operatic stage in 1684 to the music of Lully. This belated appearance of Amadis on the stage marks his last appeal for popular favour, and it is interesting to note that, at his exit as at his entrance, Amadis made his bow to the French public under royal patronage; for just as Francis I had urged Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts to under- take the translation of Amadis from the Spanish, so Louis XIV suggested to Philippe Quinault the subject for the opera that was to be played before him. In more recent times, it is true — from the middle of the eighteenth century onwards — a few abridgments of the earlier books of Amadis have appeared in French ; but these scholarly or commercial revivals do not belong to the story of the influence of Amadis in France. III. Germany As was the case with Italy and France, courtly in- fluence was responsible too for the introduction of the Peninsular romances into Germany. The translation of Amadis into German was originally due to Duke Chris- topher of Wurttemberg, who made the acquaintance of the book in Paris, and who is said to have been so at- tracted by it that he "deputed someone in France to learn the language thoroughly, in order thereafter to translate the book more easily and have it printed^." 1 Feyerabend's dedication of Book iv. to Elizabeth, "PfaltzgrafEn bey Rhein, vnd Hertzogin in Bayrn," edition of 1595, sig. )( 5 : " Dieweil 222 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. But the Duke died in 1568, before the latter part of the project could be accomplished. The carrying out of this fell to the famous Frankfurt printer Sigmund Feyer- abend, who brought out the First Book in two different issues during 1569, though confusion has been created through the date on the title-page of the second issue being misprinted 1561^. The translation and printing proceeded regularly till 1575, by which year the Thir- teenth Book was published in much abridged form^. The superstitious will be pleased to learn that with the Thirteenth Book all progress in translating Amadis from the French — or at least in printing the translation — ceased for fifteen years. But during this interval all thirteen books were reprinted in a single folio volume in 1583, and at least three books were reprinted sepa- rately in different years^. Perhaps others were reprinted but have disappeared or escaped notice. More impor- tant than these reprints, however, was the publication by Michael Manger, an Augsburg printer, of transla- tions of some of Mambrino Roseo's Italian supplements. In 1578 there appeared a Supplement to Book 4, and dann . . . Herr Christoff Hertzog zu Wirtenberg ... so grosse anmutung vnnd neygung zu solchem Buch gehabt, hat er desswegen einen in Franckreich abgeordnet, die Spraach eigentlich zu lerne, hernach solchs Buch desto fleissiger zu verdohnetschen vnd in Truck zu geben, vnd aber sein F. G. vor solchem verschiede, so hab ich gleichfals solche Biicher zu meinen Handen bekomen, v5 nit mit geringe Vnkosten getrewliche vertieren od' transferire lassen." ^ The dates being given in Roman numerals, MDLXIX easily became MDLXI. 2 For details concerning the bibliography of Amadis in Germany, as wellasin France, see MaxiniilianPfeiffer,^?naijVji«ii>«, 1905, pp. 28-44. ^ Books HI. and iv., 1574; Book vi., 1576. {Ibid., pp. 31, 36.) vi] ON THE CONTINENT: GERMANY 223 a Supplement and Further Supplement to Book 5. By reissuing the first two of these next year as Books 14 and 1 5, confusion was introduced into the sequence, for in 1590, the year in which Feyerabend died, the publica- tion of the original set was resumed at Frankfurt with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Books of the "True History," translated from the French. By 1593 Feyer- abend's heirs had published translations of all the re- maining French books of Amadis, down to the Twenty- first and last Book, and to provide a uniform edition they proceeded straightway to reprint Books i— 13, the whole being completed between 1594 and 1598. Once more, existing reprints of odd volumes^ testify to pos- sible reissues of the complete series. At the end of the Twenty-first Book the French trans- lator from the Italian had, as already mentioned, " brought to a close the last book of the history." The German translator of 1593 reopened the series by simply tacking on a sentence referring to events "which the following books of this history will reveal^." And '^ Book I, 1596; Book 2, 1617; Supplement to Book 4, 1620; Book 7, 1596; Book 14, 1610; Books 17 and 18, 1617. (Ibid., p. 36.) ^ The conclusion is here quoted for comparison with the Italian and French given above, p. 202, n. 2 and 3, and as an illustration of what Cervantes would call the translator's "bedevilled and involved discourse " : "... vnnd hiemit dises Buch beschliessen. AUein soU ich noch diss vermelden, dass der Printzen trawrigkeit vnd grosses leid, als sie jhre todten, deren in die funfi vnd'funfftzig tausent gefunden wTirden, begraben, vnd die Konige balsamirt hatten, damit man jhre Leychnam konte heimb fuhren, in grimm verwandelt worden, darumb sie nachmals in die Heydenschafft gezogen, den grossen schaden zurechen inmassen folgende Bucher diser Historien aussweisen. Ende des xxj. Buchs." 224 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. in accordance with this promise there came out in 1 594 and 1595 three more books, bringing the total up to twenty-four books. The statfement on the title-pages that these three books are translated from the French is merely an attempt to carry on the business with the goodwill of the previous volumes. Twenty years later they appear for the first time in French^, and then the title-pages say they are translated from the Spanish, simply because the previous volumes had said the same ^ The privilege for all three books is dated I Dec. 1 614. The preface to Book 22 contains the following statement : " C'est pourquoy ayant recouuert non sans grands frais & difhculte outre le 21. liure (qu'on estimoit le dernier) trois autres copies du 22. 23. & 24. liures, nous les mettons en lumiere ausquels le lecteur se pourra delecter, pouuant bien sasseurer . . . qu'en ces liures consequens, & non encores veus par cydeuant en nostra langue Fran9oise, ains tout de nouueau translatez iw vne copie Espagnole fort ancienne, il s'y trouuera autant d'honneste plaisir qu'en aucun autre des precedens." The "very old Spanish copy" is a pure invention, incidentally showing that an Amadis romance of acknowledged German origin would have no credit in France. "Newly translated" is probably correct; but that at least the intention to bring out these three books in French existed at a much earlier date may be gathered from a privilege prefixed to the British Museum copy of J. A. Huguetan's edition of the Thresor de tous les liures d^ Amadis, Lyons, 1606: "Par grace & priuilege du Roy, il est permis a lean Anthoine Huguetan Marchand Libraire de la ville de Lyon, d'imprimer, vendre & debiter le present liure intitule, Le Thresor de tous les liures d' Amadis de Gaule: ensemble les vingt- deuxiesme, vingt-troisiesme, & vingt-quatriesme liures desdicts Amadis nouuellement traduicts en langue Fran^oise : Et sont faictes tres-expresses defenses a tous autres Libraires, Imprimeurs de ce Royaume, d'imprimer ou vendre lesdicts liures sans le consentement dudict Huguetan, Et ce pour le temps & terme de dix ans, a commencer du iour que lesdicts liures seront paracheuez d'imprimer. . . . Donne a Paris, le 3. luillet, 1602." This privilege is printed on an inserted leaf, and probably belongs to an earlier edition than that in which it is found. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: GERMANY 225 — in the latter case regardless of facts^. As no Spanish originals of Books 22—24 exist, or ever did exist, the French books have hitherto been thought to be original works themselves. But internal evidence supports the obvious conclusion that they are translations from the German. This conclusion is reinforced by the one biblio- graphical item that remains to be mentioned. In 1596 there appeared at Strassburg a Schatzkammer'^, corre- sponding to the French Tresor, which shows that Amadis played just the same role of polite manual in Germany as it did in France. But whereas the Schatzkammer at its first appearance — the year after the publication of the German Book 24 — contained material drawn from all the twenty-four books of Amadis, the Tresor had grown up gradually: in 1559 it was drawn from Books I— 12, in 1 571 from Books i— 13, in 1574 from Books I— 14, and finally in 1582 from Books i— 21. Even the editions of the Tresor published early in the seven- teenth century did not go further than Book 2 1 — clearly the point at which the genuine French series stopped. The Amadis series had arrived in Germany during a literary period which was singularly barren of good works. Its popularity, which is therefore the less sur- prising, is attested by the various odd reprints preserved in German (and other) libraries, since these are doubt- less only survivals of more extensive issues. We have, moreover, contemporary evidence of the eagerness with which editions oi Amadis were absorbed. Johann Baptist 1 As stated above, the French Books 15-21 are translated from the Itahan. ^ Reprinted 1597,-1600, 1608, l6lz (2), 1624. T. 15 226 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. Fickler tells us'^ that in 1577 he heard a prominent printer — no doubt Sigmund Feyerabend himself — say- that Amadis was a more profitable venture than Luther, and that he simply could not get enough copies printed^. The fact that Duke Christopher of Wurttemberg had interested himself in the translation helps to explain the great vogue Amadis enjoyed in German courtly circles. Some of the translators themselves would appear to have been men of rank. But this is based on little more than conjecture from the initials which in every case alone indicate the translator. Only in one instance have these initials been identified: J.F.M.G., who is responsible for the Sixth Book, is no other than Johann Fischart (Mentzer Genannt), the great German satirist of the day. In several of his works Fischart not unnaturally refers to Amadis ^, which, as he was sensible enough to admit in some verses prefixed to his translation of Book 6, contained Beide Gutes und auch Boses viel. 1 In the preface to his version of G. Dupuyherbault's Theotimus, entitled: Tractat Herrn Gabriel Putherbeien. Von verbot vnnd auffhebung deren Biicher vnd Schrifften, so nitmogen gelesen werden, 1581, fol. 5 recto: "... Aber vnangesehen dessen, hab ich im jiingst abgelofinen Deputa- tion vnnd Moderationstag zu Franckfurt, so Anno 1577. gehalten wor- den, von einem fiirnemen Buchtrucker auss seinem mund gehort, dass ime diser zeit der Amadis de Gaula mehr in seckel getragen, wader des Luthers Postill. Es kiinden auch solcher Gaulischen (oder vil mehr gailen) exemplar schier nit genug getnickt werden." ^ This passion for Amadis helps to explain the early appearance of a stage version of the romance — according to an entry in Graesse's Trhor de livres tares, 1859, etc., torn. i. p. 96: Historia von des ritters Ama- disens auss Franckreich thaten. Die allererste Comedia. Dresden, 1587. ^ See Maximilian Pfeiffer, op. cit., pp. 73-75. vi] ON THE CONTINENT: GERMANY 227 Another of the eminent writers of the time we can just catch within the meshes of our net, for Amadis earned exaggerated praise from Martin Opitz. In his Aristarchus, sive de contemptu lingtue Teutonica^, Opitz maintains the bold thesis that the spirit and flow of German in his day was so graceful and felicitous that it need not yield to the majesty of Spanish, the purity of Italian, or the charm and fluency of French. To prove which, the German translation of Amadis is quite suffi- cient, in spite of the unjustified attacks made by certain people. There is nothing in that delightful work which does not inculcate courtesy; chaste and refined, it — so to speak — outrages coarser natures. And he adds : I would call it a casket of all delights, a cabinet of graces, a cure for care, a procuress of politeness; lacking which, love itself falls something short of loveliness. Every word breathes "■ In Martini Opicii Teutsche Poemata vnd Aristarchus, 1624, pp. no, III: " Ingenium cert^ verborum nostrorum & tractus senten- tiarum ita decens est, ita felix ut neque Hispanoriam majestati, neque Italorum decentiae, neque Gallorum venustae volubilitati concedere debeat. Cujus rei unicam Amadtsi historiam, in nostrum idioma conversam, optimae fidei testem arcessere possumus. Quern quidem librum, quod quidam ita atroci stylo & indignant! pungunt ac con- fodiunt, causam profecto non habent. Nihil san^ est in tarn festive opere, quod non & ad morum comitatem prjecepta ingerat, & honesta suavitate conditum, vim quasi asperioribus naturis faciat, ac nil tale cogitantes expugnet. Delitiarum omnium pyxidem dixerim, miro- thecium Gratiarum, curarum medelam, lenam morum: absque quo nee ipsa Venus satis venusta. Verba singula majestatem spirant singularem ac elegantiam, & sensus nostros non ducunt, sed rapiunt. Adeo inusitata facilitas, gratia inexhausta ac lepos ita lectorem detinet, ut quo magis eadem repetat, eo minus fastidium relectionis uUum sentire sibi videatur. Quas omnia & pellicere nos ad se, & invitare ad excogitanda plura paris elegantiae ac festivitatis debent." 15—2 22 8 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. forth a singular beauty and dignity, and not merely captivates but ravishes our senses. The unwronted smoothness, the unending grace and charm of the book so arrests the reader, that the more he repeats a passage, the less bored shall he seem by the repetition. All which must necessarily attract us, and urge us to similar inventions equally charming and diverting. With his indiscriminate praise of Amadis'^, Martin Opitz is somewhat of a voice crying in the wilderness. As in other countries, so in the German-speaking lands blame preponderates. The enlarged edition of Conrad Gesner's Bibliotheca published in 1583 contains an article^ on Amadis appreciative indeed of the language; but instead of finding "nothing which does not in- culcate courtesy," the writer finds in the romance " nothing but the most foul and disgraceful love-scenes, realistically described," and he rather maliciously adds that " nevertheless, hardly a family in France is without these books, for they fancy that nowhere else can they learn the French tongue pure and undefiled." Exactly thirty years later this theme is developed in the Orationes seu Consultatio de principatu inter provincias Europ^e, the work of the learned editor Thomas Lan- sius. In on eofthe speeches there is an outcry^ against the ^ Later the German translation — by Fischart — of Mamixii apiarium is substituted for Amadis, with suitable changes in the text. * Bibliotheca instituta et collecta primum a Conrado Gesnero . . . amplijicata pet lohannem lacohum Frisium Tigurinum, 1583, p. 34: "His nugis Gallicis ... nihil prascipu^ piaster turpissimos & foedis- simos amores narratur, & ita quide vt res ipsae oculis pen^ subijciantur, quibus tamen libris fer^ nullas Gallorum familis carent: quod non aliunde, linguse Gallica; puritatem discere se putant." ^ Edn. 2, 1620, p. 312: "Mox etiam tristior & funestior emersit clades, ex damnatissima Amadisi bibliotheca: . . . O seculi insaniam! VI] ON THE CONTINENT: GERMANY 229 most damnable Amadis series, the ulcer of the book-shelves. For these are the books which corrupt chastity, destroy temper- ance, train both the mind and the tongue to looseness, teach the countless cunning tricks of adultery and unbridled lust, and the debasement of marriage by stealthy and frequent embraces in advance, so to speak: — such books should be consigned to the flames, or banished to Sicily, where men are used to wasting themselves in continual watch and ward against the nightly marauder and the matrimonial bandit. Twelve years later Johann Gryphiander quotes^ the famous critic Justus Lipsius to the effect that Amadis is the "offspring of an ingenious trifler, a pestilent book if ever there was one, born to debase, and even to destroy, the young." And he adds that it is therefore all the more surprising to find the book recommended for girls, especially of the upper class, as though forsooth it conduced to elegance of speech and manners^. O morum infamiam ! O bibliothecarum ulcera ! Hi enim Amadisi libri sunt, qui castitatem deturpant, qui evertunt temperantiam, qui vagam linguam & mentem formant, qui innumera adulteriorum & effrena- tarum libidinum strategemata ostendunt, qui matrimonia furtivis iisque quotidianis complexibus quasi in antecessum consummare, & ante legitimum tempus polluere decent : . . . libri flammis tradendi, aut certe in SiciKam deportandi; ubi viri perpetuis se macerant vigiliis contra vaferrimos noctium aucupes, furese^ nuptiarum." 1 De Weichbildis Saxonicis, 1625, ch. xvi. p. 53 : ". . . Amadaeus . . . in- geniosi nugatoris proles, pestilens liber, si vmquam fuit, & natus biande iniicere, aut interficere iuuentutem, ait verissime Lipsius. . . . Quo magis mirum, illius lectionem etiam puellis, prsesertim nobilioribus commendari, quasi scilicet ad elegantiam morum & sermonis coducat." Cf. Lipsius, Politicorum sine Ciuilis Doctrinte libri sex, 1605, p. 470, end of note to lib. i. ch. x. 2 The influence of Amadis in German female society of the seven- teenth century may be judged from the satirical " Schutz-Rede einer Jungfraw, uber die gange Zunge," in Salomons von Golaw Deutscher '230 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. These adverse criticisms produced as little effect in Germany as elsewhere, and Amadis was still being re- printed in 1 6 1 7, during which year at least three of the twenty-one books translated from the French series were reissued. The end came suddenly. Next year the Thirty Years' War broke out, and the consequent turmoil accounts for the practical cessation of reprinting. The only reissues recorded after the outbreak of the war are the first of the translations from the Italian — the Sup- plement to Book 4 — in 1620, and the Schatzkammer in 1624. But though the romances ceased to be printed, the criticisms continued, and it was reserved for Peter Laurenberg in 1640 to produce what is perhaps the most absurd of them all^. He tells us that Amadis was so popular in France in Henry II's time that people Sinn-Getichte Drey Tausend, Andres Tausend, Erstes Hundert, No. 38, pp. 12-15 of the 1654 edn.; or in the 1872 reprint by GustavEitner in the Bibliothek des litterarischen Vereins in Stuttgart, vol. 113, pp. 234-236. 1 Acerra Philologica, 1640, pt in. pp. 174, 175: ". . . man hette ehe den Livium verachtet vnd verworffen als den Amadys. Der Erfinder oder Tichter ist ein Spanischer Hofelinck gewesen, ein trefflicher Meister in der schwartzen Kunst, der vnterm Schein einer anmutigen Historien sein GifEt hat andern anschmieren vnnd beybringen wollen, vnd dardurch seine Teuffels Kunst fortpiiantzen. Ist gewesen ein Mohametist, oder Saracener, welches Glaubens zu der Zeit es viele gegeben in Spanien. Der Alquif, die Urganda, vnd der gleichen Zauberer, werden von jhme die Weisen genennt, vnd jhre Kunst, die vollkommene Weissheit. . . . Er meldet auch, dass die weise Urganda jhre Weissheit vnd Kunst gelernet von einem Meister mit Namen Apollidon. Ist ohn zweiflEeln gewesen der Apollyon, dessen in der Offen- bahrung Johannis gedacht wird nemlich der Satanas selbst. Dero- halben sol ein jegliches Christlich vnd tugendreiches Gemuth fur dem Amadis ein abschew tragen, vnd denselben wie ein gifftiges Thier fliehen." vi] ON THE CONTINENT: GERMANY 231 would have given up Limy rather than Amadis — a view which a referendum to the masses would certainly have upheld. He adds that the author was a Spanish courtier, a Mohammedan or Saracen, and a first-class expert in black magic, who was endeavouring to communicate his poison through the medium of a pleasant story, and so to spread his devilish art. Alquife, Urganda, and magicians of that kind are described as "the wise" by this Spaniard, who further informs us that the wise Urganda learned her wisdom and her craft from a master named Apollidon. This latter, says Laurenberg, "was without doubt Apollyon, of whom mention is made in the Revelation of St John, in short Satan himself. Wherefore every Christian and virtuous soul will abhor Amadis^ and flee from him as from a poisonous beast." The passion for the romances would seem to have died down in Germany by the eighteenth century, to judge from the preface by Georg Serpilius to the Ger- man version of Johann Ludwig Prasch's Psyche Cretica (1705)^. Here the writer speaks ofthe/orw^^r influence of ^ "Was hat nicht schon vor vielen Jahren das susse Gifft der Amadis vor Wiirckung gehabt? Hat man doch in Franckreich zu Konig Henrid II. Zeiten kein Wort dawider reden dorffen. Dekherus de scriptis adespotis p. 130. ingleichen D. Muller in der Evangel. Schluss- Kette p. 183. nennet as nicht unrecht ein vergifftetes unci ier Jugend hdchstschddliches; Lansius Consult, p. 31. (or rather 3IZ, as quoted above) ein verfluchtes, Petrus Piscator in Problem. Sacr. Probl. 11. § 2. ein verteuffeltes Buch. Darwider unterschiedliche Authores harte Judicia gefaUet, wie bey gedachtem Hendreich p. 138. seq. zu sehen. AUe bekennen mit J. V. Andrese in Mythologia p. 46. dass es am besten sey, dergleichen hochstargerliche Bucher zu verbrennen, und ihr Andencken gantzlich auszurotten, damit unschuldige Hertzen dadurch nicht verfiihret w^erden." 232 EXTENSION OF THE ROMANCES [ch. Amadis, at the same time bringing together a number of criticisms, the latest belonging to the last quarter of the seventeenth century. To one, Amadis is "a poisonous book and most harmful to the young"; to another "a devilish book"; while yet another thinks that "it were better to burn such pestiferous books, and ut- terly root out their memory, in order that innocent hearts be not perverted by them." This hardly agrees, as Gryphiander had noticed, with the frequent title- page statements, according to which the various German books oi Amadis are for "all the honourable members of the nobility and all persons of high and low degree, and especially for all virtuous matrons and maidens very pleasant and profitable for to read." But perhaps the strictures applied more to the French versions, which were current in Germany; for the German translators altered and "reformed" their originals — in some cases to the extent of causing their heroes to listen to sermons instead of going to Mass. That Amadis was still in repute in Germany quite late in the seventeenth century is shown by the fact that Frau Courage, the heroine of one of Christoph von Grimmelshausen's 184, 185. See also Leandro il Bella Lesmundo de Grecia, 146 L'Estrange^MUe de, 1 14 Leyva Ramirez de Arellano, F. de, Lidaman de Ganayl, 137 Lidamante de Armenia, 146 Lidamor de Escocia, 144 Lindabrides, 125, 272-75, 299 Lipsius, J., 229 Lisimandro, 243 n. i Lisuane de Grecia, 69-75, 154 «. 2 (155), 158, 175 Livy, 231 Lobeira, Joham, 57, 58 VascOj 51, 53-7 Lohenstein, D. K. von, 233 n. 1 Lollini, L., 198 Lopez, Jeronimo, 137 Lopez de Ayala, P., 25, 26, 54, 154 Pinciano, A., 80, 81 n. i, 155 Loris, Isabel de, 33 . Louis XI, King of France, 209 Xn, King of France, 209 XIV, King of France, 221 Lucidante de Tracia, 145 Lucidara, O Valente, 145 n. 1 Lucinge, R. de, Sieur des Alimes, 217 n. 2, 219 Lujan, P. de, 77, 134, 302-9 Lull, Ramon, 37 LuUy, J. B., 221, 241 Luther, M., 198, 218, 267 Luzio, A., 181 n. i, 184 «. i Lyly, J., 243 «• >■ Machiavelli, N., 239 Macy (Mansi), Mile de, 114 Magellan, F., 30 Malespini, C, 193 «. 2 Malon de Chaide, P., 174 Mander, K. van, 238 Mandeville, Sir J., 38 Manfredi, L., 184 Manger, M., 222 Mansi. See Macy, Mile de Margaret, Queen-Consort of Henry IV, King of France, 213 Maria, of Portugal, sister of John III, King of Portugal, 113 Marnef, Jeanne de, 204 Marsinda, 146 Marston, J., 270 n. 1, 271, 273, 290, 292 Martin, King of Aragon, 21 Martinez, Ferrand, 12 Marcos, 119, 247 MartoreU, J., 33, 34, 37^40 Massinger, P., 292 Mass6 Torrents, J., 21 «. 2 Mathieu, A., 211 Matiire de Bretagne. See Celtic Cycle de France. See Charlemagne cycle de Rome. See Roman cycle Maugin, J., 204, 205, 210 Maynete y Galiana, 10 Medina, M. de, 83 Mello, F.M. de, 157 «. 1 Melzi, G., 176 n. 1, 185 nn. i, 2, 5, 330 INDEX i86 nn. 1-4, 191 nn. 1-3, 192 n. i, 302 Mendoza, D. de, 80, 149 Mentedez y Pelayo, M., his apprecia- tion of AmadiSf 48; on the author- ship of book ix. of Amaiis, 71 ; and of bookvii. 74K. i ; his appreciation of Primaleon, 94; on translations issued before their originals, no n. I ; confuses two authors named Joao de Barros, 157 «. i Meredith, G., 299 Meres, F., 249, 265 Merlin, 21 n. 2, 22 «. i, 23, 25, 31 Metge, B., 38 Mexia, P., 157, 159 Mexico, 82 Michaelis de Vasconcellos, Carolina, 56 «. 3, 117 «. 2 Michelant, H., 11 k. 5 Mild y Fontanals, M., 21 n. i Milton, John, 296 Min-el, S., 237 Miranda, G., 135, 192 Mirror of Chivalry {Knighthood). See Espejo de Cavallerias of Knighthood. See Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros Modred, 24 Molina, J. de, 133 Molteni, E., 22 n. i, 56 n. 3 Monaci, E., 27 n. 1 Montaigne, M. de, 217 Montalvo. See Rodriguez de Mon- talvo Montemdr, J. de, 75 Moraes, F. de, 1 10-15, '39 Morgantey Roldan, 148 Morynge, W., 255 Moryson, F., 236 «. 1, 268, 295 Moutreux, N. de, 203 Miiller, D., 231 «. i Munday, A., 249-55, 262, 310-15 Muntaner, R., 38 Murch, H. S., 287 n. i Muzio, G., 197 Nabbes, T., 284 n. 2 Nebrija, Antonio de. See Antonio de Nebrija Neira deMosquera, A., 112 K. 1 Nicolau i d'Olwer, Lluis, 37 n. 1 Nicqude, 213, 219 Noble Cuento del Emperador Carles Maynes, 27 Noronha, F. de, 113 n. i, 114 Olivante de Laura, 143 Oliveros de Castilla, 32 Opitz, M., 227, 228 Oppenheim library, 60 6rbigo, bridge of, 28 Ordonez de Montalvo, G., 42 Oriana, heroine of Amadis, 44; mentioned in Garcia de Resende's Cancioneiro Geral, 53; in the Cancionero de Baena, 54; copied in Palmerin de Oliva, 89, 90 ; in the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros, 125; mentioned by F. Cervantes de Salazar, 164 n. i, 165 j the name in disfavour with Queen Elizabeth, 272 Ortega, M., 142 Ortiz, A., 138 Ortunez de Calahorra, D., 119, 192, 242. See also Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros Overbury, SirT., 292, 293 Pachs (Pax), 38 Paciuchelli, A., 198 Paladiano, 132, 208, 253 Palladine of England. See Florando de Inglaterra Palmendos, 250, 260, 265. See also Polendos Palmerin series, begins v/ith. Palmerin de Oliva 84, 85 ; MS. continua- tions, 115; all the books are imitations, 119; does not include Polindo, 144; mentioned by Lope de Vega, 1 54 n. 2 (i 5 5) ; condemned by D. Gracian, 160; and by B. Arias Montano, 172; read in Italy, 193; condemned by O. Landi, 196; the Dutch translations, 237, 238; the EngUsh books published out of order, 247 n. 3, 255 «. 2; pre- cedes the Amadis series in England, 248; so for a time more popular, 254, 256; mentioned by Ben INDEX 33^ Jonson, 266; the name as a form of address, 269, 284; mentioned byMassinger, 292; and by William Browne, 293. See also Palmerin de Oliva, PrimaUon, Platir, Flortir, Palmerin de Inglaterra, Duardos Segundo, Clarisol de Bretanha Palmerin de Inglaterra, approved by Cervantes, 4, 84, 103, 105, 109; the plot, 103-8; modelled on Amadis, 109; authorship question, 109-15; editions and translations, 115; mentioned by Camoens, 117; and by A. Prestes, 1 1 7 n. 2 ; praised by Francisco de Portugal and Gongora, 117; stories concerning the romance, 118; its hero and the Cavallero del Febo, 125; the Italian translation, 186; the French translation, 206, 207; the English translation, 248, 251, 252; recom- mended by Kirkman, 260; men- tioned in The Knight of the Burning Pestle, 285, 286; in The Wild Goose Chase, 288; in Chapman's East- ward Hoe, 292; read by Dr Johnson, 295; appreciated by Leigh Hunt and Keats, 297; mentioned by Sir Walter Scott, 398 ; the Spanish Palmerin de In- glaterra and Leandro el Bel fraudu- lent productions, 308 Palmerin de Oliva, condemned in Don Quixote, 84, 85, 90; editions, 85, 91, 96; the plot, 85-89; reminiscences of Amadis and Esplandian, 89, 90; and of Cifar, 89 «. I; approved by A. de Fuentes, 90; by W. E. Purser, 91 ; and by J. de Valdes, 94; author- ship question, 96-100, 244; plays based on the romance, 116; a link with Amadis and the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros, 125; praised by J. de Valdes, 154; con- demned by Dr J. de Barros, 157 «. 1 ; and by A. de UUoa, 159; the Italian translation, 184, 185; and continuation, 187; embroidered representation of the story, 194; versified by L. Dolce, 195; the French translation, 203-5 j editions, 207; cited by Pasquier, 215 ». i; the German abridgment, 234; the Dutch translation, 237; Dutch plays based on the story, 240 ; the English translation, 248, 249, 251 ». 2, 252; recommended by Kirk- man, 260; condemned by F. Meres, 265; and by William Vaughan, 267; contains alleged hint for Hamlet, 276, 282; quoted in The Knight of the Burning Pestle, 285; and in Marston's Dutch Courtezan, 290 Palurcio, 132 Panza, Sancho, 18 Paravicino y Arteaga, H. F., 117 Paris e Viana, 26, 31 Parry, R., 247 Pasquier, E., 210, 215 Pastoral romance, 75 Pax (Pachs), 38 Paynell, T., 162 «. i, 242, 254 n. 1 Pellicer, J. A., 126 n. i Penalva, 77 «. 3 Percy, T., 294 Pereyra, Nuno, 53 Perez de Montalvan, J., 78, 116 P^rez G6mez Nieva, A., 54 n. i Pastor, C, 179 n. i, 302 Perott, J. de, on Flortir, 102; on the date of The Mirror of Knighthood, 243 n. I ; on Shakespeare's debt to F. de Silva, 276 n. 3 ; and to The Mirror of Knighthood, 277-83 ; on a reference to the romances in Beaumont and Fletcher, 284 n. 1 ; on an imitation of The Mirror of Knighthood in Sir Walter Scott, 299 n. 3 Pfeiffer, M., 201 n. 1, 202 «. i, 222 n. 2, 226 n. 3 Phebo, Donzel del. See Cavallero del Febo Philesbian de Candaria, 144 Philippa, Queen-Consort of John I, King of Portugal, 23 Pineda, J. de, 29 «. i Piot, L. See Pyott Piscator, Petrus, 23 1 «. i Placidus, 14, 38 33^ INDEX Platir, a continuation of Primaleon, loo; criticised in Don Quixote, loi ; the Italian translation, 185; its continuation, 187, 188; not trans- lated into French, 206; nor into English, 251 Plays based on the Amadis series, 78, 79, 221, ^26 n. 2, 240, 241, 294; on the Palmerin series, 95, 116, 1 1 7, 240 ; on . the Espejo de Principes y Cavalier os, 126, cf. 78 PMiade, la, 208, 216 Poema de Fernan Gonfalez, 10 Polendos, 92, 187, 250. See also Palmendos Policisne de Beocia, 145 Polidoro, 135 «. 3 Polindo, 100 n. i, 144, 187 Polisman, 134, 138, 191 Polismarco, 132 Portugal, F. de, 79, 117, 139 «. 2 Possevino, A., 217, 267 Prasch, L., 231 Prestes, A., 117 «. 2 Primaleon, judged inferior to Pal- merin de Oliva by W. E. Purser, 91; part of the plot, 92-94; editions, 92, 95, 96; appreciated by J. de Valdes, 94, 154; by Torquato Tasso, 94; and by Menindez y Pelayo, 94; ignored by Cervantes, 95 ; plays based on the romance, 95, 116, 117; and a ballad, 95, n6, 149 n. z; author- ship question, 96-100, 244; con- demned by Dr J. de Barros, 157 n. i; by A. de Ulloa, 159; by D. de Gracian, 159 n. 2, 160; and by A. de Guevara, 170; the Italian translation and continua- tion, 185-88, 305 ; mentioned by P. Giovio, 193; versified by L. Dolci, 195; praised by Torquato Tasso, 195, 196; condemned by O. Landi, 196; and by G. Muzio, 197; the French translation, 205-7; the Dutch translation, 237; the English translation, 250, 251; recom- mended by Kirkman, 260; con- demned by F. Meres, 265 ; and by Ben Jouson, 266; mentioned by Brome, 289 ; substantiates Lazarus Pyott, 310-14; contains a famous English lyric, 314, 315. See also Darineo Prior, Sir J., 296 n. 2 Pulgar, Hernando del, 29 Purser, W. E., appreciates Palmerin de Oliva, 91; decides against a printed Spanish Flortir, loz; his photograph ofMiraguarda's castle, 105 «. I ; his treatise on Palmerin of England, 1 1 1 ; records MS. con- tinuations of this romance, 115 «. 2; quotes references to it in Portuguese literature, 117 «. 2; on the identity of the author of Florando de Inglaterra, 131 n. i; on the bibliography of Clarimundo, 139 n.i; and of the Italian Palmerin cf England, 186 n. i Pyott, L., 253, 254, 310-15 Questiers, S., 240 Question de Amor, 276 n. 2. Quite du Saint Graal. See Grail Quinault, P., 221, 241 Quifiones, Suero de, 28 Rajna, P., 181 «. 4, 183 n. i Raymond, P., 21 n. 3 Reed, A. W., 153 «. 2 Regnier, M., 214 Reichard, H. A. O., 234 Reinhardstoettner, K. von, 24 n. i Renaldos de Montalvan, 148 Renier, R., 181 «. i, 184 n. 1 Resende, Garcia de, 53 Revelation of St John, 231 Rey de Artieda, A., 78 Reymundo de Grecia, 138, 144 Ribadeueira, P. de, 150 Ribera, Francisco de, 150 Paez de, 68, 69 Rinaldi, O., 192 Rinconetey Cortadillo, 38 Rioja, F. de, 78 n. 2 Rios, J. A. de los, 24 n. 4 Riramon de Ganayl, 136 Rodriguez, Lucas, 126 n. 2 de la Camara, J., 54 n. z de Lena, P., 29 n. i INDEX 333 Rodriguez de Montalvo, 42, 50, 51, 58-69 Rodriguez Marin, F., 137, 178 n. i Rogel deGrecia^ 76, 77, 220, 240, 241 Rojas Zorrilla, F. de, 126 n. 3 Roland, 25 «. 2, 26 Roman cycle of epic and romance, 6 Romances of chivalry, three early cycles, 6; religious romances, 128; 169, 176, 177; unpublished ro- mances, 145, 146; list of published Spanish and Portuguese romances, 147, 148; sentimental romances, 148; verse romances, 149 RoncesvaUes, battle of, 10 Rose, W. S., 256 Roseo, M., his part in introducing Spanish romances into Italy, 184, 249; his continuation of Palmerin de Oliva, 185 n. 4, 187; of Prima- leon, 185 «. 4, 186, 305; of Platir, 185 n. 5, 187; of Flonir, 186 «. 2, 187; of Palmerin of England, 186 K. 1 ; of Amadis, 189, 190; this last in France, 201, 202; and in Germany, 222, 223 ; his translation of FloTambel de Lucea, 191 Rosicler, a hero of the Espejo de Principes y Caoalleros, 121, 123- 25 ; mentioned by Beaumont and Fletcher, 269; by Glapthorne, 270; byMarston, 270; by Shirley, 270 Rosset, F. de, 208 Round Table, 8, 23 «. 2, 24 Rowley, W., 274 Roxburghe sale catalogue, 185 ». i Rubi6 y Lluch, A., 32 n. i Ruiz, Juan, Archpriest of Hita, 25, 38 Saintsbury, G., 277 Salado, battle of the, 25 Salamanca, Antonio de. See Antonio de Salamanca Salazar, A. de, 133 Salvd, v., Ill Sinchez, J. M., 144 «. 2 Sanchez Valdes de la Plata, J^ 168 Sannazaro, J., 75 n. 3, 139 San Pedro, Diego de, 184 ». 1 Hieronimo, 176 Santiago de Compostela, 9 Saulnier, G., Sleur Du Verdier, 209 n. I Scarron, P., 219 Schatzkammer. See Amadis de Gaula Schiller, J. C. F. See Wallenstein Schneider, A., 176 ». 2 Scott, Sir Walter, 256, 298, 299 Sergas, 64 ». 2 Serpilius, G., 231 Sivign^jMme de, 219, 220 Sferamundi, 154 k. 2 (155), 189, 202 Shadwell, T., 268 Shakespeare, W., parallel between Much Ado About Nothing and Tirant lo Blanch, 36, 181, 277; The Winter's Tale cited, 153 n. i, 240 n. 2; The Mirror of Knighthood al- luded to in Henry IV, pt i, 243, 276; comparison with A. Munday, 249; alleged indebtedness to F. de SUva, 276; to The Mirror of Knighthood, 277^83; to Palmerin de Oliva, 282; to The Destruction of Troy, 295 Shirley, James, 270, 271, 274, 289, 291 n. 2 John, 252, 256, 262 Sidney, Sir Philip, 265, 276 Sierra, P. de la, 119, 247 Silva, Feliciano de, author of book vii. of Amadis, 69, 72-75 ; of book ix. 71, 72; of books X. and xi. 76; his Sueho de Amor, 72, 75, 149 n. 2; criticisms in Don Quixote, 77; plays based on his works, 78, 240, 241; his style copied in the Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros, 126; his works in Italy, 188; in France, 201; Shakespeare's alleged indebtedness to him, 276 I. F. da, 146 n. i y de Toledo, J. de, 145 Silvayn, A,, 311 SUveira, S. de, 80, 117, 118 Sihes de la Selva, yj, 134, 217, 309. See also Amadis de Gaula Silveyra, Alvaro da, 146 ■ Jorge da, 53 Slonik, Benjamin Aaron, See Ben- jamin Aaron Slonik 334 INDEX Soncino, Eleazar ben Gershom, 6i, 62 Sonnet de Courval, T., 214 Soria, Fr. Alonso de, 177 Southey, R., his view on the Amadis question, 51, 52; his version of Leonoreta fin roseta, 57 k. i ; his view on the authorship of Palmerin de Inglaterra, no; his version of this romance, 252; and of Amadis, 256; finds borrowings from /4ma(i«> of Greece in English literature, 276 Specchio de Prencipi. See Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros Spenser, E., 276, 278 Spes, Guerau de, 272 n. i Spineda, L., igi Starter^ J., 240 Stationers' Register, records license to print The Treasury of Amadis, 242; The Mirror of Knighthood, 243 n. I; Primaleon, 250; Durine of Greece, 2^1; Palmerin of England, 252 n. I ; Amadis of Gaul, 253, 255, 310; a ballad by A. Munday, 312 n. I Stewart, C, 253 «. 2 Suppico deMoraes, P. J., 118 «. i T ahlante y Jofre, 148 Tarsis, J. de, Conde de Villaniediana, 78,79 Tasso, Bernardo, 183, 195 Torquato, 94, 183, 195 Telensi. See Theligny, Mile de Teresa, St, 54, 150 Term Catalogues, 261 Theligny (Telensi), Mile de, 114 Ticknor, G., in Tirant lo Blanch, the first edition of the romance, 32; its authorship, 33; its story, 34-37; its character and sources, 37, 38; praised by Cervantes, 39; editions and trans- lations, 39, 40; published before Amadis, 41 ; its feigned origin paralleled, 65; its influence on Claribalte, 139; and on Florindo, 144; the romance criticised by J. L. Vives, 163; and by A. Vanegas de Busto, 1 66 n, i ; imi- tated in religious romance, 176, 177; read in Italy, 181; published there, 184; cited as an authority there, 193; one of its incidents paralleled in Shakespeare, 277 Tomillas, Count, 27 Torcy (Torsi), Mile de, 114 Torquemada, A. de, 143 Traheron, W., 158 n. i Tramezzino, M., 184, 249, 305 Treasurie of Amadis. See Amadis de Gaula Tresor des Amadis. See Amadis de Gaula Tressan, Comte de, 51, 52 Tristan, 7, 21-27, 48, 56 n. i, 148 Triumphs ofOriana, 272 Troyes, Chretien de. See Chretien de Troyes Turpin, Archbishop, 9, 10, 25 «. 2 Tyler,M., 243-47, 265 Tyron, A., 201, 202 UUoa, A. de, 159 Urgauda, 49, 214, 218, 219, 297 n. 4 (298) Urrea, J. de, 139 Ustarroz, J. F. Andres de. See Andres de Ustarroz v., G., 235, 236 «. 2 (237) Vaganay, H. de, 185 n. 4, 189 nn. i, 2, 192 «. 2 Valdes, J. de, 94, 153, 154, 196 ValerUe Lucidoro, 145 «. i Valerian de Ungria, 136, 191 Valfloran, 146 Vanegas de Busto, A., 166, 168 Varela, J., 69 Vargas, B. de, 140-42 Varnhagen, F. A. de, 24 n. z Vathek, no Vazquez, F., 95 n. 2, 98, 100 Vega, Lope de, 81, 126 n. 3, 154, 155 Velez de Guevara, L., 126 «. 3 Vernassal, F. de, 103, 205 Vespasiano, 32 Vicente, Gil, 78, 95, 116 Villamediana, Conde de. See Tarsis, J. de INDEX :i:^s Vincent, J., 206 WiUiam the Silent, 239 Visscher, R., 238 WiUiams, G. S., 41 n. 2, 48 «. i, Vives, J. L., i6i-66, 263 64 « i Voyer, J. de, 203 «. 2 Worp, J. A., 240 «. i Vulpius, C. A., 233, 234 Waesberghe, J. van, 237 ^""'°' '33 Wagner, C. P., 12 «. i JVallenstein, 110 Yauez, R., 25 Wieland, C. M., 233 Yseult, 26 William [Gonzaga], Duke of Mantua, ■93 Zeerijp, P. van, 240 of Tyre, 10 Ziegler, H. A. von, 233 n. i CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED BY J. B. PEACE, M.A., AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS