Tirant lo Blanc is an epic romance written by the Valencian knight Joanot Martorell, suposedly finished by Martí Joan de Galba and published in Valencia in 1490. It is one of the best known medieval works of literature in the Catalan language, and played an important role in the evolution of the Western novel thanks to its influence on Cervantes. The medieval spelling is Tirant lo Blanch; a literal English translation of the title would be The White Knight or Tirant the White, the name of the main character of the romance.
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Influence
Tirant lo Blanc is one of the most important books of Valencian and Iberic literature. Written by Joanot Martorell in the 15th century, the "Tirant" is a chivalry novel wich appears to have also a strong autobiographic component. It tells the feats and adventures of Knight Tirant lo Blanch from Brittany. The story in parts bears a parallelism with the life and adventures of admiral Roger de Flor, a Templar Knight and participant in the last crusade, leader of the Almogavar (Catalonian and Aragonese) army. This historical resemblance is also evident in the description of events occurring around Constantinople and the defeat of Sultan Mehmet II "the conqueror" and ultimately leading to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. As opposed to books of a similar era, "Tirant" lacks the bucolic, platonic, and contemplative love commonly portrayed in the chivalry heroes. Instead the main character is full of life and sensuous love, sarcasm, and human feelings. The work is filled with down to earth descriptions of daily life, prosaic and even bitter in nature. It is considered a major influence for Miguel de Cervantes' book, Don Quixote de la Mancha, which was written a century later; comparisons between the two show many similarities. The similarities in both works can also be appreciated in their critical and skeptical view of the unlikely and exaggerated and fantastic chivalry novels in use at the time. As of the time the Quixote was written there was only one Spanish translation of the Tirant (Valladolid, 1511) published anonymously, and Cervantes was probably not aware the original was written in Valencian language. In the following fragment of the Quixote, the priest and the barber throw to the bonfire books of Don Alonso (Don Quixote):
- -"God help me!" said the priest in a loud voice, "That we have here the 'Tirant lo Blanch' ! Hand it over to me, my friend, for I am telling you that I found on it a treasure of enjoyment and a gold mine of recreation. Here it is Don Kyrieleison of Montalvan, valiant knight, and his brother Thomas of Montalvan, and the knight Fonseca, and the battle the brave Tirante fought with the mastiff, and the witt of damsel Placerdemivida (Pleasureofmylife - ed. note), and the loves and lies of the widow Reposada (Rested -ed note), and lady Emperatriz (Empress - ed note) in love with the squire Hipolito--in all truth, my friend, by right of its style this is the best book in the world: here Knights eat, sleep, and they die even doing a will, things that all the rest of books of this genre lack. Having said all this, I am telling you that he deserved to have this book written because he did not do as many silly things as to deserve to be thrown to the galleys for the rest of his life. Take the book home and read it , and then you will realize that all I told you about it is true. "
Later editions of Tirant lo Blanch dropped the final "h" which was commonly used during medieval times.
Plot
Tirant lo Blanc tells the story of a medieval knight — Tirant — from Brittany, who in his quest has a series of adventures across Europe. He joins in knightly competitions in England and France) until the Emperor of the Byzantine empire asks him to help in the war against the Ottoman Turks, an islamic tribe of invaders threatening Byzantium (Constantinople), their capital and seat of the Empire. Tirant accepts and is made Megaduke of the Byzantine Empire, becoming the captain of an army, which defeats the Turk invaders and saves the Empire from destruction. Thereafter he then battles the Turks in many regions of the Oriental Mediterranean and Northern Africa, but he dies just before he can marry the pretty heiress of the Byzantine Empire. The loss of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 was considered at the time to be a major blow to Christian Europe. In writing his novel Martorell perhaps rewrote history to fit what he wanted it to be.
Movie
Tirante el Blanco, a Spanish film based on the book, was released in early 2006. Its plot is based on the later part of the Tirant, and events leading to his involvement in Constantinople and afterwards.
Bibliography
Two modern translations of the book into English include:
- Tirant Lo Blanc, translated by David H. Rosenthal (1983, 1996), ISBN 0-8018-5421-0
- Tirant Lo Blanc: The Complete Translation (Catalan Studies, Vol 1), translated by Ray La Fontaine (1994), ISBN 0-8204-1688-6
External links
- The White Knight: Tirant lo Blanc, available at Project Gutenberg. edited and translated into English by Robert S. Rudder
- Tirant lo Blanch, handheld edition at PalmCAT.org (English and Valencian editions)
- Etchings by Manuel Boix of Tirant lo Blanc (Edicions de la Tercera Branca —the Third Branch Editions—, 1978–1983).
- Tirant lo Blanch (in Valencian)
- Tirant lo Blanc: An Analysis of its Transitional Styles by Suzanne S. Hintz
- Tirant lo Blanc,Wikisource
Other:
- In the opinion of some experts Tirant is differente to similar works see "Origenes de la novela..." By Marcelino Mendendez y Pelayo, Adolfo Bonilla y San Martin
- El ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
- Tirant Lo Blanch: A Study of Its Authorship, Principal Sources and historial setting" by Joseph A. Vaeth (1918)
