The “History of Palmerin of England” is one of the curious old books of chivalry once popular in Spain. It is entitled, Libro del muy esforzado caballero Palmerin de Inglaterra, hijo del Rey Don Duardos, y de sus grandes provezas; y de Floriano del Desierto su hermano; con algunos del Príncipe Florendos hijo de Primaleon. Toledo, año de MDXLVII.[73]
In the year following, a second part, entitled, Libro segundo de Palmerin de Inglaterra; en el cual se prosiguen y han fin los muy dulces amores que tuvo con la Infanta Polinarda, dando cima à muchas aventuras y ganando immortal con sus muchos fechos, y de Floriano del Desierto, con algunos del Príncipe Florendos. Toledo, MDXLVIII.[74]
Nicolás Antonio makes no mention of this edition of Palmerin of England. After a time the two publications above-mentioned became scarce, and a Portuguese translation of the work, also published in the sixteenth century, got into general circulation. This circumstance caused the authorship of Palmerin to be by some assigned to Don John II., King of Portugal, and by others to the Infante Don Luis, who claimed the right of succession to the Portuguese crown in opposition to King Philip II.
Neither Pellicer nor Clemencin, in their Commentaries on Don Quixote, mention or allude to the above-cited editions of Palmerin de Inglaterra, which were the first that were printed. Neither do one or the other mention the name of Ferrer, the presumed author of that celebrated book of knight-errantry. Cervantes, when speaking of Palmerin de Inglaterra, says:—“This palm of England should be kept and preserved as a thing unique. A case should be made expressly to contain it, like that which Alexander found among the spoil of Darius, and which the latter monarch had appropriated to the preservation of the works of the poet Homer.”
(K).
“Moreover, you must know that I am a philosopher, and that I have studied in the new school of Doña Oliva.” (Page 123).
The Doña Oliva, here alluded to, was a woman of extraordinary talent and learning. Her name was Doña Oliva de Nantes Sabuca Barrera, and she was a native of the town of Alcaraz. This extraordinary woman wrote a curious work, entitled, Nueva filosofía de la naturaleza del hombre, no conocida ni alcanzada de los grandes filósofos antiguos, la cual mejora la vida y salud humana.[75]
“This book,” says Doña Oliva, in her dedicatory epistle to King Philip II. was “wanting in the world, though of many others there are more than enough. The facts contained in this book, are not touched upon by Galen, Plato or Hippocrates in their treatises on human nature;—nor by Aristotle when he treats of the soul and of life and death. Neither are they mentioned by Pliny, Ælian, or other naturalists of antiquity. It is as clear and as obvious as the light of the sun that the old system of medicine is erroneous in its fundamental principles, inasmuch as the philosophers and physicians of ancient times did not comprehend the nature of the human frame, on the right understanding of which medicine is founded and has its origin. My petition is that my system be tried only for the space of one year: those of Hippocrates and Galen have been tried for two thousand years, and they have proved ineffectual and uncertain in their results. This is evident every day in cases of catarrh, fever, small pox, plague and divers other diseases, against which the old system furnishes no remedies; for out of a thousand individuals who come into the world, not more than three go out of it by natural death. The rest die prematurely, being carried off by diseases, for which medicine, as practised on the old system, supplies no remedies.”
Notwithstanding the bombastic and conceited tone in which the Nueva Filosofía is written, the work contains much useful information, and medical science is indebted to the authoress for some anatomical discoveries, especially in relation to the nervous fluid.