[21] Ibid., p. 164.
There is a passage in the William of Warwick episode which we feel is a probable indication that the author was not English. When the hermit-king, as leader of the English forces, recaptured the castle of Alimburch from the Moors, in which the latter held many Christian ladies as captives, Johan de Varoych, son of Guillem, called to them in the following words: “Dones angleses, exiu defora e tornau en vostra primera libertat, car vengut es lo dia de la vostra redempcio.”[22] Why did the author say “Dones angleses”? Is it not probable that he for the moment had forgotten that the work was supposed to be a translation from the English, and addressed the ladies as a foreigner might have done?
[22] English ladies, come out and enjoy your former liberty, for the day of your redemption has come.
In spite of our efforts to take the author at his word, we feel moved to conclude that the work was not translated from an English original. We believe that a statement to that effect was made, because the beginning of Tirant lo Blanch was a kind of reproduction of a romance in which an English knight was the hero, and because the events that are recounted in that first part took place in England. The declaration was perhaps suggested by examples of other authors of romances of chivalry who attributed their works to foreign sources.
But if there was no English original, was there some other work to be translated? In what language was it written? For lack of any other information, we shall have to conclude that it was in Catalan, for the contents of the final version clearly indicate that. This, then, was translated into Portuguese, and then into Catalan. How absurd! for it already existed in Catalan. It is evident that there was no translating to be done.
If the book was not translated from an English, or a Catalan original, it may be asked whether it was first written in Portuguese and then translated into Catalan. In attempting to answer this question it is necessary to remember the reason that is given for translating the work from English into Portuguese, viz., that Prince Ferdinand of Portugal asked Martorell to produce the work in the Portuguese language. And who was this “serenissimo princep”?
Prince Ferdinand (1433-1470) was the second son of King Edward I of Portugal. His mother was Doña Leonor de Aragón, a daughter of King Ferdinand I. At the death of King Edward, in 1438, the latter’s eldest son mounted the throne as Alfonso V. He was but six years old, and in order that there might be no question as to the succession, “foi o Infante D. Fernando jurado Principe pellos Infantes, e pello Conde de Barcellos e por todos os que eraõ presentes, por si, e por todos os do Reyno, de que se fizeraõ Autos solemnizados por Notarios publicos e dahi em diante se chamou Principe de Portugal.”[23] This prince was, according to de la Clède, “Duc de Viseo, Grand Maître de Christ et de Saint Jacques en Portugal, et Connétable du Roiaume.”[24] He took an active part in the fighting against the Moors in the northwestern part of Africa.
[23] The Infante, D. Ferdinand was solemnly accepted as Prince by the other Infantes, and by the Count of Barcellos and by all those who were present, for themselves and for those of the kingdom; duly attested acts of this action were drawn up by notaries, and henceforth he was called Prince of Portugal. Duarte Nunes de Leaõ, Cronicas del rey Dom Joaõ de gloriosa memoria, o I. deste nome, e dos reys de Portugal o X., e as dos reys D. Duarte, e D. Affonso o V., Lisbon, 1780; vol. 2, p. 86.
[24] M. de la Clède, Histoire générale de Portugal, Paris, 1735; vol. 3, p. 242.
Apparently, then, this dedication and all that concerns Prince Ferdinand is written in good faith. And since he was a Portuguese, it would be only natural to suppose that the book was composed in the Portuguese language.