The Magaduch sent word to the Admiral to bring the whole fleet to Ania. In the meantime En Berenguer de Rocafort arrived at Constantinople with 200 cavalry and 1000 infantry, and these were immediately sent to the Magaduch. These reinforcements, the fleet, and the forces in the field all came together at Ania. Rocafort was made Seneschal. At this place another clash with the enemy took place, and the latter was soon put to flight. The victorious army then continued its march through Anatolia, and when they arrived at a mountain pass called “La Porta del Ferre,” they were attacked by a large army of the enemy. The Turks fought furiously, but in vain; they were forced to flee and the victors pursued them until darkness intervened.
Finally the power of the Turks in Anatolia was completely broken. Roger now asked the emperor to make a payment to his troops, and the latter ordered special money to be coined. This money was not worth its face value. The emperor did this in order that friction and hatred might arise between the people of the empire and the strangers, for “if he had not had need of these foreigners, he would have wished all of them dead and out of the empire.”
En Berenguer Dentença arrived with additional reinforcements. A few days later Roger suggested to the emperor that the newly-arrived commander should be given a position of honor, and offered to resign his position in order that Dentença might be appointed Magaduch. His Imperial Majesty approved this suggestion. The following day Roger placed his cap on the head of Dentença and gave him the insignia of the high office of Magaduch. Thereupon the emperor asked Roger to be seated and proclaimed him Caesar of the Empire. Caesar’s throne was a half-hand lower than the emperor’s, and his cap and robes were blue instead of red. That constituted the only difference between emperor and Caesar. There had been no Caesar of the Empire for four hundred years. Roger’s elevation to this dignity was celebrated with great solemnity.
Another winter came on, and the Caesar spent it with his troops at Gallipoli. After the Christmas festivities he returned to Constantinople to confer with the emperor in regard to affairs of the empire. As a result of this consultation the whole territory of Anatolia and the islands of Romania were placed in his hands. He was to distribute the cities, towns, and castles among vassals, who were to furnish armed men and horses in return.
But before going to Anatolia he felt it his duty to take leave of Xor Miqueli, who was at Adrianople, five jornadas from the imperial city. His wife and her mother, knowing the hatred that the emperor’s son bore him, warned him not to go there, but he went in spite of their pleadings. Xor Miqueli came out to meet him and showed him much honor. Apparently the fears of his wife and her mother were unfounded. But on the seventh day of his visit Gircon, the chief of the Alanos, entered the palace, and at the behest, or at least with the consent, of Xor Miqueli, put a tragic end to the heroic career of Roger de Flor, Caesar of the Empire.
Now let us see what striking resemblances we can discover in comparing the careers of Tirant lo Blanch and Roger de Flor. The points of similarity that stand out prominently in the comparison of these heroes are the following: Tirant, like Roger de Flor, came from Sicily to the aid of the ill-faring empire; both were immediately placed in command of the imperial forces, Tirant with the title of Capita Major and Roger de Flor with that of Magaduch; both were always victorious on the field of battle, and recovered the territory that had been conquered by the Turks; both were made Caesar of the Empire for their distinguished services; Roger was assassinated at Adrianople, and in that same city Tirant’s fatal malady seized him.
The historical basis of Tirant’s career at Constantinople is evidently furnished by the Chronica, but Martorell’s hero differs very much from the Catalan hero. The author evidently had the latter in mind to some extent, but apparently he did not wish to portray him in such manner that one would recognize him. While we still have Guy of Warwick’s career at Constantinople fresh in mind, do not the details of Tirant’s career seem to be more in accord with the English hero’s than with those of Roger de Flor? Did we not expect more of a resemblance, when we were told that Tirant represents the latter? In short, is that judgment not misleading? If it had been Martorell’s intention to make this part a kind of historical novel in which Roger de Flor was to be the central figure, would he not have adhered to the facts more closely, and elaborated them at his own free will and pleasure?