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.jpg) First printed Spanish edition of Amadis de Gaula,Zaragoza, 1508 | |
| Author | Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo |
|---|---|
| Original title | Amadís de Gaula |
| Language | Early Modern Spanish |
| Genre | Chivalric romance |
Publication date | Before 1508 |
| Publication place | Iberian Peninsula (Spain andPortugal) |
Published in English | 1590 |
| Followed by | Las sergas de Esplandián |
Amadís de Gaula (in EnglishAmadis of Gaul) (Spanish:Amadís de Gaula,IPA:[amaˈðisdeˈɣawla]) (Portuguese:Amadis de Gaula,IPA:[ɐmɐˈdiʒðɨˈɣawlɐ]) is a landmarkchivalric romance first composed in Spain or Portugal. The narrative originates in the latepost-Arthurian genre and was likely based on French sources. The earliest version(s) may have been written in an unidentified location on the Iberian Peninsula in the early 14th century as it was certainly known to theCastilianstatesman,poet andchancellorPero López de Ayala, as well as Castilian poetPero Ferrús. TheAmadís is mentioned by the Spanish priest andconfessor toMaria of Portugal, Queen of Castile Juan García de Castrojeriz in a document dated between 1342 and 1348.[1]
The earliest surviving print edition of the text was compiled byGarci Rodríguez de Montalvo and published in four volumes inZaragoza, Spain, in 1508. It was written inSpanish. There were likely earlier printed editions, which are nowlost.[2] Fragments of a manuscript of Book III dating from the first quarter of the 15th century, discovered in a bookbinding (now in theThe Bancroft Library,University of California, Berkeley) show that, in addition to making amendments, Montalvo also made an abbreviation to the older text. In the introduction to his publication, Montalvo explains that he edited the first three volumes from texts in circulation since the 14th century and added a fourth volume not previously published in book form. He later also published a sequel to the romance under the titleLas sergas de Esplandián, which he claimed was discovered in a chest buried inConstantinople and transported to Spain by aHungarian merchant (the famous motif of thefound manuscript).
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In thePortugueseChronicle byGomes Eanes de Zurara (1454),Amadis is attributed to the Portuguese writerVasco de Lobeira (died in 1403). Other traditional sources claim that the work was first put into prose by aPortuguesetroubadourJoão de Lobeira (c. 1233–1285). No printed principal version in Portuguese is known. A more recent source attributesAmadis toHenry of Castile on the basis of supposed links between his biography and certain events inAmadis. The inspiration for the romance may have been the forbidden marriage ofInfanta Constanza of Aragon with Henry in 1260 (seeDon Juan Manuel'sLibro de las tres razones [es] of 1335) which is mirrored in the plot line of the forbidden marriage between Oriana and Amadis.
Many translations ofAmadís de Gaula were produced already in the first century of its publication including into Hebrew, French, Italian, Dutch, German and English and remained for several centuries in Europe an important reference point in courtly, cultural, and social matters. It was the favorite book of the fictional titular character inDon Quixote byMiguel de Cervantes.[1]
The story narrates thestar-crossed love of King Perión of Gaula and Elisena of England, resulting in the secret birth of Amadís. The place calledGaula is a fictional kingdom withinBrittany. It has in the past been identified with Wales or France, but it is best understood as a completely legendary place.[3]Abandoned at birth on a raft in England, the child is raised by the knight Gandales in Scotland and investigates his origins through fantastic adventures.
He is persecuted by the wizard Arcaláus, but protected byUrganda la Desconocida (Urganda the Unknown or Unrecognized), an ambiguous priestess with magical powers and a talent for prophecy. Knighted by his father King Perión, Amadís overcomes the challenges of the enchanted Ínsola Firme (a sort of peninsula), including passing through the Arch of Faithful Lovers.
Despite Amadís' celebrated fidelity, his childhood sweetheart, Oriana, heiress to the throne of Great Britain, becomes jealous of a rival princess and sends a letter to chastise Amadís. The knight changes his name to Beltenebros and indulges in a long period of madness on the isolated Peña Pobre (Poor Peak or Mountain).
He recovers his senses only when Oriana sends her maid to retrieve him. He then helps Oriana's father,Lisuarte, repel invaders. A short time later he and Oriana scandalously consummate their love. Their son Esplandián is the result of this one illicit meeting.
Rodríguez de Montalvo asserts[where?] that in the "original"Amadís, Esplandián eventually kills his father for this offense against his mother's honor; however, Montalvo amends this defect and resolves their conflict peaceably.
Oriana and Amadís defer their marriage for many years due to enmity between Amadís and Oriana's father, Lisuarte. Amadís absents himself from Britain for at least 10 years, masquerading as "The Knight of the Green Sword". He travels as far as Constantinople and secures the favor of the child-princess Leonorina, who will become Esplandián's wife. His most famous adventure during this time of exile is the battle with the giant Endriago, a monster born of incest who exhales a poisonous gas and whose body is covered in scales.
As a knight, Amadís iscourteous, gentle, sensitive, and a Christian, who dares to defend free love.[dubious –discuss] Unlike most literary heroes of his time (French and German, for example), Amadís is a handsome man who would cry if refused by his lady, but is invincible in battle and usually emerges drenched in his own and his opponents' blood.[citation needed]
Called alsoAmadís sin tiempo (Amadis without Time) by his mother (in allusion to the fact that being conceived outside marriage she would have toabandon him and he would probably die), he is the most representativeIberian hero ofchivalric romance. His adventures ran to four volumes, probably the most popular such tales of their time.François de la Noue, one of the Huguenot captains of the 16th century, affirmed that reading the romances of Amadis had caused a "spirit of vertigo"[4] even in his more rationally-minded generation. The books show a complete idealization and simplification of knight-errantry. Even servants are hardly heard of, but there are many princesses, ladies and kings. Knights anddamsels in distress are found everywhere. The book's style is reasonably modern, but lacks dialogue and the character's impressions, mostly describing the action.
The book'sstyle was praised by the usually demandingJuan de Valdés, although he considered that from time to time it was too low or too high a style. The language is characterized by a certain "Latinizing" influence in itssyntax, especially the tendency to place theverb at the end of thesentence; as well as other such details, such as the use of thepresent participle, which bringAmadís into line with theallegorical style of the 15th century.
Nevertheless, there is a breach of style when Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo presents the fourth book. It becomes dull and solemn, reflecting the nature of the intruding writer. The first three books are inspired in deeds and feats by knights-errant, dating back to the 13th century, while the fourth book emerges as a less brilliant attachment of the 15th century. The pristine style ofAmadís can be perceived in the few original famous pages analyzed by Antonio Rodríguez Moñino: It is lively and straight to the facts of war and love, with brief dialogs, all quite elegant and amusing.Amadís of Gaula is frequently referenced in the humorous classicDon Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 17th century. The character Don Quixote idolizes Amadís and tries to imitate him.
Historically,Amadís was very influential amongst the Spanishconquistadores.Bernal Díaz del Castillo mentioned the wonders ofAmadís when he marveled at his first sight ofTenochtitlan (modern Mexico City)[5] – and such place names asCalifornia come directly from the work.
The English literary historianHelen Moore in her 2020 bookAmadis in English: A Study in the Reading of Romance suggested the book has been popular over the centuries because:
it is essentially ... a good story: plenty of plot, numerous characters through whom readers can experiment … with what I call imaginative "transforms of the self," and highly-elaborated familial, erotic and political relationships. Amadis himself … successively plays the roles of righter-of-wrongs, melancholy lover and poet, and ruler of a new world. There are exotic and magical locations, and an expansive willingness to embrace in literary form the issues of its day, many of which are themes of continuing human fascination such as the boundaries (or not) of individual autonomy, the ideal forms of human society, and the relationship between the human and the material worlds.[6]
The British writerC.S. Lewis said thatAmadis was among his "own favourite reading" and that he had an "early & lasting love of Oriana."[7]
As mentioned above, the origins of the book ofAmadís are disputed.
The only known complete text ofAmadís de Gaula is that of Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, a Castilian writer. The earliest surviving text (book) is from 1508, although scholars accept that there were earlier editions.
If this text had been based on a Portuguese original, there would be linguistic evidence in the text. As there is none, the text of Montalvo must have been written in Castilian.
The existence of a prior version of Books I to III has been supported byAntonio Rodríguez-Moñino [es]'s identification of four 15th-century manuscript fragments (c. 1420) which had been used for binding another book. The name "Esplandián" is clearly visible in one of these. The fragments are part of the collection ofBancroft Library,University of California, Berkeley. They show that, contrary to the usual view that Montalvoexpanded the first three books, he instead abbreviated them.[8]
In the Spanish translation ofEgidio Colonna'sDe regimine principum,Amadís is mentioned and also the poet Enrico, who could well beEnrico de Castiglia. Egidio Colonna was in Rome in 1267 when Henry of Castile was elected Senator. The translation was made around 1350 underKing Peter the Cruel. This is the oldest mention ofAmadís.[citation needed]
Amadis of Gaul's popularity was such that in the decades following its publication, dozens ofsequels of sometimes minor quality were published in Spanish, Italian, and German, together with a number of other imitative works. Montalvo himself cashed in with the continuationLas sergas de Esplandián (Book V), and the sequel-specialistFeliciano de Silva (also the author ofSecond Celestina) added four more books includingAmadis of Greece (Book IX).Miguel de Cervantes wroteDon Quixote as a burlesque attack on the resulting genre. Cervantes and his protagonist Quixote, however, keep the originalAmadís in very high esteem.[9]
The Spanish volumes, with their authors and the names of their main characters:
Castilian sequels:
The French translations did not follow the Spanish book divisions exactly, and the entire cycle in the French version extends to 24 books. Note that the book numbers of the French translation do not always correspond to the book numbers of the Spanish originals, and in both languages, "book" is not the same as "printed volume"; physical printed books sometimes contained more than one "book" of the series.
French translations, with their translators:
The first translation intoFlemish/Dutch of the first book of theAmadís was published byMerten Nuyts in Antwerpen in 1546 under the titleEen schoone historie van den seer vromen Amadijs van Gaulen (A beautiful story of the very pious Amadijs of Gaulen). The translation was made directly from the Spanish version. Only one copy of the first edition is still extant. This first edition was followed by a large number of DutchAmadijs editions. By 1628, 66 editions of books I through XXI had been published.[10]
In Germany and England,Amadís was known chiefly through its French translations, sometimes much revised, and in England the cycle was generally referred to by its French titleAmadis de Gaule.
The German Continuation:
The Italian Continuation:
In Portugal, the Amadis cycle also launched other adventure series, such as:
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