"Amadis de Gaula".
Amadís de Gaula (English, Amadis of Gaul) is a landmark work among the knight-errantry tales which were in vogue in 16th century Spain, and formed the earliest reading of many Renaissance and Baroque writers. The first printed edition was published in Zaragoza in 1508 by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo (or Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo). It was published in four books in Castilian, but its origins are unclear: The narrative comes from Portugal, originates in the late post-Arthurian genre, and had certainly been read as early as the 14th century by the chancellor Pero López de Ayala as well as his contemporary Pero Ferrús. Montalvo himself confesses to have amended the first three volumes, and to be the author of the fourth. Additionally, in the Portuguese Chronicle of Gomes Eannes de Azurara (1454), the writing of Amadís is attributed to Vasco de Lobeira, who was dubbed knight after the battle of Aljubarrota (1385). However, it seems that in fact the work was a product of Juan de Lobeira, not the troubadour Vasco de Lobeira, and that rather than originating with him it was the revision of an earlier work from the beginning of the 14th century.
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 chastize Amadís. The knight (later famously parodied in Don Quixote), changes his name to Beltenebros and indulges in a long period of madness on the isolated Peña Pobre. 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 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 ten 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 reek and whose body is covered in scales.
As a knight, Amadís is courteous, gentle, sensitive and a devout Christian. 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 opponent's blood.
The book's style was praised by the usually demanding Juan 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 its syntax, especially the tendency to place the verb at the end of the sentence; as well as other such details, such as the use of the present participle, which bring Amadís into line with the allegorical style of the 15th century.
Amadis of Gaul is frequently referenced in the satirical classic Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 17th century. The character Don Quixote idolizes Amadis, and often compares his hero's adventures to his own.
A Portuguese origin is most widely accepted but Amadis has also been claimed by the Spanish, French and Italians. Also, the action seems, from the names of characters and places, to be supposed to be set primarily in England, and it is ussually accepted that the name "Gaula" is related to "Wales". The plot ranges across the continent to Romania and Constantinople, and in the continuations as far as the Holy Land and the Cyclades. However, the romance's geography cannot be mapped onto the "real" Europe: it contains just as many fantastic places as real ones.
In any case, Rodríguez de Montalvo's Spanish version, as the only complete edition known, is considered definitive, and it was the one who made the character widely known on a European scale. Historically, Amadis was very influential amongst the Spanish conquistadores. Bernal Diaz del Castillo mentioned the wonders of Amadis upon witnessing the wonders of the New World - and such place names as California come directly from the work.
Amadis of Gaul's popularity was such that in the decades following its publication, dozens of sequels 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 continuation Las sergas de Esplandián (Book V), and the sequel-specialist Feliciano de Silva (also the author of Second Celestina) added four more books including Amadis of Greece (Book IX). Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote as a parody of the resulting genre. Cervantes and his protagonist Quixote, however, hold the original Amadís in very high esteem.
The later books increasingly use techniques and incidents borrowed from the ancient Greek novel (Heliodorus, Longus and Achilles Tatius) and the pastoral novel from Italy and Spain (Jacopo Sannazaro and Jorge de Montemayor).
The Spanish volumes, with their author and the name of their main character:
The Italian Continuation:
The German Continuation:
In Germany and England, Amadis was known cheifly through its French translations, and in England the cycle was generally referred to by its French title Amadis de Gaule. The French translations did not follow the Spanish book divisions exactly, and the entire cycle in the French version extends to 24 volumes.
French translations, with their translators:
The Amadis cycle also launched other adventure series, such as:
Subject of the last opera by Johann Christian Bach.
14th century books | Arthurian literature | Characters in written fiction | Portuguese novels | Renaissance literature | Series of books | Spanish novels
Amadis de Gaula | Amadís de Gaula | Las sergas de Esplandián | Amadisroman
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the "Amadis de Gaula".
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