ther corrupted by the inroads of the Moors, and had at length so far degenerated, that the Arabic became the chief vehicle of literary composition.

In the eleventh century the French Romans lan-/ guage was introduced into the peninsula by prince Henry of Lorraine, who married the daughter of Alphonso VI. of Castile, and was diffused by the intercourse which subsisted between the French and Spanish nations, in their mutual resistance of the Saracens. A great change in consequence took place in the language of Spain, and five or six different dialects were spoken in the peninsula. Of these, the earliest, the most widely extended, and the one which bore the strongest resemblance to the French Romans, was that adopted in Catalonia. It was spoken in that province, in Roussillon and Valentia; and, till the period of the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, (when the Castilian tongue became prevalent), it was the language which afforded the best specimens, both of prose and poetical composition. Petrarch is said to have been largely indebted to the amatory verses of the Troubadours of this region, and two of the earliest and most interesting romances that have been produced in Spain, appeared in the dialect of Catalonia, previous to their translation into the Castilian.

Of these the earliest, and perhaps the most curious, is

TIRANTE THE WHITE,'

which was written in the Catalonian dialect by Johan Martorell, a knight of Valencia. This author informs us he translated it from the English, by which Mr Warton conjectures he meant the Breton language, in which it may have been originally written. It is difficult to say whether this assertion of the author be true, or whether he has framed the story, to give some appearance of authenticity to his romance, which relates the exploits of a Breton knight. That part of it which contains the story of the earl of Warwick, is, I think, most probably translated, as it closely corresponds with the old English romance, Guy of Warwick, which was versified from the original French in the beginning of the fourteenth century; -a period long preceding the composition of Tirante the White in Spain.

' Los cinco libros del efforçado y invencibile Cavallero Tirante el Blanco di Roca Salada Cavallero de la Garrotera, el qual por su alta Cavalleria alcanço a ser principe y Cesar del imperio de Grecia.

It is not precisely ascertained at what time this romance was written or translated by Martorell. It was first printed, however, at Valencia, in 1480; and there is mentioned in it a work on chivalry, entitled, L'Arbre des Batailles, which was written in 1390; so that it must have been composed between these two periods. But the date may, I think, be still farther limited. The Canary islands were discovered in 1326, and began to be well known in Europe about 1405. Now, from the false notions expressed concerning them in this romance, and the extravagant idea seemingly entertained of their power and magnitude, it is probable it was written before their precise situation and extent were ascertained in the peninsula. On the whole, therefore, the era of its composition may be pretty safely fixed about the year 1400.

Tirante, as has been mentioned, was first published in the Catalonian dialect at Valencia, in

A

1480. It was thence transferred into the Castilian language, and published at Valladolid in 1511, one volume folio. There has been no subsequent Spanish edition, but the Italian translation by Lelio Manfredi has passed through three impressions, of which the first appeared in 1538. The Count de Caylus more lately brought it forward in a French garb, after the fashion of the Count de

Tressan; he has altered the incidents of the story in some places; in others he has considerably abridged the work, by omitting precepts of chivalry, and has almost every where rendered it more licentious.

The hero of this romance, while on his journey to attend the tournaments, which were about to be celebrated in England, (on account of the marriage of the king of that country with a princess of France), is accidentally separated from his companions, and having fallen asleep on his horse, arrives in rather an unwarlike attitude at the hermitage of William, earl of Warwick.

This nobleman, tired of the European world, had gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Thence he spread a report of his death, returned to his own country in disguise, and established himself in a retirement near the castle in which his count ess resided. After he had passed some time in solitude, fortune gave him an opportunity of rendering signal service to his country. The great king of the Canary islands had landed in Britain with a formidable army, and had subdued nearly the whole of England, while the monarch of the conquered country, driven successively from London and Canterbury, had sought refuge in the town of Warwick, which was soon invested by the Canary

forces. In this crisis the earl, who lived in the neighbourhood, came to the assistance of his prince; killed the intrusive monarch in single combat, and defeated his successor in a pitched battle. The earl, after these important services, discovered himself to his countess, and again retired to his hermitage. In the English metrical romance of Guy of Warwick, translated from the French, that earl, after a long absence, returns to England, in the disguise of a palmer, visits his countess unknown to her, and delivers King Athelstane from an invasion of the Danes, who had besieged him in Winchester, by defeating their cham-. pion in single combat.

The earl of Warwick was engaged in the perusal of L'Arbre des Batailles, when the unknown and drowsy knight arrived at his habitation. When roused from the sleep in which he was plunged, he informed the earl that his name was Tirante el Blanco, that he was so called, because his father was lord of the marches of Tirranie, situate in that part of France which was opposite to the coast of England, and that his mother was daughter to the duke of Britany. After this genealogical sketch, he mentions his intention of attending the tourna ments, and receiving the honour of knighthood. His host reads to him a chapter from L'Arbre des