Abstract/Summary

This paper revisits the English and Portuguese connections of the fifteenth-century Catalan romance, 'Tirant lo Blanch' by Joanot Martorell. It considers the work's relationship to versions of 'Guy of Warwick' with which it has not, hitherto, been systematically compared: the accounts of Guy in French and English that circulated in the insular world and a Latin epitome of 'Guy of Warwick' from fifteenth-century Portugal. Analysis of the latter text suggests it could have been made from a similar version of the Guy narrative to that on which the opening of 'Tirant' was based. However, comparing Martorell’s work with the Middle English versions of 'Guy of Warwick' offers the most striking results. The text shares unique details with a distinctive Middle English version of the text, suggesting that Martorell was, in fact, being candid when he claimed an English-language source for his work.