History of Spanish Literature, vol. 1 (of 3)Ticknor, George
History
History of Spanish Literature, vol. 1 (of 3)
Ticknor, George
Spanish literature -- History and criticism
The first is the “Universal Chronicle” of Felipe Foresto, a
modest monk of Bergamo, who refused the higher honors of his
Church, in order to be able to devote his life to letters,
and who died in 1520, at the age of eighty-six. He published,
in 1486, his large Latin Chronicle, entitled “Supplementum
Chronicarum”;--meaning rather a chronicle intended to supply all
needful historical knowledge, than one that should be regarded
as a supplement to other similar works. It was so much esteemed
at the time, that its author saw it pass through ten editions;
and it is said to be still of some value for facts stated nowhere
so well as on his personal authority. At the request of Luis
Carroz and Pedro Boyl, it was translated into Spanish by Narcis
Viñoles, the Valencian poet, known in the old Cancioneros for
his compositions both in his native dialect and in Castilian. An
earlier version of it into Italian, published in 1491, may also
have been the work of Viñoles, since he intimates that he had
made one; but his Castilian version was printed at Valencia, in
1510, with a license from Ferdinand the Catholic, acting for his
daughter Joan. It is a large book, of nearly nine hundred pages,
in folio, entitled, “Suma de todas las Crónicas del Mundo,” and
though Viñoles hints it was a rash thing in him to write in
Castilian, his style is good and sometimes gives an interest
to his otherwise dry annals. Ximeno, Bib. Val., Tom. I. p. 61.
Fuster, Tom. I. p. 54. Diana Enam. de Polo, ed. 1802, p. 304.
Biographie Universelle, art. _Foresto_.
The other Chronicle referred to is that of St. Louis, by
his faithful follower Joinville; the most picturesque of
the monuments for the French language and literature of the
thirteenth century. It was translated into Spanish by Jacques
Ledel, one of the suite of the French Princess Isabel de Bourbon,
when she went to Spain to become the wife of Philip II. Regarded
as the work of a foreigner, the version is respectable; and
though it was not printed till 1567, yet its whole tone prevents
it from finding an appropriate place anywhere except in the
period of the old Castilian chronicles. Crónica de San Luis,
etc., traducida por Jacques Ledel, Madrid, 1794, folio.
CHAPTER XI.
THIRD CLASS.--ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY.--ARTHUR.--CHARLEMAGNE.--AMADIS DE
GAULA.--ITS DATE, AUTHOR, TRANSLATION INTO CASTILIAN, SUCCESS, AND
CHARACTER.--ESPLANDIAN.--FLORISANDO.--LISUARTE DE GRECIA.--AMADIS
DE GRECIA.--FLORISEL DE NIQUEA.--ANAXARTES.--SILVES DE LA
SELVA.--FRENCH CONTINUATION.--INFLUENCE OF THE FICTION.--PALMERIN DE
OLIVA.--PRIMALEON.--PLATIR.--PALMERIN DE INGLATERRA.
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