[79] Pare sanct, mon senyor lo rey En Pere Darago vos fa saber quell es en Barbaria en un lloch qui ha nom Alcoyll, e troba que per aquell lloch pot auer tota la Barbaria. Si vos, pare sanct, li volets fer ajuda de diners e de perdonança, sera aço complit de la major part auans que llonch temps sia. E la Barbaria es aytal, que qui haura les marines si haura tota la Barbaria. E son gents qui tantost com vejen lo gran destret que hauran se faran chrestians la major part. [79] Holy Father, my lord king Peter of Aragon informs you that he is in Barbary in a certain place called Alcoyll and finds that with that place as base of operations, he can conquer all Barbary. If you, Holy Father, will aid him with money and indulgences, this will be accomplished within a short time. The situation of Barbary is such that he who has possession of the littoral will also hold all Barbary. And they are people who as soon as they see the great distress that they will have to endure will for the greater part become Christians. Muntaner, _op. cit._; chap. lii. In the meantime ambassadors came from the island of Sicily to implore King Peter to come thither and free them from the oppressive rule of Charles of Anjou. But the king’s heart was so firmly set upon this conquest that he gave no heed to their entreaties. But when another embassy came, and when he was informed that his petition to the Pope had met with failure, he embarked with all his forces and sailed for Sicily. And thus the high purpose of lo Senyor rey En Pere to conquer and christianize all Barbary came to naught. This undertaking of the King of Aragon furnished the historical background for Tirant’s wonderful campaign against the Moors in Barbary. Martorell did not make use of the details of the Aragonese expedition, but he took up the subject and some of the geographical names and historical personages and developed a story of conquest according to his fancy. The enterprise of the Aragonese king was a failure, but Tirant’s was naturally a glorious achievement. It is quite probable that the shipwreck of Heraud as described in the sequel to the romance of _Guy of Warwick_ led to the conception and composition of the conquest. Tirant, like Heraud, was shipwrecked on the African shores, was made prisoner, and became the leader of Moorish forces. And now that Martorell had taken his hero to Africa, what undertaking was he to engage in there? King Peter’s expedition came to the mind of the author, and he decided to have Tirant accomplish what the king had tried to do. It is possible, however, that Martorell conceived his hero as conqueror of Barbary even before he thought of the way in which he was to arrive there. But the first theory seems more plausible, for the reason that in Tirant’s first activities in Africa no conquest of Barbary and no religious motives are apparent. CHAPTER VI