Spanish Arthuriana
The first reference to Arthurian legends in Spanish literature was in 1170. It was a reference by Viscount Gerau de Cabrera criticizing a jongleur for being unfamiliar with Arthurian legends and names like Erec, Vardueil, Tristan, and Iseut. This is shortly after the death of Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1154. Historians suspect that the Arthurian legend had dispersed throughout the Iberian Peninsula well before then and actually entered the culture through contact with French culture. Other theories of dispersion feature Vikings, crusaders, and troubadours. Early Spanish versions of the Arthurian legends appear during the fourteenth through the sixteenth century making these romances a late phenomenon. These manuscripts feature tales from the Vulgate cycle, the prose Tristan, and the Post-Vulgate cycle's Roman du Graal. Arthurian names like Merlinus (Merlin), Galvan (Gawain), and Arturus (Arthur). Translations of the Post-Vulgate Roman du Graal were introduced in 1313 by cleric Joao Bivas.The translations into Spanish vary greatly; they are either very classic European romances that are like the English legends or they are complete works of fiction that use the character from other tales like Tablante de Ricamonte that adapts the Provencal romance of Jaufre. They were very popular with Castilian aristocracy during the 16th century and were commonly known via storytelling among the common people as well.
As far as we know, the first Arthurian styled chivalric tale is the Libro del caballero Zifar (The book of the man Zifar); an image form the first surviving edition from the University of Berkley is shown below. Other notable works of the time period are Amadís de Gaula (Amadis of Gaula), Tirant lo Blanc (Tirant the White), and Palmerín de Inglaterra (Palmerin of Inglaterra). A illustration from the Paris edition of Amadís de Gaula is shown below. These works are known to have romantic elements and similar sotry formatting including getting the tale from a lost manuscript and principles of interlacement. Spanish Arthurian text also feature the story of Tristan and Isolde, Merlin, and Arthur.
