Page:Tirant lo Blanch; a study of its authorship, principal sources and historical setting (IA cu31924026512263).pdf/156

 fourteenth-century versions to which we have referred in Part III of this work, Aethelstan is represented as the King of England. This fixes the supposed time of Guy's career as prior to 940, which marks the end of Aethelstan's reign. The latter annexed Danish Northumbria, and, in 937, won the great battle of Brunanburh over the Danes, Scots, and Strathclyde Britons. This fact shows that there are at least some traces of authentic history in the romance, for in Guy of Warwick we read of an invasion of the Danes.

In Tirant lo Blanch, no dates are mentioned so that if we wish to establish the period in which the events described took place, we shall have to depend on the historical characters that are named, and the incidents, occurrences, and events that are narrated. The data that we may gather for this purpose probably will throw light on other matters in which we are interested.

The document that was given to Tirant in which he was declared the best knight of all those that participated in the exercises of arms at the English court was signed "Rex Enricus." This king was young and feeble, and for that reason the hermit William of Warwick suggested that the Duke of Lancaster should take the place of the king in the approaching personal combat with the strong and valiant Moorish king of Canary; but the suggestion caused loud protests from the Dukes of Gloucester, Bedford, and Exeter, who claimed that their kinship to the king was closer than that of the Duke of Lancaster. It is quite clear that the author had in mind the English king, Henry VI, who during his minority was represented by his two uncles, the Duke of Bedford as protector of the realm, and the Duke of Gloucester as regent in England while the protector was in France. The Duke of Exeter was the grand-uncle of the young king. There was no Duke of Lancaster at that particular period. Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, also