Page:Tirant lo Blanch; a study of its authorship, principal sources and historical setting (IA cu31924026512263).pdf/166

 of William of Warwick, but since the latter had so resolutely insisted upon living as a hermit, he could not consistently have been made a member. We have noticed that instead of naming twenty-six, he named but twenty-four. Why did he not name the Duke of Gloucester, whom he mentions in his work? It is indeed surprising that he did not name one of the Portuguese kings, for John I, Edward, and Alphonse V were all members of the Order. The latter was the brother of Prince Ferdinand, to whom the book was dedicated. If Martorell had known that these kings were honored with membership in the noble Order, he would hardly have failed to mention one of them. But he named none of these, and consequently the conclusion may be drawn that he did not live at the court of Portugal and that he knew little more about Prince Ferdinand than his name. And, moreover, these omissions indicate rather strongly that the work was not first written in the Portuguese language.

We are furthermore told in Tirant lo Blanch that the king gave to every member of the Order a collar of gold covered with round S's. Martorell undertakes in the following story to explain how the king happened to adopt these letters as a device: At a royal hunt, a deer, white as the snow because of its age, was slain, and a collar bearing S's was found around its neck. On the collar were found words stating that when Julius Caesar left the island the collar was put on the deer, with the request that the king into whose hands the deer might fall should adopt the letter S as a device. The author explains the significance of this letter in these words:

"E lo collar era tots de esses redones. E perço com en tot lo A.B.C. no trobareu letra una per una de major auctoritat e perfectio que pugua significar mes altes coses*