Page:Tirant lo Blanch; a study of its authorship, principal sources and historical setting (IA cu31924026512263).pdf/178



and it did not seem to him that the conquest of all Barbary would be a difficult task if the Pope would only furnish sufficient money to pursue the undertaking to a successful issue. Accordingly he sent an ambassador to Rome to secure this necessary financial assistance. Let us quote a few lines of the ambassador's petition to the Pope:

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.

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