Amadis of Gaul and Old English History

By Santiago Sevilla

Amadis of Gaul can be placed at the court of King Henry III and Lord Edward. In that famous book of chivalry there is plenty of reference to events and characters, clearly evident, in England between 1255 and 1259. English History may be enriched by that colourful tale of life, love and war during those distant years. To begin with, the author of Amadis must appear on stage: He is a Spanish knight errant, the son of King Ferdinand III of Castile, Prince Henry, brother of Queen Eleanor, consort of Edward I Longshanks. Prince Henry arrived in England shortly after the marriage of Lord Edward and Eleanor in Spain 1255, and he lived at the court of Henry III in Westminster and Windsor. He loved tournaments and jousts, as much as his brother in law, Edward, who was known as the best lance in England.

Henry had battled valiantly at the conquest of Seville 1248, and also when he confronted, as a rebel, the Castilian host of his brother King Alfonso X in Moron, Andalusia 1254. When in England, he witnessed from Bristol, together with Lord Edward, the Battle of Cadfan, and the Connaught Insurrection in Ireland 1257. He knew about the two great kings of Ireland, Godfrey ODonnell and Brian ONeil, their heroic battles against the English, and the combat to the death, among themselves. In the year 1258, he saw the struggle between Simon de Montfort and the English barons on one side, and King Henry, Lord Edward and the half-brothers of King Henry, the abhorred Lusignans, on the other. He offered his services to King Henry III for the conquest of Sicily for Lord Edmund, second son of the King, when Pope Innocent IV offered that kingdom to him as a fief. But it appears that, somehow, he took sides with the disgraced Simon de Montfort, and had to leave the royal court and England in 1259. His ALTER EGO in the novel, Prince Brian de Monjaste states his position to King Lisuarte of England: Sire, we expect you to do what befits your royal station and your conscience; and if some of it be lacking, it will be on account of a few evil counsellors who do not protect your honour and reputation; which in fact, if it not irk you, I would make known at once at any one who might say the contrary. Don Brian, said the king, if you had believed your father, I well know that you would not have left me for another, nor would you come to reason against me. Sire, said Brian, my reasoning is for you, for I dont tell you to act unlawfully, or to give your support to a few individuals who perchance will not serve you as well as I who damage your reputation; and as regards your saying to me that if I had believed my father I would not have left you, I did not leave you, because I never

was your man, although I am of your lineage; and I came to your court to seek my cousin Amadis, and when you were not pleased that he be your liege man, I went away with him, not erring a jot in my obligation. In the novel, the inspiration for Amadis, is Simon de Montfort, who, like him, is a noble knight who comes from Gaul or Gaulle, the very heart of France, in Bourgogne. His consort, Eleanor of England is the model for Oriana, the lady whom Amadis loves infinitely. Prince Henrys experiences in England during those years appear, slightly disguised, in his novel Amads de Gaula: He mentions in Castilian Spanish Windsor, Bristol, Cadfan, Wales, Arundel, Greenwich Castle Mirefleurs, London, as Vindilisora, Bristoya, Galfn, Gales, Arunda, Miraflores, Londres. Lord Edward is baptized by Prince Henry of Castile as King Lisuarte. Prince Henry, I reiterate, calls himself Brian de Monjaste, the son of the Spanish King Ladasan, his own father, Fernando III el Santo. The Lusignans, William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, and Geoffrey de Lusignan, are called Brocadan, and Gandandel. There are many more names and places susceptible of identification. When these coincidences of myth and reality in Amadis of Gaul become gradually more trustworthy, they could be of particular interest to English historians, for contemplating in it with pleasure the dialogs and actions of kings and queens, knights and ladies, in the English court, during the age of chivalry of the XIII Century. The concept of the Dark Ages would eventually suffer substantial review. The culture of chivalry in Amadis of Gaul is captivating. A new translation of the novel, by Edwin B. Place and Herbert C. Behm, allows easy and pleasant reading.

Here a few examples:

The Battle of Cadfan

On that day they took their ease there with much pleasure, and the next day they mounted and rode until they arrived at Palingues, a good town which was a seaport facing Baladin, a castle (Dinefwr) where King Perion was, where he was waging his war, having lost many men.

Dinefwr Castle

King Abies and Daganel, his half brother, learned the news that these knights had arrived at King Perions court. And King Abies, who was at the time the most highly esteemed knight known, said, If King Perion has the heart to fight and is enterprising, now he will seek battle with us.

He will not do so, said Daganel, because he is very much afraid of you Galayn, the Duque of Normandy, who was there, said, I will tell you how he will do so; let me and Daganel ride forth tonight, and at dawn we shall appear near his town with a fair-sized number of men; and let King Abies remain hidden with the rest of the force in the forest of Galpano, and in this manner we shall encourage him to dare to come out; and we by showing some fear, shall strive to get them into the forest as far as the place where the king is, and thus they will be lost. You speak well, said King Abies, and so let it be done. ................................................................................................................ King Perion came with all the troops very courageously, for he of his own volition had a great desire to attack them; and Daganel received him with his men very spiritedly. So they were all mingled together in a melee. ............................................................................................ And king Perion and his company continuing to strike the foe, it was not long before king Abies of Ireland appeared with all his men and they came saying: Now at them, and let no man remain whom you do not kill, and fight to enter with them into the town. When King Perion and his men, all unsuspecting, saw those they did not know about, they were greatly alarmed, for they were already weary and did not have lances; and they knew that King Abies was one of the best knights in the world, and the one whom they most feared; but the Child of the Sea began to say to them, Now, sirs, it is necessary to maintain your honour and it will be manifest in which of you there is a point of honour.

Love of Oriana and Amadis

It shall not be thus, said Oriana, rather, have him take this ring of mine, which will never be worth so much to us as right now. And taking it off her finger, she gave it to Gandalin. And as he was leaving, he said in a low voice to Amadis: Sir, he who does not take time by the forelock, may never have another chance. And having said this, he went away at once; and Amadis understood very well why he said it to him. Oriana lay down on the damsels mantle; meanwhile Amadis disarmed, for he had certainly needed to do so and when he was disarmed, the damsel entered a thicket to sleep and Amadis returned to his lady. And when he saw her thus so beautiful and in his power, she having agreed to do his will, he was so distraught with joy and bashfulness that he did not dare even to look at her; so that one could well say that in that green grass, on that mantle, more by grace and courtesy of Oriana than by any immodesty or boldness on Amadiss part, was the most beautiful maiden in the world made a matron. And thinking thus to cool their ardent passion, it increasing to a much greater degree, remained more burning and with greater force than ever, as it is wont to happen in sincere and true love affairs......

The tale of the group of aliens at court, the Poitevin or Lusignan, William de Valence and Geoffrey de Lusignan:
Now know you that here in this court of this King Lisuarte there were two old knights who had served King Falangriz, his brother, for a long time, so that with that old upbringing more than virtue or good astuteness, their increasing years giving them authority, they were

placed in the council of King Lisuarte. One of them was called Brocadan and the other Gandandel............................................... Gandandel, having great anguish in his heart, brooded so deeply, that not fearing God or considering the faith that he owed his lord the king, or the honours and favours received from Amadis and from his family, sought for his own private honour and advantage to endanger and obscure the general good, to which he was most obligated, by plotting and fabricating in his evil heart a great act of treason....... During the last seven hundred years, none of this evidence of actually real feats in Amadis was discovered by the literary establishment in Spain. All experts were rather fooled by the plagiarist Rodriguez de Montalvo who copied the first three books of Amadis de Gaula, and made the original manuscript disappear. He published the novel in 1508 under his name, saying that he had refurbished an old collection of tales, and everybody swallowed the laced bait. My discovery of the author, Henry of Castile, was the result of exploring the events in England mentioned in Amadis, when Eleanor of Castile was the Queen, and finding the obvious signal of his authorship in his ALTER EGO Brian de Monjaste within the novel. Henry of Castile also included in the Amadis his real adventures in Italy. There he tells the story of the Battles of Benevento and Tagliacozzo, where he and his courageous brother Don Fadrique took part in the struggle as commanders of a host of Spanish knights. In Amadis of Gaul the Battle of Benevento is the Battle against the Arabian King, who was Manfred of Hohenstaufen king of Sicily with his army of Arab warriors stationed in Lucera, and the Battle of Tagliacozzo which was the famous combat of Conradin against Charles dAnjou for the Kingdom of Sicily in 1268, is the battle against the Seven Kings.

The First Book of Amadis was written in England, the Second in Tunis, when Prince Henry was a general under the Caliph Al Mustansir, for whom he conquered the city of Miliana in the Maghreb. The Third Book was written in his two decades of imprisonment after the defeat in Tagliacozzo, in the Castle of Canosa di Puglia and in Castel del Monte (below). Amadis of Gaul is a treasure trove of adventures in the second half of the XIII century, all based in real events. The novel is also in many ways fantastic.

Castel del Monte near Bari