In the course of my studies of _Tirant lo Blanch_, I have found myself confronted by three important questions: (1) What are the real facts concerning the authorship of this book of chivalry? (2) Is it true that Tirant, the hero of the book, stands for the historic personage Roger de Flor, in connection with the Catalan-Aragonese expedition to Constantinople in the early years of the fourteenth century? (3) What are the historical data utilized by the author in the composition of his work? Each of these problems I have investigated, and the processes and results are duly set forth in their appropriate places in this work. Three distinct parts of it will be devoted to a consideration of these three questions. They will be preceded by an analysis of _Tirant lo Blanch_, to which the reader will be referred whenever it may be deemed expedient or necessary. The analysis is, moreover, intended to throw light on all the points mentioned in the quotation from _Don Quijote_; to give a fuller account of the activities of Tirant than has been done up to the present time; and to give as accurate an idea of the book as a reasonable allotment of space will permit.
On the delightful island of England there lived a noble and valiant knight. For many years he performed with great honor the duties pertaining to knighthood. This noble representative of chivalry was Earl William of Warwick. He was very strong and well-trained in the use of arms. Many were the battles in which he took part, and many a formidable adversary was vanquished by him. (Chap. 2)
Having reached the age of fifty-five years, moved by sorrow and contrition for the many deaths he had caused in his knightly career, he resolved to do penance for his sins by making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The announcement of his intention to the Countess, his wife, caused her a severe shock. The Earl called his servants before him and paid them all that was due them and much more. To the Countess he gave possession of the whole county, with the privilege of doing with it what she wished. He caused a gold ring to be made bearing his escutcheon and that of the Countess. This ring was wrought in such a way that it could be divided into two parts, each being a complete ring in itself, but showing only one half of the escutcheons. One of these he gave to the Countess, asking her to keep it until his return. In long lamentations she bewailed her sad fate. But the Earl was resolute, and with tears streaming down his cheeks took leave of his wife and son, the latter being only three months old. Leaving the city of Warwick accompanied by a squire, he sailed to Alexandria, and thence made his way to Jerusalem. Here he made a careful and contrite confession of his sins and received Holy Communion. After visiting the Holy Sepulcher and other holy places in this city, he returned to Alexandria, and set sail for Venice, where he dismissed his squire, who, in accordance with the instructions given him by his master, spread the report that Earl William of Warwick was dead. The Earl also had merchants write letters to England, in which they told that William of Warwick had died while returning from Jerusalem. The Countess was grief-stricken when she received the bad tidings, and caused funeral obsequies to be celebrated in a manner befitting the Earl’s station. (Chaps. 2-4)