Joanot Martorell, escrivà de ració (‘accountant of the household’) of the Prince of Viana: 15th century Catalan literature and the Trastamara courts

Abstract

Stemming from the identification of Joanot Martorell with the trencher and escrivà de ració (‘accountant of the household’) of Charles of Aragon, Prince of Viana (1458-1461) – which was suggested by Jaume Torró in 2000 – this article brings up to date our knowledge of the last years in the biography of Tirant lo Blanc’s author. Martorell’s romance is a complex literary work that can only be explained as born in an international courtly milieu like that of the Prince of Viana, which included, among other authors, Joan Roís de Corella. The documentation and methodology deployed in this article contradict the objections that some historians and philologists have raised against Torró’s identification of Tirant’s author during the past fifteen years. Torró defends that the names of ‘Carmesina’ and ‘Maragdina’, the two protagonists of the romance in love with Tirant, have a Neapolitan origin.