Joanot Martorell

File:Tirante el Blanco 1511.jpg

Title page of the first Castilian-language translation of Tirant lo Blanc, printed in Valladolid by Diego de Gumiel

Joanot Martorell (Valencian pronunciation: [dʒuaˈnɔd maɾtoˈɾeʎ]) (Gandia, south of Valencia, 1413 – 1468) was a Valencian knight and the author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch, which is written in Valencian (Martorell calls it "the Valencian popular" "vulgar llengua valenciana" spoken in the Kingdom of Valencia). Miguel de Cervantes praised the mellifluous beauty of both Valencian and Portuguese. First published in Valencia in 1490, some consider it the first modern novel in Europe.

It deals with the adventures of a knight in the Byzantine Empire. Miguel de Cervantes in the book burning scene of Don Quixote considers it the best chivalry novel. Martorell was a chivalrous man and suffered an early death due to court intrigue, leading to a colleague, Martí Joan de Galba, finishing the novel.

References

• [1]
• [2]
• [3]

See also

• Route of the Valencian classics

External links

• Tirant lo Blanch website by the Institut Lluis Vives
• Joanot Martorell by the Association of Catalan Language Writers. Website in Catalan, English and Spanish.
• Tirant lo Blanch, by Joanot Martorell in LletrA, Catalan Literature Online (Open University of Catalonia)] (Catalan)
• Works by Joanot Martorell at Project Gutenberg