Un libro, como indica su título, sobre los caballeros andantes españoles, un prototipo social de la España del siglo xv, tal como atestiguan las crónicas de la época. Si existieron los caballeros andantes fue, en parte, gracias a Lancelote, Curial o Amadís, pero estos reflejan, no siempre tan exageradamente como se ha dicho, la realidad en la que fueron imaginados. Así, de la mano de quien también nos hizo llegar la música de los trovadores a través de sus textos, presentamos algunos de aquellos personajes en los que se inspiró la novela de caballerías, el género que hizo enloquecer al más inmortal de los hidalgos.
Martí de Riquer i Morera, 8th Count of Casa Dávalos (Catalan pronunciation: [mərˈti ðə riˈke j muˈɾeɾə], Spanish: Martín de Riquer y Morera) (3 May 1914 – 17 September 2013) was a Spanish–Catalan literary historian and Romance philologist, a recognised international authority in the field. His writing career lasted from 1934 to 2004. He was also a nobleman and Grandee of Spain.
Riquer was born in Barcelona in 1914, the grandson of Alexandre de Riquer i Ynglada, from whom he rehabilitated the noble title Count of Casa Dávalos in 1956, because it was in situation of expiry. He fought in the Spanish Civil War for the Nationalist side, in the Terç de Requetès de la Mare de Déu de Montserrat and later the propaganda service under Dionisio Ridruejo's direction.
In 1977, he was appointed a senator in the Cortes Constituyentes by the Spanish king Juan Carlos I. He was also appointed chief of the Romance literature section of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC, "Superior Council of Scientific Investigations").
Riquer was a member of the Real Academia Española since 1965, president of the Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona, and corresponding member of numerous foreign institutions. He was the emeritus chair of Literaturas Románicas (Romance Literature) at the University of Barcelona, which he held from 1950 to 1984. He was viceroy of the university in 1965–6 and viceroy of the Autonomous University of Barcelona from 1970 to 1976. He is the founder and honorary president of the Sociedad Roncesvals, dedicated to the study of the chanson de geste and cantar de gesta. Among the Romance languages Riquer studied were Occitan, French, Spanish, and Catalan. Specifically, he has written important and influential works on Don Quixote, the chansons de geste, the medieval novel (notably Amadis de Gaula), the troubadours, courtly love, the history of Catalan literature, and the social phenomenon of the knight-errant. He studied the influence of Ausiàs March, Juan Boscan, and the work of Miguel de Cervantes. Perhaps his most ambitious work was Historia de la Literatura Universal ("History of Universal Literature"), in collaboration José María Valverde. He and his disciple Albert Hauf were the most prominent authorities on courtly love in Spain in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Riquer was the recipient of many honours later in life. In 1962 he received the Premio March de Cataluña, in 1990 he received the fourth Menéndez Pelayo International Prize, in 1991 he received the Premio Nacional de Ensayo from the Ministry of Culture for his monograph Aproximació al Tirant lo Blanc, in 1997 he received the Premio Príncipe de Asturias de Ciencias Sociales, in 1999 he received the Premi Lletra d'Or for Quinze generacions d'una família catalana, and in 2000 he received the Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas. In 2005 he was made a Grandee of Spain by King Juan Carlos I. He received Doctor honoris causa degrees (honorary doctor) from the University of Rome and the University of Liège.
Un repaso breve (que no de leer por la profusión de nombre de caballeros, lugares y demás datos con nombre propio que, a veces, es difícil de recordar) en la historia de caballeros españoles insertos en la realidad del siglo XV. Es curioso informase por ejemplo de que el autor del Tirant lo Blanc envió a un primo suyo una «lletra de requesta de batalla a ultrança» a razón de que este deshonró a su hermana y que no fue este el único requerimiento de batalla en el que tuvo intervención Johanot Martorell. Dicho todo esto, no estuvo de más desempolvar lo poco que puedo saber de francés ya que el autor no se molesta en traducir ciertos pasajes que (creo) considera de fácil comprensión (y tanto no se equivoca). Pasajes más largos en otros idiomas sí llevan notas a pie de página. Se agradece.