Kinship and Marriage in Medieval Hispanic Chivalric Romance

This monograph studies two interconnected and crucially important elements in medieval Spanish and Catalan chivalric romances: the influence on the characters and on the plots of both lineal and wider family relationships, and of marriage and the conflicting imperatives that shape it. It analyses social themes in four romances that were written during the century and a half before the unification of Spain under the Catholic Monarchs and their grandson, Carlos V: the Castilian Libro del caballero Zifar and Amadis de Gaula, and the Catalan Tirant lo Blanc and Curial e Guelfa. The heroes of these romances advance their fortunes by heroic deeds and by advantageous marriages. Shared characteristics in the texts reveal, if not adherence to similar literary forms, response to similar social conditions and to a climate of opinion about those conditions. By rendering the social setting of the works more intelligible, Michael Harney makes possible a fresh and informed approach to the literary criticism of the works. His command of anthropological and sociological theory gives his study special authority. The contents by chapter are: 1. Introduction; 2. Lineage and Clan; 3. Kindred and Cousinship; 4. Marriage and Consent; 5. Marriage and the Calculus of Advantage; 6. Conclusion; and Index.