Gutierre Díaz de Games. El Victorial. Edición de Rafael Beltrán Llavador. Madrid. Real Academia Española. 2014.

Abstract

The critical edition by Rafael Beltrán Llavador of El Victorial, written by Gutierre Díaz of Games, is reviewed here. It is a work that includes different literary genres, including poetry. It focuses on the figure of Pero Niño, whose biography he deals with heroically. El Victorial was a inflection point in 15th century prose and cannot be considered a simple book of chivalry, since it includes historiographical, fictitious, chronic, court treatise, etc. aspects, in addition to its author reflects on what he says about his biography and connects it with other works. The book is built from the story of Pero Niño, which is summarized in the review, to account for the ins and outs of the time and all the exploits of the protagonist. Rafael Beltrán is in charge of thoroughly analyzing the text, its implications, its different genres and its context, comparing the real information with testimonies and archives from the 15th century and later, when comparing the various existing editions of the book. His edition is improved, contains relevant additions and analyzes the text from a philological perspective.