Tirant el Blanc

Joanot Martorell

Joanot Martorell was a Valencian knight and writer, best known for authoring the novel Tirant lo Blanch, written in Catalan/Valencian and published at Valencia in 1490. This novel is often regarded as one of the peaks of the literature in Catalan language and it played a major role in influencing later writers such as Miguel de Cervantes, who, in the book burning scene of Don Quixote, says "I swear to you, my friend, this is the best book of its kind in the world". The novel deals with the adventures of a knight in the Byzantine Empire; it is considered one of the first works of alternate history.