The Arthur of the Iberians: The Arthurian Legends in the Spanish and Portuguese Worlds

Though we think of King Arthur as archetypically British, the spread of the Arthurian legends was international, extending, among other places, to the Iberian Peninsula, where they had a deep influence and inspired such literary works as the chivalric romances parodied by Cervantes in Don Quixote. Iberia was also the conduit through which these legends travelled to the Americas. The Arthur of the Iberians explores not only medieval and Renaissance texts, but also modern Arthurian fiction, the global spread of the legends in the Spanish and Portuguese worlds, and the social impacts of Arthur and the Round Table through adoption of names and imitation of the practices narrated in the legends.