Abstract
T HERE are conflicting opinions concerning the value of The Conquest of Granada as history. By comparing all available sources with this work, I have attempted to determine how much truth and how much whimsy Irving has put into it. The authenticity of the facts given in The Conquest of Granada has been checked by comparison with La Historia de Espania, the thirty-volume work of Modesto Lafuente, who was writing while Irving was in Spain and who used the very sources to which Irving had access. Lafuente's work is accepted as a standard history of the country. By placing side by side excerpts from The Conquest of Granada and from the historical writings of Luis de MIrmol Carvajal, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Gin's P&rez de Hita, and the ballads of several compilers, among them Juan de Timoneda, Juan de la Encina, Laso de la Vega, Alonso de Fuentes, and Gines Perez de Hita, I shall show that the episodes used by Irving are found in their entirety in the pages of his sources. In a letter written on September 2, 1829, to his brother Peter, Irving explains in this way his purpose in writing the book:
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
