298 CALLOGRAPHY. 



alpands ; though his other works, like those of Montemayor, are in 

 Spanish. The tragedy of Inez de Castro, by Ferreira, is one of 

 deep interest ; and the Osmia, of the countess Vimieiro, was crowned 

 by the Portuguese Academy, in 1788. Ferreira de Vasconcellos 

 wrote several comedies of some merit. 



Of Portuguese romance, next to the Jlmadis de Gaul, written in 

 Spanish by Lobeira, we would mention the Mtnina e Moga, (or 

 Moza), the Innocent Maiden, a chivalric romance by Ribeyro ; the 

 oldest prose specimen of the Portuguese language. The Palmer of 

 England, by Moraez, and the Happy Freeman, by an unknown 

 author, are among the older novels ; as also the Emperor Clarimond, 

 by Barhas, (or Barros) ; which, though wanting in invention, is writ- 

 ten in a pleasing style. The History of Charlemagne and his 

 Twelve Peers, by Carvalho, is bombastic, but amusing ; and the 

 Knights of the Round Table, by Ferreira de Vasconcellos, is a 

 work of similar character. 



2. French Callography, may be regarded as commencing with 

 the poetry of the Troubadours, or minstrels of Province, written in 

 the Provencal or Romance language; which, however, differs mate- 

 rially from the modern French, (p. 60). They called poetry the 

 Gay Science ; and their short poems, called sirventes, pastourelles, 

 or novelles, treat chiefly of war and love. Such were the produc- 

 tions of William, count of Poitou, called the first Troubadour; and 

 of Thibaut, king of Navarre and count of Champagne, who sang 

 the praises of Queen Blanche of Castile. 



The Troubadours appeared in the north of France, about the time 

 of Philip Augustus ; and were there called Trouveurs, using the 

 Romance- Wallon, or Norman French language. The first of these 

 was Gasse, or Wace, who wrote Le Brut, the Romance of Brutus, 

 or the Book of the Britons ; a fabulous poetical history of the kings 

 of England, dated 1155. The Knight of the Lion, is another 

 romance of the same age, but we know not the author, nor whether 

 it was in prose or in verse. Chretien de Troyes, another trouveur, 

 wrote the Romance of Saint Greaal, a poem on the holy cup, from 

 which the Messiah drank during his crucifixion, fabled to have been 

 afterwards carried to England, and owned by the Knights of the 

 Round Table. This, and the poem of Alexander the Great, by 

 Alexander de Bernay, Lambert Di Cors, and others, were written 

 about the year 1200. The Romance of the Rose, begun by Lorris 

 about 1250, and finished by Meun, or Mehun Clopinel, about 1300, 

 is an allegorical poem on love ; of which the title is said to be the 

 most beautiful part. Creuze de Lesser's Chevaliers de la Table 

 Rondd has been praised as a romantic epic of merit. 



Of French tpi c poems, the oldest, we believe, is the Clovis of 

 Desmarets ; rich in conception, but borrowing its incongruous ma- 

 chinery, partly from Christianity, and partly from romance and 

 enchantment. The JJlaric, or Rome Delivered, of Scnderi ; the 

 St. Louis, or Holy Crown Reconquered, of Le Moine ; the Pucelle, 

 or Jonn of Arc, of Chapelain ; the CJnldebrande, of Saint Garde ; 

 the Moses, of Saint Armant ; and the Petreide, of Thomas; are 

 considered as inferior works, which we can here no farther notice. 



