The knights-errant and the royal preceptor. Books of chivalry in the library of García de Loaysa Girón (1534-1599

Abstract

In 1599 the archbishop don García de Loaysa Girón died and his goods were inventoried, including his remarkable library. During his life, Loaysa achieved some of the most relevant positions inside the administration and the Church of the Hispanic Monarchy. His high income allowed him to satisfy his intellectual concerns with his vast library, that covered all the knowledge areas, such as theology, history, grammar, mathematics, architecture, geography, etc. At the same time, the library also contained narrative books with some of the most famous ones about knight-errant. Throughout this paper we will study the life and the significant library of Loaysa, with the aim of understanding the introduction of such a relevant collection of chivalry books in his erudite library.