This collection of essays analyses the publication and reception history of sixteenth-century Iberian books of chivalry in English translation. A comprehensive introduction explains the subject, its importance for the study of early modern fiction writing in general, and the state of Anglo-Spanish literary relations at the time. Contributors consider the impact of Iberian chivalric writing on other contemporary genres – such as native English romance, letter-writing, and chronicle – and explore the influence of translations in English prose fiction from the 1590s to the mid-seventeenth century.

The volume delves into the role of predominant translator Anthony Munday in the literary book market, approaching some of his most representative translations – Amadis, Palmendos, Primaleon of Greece, and Palmerin of England – and examining the contribution of these works to early modern cultural debates on sexuality, marriage, female individualism, colonialism, and religious controversy.

"The book offers an insightful approach to the different ways in which Iberian chivalric romances permeated English literature and culture for over a century and vindicates the relevance of these translations, especially those by Munday, to the study of English Renaissance literature."

Leticia Álvarez-Recio is a Doctor in English Philology at the University of Seville.