LA CONEXIÓN ITALIANA: NOTAS PARA UN ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO ENTRE EL LEANDRO EL BEL Y LA CRÓNICA DO IMPERADOR BELIANDRO/THE ITALIAN CONNECTION: NOTES FOR A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE LEANDRO EL BEL AND THE CRÓNICA DO IMPERADOR BELIANDRO

The analysis of the unpublished Cronica do Imperador Beliandro -- dated at the beginning of the 17th century and claimed by the Portuguese bibliographical tradition to have been written by the Countess of Vidigueira, D. Leonor Coutinho de Tavora -- reveals the existence of a remarkable series of points of connection with the chivalric romance Leandro el Bel (Toledo, Miguel Ferrer, 1563), which is usually attributed to the Spaniard Pedro de Lujan, but it may likely be a translation of an Italian original by Pietro Lauro (1560), the second part of the successful Lepolemo o el Caballero de la Cruz (1521). The influence of the Leandro el Bel on the Cronica do Imperador Beliandro could open a new line of research into the presence of the Italian chivalric literature on the Iberian Peninsula.