Echoes of the Battle of Aljubarrota in Golden Age Theatre: Two Historical Dramas by Luis Vélez de Guevara and Tirso de Molina

The terrible Castilian defeat by the Portuguese at Aljubarrota (1385) left little trace in Golden Age drama. Luis Vélez de Guevara’s Si el caballo vos han muerto, y blasón de los Mendozas (1625-1630) and Tirso de Molina’s Doña Beatriz de Silva (1617-1621) are analyzed in this regard. The play by Vélez reconstructs in detail the age of Juan I Trastámara and João I de Avis, celebrating the House of Mendoza, represented by Pero González de Mendoza, famous military man and poet of the Cancionero de Baena. Acts I and II show the preparation for the battle, which takes place in the third act. The importance of the horse, characterised by a changing symbolism, is emphasised. On the contrary, Tirso’s comedy only alludes to Juan I’s time, although in act I the fictitious knight Pedro Pereira, supposed grandson of Nuno Álvares Pereira—the historical commander of the Portuguese army at Aljubarrota—appears as a secondary character.