“Bad Books” in 16th century Spain: milesian fable of Vives and Venegas

Abstract

The crusade of the Toledo teacher Alejo Venegas against the milesian literature was inspired by the works and ideas of Juan Luis Vives. During the period of extreme popularity of the romances of chivalry, both writers condemned the authors and readers of this deceitful type of fiction for being nothing but an extremely harmful form of corrupted poetry. In the harsh interpretation of Venegas, the tales of Amadis and Esplandian (and the like) are put on an equal footing with Muslim and Jewish sacred texts, all of them being categorized as milesian fables.