Palmerin of England

Palmerin of England is a knight of romance whose reputation links Don Quixote’s absorbing devotion to chivalric books with the curate’s more selective judgment of them. Although the novel supplies no account of Palmerin’s own deeds, it gives him a pointed double role: a subject of debate among readers and one of the few books spared from the library’s proposed destruction.

Identity and Reputation

Don Quixote and the curate repeatedly argue over whether Palmerin of England or Amadis of Gaul was the better knight. The dispute places Palmerin among the exemplary figures by whom Don Quixote measures the world of chivalry. Master Nicholas offers a different ranking: neither Palmerin nor Amadis, he says, equals the Knight of Phoebus; Don Galaor comes closest, because he is spirited, adaptable, and as valiant as his brother without being finicky or lachrymose. The competing judgments show how deeply the villagers have entered the romances’ scale of knightly merit, even as they disagree over its champions.

The Library Examination

When the curate and Master Nicholas inspect Don Quixote’s books, Palmerin of England receives an unusually favorable verdict. The curate recommends preserving it as an exceptional work, comparing its place among the books to the safeguard Alexander made for Homer’s works after taking the spoils of Darius. He praises the adventures at the Castle of Miraguarda as admirably contrived and commends the book’s polished, clear language and its fitting treatment of different speakers.

The judgment is also deliberately comparative. The curate proposes sparing Palmerin of England and Amadis of Gaul, while condemning Palmerin de Oliva to the fire. In a library-wide scrutiny driven by the question of which romances may remain, Palmerin’s favorable assessment makes it one of the rare works judged worthy of continued preservation.

Narrative Significance

Palmerin’s importance here lies less in a narrated personal history than in the acts of reading and evaluation surrounding the book. Don Quixote’s arguments over the best knight register the romances’ power to command sustained attention; the curate’s appraisal, by contrast, distinguishes literary craft from the indiscriminate accumulation of chivalric adventures. The novel gives concrete grounds for his approval—Miraguarda’s construction, lucid prose, and appropriate speech—so Palmerin of England emerges not merely as a name in a contest of heroes but as a romance that survives the attempted purge of Don Quixote’s library.