bibliography. In 1581 the legend was given dramatic treatment by Rey de
Artieda, who followed the story in its essential elements but modernized
the action by placing it in the time of Charles V, only forty-six years
earlier than the publication of the play. It has little literary value,
but is important because of its influence on later dramatists. Passing
over various treatments of the theme that serve merely to indicate its
growing popularity, we come to the pretentious epic poem of Juan Yaguee
de Salas in twenty-six cantos, _Los Amantes de Teruel, Epopeya tragica_,
in which, besides adding many fantastic details to the legend, the
author presented much extraneous matter bearing upon the general history
of Teruel. Because of this widely known poem and the growing popularity
of the _Lovers_, two dramatists of the Golden Age, Tirso de Molina and
Perez de Montalban, gave it their attention. _Los Amantes de Teruel_ of
the great Tirso de Molina, published in 1635, is disappointing,
considering the dramatic ability of the author; it contains passages of
dramatic effectiveness but is weak in construction. As in Rey de
Artieda's play, the action is placed in the sixteenth century; Marsilla
takes part in the famous expedition of Charles V against the Moors in
Tunis, saves the Emperor's life, and, richly rewarded, returns, too
late, to claim the promised bride. It is a better play than that of
Artieda, but is itself surpassed by Montalban's play of three years
later. Although he was far from possessing the dramatic genius of Tirso,
Montalban succeeded in giving the story the form that it was to maintain
on the stage for two centuries. Frequent performances and many editions
of his play, as well as many other literary treatments and references
that might be cited, attest the continued popularity of the legend.

[Footnote 1: _Los Amantes de Teruel, Bibliografia de los Amantes_.
Domingo Gascon y Guimbao, Madrid, 1907.]

Finally, in the early days of Romanticism, it assumed the dramatic form
that has remained most popular down to the present day. On the
nineteenth of January of the year 1837 the theatergoing people of Madrid
were moved to vociferous applause by a new treatment of the old theme,
and a new star of the literary firmament was recognized in the person of
Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch. In his dramatic masterpiece Hartzenbusch
eclipsed all the other plays that have dealt with the legend, and more
than twenty editions stand