Carmesina is one of the protagonists of Tirant lo Blanc, a novel written by Joanot Martorell and published in 1490, which is considered one of the greatest examples of chivalric fiction and of the Valencian Golden Age.

The first encounter with Carmesina —virtuous and of great beauty— leaves Tirant enchanted and in a state of melancholy that follows all the conventions of courtly love. And just as in war it is Tirant who controls the situations, at court it is the women who are in control. Tirant cannot escape this new arena and his entire will becomes subject to the will of the women.

If in general courtly love has presented woman as a passive subject, unable to freely dispose of her own body and obliged to give herself to her suitor as a reward for faithful service, the characterisation Martorell gives to women in Tirant lo Blanc, according to Marín (2013), reflects an important shift in the treatment that literature had given to the feminine universe up to that moment: “”From playing the role of mere observers of the hero’s exploits, they become characters with an inner life of their own, independent of the protagonist’s vital experiences””.

Marín Sala, Carme (2013): Les dones prenen la paraula. Una alenada femenina per la narrativa medieval des de Tirant lo Blanc (Final Degree Project). Universitat Oberta de Catalunya