"Cosas que todos los demás libros de este género carecen": Tácticas militares y guerra asimétrica en el episodio de Guillem de Vàroic en el "Tirant lo Blanc"

The first section of Tirant lo Blanc seems to violate many of the standards of the literary chivalric ideal. To defend the British Isles from a Muslim invasion, Guy of Warwick protects the city with bombardes, balestes e colobrines, e spingardes e molta altra artelleria (v, 125). Since the invading troops have a numerical advantage of fifty to one, the Count also wages asymmetrical warfare in order to defeat a superior opponent. The Count uses high technology—as he attacks the Saracen camp with improvised explosive devices—as well as low—leaving caltrops all over the battlefield. The Count thus converts the terrain into a force inhibitor, as he changes the appearance of the battlefield in order to defeat the Saracens. This paper indicates that these elements are unique to the Tirant, as the Count of Warwick wages asymmetrical warfare more typical of the Twenty-first century than of the Middle Ages.