La Cristiada, by Fray Diego de Hojeda, is one of the great religious epics of the seventeenth century. The present work, the result of a vast amount of research, attempts to discover the sources used by Hojeda. As one reads it, one feels that Hojeda must have had access to most, if not all, of the literary material available in his day—the classical, medieval, Renaissance, and contemporary literatures, sacred history, and mythology, and the works of the mystics and the patristic writers. La Cristiada, so baroque in its structure, is a mirror of the times and an epitome of the learning and culture that prevailed and to which one could attain during the Golden Age of Spain. The two chapters on legends and traditions make this source study of interest not only to scholars and students of Spanish literature, but also to students of Christian lore.
