Books by Govert Westerveld

One thing should be clear to the readers: I was sure from the beginning that Lucena was the author of La Celestina. The challenge was to know the real name behind the pseudonym Lucena. In 2004 I thought that it was Juan del Encina. This was the result of intuition and much reading. Consequently when I stated that Juan del Encina was the writer of books such as La Celestina, Amadís, Carajicomedia, Sergan, etc., the reader should always bear in mind that at the first stage I reverted to Lucena and at the second stage to Juan del Encina. I wrote this book in English, seeing the sarcastic comments I received in Salamanca and to which I have reverted in Volume I, hoping that people in other countries will have a more open mind to innovation and new ideas. On the other hand, through English texts historians in my native country will also be aware of the importance of the Spanish literature around 1500, because till now they've stuck too much to French history.

Ottavio Di Camilo already informed us in 2001 that the letter in La Celestina contained rare words. An analysis of this text and of the foreword to La Celestina gave us not only the name of Juan del Encina, but also that of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo as the author. Consequently, with this study I hope to have cleared up: 1. that the authentic name of Lucena is Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, one of the illegitimate sons of Juan Ramírez de Lucena, 2. that Fernández de Oviedo wrote Repetición de amores and Arte de Ajedrez, 3. that Fernández de Oviedo is the author of the foreword and the first act of La Celestina and was involved in other acts and the letter too, 4. that Fernández de Oviedo is the author of the ancient text of the draughts book Marro de Punta published by Juan de Timoneda in 1547, 5. that Fernández de Oviedo constantly used pseudonyms for most of his published books, most of which I try to reflect in the second volume.

Na mijn verblijf van twee jaar in Duitsland om Duits te kunnen leren waagde ik in april 1969 de stap om naar Spanje te gaan om daar Spaans te leren. Ik had alles goed voorbereid en zou daar in een klein dorpje met de naam Blanca van ongeveer 5000 inwoners gaan wonen. Het dorpje zelf lag in de provincie Murcia en was één van de zes dorpjes dat tot de beroemde Ricote Valley behoorde. Ricote is een fictief personage, die wordt genoemd door Miguel de Cervantes in de roman Don Quichot. Toen ik dan ook dat afschuwelijke verhaal hoorde over de verdwijning van dez twee Nederlands zei ik meteen tegen mijn vrouw dat daar nooit geen mensen uit Murcia iets mee te maken konden hebben, want die hebben dat karakter niet. Helaas weten de mensen uit het buitenland weinig van de geschiedenis van Murcia af en door deze affaire kwam het gehucht La Hurona en de deelstaat Murcia in een kwaad daglicht te staan. Hopenlijk krijgen de mensen door het lezen van dit boek een ander beeld van de deelstaat Murcia.

Los esquemas de éste libro están basados en la metodología de la literatura holandesa referida al juego de las damas y en las obras del gran maestro ruso Vladimir Kaplan. En su contenido se describe la variedad del juego que hemos denominado antes: "a la española", es decir, sobre el tablero de 64 casillas y 12 fichas por jugador. Estos textos sencillos y un gran número de diagramas comentados espero que hagan de esta obra un texto dinámico e interesante, utilizable incluso en los mismos colegios, en los que deportes "científicos" como las damas o el ajedrez, deberían tener una cabida especial. Es mi deseo además, que los amantes de éste juego disfruten con su lectura y que despierte al mismo tiempo un vivo interés por introducir en esta obra una pequeña recopilación de los primeros balbuceos de éste juego tratando de crear una pequeñísima y modesta contribución a la cultura española.

Juan García Canalejas, vecino de la ciudad de Granada, debió ser un gran jugador, porque vemos aparecer su nombre en el manuscrito del licenciado Bada, cuyo manuscrito se pudo haber escrito entre 1645 y 1750. De momento no ha sido posible determinar con exactitud la fecha, porque sus composiciones también figuran en los libros de 1650, 1684, 1718, 1740 y en el texto del Canónigo de Sacro Monte de la ciudad de Granada.

En el siglo XV, la Corona de Aragón jugó un papel importante en el desarrollo de la nueva dama poderosa; tanto en ajedrez como en las damas teniendo a la ciudad de Valencia como epicentro. Los libros de Juan de Timoneda (1547/1635) y Lorenzo Valls (1597) también comprueban este hecho. El hecho de que veamos tan rápidamente otro libro en Valencia, seis años después del libro de Pedro Ruiz Montero, implica que el juego de las damas era muy popular en esa ciudad. En este libro de historia reflejamos los finales y composiciones de estos tres autores mencionados. Por otro lado, dedicamos capítulos a la influencia del ajedrez en las damas, al poeta Alonso de Bonilla, a los libros del juego de las damas españolas y al hecho de que el juego de las damas es más difícil que el ajedrez.

Researchers are always referring to the fact that alquerque or Quirkat was being played throughout Egypt. In this sense we have to take into account that with regards to the alquerque games we have three man morris, six man morris, nine man morris, and twelve man morris. Each game was played in a certain period. Most historians and archaeologists were following Murray, and stated that alquerque-12 was native to Egypt in the 14th and 13th century B.C., because boards had been found carved into the blocks of stone that form the Luxor temple's roof in Kurna, Egypt. However, alquerque-12 has nothing to do with this period. Alquerque-12 in various countries always had to do with Christians and the church. It was probably played by the church authorities, European crusaders, Knight Templars, Knights of the Order of Santiago, and other soldiers. For that reason we hypothesise that the game was an invention of or related to the activities of the Catholic Church not earlier than the sixth century.

This book, Volume II, at this moment is one of the most profound, rigorous and well-documented investigations ever into the history of draughts or chess. In this monumental work, around one thousand books dealing with history, bibliography, technical treatises, literature, general culture, etc. were carefully studied and referenced. The intersection between the games of chess and draughts was much greater than was first thought, as the present research demonstrates. And as could not be otherwise: with the work and cooperation of one of the all-time great figures of the history of draughts and a chess historian specialized in the medieval and renaissance period and technical bibliography, everything would out. Indeed, a solid foundation on which to accommodate a truth that had so fiercely resisted the light of day. If this were not the case, without this team work, a lot, and maybe too much, time would have gone by until everything would have finally settled into its rightful place.

It is convenient to observe the youth group of the Brinta Tournament of 1963/1964, because it would be the start of forthcoming world champions. I was the youth champion of The Netherlands and I also participated in this event. Ton Sijbrands won the tournament with 16 points and had only two draws. I lost to Harm Wiersma and Ton Sijbrands, which was enough for me to tell the whole world that these two players would be future world champions. Ton Sijbrands accomplished this feat in 1972 and 1973. However, the achievements of International Grandmaster Harm Wiersma are better still. He was six times world champion in the years 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, and 1983- 1984. On the other hand he was Europe's champion in 1999 before Ton Sijbrands! I recommend this book to psycologists and all professionals who work with children as a source of knowledge and a challenge to think in new concepts.

This work is the result of studies led by me during my long stay in Blanca (Murcia, Spain). The darkness and oblivion opposed my purpose, of a nation that almost for eight centuries dominated in Spain and where the political history of the Spanish Arabs (Muslims) in Murcia remained in the deepest darkness until recently. I do not deny the glory of Dozy and the immense service he has done with its publications to Spain, but we cannot ignore that today we have Arabists in Muria and Spain who follow the footsteps of the wise Dutch and have improved on him a lot. Murcia belonged to Al-Andalus and throughout the period of Islamic rule, Al-Andalus was a remarkable example and outstanding model of tolerance. All Jews and Christians were allowed to maintain their beliefs and live their lives as they desired as long as they respected their Muslim rulers. The Muslims played a principal role in the history of Spain. Their presence illuminated the Iberian Peninsula while the rest of Europe was engulfed in darkness.

The origin of Blanca is Muslim, because in 1609 about 98% of inhabitants belonged to this group. After the expulsion of its habitants in 1613 this percentage had fallen to 81 in 1654, as many women of Blanca married Christians. Even in the Blanca of 2017 we observe people with darker skin because of the fact that their ethnicity could be of Berber origin. Taking this into account one observes an amazing history of the beautiful Ricote Valley through which the river Segura meanders, and which lies less than 30km northwest of the city of Murcia. Here you enter the world of 1001 nights and feel as if you have ended up in Morocco. That is not surprising, because the Muslims have lived in this area for centuries and you can see that everywhere. They have turned this barren desert country with hills into a fertile oasis with palm trees and fruit and citrus groves. It is particularly beautiful here in the spring when the almond and peach trees are in bloom.

En el siglo pasado, la obra que más información nos dio sobre el Valle de Ricote fue la obra del francés Henry Lapeyre. Muchos son los autores que han escrito en España sobre la expulsión de los moriscos, pero casi todos los trabajos son obras generales sin profundizar en un pasado genealógico y al parecer ningún historiador había estado interesado en publicarlo. Nuestra obra del año 2001 supuso un gran cambio en este sentido y así descubrimos que varios mudéjares de Blanca vinieron a Granja de Rocamora entre los años 1609-1614. Recuperar la historia de Granja de Rocamora ayuda a comprender mejor su realidad presente y a afrontar con mayores garantías el futuro. Adentrarse en su pasado para conocer sus orígenes es algo, por otra parte, que se debe a las generaciones futuras. Ojalá esta pequeña obra sirva de estímulo y motivación para seguir investigando el pasado histórico de Granja de Rocamora.

La Santa Inquisición se valía antes del año 1586 de la persona Pedro Cachopo, escribano del valle de Ricote, para así poder llegar al sujeto en cada rincón del territorio del valle. Extraño es el hecho de que el inquisidor Hernando Manrique - en otros sitios le llaman Jerónimo Manrique - tuvo una casa en Blanca. ¿Porqué quiso vivir este inquisidor justamente entre los moriscos blanqueños? Este inquisidor fue denunciado por cohecho al recibir numerosos regalos; sobre todo, puercos, jabalís, pescados, salchichones y ropas. Tampoco era hombre que cumplía con su obligación de visitar cárceles cada quince días. ¿Que justicia podían esperar los moriscos del valle de un personaje así de la Santa Inquisición de Murcia? ¿Cuántas reuniones no ha tenido el odioso escribano, Pedro Cachopo con el inquisidor Manrique? No lo sabemos, pero conociendo ya mejor a Cachopo deberían haber sido muchísimas, pues de otra forma no se puede explicar la calamidad que estaba por venir al valle.