Captain Alatriste (Spanish: El capitán Alatriste, fully titled Las aventuras del capitán Alatriste) is a series of novels by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte. It deals with the adventures of the title character, a Spanish soldier and man of fortune living in the 17th century.
Contents
Series
El capitán Alatriste (Captain Alatriste, 1996): In 1623, Diego Alatriste and Italian sword-for-hire Gualterio Malatesta are paid by two mysterious masked characters to kill a pair of unknown English visitors in Madrid as news reaches the city that the Spanish siege of Bergen op Zoom has been repelled.
Limpieza de sangre (Purity of Blood, 1997): Madrid, 1623. A woman is found murdered in front of a church. Later, Quevedo seeks help from Alatriste to rescue a girl forced to enter a convent; meanwhile Alatriste's young squire Íñigo Balboa deepens his infatuation with the adolescent maidservant of the Queen, Angélica de Alquézar. Title refers to the "purity of blood" demanded of Conversos.
El sol de Breda (The Sun over Breda, 1998): Spanish Netherlands, 1624–1625. Alatriste and Íñigo join the Spanish Army and fight in the war against Dutch rebels, in particular the siege of Breda.
El oro del Rey (The King's Gold, 2000): Seville, 1626. After their participation in the Flanders War, Alatriste and Íñigo return to Spain, where they become involved in an affair involving a Spanish treasure fleet ship full of contraband gold newly arrived from the Indies.
El caballero del jubón amarillo (The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet, 2003): Back in Madrid, Alatriste initiates a relationship with the famous actress María de Castro. However, he will encounter a rival for her affections amidst new intrigues at Court.
Corsarios de Levante (Pirates of the Levant, 2006): Alatriste and Íñigo go through different adventures along the Mediterranean coast, fighting Barbary pirates from Southern Spain to the Ottoman Empire.
El puente de los asesinos (The Bridge of the Assassins, 2011) Alatriste and Íñigo get mission to take part in an attempt of coup d'état in Venice to depose the Doge of Venice.
Misión en París (Mission in Paris, 2025): this adventure takes the reader to the heart of the French capital, during the tense conflict between Catholics and Huguenots. The story shows an older and darker Captain Alatriste.
As of December 2006, the book sleeve of Corsarios de Levante suggested that the novels El puente de los asesinos, La venganza de Alquézar and Misión en París were planned. As of October 2025, El puente de los asesinos and Misión en París are already published in Spanish.
Adaptations
A movie based on the series, titled Alatriste, was released on September 1, 2006, directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes and starring Viggo Mortensen.
Pérez-Reverte was inspired to begin the series due to a lack of treatment in his teenage daughter Carlota's school textbook of the historical Spanish Golden Age. He commissioned Carlota to gather documentation for him (hence, she is billed as co-author of the first novel) and developed the stories. Pérez-Reverte is influenced by the works of many novelists, in particular 19th-century writers like Alexandre Dumas and his D'Artagnan Romances. He also applies the dark tone of his experiences as a war reporter.
The period settings allow him to insert references to authors (such as Lope de Vega and Miguel de Cervantes) and artists (including Diego Velázquez) who were widely read and appreciated at the time, one of the most important periods in Spanish history. He reflects on Spain and the Spaniards as a united people who, in spite of being at war with all the major European powers, are capable of showing bravery and honour.
In 2014, Telecinco produced the TV series Las aventuras del capitán Alatriste, directed by Enrique Urbizu and starring Aitor Luna.
List of main characters
Captain Diego Alatriste y Tenorio (1582–1643?), Leonese soldier since he was 13. Never an official captain, he earned the nickname when he had to briefly take command of his unit after their real captain was killed. He survives in peacetime as a sword for hire in Madrid. His death in the Battle of Rocroi against the French is mentioned in a flashforward of the narration in The King's Gold. His name comes from Sealtiel Alatriste, Pérez-Reverte's Mexican publisher and friend, and from the legendary Don Juan Tenorio, who is indeed Diego's grand-uncle, as stated in Purity of Blood.
Íñigo Balboa y Aguirre (1610–?), the young Basque squire of Alatriste. He is the son of Lope Balboa, who was an old friend and comrade of Alatriste. Íñigo is the first person narrator of each of the books.
Angélica de Alquézar (c.1611–c.1640), Aragonese lady in the queen's court, niece of Luis de Alquézar, inspired by Dumas' Milady de Winter. As a running joke or irony she constantly mispronounces the name Alatriste, calling the captain "Batriste", "el triste" (sad man), or other variations. Orphaned at an early age, she was adopted and educated by her uncle, Luis de Alquézar. After her presentation in the court, she became a companion-in-waiting to the queen. She has a stormy and passionate love-hate relationship with Íñigo Balboa, whom she meets in 1623. As vicious as she is beautiful, she is even shown trying to attack Alatriste in the second book (while she is only 12) with her bare hands; even the war veteran Alatriste is unnerved by this, but manages to evade her. Her relationship with Íñigo reaches its height towards 1630–1634, and he mentions in a flashforward that he eventually kills her when she makes an attempt on his life. A widely acclaimed beauty, she is portrayed by Diego Velázquez in 1635.
Luis de Alquézar (c.1570–?), royal secretary of Aragonese origin. Studies law in Zaragoza, and begins his career as clerk of the royal audience in the Aragonese capital. Rising quickly in the administration, he joins the Council of Aragon in 1610. With the support of the Count-Duke of Olivares, he reaches the coveted post of royal secretary in 1623. That same year he meet Diego Alatriste, during the adventure of two Englishmen, in which the royal secretary is aligned with the extremist faction of the Inquisitor, Fray Emilio Bocanegra, against the more moderate Olivares. Since that time, he is a bitter enemy of Alatriste, whom he has tried to dispose of on several occasions through the swordsman Gualterio Malatesta.