ABSTRACT
In August 1591 the priests of the Royal Chapel in Granada were faced with a request for an interlibrary loan which they could not refuse. Philip II had demanded a number of their books for his fledgling library at El Escorial. Despite the priests' distress at the loss this entailed, the King argued that the books were not being stored in a suitable place, nor being put to use, adding mysteriously that there were 'other reasons' which supported his argument. Priestly promises to be more careful in future proved vain: Philip was inflexible, and the books travelled north. The verbal and visual insistence on Alfonso's personal association with the work patronized has led many scholars to speculate on the degree to which these texts and linages reflect Alfonso's personal contribution to the composition of these works. Chess is, of course, traditionally a game with strong erotic associations, despite the tendency of medieval writers to interpret chess pieces allegorically.
