François-René de Chateaubriand traveled through Iberia in 1807 on his return trip from Jerusalem, and later took part in the French intervention in Spain in 1823, which he describes in his "Mémoires d'Outre-tombe" (1849–1850). It may have been at that time that he began to write "Les aventures du dernier Abencerraje" (1826), which exalted Hispano-Arabic chivalry. Another work that was widely read was the "Lettres d'un espagnol" (1826), by , who visited Spain in 1823.