Pero López de Ayala as historian and literary artist

Abstract

Pero López de Ayala (1332-1407) has traditionally been considered to be Castile's first great historian in the modern sense--a pre-Humanist, whose historical veracity and innovations in style paved the way for a new era in Spanish historiography. But despite his high reputation, Ayala and his chronicles have mostly been written about in general histories or in histories of literature; few critics have dealt with him exclusively or in detail. It is my intention, therefore, to present a thorough study of the four chronicles--La Crónica del Rey Don Pedro I (1350-1369), La Crónica del Rey Don Enrique II (1369-1379), La Crónica del Rey Don Juan~ (1379-1390), and La Crónica del Rey Don Enrique III (1390-1396), in order to evaluate the chronicler and his work from both the historical and literary points of view.