Chronicle of King Pedro Volumes 1 - 3: Pero López de Ayala (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781789621341)

Pero López de Ayala's Chronicle of King Pedro provides a compelling and richly informative account of the turbulent reign of the notorious but enigmatic fourteenth-century Castilian monarch who came to be known as Pedro el Cruel. It is a vitally important source for our understanding of the history of the Iberian Peninsula during this critical period in its development and of the complex social and political divisions by which the Spanish kingdoms were torn. This three-volume Chronicle gives us a gripping and wide-ranging picture of a period characterized by harsh brutality, conflict and betrayal but at the same time by the ideals of chivalry, memorably personified in figures such as the Black Prince and Bertrand du Guesclin. At its centre is the chilling portrait of King Pedro, a brilliantly constructed image of self-destructive evil. The translation is accompanied by a Spanish text taken from Germán Orduna's groundbreaking edition and by detailed notes. The introduction explores the background to the Chronicle's composition and sets López de Ayala's account against a broad canvas of events in the Spanish kingdoms and beyond. It examines how the chronicler's subtle artistry was used to create a picture of a deeply flawed monarch which has continued to exercise a profound fascination over the centuries.


Author: Peter Such
ISBN-10: 1789621348
ISBN-13: 9781789621341
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/30/2020
Pages: 1040
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 8.50h x 6.00w x 3.00d

About the Author

Peter Such was Head of Modern Languages and Director of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Sherborne School. He is the author (with John Hodgkinson) of The Poem of My Cid and (with Richard Rabone) of Book of Alexander. He retired from teaching in 2011 and he now lives in the
province of Córdoba, working as an educational consultant and translator. He continues to carry out research on the literature of thirteenth-century Castile and its political and intellectual background.