PERO LóPEZ DE AYALA

'Don Pero (or Pedro) López de Ayala' (1332-1407) was a Castilian statesman, historian, poet, chronicler, chancellor, and courtier. Ayala were one of the major aristocratic families of Castile; they were of the Jewish converso descent. During generations, Ayala intermarried with other Jewish converso and "old Christian" high nobility; among Pero's ancestors were converso Mendoza and offsprings of Spanish and Basque royalty.^[1]
He was born in Vitoria, the son of Fernán Pérez de Ayala and Elvira de Cevallos. He was nephew to Bishop Pedro Gómez Barroso, and was educated under this cleric. López de Ayala was a supporter of Pedro of Castile before switching sides in order to support the pretender to the Castilian throne, Henry of Trastamara.
As ''alférez mayor del Pendón de la Banda'' (second lieutenant), he fought with Henry at the Battle of Nájera (Navarette) (1367) and was made a prisoner of the Black Prince but was later released. In 1378, he traveled to France in order to negotiate an alliance against the English and Portuguese.
He subsequently served as a supporter of John I of Castile. He was captured by the Portuguese at the Battle of Aljubarrota (1385), and was jailed in a prison of iron. From his Portuguese prison, he wrote his ''Libro de la caza de las aves'' ("Book on hunting with birds of prey") and parts of his ''Rimado de Palacio''. He was ransomed for 30,000 doubloons after many had interceded on his behalf, including his wife, doña Leonor de Guzmán, the Master of Calatrava, and the kings of both Castile and France.
Upon his release in 1398 or 1399, he continued his diplomatic activities in France. He later returned to Castile and was named ''canciller mayor'' ("grand chancellor of the realm") by Henry III. He died at Calahorra at the age of 75.

Contents

Literary career

Ayala's family offsprings in America

Notes

Notes

Sources

Literary career

López de Ayala is best remembered for his satirical and didactic ''Libro Rimado de Palacio'' ("Palace Verse" or "Rhymes of the Court"), in which he acidly describes his contemporaries and their social, religious, and political values. His rhymed confession concerns the Ten Commandments, mortal sins, spiritual works, and the sins associated with the five senses, followed by an account of the evils afflicting the Church. The most famous couplets (424–719) concern "los fechos de Palaçio" ("palace deeds"), which detail the troubles of a courtier who is attempting to collect money that the king owes to him.
In one of the first known literary references to chivalresque tales, López de Ayala, in his ''Rimado de Palacio'', would regret a misspent youth:
''It pleased me, moreover, to hear, many times,''
''Books of idle pursuit and proven fictions,''
''Amadis and Lancelot and invented falsities,''
''In which I wasted long hours of my time.''
In his ''Libro de la caza de las aves'', López de Ayala attempted to compile all of the correct and available knowledge concerning falconry. In the prologue, López de Ayala explains that concerning "this art and science of the hunting with birds I heard and saw many uncertainties; such as on the plumage and characteristics and nature of the birds; such as in domesticating them and ordering them to hunt their prey; and also how to cure them when they suffer and are hurt. Of this I saw some writings that reasoned on it, but did not agree with others."[1]
He also wrote the chronicles for the reigns of Pedro I, Henry of Trastamara (Henry II of Castile), and John I, and a partial chronicle of the reign of Henry III of Castile, collected as ''History of the Kings of Castile''. As a source, López de Ayala is considered to be generally reliable, as he was a witness to the events he describes. The first part of his chronicle, which covers only the reign of Pedro I, was printed at Seville in 1495. The first complete edition was printed in 1779-1780 in the collection of ''Crónicas Españolas'', under the auspices of the Spanish Royal Academy of History.
López de Ayala also translated the works of ancient authors, such as Titus Livy and Boethius. Around 1400, for example, he translated Livy's ''Decades'' (only books 1, 2 and 4) for Henry III of Castile, working from a French version by Pierre Bersuire.[2] He also translated the works of contemporary authors, such as Boccaccio.
His ''Linaje de Ayala'' ("Lineage of Ayala") is a genealogical study.
The Castilian poet Pero Ferrús (fl. 1380) dedicated one of his cantigas to López de Ayala.
Among his direct descendants are major Spanish poets and writers Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, Jorge Manrique and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza.

Ayala's family offsprings in America

His sister Ines married into another prominent aristocratic family of Jewish converso descent Gomez de Guzman. Her daughter Sancha de Ayala (1360-1418) accompanied Princess Constance of Castile to England where she married Sir Walter Blount (1350-1403) and had numerous descendants in Britain and America. Among her descendants in England poet Philip Sidney. In America she is a forebear of poets Anne Bradstreet, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Edwin Arlington Robinson, playwright Tennessee Williams, actors Humphrey Bogart, Chevy Chase, 17th century colonists Robert Carter, Roger Ludlow, Anne Hutchinson, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Presidents of the USA William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush.^[2]

Notes

# Pero López de Ayala, ''Rimado de Palacio. Edición de Kenneth Adams'' (Salamanca: Ediciones Anaya, S.A., 1971), 70-1. López de Ayala's contemporary Pero Ferrús also makes an early reference to chivalric romances when he compares, for example, his love for his lady with the riches owned by ''Rrey Lysuarte''. He is thus known to have read the popular romance Amadis of Gaul.

Notes

1. See Norman Roth, "Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain", Madison, WI: The University of Wisconcin Press, 1995, p. 333; Wilfrid Bayne, "De Ayala of Castile", The Augustan, vol. 13, 1970, pp.289-91.
2. See, Wilfrid Bayne, "De Ayala of Castile", The Augustan, vol. 13, 1970, pp.289-91; Milton Rubincam, "A critique of Spanish genealogy: the ancestry of Sancha (de Ayala) Blount" in Lindsay L. Brook, ed., Studies in Genealogy and Family History in Tribute to Charles Evans on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1989; Norman Roth, "Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain", Madison, WI: The University of Wisconcin Press, 1995, pp. 94-95, 333; Eve LaPLante, "American Jezebel", San Francisco, 2005; Gary Boyd Roberts, "The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants, etc." Baltimore, 2006.

Sources

★ Artehistoria.com: Personajes

★ La Poesia del Siglo XIV

★ Biografía de Pero López de Ayala

★ ''Libro de la caza de las aves''

★ LoveToKnow article