Alfonso Fernández de Palencia (1423–1492) was aCastilian royal secretary, historian, and humanist scholar. He first servedEnrique IV of Castile and later played an active role in the political intrigue that ultimately broughtFernando II to Castile and putIsabel I on the throne. His chronicles, theDécadas, are an important historical source for this period.
Alfonso de Palencia was born inPalencia in 1423, the son of a secretary. By 1440, at the age of seventeen, he was in the household ofAlfonso de Cartagena, Bishop of Burgos. In 1441 he participated in a mission on behalf of KingJuan II of Castile to meet with Álvaro de Luna, a powerful Castilian noble and a favorite of the king.[1]
Later, Palencia traveled toFlorence where he entered the service ofCardinal Bessarion, with whom he remained until 1453. He also became acquainted withVespasiano da Bisticci and studied the humanities withGeorge of Trebizond in Rome. After nearly ten years in Italy, Palencia returned to Castile and joined the household of the Archbishop of Seville,Alonso I de Fonseca.[1]
On 6 December 1456 Palencia succeededJuan de Mena as royal chronicler and secretary toEnrique IV of Castile.[1] In the 1460s he openly sided with Castilian nobles in opposition to the king. Palencia visited Rome on behalf of these nobles to complain toPope Paul II about Enrique's actions. He supportedPrince Alfonso, Isabel's brother, when he proclaimed himself king in June 1465 and then shifted his allegiance to Fernando and Isabel when Alfonso died in 1468. He played a major role in smuggling Fernando into Castile for a marriage to Isabel in 1469.[1]
During theWar of the Castilian Succession, he served as a diplomat for Castile, assisting in the establishment of theSanta Hermandad in 1476 and the organization of naval reinforcements for the defense ofGran Canaria, a Castilian possession, in 1479. Palencia remained a strong supporter of Fernando but Isabel's councilors, especiallyPedro González de Mendoza, were suspicious of Palencia's loyalties. In the 1480s Isabel appointedFernando del Pulgar as her royal chronicler and Palencia was effectively stripped of political influence.[1]
He died in 1492.
His main work is theGesta Hispaniensia ex annalibus suorum diebus colligentis, called, for short, hisDécadas, because it was divided into decades in the style ofLivy's work. This chronicle, written inLatin, covers the time from the end of the reign ofJohn II of Castile to the year 1481, including the reign of Henry IV of Castile; Henry IV’s war withPrince Alfonso; the War of the Castilian Succession; the consolidation ofCastile and Aragon under Ferdinand and Isabella; and the signing of theTreaty of Alcáçovas.
The work is divided into four decades, each one consisting of ten books except the fourth, which was left incomplete at Fernández de Palencia’s death, and consists of six books. The first three decades were translated into Spanish byPaz y Meliá and published under the title ofCrónica de Enrique IV between 1904 and 1908. Most historians remained unaware of the fourth decade, which was published in 1971 byJosé López del Toro.
The other important work by Fernández de Palencia is hisAnales de la Guerra de Granada, which concerns theGranada War from its beginnings until the taking ofBaza in 1489. It was translated into Spanish by Paz y Meliá in 1909.
Fernández de Palencia also wroteBatalla campal entre los perros y los lobos (Pitched Battle Between the Dogs and the Wolves) (1457, which is a Castilian translation of his own Latin poem. It may be an allegory for the government of Henry IV of Castile. Awolf, Harpaleo, is killed by dogs after he is weakened by his neglect of military discipline. Fernández de Palencia also translated into Castilian his Latin work, theallegoryTratado de la perfección del triunfo militar (1459). A character named “Exercise” (el Ejercicio), accompanied by the wise Discretion (Discreción), tries to find the character named Triumph (el Triunfo). Triumph refers Exercise to aRoman captain named Gloridoneo, who may representAlfonso V of Aragon. Gloridoneo is victorious in battle and Triumph grants victory to Order, Exercise, and Obedience –virtues which will help a king emerge victorious, advice that may have been directed to Henry IV.
The workCoplas del provincial (The Provincial’s Couplets) is attributed to him.
He also wrote lexicographical and linguistic works:
His work as a translator was also very important: he translated into SpanishPlutarch'sParallel Lives (Seville, 1491) and alsoFlavius Josephus'The Wars of the Jews (1492).
Sanchez Alonso writes that "few match Palencia's ability to give life to a character, in presenting the antecedents to an event briefly and efficiently, in sagaciously explaining it and in putting interest in the narration".[2]
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