LÓPEZ DE AYALA, PEDRO

(1332–1407)

The most important Castilian literary figure of the 14th century was the historian, poet, and statesman Pedro López de Ayala. Ayala was a nobleman who served in the courts of four Castilian kings, rising to the rank of chancellor of the realm. He is also the author of a famousChroniclethat gives firsthand accounts of some of the events of those kings’ reigns, and a lengthy poetic miscellany called theRimado del palaçiothat is the last great poem in thecuaderna víaverse form.

Ayala was born in Vitoria to Fernán Pérez de Ayala, a wealthy member of the noble class.He was educated by his uncle, Pedro Gomez Barrosa, a cardinal of the church. In 1353, Ayala became a page in the household of King Pedro I (called “The Cruel”).He became so valuable to the king that he was put in charge of the Castilian navy in Pedro’s war against Aragon. He fled with the king when Castile was invaded by Enrique de Trastamara, but subsequently deserted Pedro and joined Enrique’s supporters in 1366. He served the new sovereign when he became King Enrique II, being captured by the Black Prince and quickly ransomed in 1367. Ayala was made governor of Toledo in 1375, and ambassador to Aragon in 1376. At other times he represented Castilian kings at the courts of Portugal and Paris, and at the papal court in Avignon. He served Enrique’s successor, Juan I, being captured in battle with the Portuguese and spending two years in captivity. During the years of Enrique III’s minority after Juan’s death in 1390, Ayala served as a member of the Regency Council. But when Enrique decided to rule in his own right in 1393, Ayala retired from court life to write. But in 1399, Ayala was named royal chancellor of Castile. Ayala’s direct experiences with four Castilian kings make hisChroniclea valuable eyewitness account of the reigns of those kings between 1350 and 1406. Unlike many of his contemporary chroniclers, Ayala eschews the use of unreliable legendary material and focuses on firsthand knowledge.His history has also been praised for its insightful analyses of his principal characters and their motives.He remains more objective than most medieval chroniclers as well: Although some critics have called his treatment of Pedro the Cruel slanted, probably to help justify his own desertion of Pedro’s cause, it can be argued that Ayala is not blind to the faults of any of his royal patrons, condemning Enrique II for his mistreatment of Jews, for example. Influenced by the Roman historian Livy, whose work he translated into Castilian, Ayala seems to have consciously emulated Livy’s dramatic prose style. It has also been demonstrated that Ayala borrowed some of his more vivid descriptions of events from some popular ballads of his time.

Ayala’s major poetic text is theRimado del palaçio(ca. 1400), an 8,200-line miscellany written largely in the old four-linecuaderna víastanzas, the lines ranging from 14 to 16 syllables and the stanzas linked by a single rhyme:aaaa. The poem falls into three separate parts. The first section, of about 700 stanzas, is a treatise on morality, discussing the Ten Commandments, the Seven Deadly Sins, the acts of mercy, the five senses, the estates of society, and the Four Cardinal Virtues (justice, temperance, fortitude, and prudence). Ayala ends the first section of the poem by discussing the temptations of the court and of the uses of power, and speaks of how kings can make the right use of power. Part two of the poem consists of 200 lyric stanzas in a number of different forms, dealing with a variety of subjects, ranging from the Virgin Mary to the Great Schism of the Western church (with one pope in Avignon and a rival pope in Rome). The final section of the poem returns to another 1,250 stanzas ofcuaderna vía, and is a versification of many passages from GREGORY THE GREAT’sMoralia of Job, a text that Ayala had previously translated into Castilian prose. Ayala’s poem on the whole is a satire of the sins and corruption typical in the courts he knew so intimately, and an argument for peace and for moral government.

Ayala, often called the Great Chancellor, produced a number of other texts as well, particularly translations. In addition to the translations of Livy and Gregory already mentioned, Ayala was responsible for the Castilian versions of BOETHIUS’sCONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY, of the works of ISIDORE OF SEVILLE, and of BOCCACCIO’sDe casibus, orThe Fall of Illustrious Men, the latter translation proving largely responsible for the vogue of Italian influence in Spanish literature that lasted well into the Renaissance. Despite his busy life during decades of Castilian politics, through his history, his poetry, and his translations, Ayala made himself the most important man of letters in 14^th-century Spain.

■ Clarke, Dorothy Clotelle, comp.Early Spanish Lyric Poetry: Essays and Selections. New York: Las Americas, 1967.

■ Joset, Jacques, ed.Libro rimado del palaçio. 2 vols. Madrid: Alhambra, 1978.

■ Wilkins, Constance L.Pedro López de Ayala. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1989.