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biography
| name: |
Zurita, Jerónimo de
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pronunciation:
[thureeta]
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1512–80)
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| biography:
| Spanish historian, born in Zaragoza, NEC Spain. With Morales, he is considered one of the founders of Spanish historiography. His father was one of the physicians of the court, and in 1506 accompanied Ferdinand to Italy, where he examined archive material. Educated at the University of Alcalá, he was appointed first Chronicler of Aragón in 1548, a position he filled conscientiously by compiling Anales de la Corona de Aragón (6 vols, 1562–80), to which an index volume was added in 1604. His history runs from the Arab invasion to 1516, and is more usefully critical than any previous work in its genre. Though his prose style is undistinguished, he began the scientific approach to historiography in Spain by travelling to examine contemporary documents at first hand, weighing rival accounts of events, and omitting much of the supernatural and pious material considered necessary by his predecessors; his was the first Spanish history to avoid beginning with Noah, for instance. Zurita's successor was the poet Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola, who narrated in considerable detail the events of the period 1516–20. Francisco Diego de Sayas wrote a continuation (1667) covering the period to 1525. Zurita's magnificent private library is now in the Escorial. |
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