Jerónimo Zurita

See also: Zurita

Jerónimo Zurita there Castro or Çurita , in Latin, Sorita , (December 4th 1512 November -3 1580), was a historian and Spanish writer.

It dedicated its life to collect and preserve the historical memory of the Royaume of Aragon, and was named first historiographer of the Kingdom in 1548. It also occupied the posts of secretary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, and the Council of Philippe II in 1566.

Because of its office in the Enquiry, it on the occasion to accomplish several voyages to the United Provinces, and in Italy, where it could collect many information which it will include later in its historical works.

Its principal work remains the Annales Crown of Aragon , to which he worked during thirty years, and of which he made appear last volume the year even of his death. It follows there a chronological plan, Moslem conquest with the reign of Ferdinand II.

After its death, these Annales was continued by Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola.

Biography

Zurita was born with Saragossa in a family close to the royal Court, where his/her father was doctor of the kings Ferdinand II and Charles Quint.

It made its studies with the Académie of Alcala. The scientist Hernan Nufiez initiated it in the knowledge of the languages Greek and Latin, and developed the happy provisions which it had for the letters. The services of his/her father deserved to him the favor of the emperor Charles-Quint. In 1530, one entrusted to him the administration of the towns of Barbastro and Huesca; later, it succeeded, in the use of tax of Madrid, to J. Garzias de Olivan, his father-in-law; and in 1543 it accepted supreme council of Castille the mission of going in Germany to take care of it of the defense of its interests. On its return (1549), the states of Aragon having solved to create a place of Coroniste or historian of this province, it was the covered first of it.

Provided with an authorization with the king Philippe II of Spain - Philippe II, to be made open the files of the cities and abbeys, and communicate the most secret documents, he visited the Aragon, the Italy and the Sicily, and collected, in this voyage, a crowd of parts of the greatest interest. In it was named secretary of the cabinet of the king; and two years afterwards, charged by the large inquisitor with all the correspondence relating to Holy Office. On the end of its life it dislocated its employment, and was withdrawn in the convent of the Hiéronymite S in Saragossa, to work there with the continuation of the Annales of Aragon . It there died the October 31st, or, according to its epitaph, the November 3rd and was buried in the tomb which his/her son set up to him. The epitaph which one has just quoted is reported by Nicolas Antonio in the bibl. Hispan. nova , and by Ghilini in the Teatro degli uomini litterati , T. 1, p. 128. Zurita had bequeathed its library to the Chartreux of Saragossa; but most of its books was transported, in 1626, with the Escurial.

Work

This historian, says Mr. Bouterwek ( Hist. of the litt. Spanish ), could have become, if not the Tite-Live, at least the Machiavel of the Spain, if he had judged by the way and if the circumstances had enabled him to cultivate, by a particular study of art to write, its talent for the pragmatic history. Being made an idea right in the manner of treating the history as a philosopher and a policy, he proposed to show, by the luminous sequence of the facts, how had been born and how the national constitution of the Aragonese provinces had improved. Studied under this point of view, its work is one of most instructive than one can read. Zurita had to feel all the weight of the task that it had been necessary, while leaving the limited sphere of chronicler, when it was necessary for him at the same time to put at the day the principles republican S of the the Aragonese Cortes, and to try to take occasion of it to pay homage to an absolute master. However one can judge, by a few pieces of his Annales , of what it would have done if it had written freely. The defects which one notices in his work were seen per any of its contemporaries. In the literary argument which rose on the merit of the Annales , nobody criticized the style of it. One did not give an great attention yet to the works written in prose (see Histoire of the Spanish literature , French transl., T. 1, p. 378 and suiv.).

One has of Zurita:

  1. Anal of corona of Aragon , Saragossa, 1562 - 1579, 6 vol. in-fol. ; ibid, 1585,6 vol. in-fol. The Jésuite S of Saragossa published, in 1604, an index which one joint indifferently with these two editions, ibid, 1610, folio vol. The latter is estimated than the preceding ones. One finds at the end of the sixth volume the defense of the Annales of Zurita , by Ambroise Morales against the criticism of Alfonse de Santacruz. The seventh contains the index. Mr. of Marolles quotes of it in his collection an edition of Saragossa, 1668 - 1671, which it known as higher than that of 1610; but it is not known (see the Manuel of the bookseller , of Mr. Brunet). Annals of Zurita finish at the year 1516. They were continued by Barth. - Leon. of Argensola, and by Vincent de Blasco-Lanuza, 1622, vol. in-fol.
  2. Indices rerum ab Aragoniœ regibus gestarum Al initiis regni AD annum 1410, tribes libris expositi: accedunt Robertij Viscardi and Rogerii, principum normanorum and eorùm fratrum, rerum in Italia and Sicilia gestarum libri 4 has Gaufredo Malatera, etc , Saragossa, 1578, in-fol., very rare volume and extremely estimated; it is divided into two parts, the first contains a summary of the Annales of Zurita , translated by itself into Latin; and the second, history of the conquest of the Sicily by the Norman princes , of which he had discovered the manuscript in his voyages. All these parts were printed by Pistorius in Hispan. illustrata , Frankfurt, 1606, T. 3.
  3. Progressed of the historia in el reyno of Aragon which contains in quatro libros varied successos desde el year. 1512 hasta el of 1580 , Saragossa, 1580, in-fol. This work, published by D. Jos. To give, is preceded by a praise of the author.
  4. Enmiendas there adverlencias in mow coronicas of los reies of Castilla that escrivio gift Lopez de Ayala , ibid, 1683, in-4. This criticism of the history of the kings of Castille, by Lopez de Ayala, was also published by Jos. Dormer. The collection entitled Discorsos varied historia idiot muchas will escrituras reaies antiquas, etc , ibid, 1680, in-fol., contains some parts of Zurita. It is with this writer that one owes the discovery of the Chronicon Alexandrinum or Chronicon Paschale , published by Rader with a Latin version, and since by Ducange in the Byzantine Collection.

Among its many manuscripts preserved either in the Carthusian monks of Saragossa, or in Escurial, - one quotes Notes on the Comments of César , on Claudien and the Itinéraire of Antonin . The Notes of Zurita on the Route are purely grammatical; they were published by André Schott in the edition of the Route, Cologne, in-8, and since inserted by Wesseling in that of Amsterdam, 1735, in-4. (see the bibl. hispan. nova , T. 1, p. 605-606, and the Biblioth. of David Clément, with the word Curita.)

Sources

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