Zurita, Jerónimo de (1512–1580)

Spanish historian from Aragon. He studied at Alcalá and in 1548 he was appointed Aragon's first chronicler. He took a more scientific and investigative approach to historical narrative than had his predecessors elsewhere in the peninsula: Zurita pursued sources in different archives, and eliminated from his accounts the more fantastic elements present in earlier chronicles. The result of his labours was the six-volume Anales de la Corona de Aragón/Annals of the Crown of Aragon, an account of the kingdom from the 711 Arab invasion to 1516. It was published between 1562 and 1580.

An index was added to Anales de la Corona de Aragón in 1604 and the third edition appeared 1610–21.