Poet and court chronicler who was in an excellent position to observe firsthand the happenings of his time which unlike earlier chroniclers he recorded without unnecessary subjectivity; his Crónicas are marked by implacable observation and vivid expression making them among the forst great Spanish histories.
López de Ayala had a long and distinguished civil career under four Castilian monarchs Peter I the Cruel, Henry II, John I and Henry III.
Holding such posts as captain of the Castilian fleet (1359), ambassador to France (1379-80 and 1395-96) and royal chancellor of Castile (1398 until his death at Calahorra in 1407), he spent his lifetime in close association with leading men and events.
As a poet he is chiefly remembered for his Rimado de palacio (c. 1400) one of the last works in cuaderna vía (Spanish narrative verse form consisting of 4-line stanzas, each line having 14 syllables and identical rhyme) an autobiographical satire on contemporary society.
He had a somewhat modern outlook and his translation from Livy, Boccaccio and others gave him a reputation as the first Castilian Humanist.
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