His main work is the
Gesta Hispaniensia ex annalibus suorum diebus colligentis, called, for short, his
Décadas, because it was divided into decades in the style of
Livy's work. This chronicle, written in
Latin, covers the time from the end of the reign of
John II of Castile to the year 1481, including the reign of Henry IV of Castile; Henry IV’s war with
Prince Alfonso; the War of the Castilian Succession; the consolidation of
Castile and Aragon under Ferdinand and Isabella; and the signing of the
Treaty of Alcáçovas. The work is divided into four decades, each one consisting of ten books except the fourth, which was left incomplete at Fernández de Palencia’s death, and consists of six books. The first three decades were translated into Spanish by
Paz y Meliá and published under the title of
Crónica de Enrique IV between 1904 and 1908. Most historians remained unaware of the fourth decade, which was published in 1971 by
José López del Toro. The other important work by Fernández de Palencia is his
Anales de la Guerra de Granada, which concerns the
Granada War from its beginnings until the taking of
Baza in 1489. It was translated into Spanish by Paz y Meliá in 1909. Fernández de Palencia also wrote
Batalla campal entre los perros y los lobos (
Pitched Battle Between the Dogs and the Wolves) (1457, which is a Castilian translation of his own Latin poem. It may be an allegory for the government of Henry IV of Castile. A
wolf, Harpaleo, is killed by dogs after he is weakened by his neglect of military discipline. Fernández de Palencia also translated into Castilian his Latin work, the
allegory Tratado de la perfección del triunfo militar (1459). A character named “Exercise” (
el Ejercicio), accompanied by the wise Discretion (
Discreción), tries to find the character named Triumph (
el Triunfo). Triumph refers Exercise to a
Roman captain named Gloridoneo, who may represent
Alfonso V of Aragon. Gloridoneo is victorious in battle and Triumph grants victory to Order, Exercise, and Obedience –virtues which will help a king emerge victorious, advice that may have been directed to Henry IV. The work
Coplas del provincial (The Provincial’s Couplets) is attributed to him. He also wrote lexicographical and linguistic works: •
Opus Synonymorum, also known as
De sinonymis elegantibus, which concerns
synonyms •
Uniuersale Compendium Vocabulorum (
Vocabulario universal en latín y en romance) (Seville, 1490), bilingual Latin-Castilian dictionary, subsequently superseded by the work of
Antonio de Nebrija. •
Compendiolum, a geographic and
toponymic work • Latin epistles His work as a translator was also very important: he translated into Spanish
Plutarch's Parallel Lives (Seville, 1491) and also
Flavius Josephus' The Wars of the Jews (1492). Sanchez Alonso writes that "few match Palencia's ability to give life to a character, in presenting the antecedents to an event briefly and efficiently, in sagaciously explaining it and in putting interest in the narration". ==Notes==