V
VALERA, DIEGO DE
(1412–c. 1488)
According to Valera himself, he was born in 1412 and
lived to a ripe old age, probably dying late in 1488. His
father, Alonso Chirino de Guadalajara, was the chief
royal physician to Juan II of Castile and author of at
least two medical treatises, one of which was printed in
Seville in 1506. In 1427 Valera joined the royal court at
the age of fi fteen and served as one of the donceles of
Juan II, and then Prince Enrique (the future Enrique IV).
He was present at the Christian victory of La Higueruela
just outside the Nas. rid capital of Granada in 1431, and
was made a knight at the conquest of Huelma.
In 1437 Valera began a series of travels and adven-
tures throughout western Europe, being included by
Fernando del Pulgar in his Claros varones de Castilla
among a select list of famous knights errant “que con
ánimo de cavalleros fueron por los reinos estraños a
fazer armas con qualquier cavallero que quisiese fazerlas
con ellos, e por ellas ganaron honrra para sí e fama de
valientes e esforçados cavalleros para los fi josdalgos
de Castilla.” He was present at sieges, which Charles
VII of France directed against the English, traveled to
Prague, helped Albert V in his campaigns against the
Hussites, and was rewarded by being made a member
of several chivalrous orders. Returning to Castile, it was
not long before Valera was on his travels again with the
king’s backing and accompanied by a royal herald, this
time visiting Denmark, England, and Burgundy, taking
part in a famous tournament near Dijon, and returning
subsequently on yet another mission to the court of
Charles VII of France.
Valera took part on the royal side at the battle of Ol-
medo in 1445, but he was soon to fall out of favor due
to his habit of preferring unsolicited advice in letters
addressed to Juan II and then, subsequently, to Enrique
IV. As a result he passed into the service of the count
of Plasencia, Pedro de Estúñiga, for several years. By
his own detailed account in his fi nal chapter of the
Crónica abreviada, Valera played an important role in
the downfall of Álvaro de Luna, who was beheaded in
Valladolid in 1453.
Apart from short periods of judicial offi ce in Palen-
cia and Segovia as well as some service in the noble
house of Medinaceli, Valera spent most of his later life
in Puerto de Santa María, from where he continued to
write letters of political and military advice, in particular
to Fernando the Catholic.
Valera was a prolifi c author whose main interests
were devoted to chronicles and short treatises of a chiv-
alrous, political, or moral nature. Carriazo established a
chronological list of his works as follows: Arbol de las
Batallas, a translation of the famous French treatise on
the laws of arms by Honoré Bonet, done for Álvaro de
Luna (prior to 1441); Espejo de Verdadero Nobleza, a
treatise on the origins and nature of nobility, dedicated to
Juan II (ca. 1441); Defensa de virtuosos mugeres, dedi-
cated to Queen María of Castile (prior to 1443); Exhor-
tatión a la paz, addressed to Juan II (ca. 1448): Tratado
de las armas, for Afonso V of Portugal (ca. 1458–1467);
Providencia contra Fortuna, dedicated to the marquis
of Villena (ca. 1465); Ceremonial de Príncipes, also
dedicated to the marquis of Villena (ca. 1462–1467);
Breviloquio de virtudes, for Rodrigo Pimentel, count of
Benavente; Origen de Roma y Troya, for Juan Hurtado
de Mendoza; Origen de la casa de Guzmán; Doctrinal
de príncipes, dedicated to Fernando the Catholic (ca.
1475–1476), perhaps one of Valera’s more original
works; Preheminencias y cargos de los ofi ciales de ar-
mas, for Fernando the Catholic; Geneología de los Reyes
de Francia, dedicated to Juan Terrin; Crónica abreviada
de Espana (1479–1481); Memorial de diversas hazanas;
and Crónica de los Reyes Católicos.
In addition Carriazo listed another two works, a lost