Chronicle of King Pedro Volumes 1 - 3 ed by Peter Such

Pero López de Ayala's Chronicle of King Pedro provides a compelling and richly informative account of the turbulent reign of the notorious but enigmatic fourteenth-century Castilian monarch who came to be known as Pedro el Cruel. It is a vitally important source for our understanding of the history of the Iberian Peninsula during this critical period in its development and of the complex social and political divisions by which the Spanish kingdoms were torn. 

This three-volume Chronicle gives us a gripping and wide-ranging picture of a period characterized by harsh brutality, conflict and betrayal but at the same time by the ideals of chivalry, memorably personified in figures such as the Black Prince and Bertrand du Guesclin. At its centre is the chilling portrait of King Pedro, a brilliantly constructed image of self-destructive evil. 

The translation is accompanied by a Spanish text taken from Germán Orduna's groundbreaking edition and by detailed notes. The introduction explores the background to the Chronicle's composition and sets López de Ayala's account against a broad canvas of events in the Spanish kingdoms and beyond. It examines how the chronicler's subtle artistry was used to create a picture of a deeply flawed monarch which has continued to exercise a profound fascination over the centuries.

Baldric of Bourgueil: "History of the Jerusalemites" translated by Susan Edgington

The first translation of Baldric's Historia Ierosolimitana, a spirited account of the First Crusade, into modern English.

The Historia Ierosolimitana is a prose narrative of the events of the First Crusade written at the abbey of Bourgueil in the Loire Valley around 1105. Its author, the abbot Baldric, used the anonymous Gesta Francorum for much of the factual material presented, but provided literary enhancements and amplifications of the historical narrative and the characters found therein, in order, as Baldric says, to make the Historia a more worthy account of the miraculous events it describes.

This volume provides the first modern-language translation of the Historia, with a full introduction setting out its historical, social, political and manuscript contexts, and notes. It will contribute to a revised exploration of the First Crusade, and facilitate much wider debates about the place of history writing in medieval culture, textuality and manuscript transmission.

30 Medieval Texts Translated in 2016

From Medievalists.net comes a list of 30 medieval texts translated in 2016. 

From biographies of the leading warriors to the grumbling of a government official, here are thirty medieval texts that have been translated in 2016. Chronicles, law books, letter collections, religious and literary works were among those edited and translated this year, many for the first time. 

I have already added about four of these to my wish list - how many have you added to yours??