Portuguese chronicler, librarian, and archivist. He became keeper of the royal
library in 1451 and royal archivist in 1454 (a post he held until his death). He was
also appointed royal chronicler, and the first evidence of his literary activity is his
Crónica da tomada de Ceuta/Chronicle of the Capture of Ceuta (1449). His last
surviving work is the Crónica do Conde Dom Duarte de Meneses/Chronicle of Dom
Duarte de Meneses, completed in 1467–68.
Zurara’s three other chronicles also concern particular people and incidents. The
first of these was Crónica do Infante Dom Henrique/Chronicle of Prince Henry,
initially completed in 1452–53, but a lengthy panegyric was added after his death in
1460 and the expanded version became known as the Crónica dos feitos da Guiné/
Chronicle of the Deeds in Guinea (probably 1468/73). Zurara’s other two chronicles
concentrated on members of the Meneses family. The first, composed in about 1458–
63, relates the life of Pedro, first governor of Ceuta, while the second (composed in
about 1464–68) concerns his son Duarte, captain of Alcaçer-Ceguer.