Alonso Hernández del Portillo (1543–1624) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

local

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, remembered for being the first

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

r of the city of Gibraltar.

Biography

Hernández del Portillo was born in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

during the Spanish period. He was a member of the

Gibraltar City Council The Mayor of Gibraltar is the ceremonial official of the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The mayor is appointed by the Elections in Gibraltar, elected Members of Gibraltar Parliament, Parliament

and held responsibilities over the supply of food to the city () during the late 16th and early 17th century. Between 1605 and 1610 he wrote his most notable work, ''Historia de la Muy Noble y Más Leal Ciudad de Gibraltar'' (), the first written history of Gibraltar. The work was later reviewed by himself between 1615 and 1622. The

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

of the chronicle was kept in the archives of

Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...

and was one of the sources of the work ''History of Gibraltar'' by Spanish historian

Ignacio López de Ayala Ignacio López de Ayala (18 October 1739 Grazalema, Cádiz – 24 April 1789 in Tarifa) was a Spanish writer, astronomer and historian. Life He was a professor of poetry at the Reales Estudios de San Isidro in Madrid. He authored a neoclassica ...

in 1792, one of the canonical works of the Spanish historiography about Gibraltar.

Work

Hernández del Portillo chronicles the history of his city from its origins, which he set to be in the times of the

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

n and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

(as a symbol of the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

n and Ancient Greek colonisation of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

), to his days. It also includes many legendary stories and almost lacks any information about the Moor period. The main value of his work is in his account of the facts he witnessed at first hand, a period not well known in the history of Gibraltar. His accounts made the 16th century people, industry, port, commercial, fishing and agricultural activities of Gibraltar known. The ''Historia de la Muy Noble y Más Leal Ciudad de Gibraltar'' has been published in recent times by the Spanish historian

Antonio Torremocha Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

, a specialist in the history of the

Campo de Gibraltar Campo de Gibraltar () is one of the six ''comarcas'' (county) in the province of Cádiz, Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of mainland Europe. It comprises the municipalities of Algec ...

. The first edition, titled ''Historias de Gibraltar'' (), was published in 1994 ().Record of ''Historias de Gibraltar'' in the Ministry of Culture of Spain
/ref> A second edition, revised and expanded, was published in 2008, under the title ''History of Gibraltar'' (). This second edition is the first issue of the collection ''Fuentes para la Historia del Campo de Gibraltar'' (). Torremocha defines Portillo as a

Renaissance Man A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez Del Portillo, Alonso 1543 births 1624 deaths Spanish people from Gibraltar 17th-century Spanish historians Historians of Gibraltar