author

Ginés Pérez de Hita

A Spanish novelist and poet of the late 16th century, he is best remembered for The Civil Wars of Granada, a vivid work often described as an early historical novel. His writing helped keep the legends, conflicts, and border ballads of Moorish Granada alive for later readers.

1 Audiobook

Guerras civiles de Granada: Tomo I

Guerras civiles de Granada: Tomo I

by Ginés Pérez de Hita

About the author

Born in Mula, Murcia, around 1544, Ginés Pérez de Hita was a Spanish writer whose life is only partly documented. Sources broadly agree that he lived in the second half of the 16th century and died around 1619, and several reference works say he likely took part in the campaigns against the Moriscos, an experience that seems to have shaped his later writing.

His best-known work is Historia de los vandos de los Zegríes y Abencerrages, better known as Guerras civiles de Granada (The Civil Wars of Granada), published in parts between 1595 and 1619. Encyclopaedia Britannica calls it the first Spanish historical novel, and the book is also valued for preserving Moorish frontier ballads within its storytelling.

Pérez de Hita also wrote on other historical subjects, including a poetic history of Lorca and a work on the Trojan War. Though many details of his biography remain uncertain, his place in Spanish literature is secure: he stands out as a writer who blended history, legend, and romance in a way that influenced how Granada was imagined for generations.