WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.219 Hello. In The Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:13.859 it was December 30th, 1387. My name is Jonathan 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:17.399 Seyfried. I'm a PhD candidate in history at the 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:21.300 University of New Mexico. And this is The Historian's 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:25.519 Notebook, a podcast about how history gets made. 00:00:26.379 --> 00:00:30.730 Season one is titled Molt Cara Companyona. We're 00:00:30.730 --> 00:00:33.549 looking at a document from each day of the first 00:00:33.549 --> 00:00:38.450 year of the reign of King Joan I of Aragon and 00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:42.009 Queen Violant de Bar. Let's begin today's 00:00:42.009 --> 00:01:11.469 document. Alright folks, we are now entering 00:01:11.469 --> 00:01:18.769 into a different kind of zone in the story here. 00:01:19.430 --> 00:01:25.689 Thus far, it's seemingly been a kind of a humdrum, 00:01:26.790 --> 00:01:31.549 business -as -usual type feeling. Joan and 00:01:31.549 --> 00:01:37.670 Violant, they don't know that Pere is about 00:01:37.670 --> 00:01:43.469 to die, that the current king is about to expire. 00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:49.629 It's unclear when they really find this out. 00:01:50.489 --> 00:01:55.530 Maybe they do have an awareness that he's been 00:01:55.530 --> 00:02:00.730 just unconscious for several days. I'm not quite 00:02:00.730 --> 00:02:06.980 sure about the information flow getting to Joan 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:11.520 and Violant. Something definitely shifts, though, 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:16.860 on December 30th. And that's because on the day 00:02:16.860 --> 00:02:22.180 before, on December 29th, the current queen, 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:28.199 whose name is Sibilla de Fortia, She leaves Barcelona. 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:32.000 She flees. She gathers up a bunch of her stuff. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.300 Her brother is there, and he helps to get a whole 00:02:35.300 --> 00:02:38.460 staff of people to pack up a whole bunch of things, 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:42.300 including the jewelry, and they leave. They flee 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:48.539 the bedside of the dying king and travel to a 00:02:48.539 --> 00:02:52.580 castle in Catalonia, one of her brother's castles, 00:02:53.000 --> 00:03:00.000 and hold up there. Why did she do this? It turns 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:05.139 out that Sibilla had a lot of good reason to 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:10.840 fear what would happen to her after Pere died. 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:19.759 I'm gonna take you back about 12 years before 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:29.819 this moment in 1387. Joan's mother, Queen Elionor, 00:03:31.219 --> 00:03:41.860 she dies in 1375. Pere is a widower. About seven 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:47.860 months later, he publicly recognizes a woman 00:03:47.860 --> 00:03:54.680 named Sibilla de Fortia as his, well, the technical 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:59.520 term for it is concubine. The person that he 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:04.680 is having a relationship with but he's not married 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:13.319 to. And this is a situation that is not as controversial 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:22.149 as you might think. The status of royal concubines 00:04:22.149 --> 00:04:28.449 in Iberia is actually not as scandalous as you 00:04:28.449 --> 00:04:34.709 might think. There's a lot of people who actually 00:04:34.709 --> 00:04:41.029 prefer concubinage to a new marriage. Those who 00:04:41.029 --> 00:04:45.670 are the current power holders, because when you 00:04:45.670 --> 00:04:47.730 have a new marriage, you have someone coming 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:50.189 in from the outside, maybe with their own power 00:04:50.189 --> 00:04:54.050 base, they can really disturb the order of things. 00:04:55.110 --> 00:05:03.430 So specifically with Joan and Marti, they would 00:05:03.430 --> 00:05:07.670 be afraid that if pair married somebody else 00:05:07.670 --> 00:05:13.610 who had a big international stature, and then 00:05:13.610 --> 00:05:19.810 the two of them had a son, that person could 00:05:19.810 --> 00:05:25.290 one day make a play for the throne. It's not 00:05:25.290 --> 00:05:31.290 an outlandish fear. Why? Because the exact situation 00:05:31.290 --> 00:05:36.829 I just described actually happened to Pere himself 00:05:36.829 --> 00:05:43.220 in 1336. when his father died. There had been 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:46.879 a second marriage and the young children of that 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.139 marriage were used as pretenders in order to 00:05:50.139 --> 00:05:54.959 justify a rebellion that then Pére had to suppress 00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:01.060 in order to solidify his own authority as king. 00:06:02.860 --> 00:06:08.420 So Joan was actually okay with Sibilla. It's 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:12.620 way better than having some powerful outsider 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:17.120 who's part of a dynasty come in and become the 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:24.879 next wife of the king. So even though Sibilla 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:29.180 was of the lower nobility and had been working 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:34.819 on sort of like on staff for the previous Queen 00:06:34.819 --> 00:06:39.360 and That seems like it would be a scandalous 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:42.800 thing for Pere to start having an affair with 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:47.399 her, it's actually not the worst case scenario 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:52.959 by far in the opinions of a lot of stakeholders 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:58.920 around the court So things were going okay in 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:06.160 the first couple years, but then in 1377, Pere 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:11.139 decides that he and Sibilla are going to get 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:16.399 married. And that starts to shake things up. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:22.060 Sibilla herself is completely aware that she 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:26.019 does not have the kind of safety and security 00:07:26.019 --> 00:07:31.829 that would come from being the member of a prestigious 00:07:31.829 --> 00:07:37.509 family. Not only that, but she doesn't know how 00:07:37.509 --> 00:07:41.350 to read or write. She's illiterate. And Pere 00:07:41.350 --> 00:07:44.949 hires somebody to help her learn. So basically 00:07:44.949 --> 00:07:50.899 she's in a position of real weakness in relation 00:07:50.899 --> 00:07:54.560 to a lot of the other power players around and 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:59.399 one of those people becomes Violant. In 1380 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:05.939 is when Joan marries Violante de Bar. Pere 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:09.800 had wanted Joan to marry somebody else and 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:14.120 that's a whole other story and it's really a 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:17.740 bizarre story in my opinion but but we're gonna 00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:21.079 save that one for another time. For our purposes 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:27.519 here, Sibylla is threatened by Violant. Pere 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:35.580 is against Violant as even like an idea. He calls 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:39.070 her... you know all kinds of names I mean not 00:08:39.070 --> 00:08:41.649 like directly it's all like subtle but it's it's 00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:43.570 all just kind of like digging there's all these 00:08:43.570 --> 00:08:47.710 little kind of like you know insults that are 00:08:47.710 --> 00:08:52.269 kind of traded back and forth and and over time 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:56.830 the dissension and acrimony just grows and grows 00:08:56.830 --> 00:09:00.669 and there's a bunch of little incidents where 00:09:00.669 --> 00:09:04.049 they're just kind of like digging at each other. 00:09:04.289 --> 00:09:08.809 Joan versus Pere, Sibilla versus Violant, 00:09:09.149 --> 00:09:12.990 and then kind of crisscrossing also. And I will 00:09:12.990 --> 00:09:19.549 I will say too that Pere's daughter, Pere's daughter, 00:09:19.649 --> 00:09:25.110 Joanna, she doesn't like Sibilla. And at one point 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:29.940 in a pretty dramatic moment, Joanna comes in 00:09:29.940 --> 00:09:31.940 to complain about something Sibilla's doing, 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:35.720 and Pere, in front of the entire court, slaps 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:40.000 her across the face. So the whole family is just 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:46.500 really thrust into dissension with the way that 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:51.220 Pere and Sibilla are acting, and then the reactions 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:58.190 from the kids. So when Pere is about to die in 00:09:58.190 --> 00:10:06.629 1387, Sibilla knows that there might be revenge 00:10:06.629 --> 00:10:13.649 wrought upon her from Joan and Marti and Joanna, 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:19.529 the three kids. So it's reasonable in that light 00:10:19.529 --> 00:10:27.600 that she flees. By December 30th, Joan has found 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:32.399 out about this. And what does he do? That is 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:36.259 our document for today. It's been a long buildup. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:43.620 The document we're looking at today is in Violant's 00:10:43.620 --> 00:10:48.320 register, one of Violant's registers. But it's 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:55.070 written by Joan. It's at the very end of a whole 00:10:55.070 --> 00:11:00.490 long register of documents that relate to what 00:11:00.490 --> 00:11:07.129 Violant owns in terms of properties and rents. 00:11:08.049 --> 00:11:12.330 The Duchess and the Queen in the Crown of Aragon, 00:11:13.389 --> 00:11:18.029 they have what you could call a portfolio. They 00:11:18.029 --> 00:11:23.019 are in charge In a sense, they are the governing 00:11:23.019 --> 00:11:29.240 authority for several different polities. And 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:32.440 actually, as a hint of some further things to 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:37.379 come, the Muslim and Jewish communities, they're 00:11:37.379 --> 00:11:41.690 separate, municipalities within municipalities, 00:11:41.809 --> 00:11:45.490 and those come under the direct authority of 00:11:45.490 --> 00:11:50.090 particular royal family members. And so Violant 00:11:50.090 --> 00:11:54.009 has a few of the Jewish communities and a bunch 00:11:54.009 --> 00:11:58.690 of other territories. And it all adds up to, 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:02.789 I think a great word for it is a portfolio, a 00:12:02.789 --> 00:12:08.899 business portfolio, really. And so Sibilla, also 00:12:08.899 --> 00:12:17.759 had a business portfolio. Today's document is 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:24.240 Joan authorizing and ordering the transfer of 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:31.299 Sibylla's entire portfolio to Violant. This is 00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:36.679 a long document It's in Latin. So my facility 00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:40.840 with every single word in it is not so good, 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:45.679 but I know enough to see what's going on here. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.779 And of course I rely on the secondary literature. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:55.679 So this document, which is fairly long, it's 00:12:55.679 --> 00:13:02.700 three folios long. So we go from folio 197 verso. 00:13:02.970 --> 00:13:10.169 to folio 198 verso in the register 1808 Violant's 00:13:10.169 --> 00:13:14.269 register a document from Joan in her register 00:13:14.269 --> 00:13:18.090 and it's the last one in this volume so it's 00:13:18.090 --> 00:13:20.490 it's interesting how this kind of closes out 00:13:20.490 --> 00:13:26.629 the record of Violant's portfolio as a duchess 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:29.990 and someone wrote in there it had to have been 00:13:29.990 --> 00:13:36.769 afterward at the top of the beginning of this, 00:13:37.509 --> 00:13:41.970 Regine Iolantis. It's in a different handwriting. 00:13:42.990 --> 00:13:45.750 So it's not from the script of the time. Someone 00:13:45.750 --> 00:13:49.470 later, maybe in the 19th century, wrote that. 00:13:50.429 --> 00:13:57.429 So Iolantis is the Latin for Violant. The document 00:13:57.429 --> 00:14:05.700 begins with the recipient, but the recipient 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:12.899 is basically this far and wide audience. So what 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:16.940 I think this is saying here in Latin is Novinter, 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:22.480 universi. Okay, so I think what this is meant 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:27.539 to say is to everyone out there, universal audience. 00:14:28.620 --> 00:14:33.379 Not quite sure what the OS stands for afterwards. 00:14:33.419 --> 00:14:39.600 It could also be a DS. But then we get into Nos 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:47.820 Infans Yohannes. And this is the authorship 00:14:47.820 --> 00:14:52.779 of this official charter. And then in the next... 00:14:52.809 --> 00:14:55.710 at the end of the first line we've got the si 00:14:55.710 --> 00:14:59.909 and then in the second line bilia for this that's 00:14:59.909 --> 00:15:05.909 Sibilla the Queen of Aragon and then we get into 00:15:05.909 --> 00:15:08.830 the next right at the beginning of the letter 00:15:08.830 --> 00:15:16.509 it's it's all going to Violant and the end of 00:15:16.509 --> 00:15:19.389 the letter this is i shouldn't say it's a letter 00:15:19.389 --> 00:15:21.929 it's more of a charter the end of this charter 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:29.840 is instead of saying the usual like date in, 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:37.820 made in, we have quod est actum in the city of 00:15:37.820 --> 00:15:45.779 Girona, meaning this was enacted. So this is 00:15:45.779 --> 00:15:51.730 like an official action. transferring all of 00:15:51.730 --> 00:15:58.190 Sibilla's properties to Violant. That is some 00:15:58.190 --> 00:16:04.269 drama. So this is like quite the way to start 00:16:04.269 --> 00:16:09.370 a succession, taking the current queen's entire 00:16:09.370 --> 00:16:12.370 property and saying it's no longer hers, it now 00:16:12.370 --> 00:16:15.870 belongs to the next queen who's about to ascend 00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:23.500 the throne as soon as the king dies. Okay. This 00:16:23.500 --> 00:16:30.679 summary has been just filled with all of these 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:33.720 questions that have been unstated in the background. 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:37.929 There's so much that I don't know. I really want 00:16:37.929 --> 00:16:40.929 to know how the information flowed. Like, how 00:16:40.929 --> 00:16:44.789 quickly was Joan and Violant... how quickly 00:16:44.789 --> 00:16:47.169 were they getting new information? What were 00:16:47.169 --> 00:16:49.610 the sources of the information? Who, besides 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:54.649 Marti, was keeping Joan informed? Also, like, 00:16:54.809 --> 00:16:58.750 what kinds of worries did Joan and Violant have 00:16:58.750 --> 00:17:01.250 about the transition? Did they think that it 00:17:01.250 --> 00:17:03.549 was going to be rocky, or did they anticipate 00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:05.970 that it would be a pretty smooth transition of 00:17:05.970 --> 00:17:09.529 power? I also want to know where were the children 00:17:09.529 --> 00:17:13.250 at this time? So, Joan and Violant, they've 00:17:13.250 --> 00:17:16.890 got, I think at this point, two living children. 00:17:17.569 --> 00:17:20.450 The children thing is a whole other story I'll 00:17:20.450 --> 00:17:25.710 get into later. And then another question is, 00:17:26.170 --> 00:17:28.869 when does Joan start experiencing the symptoms 00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:32.210 of the illness that is going to delay his arrival 00:17:32.210 --> 00:17:37.259 to Barcelona? Historians, they differ on when 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:41.960 Joan falls ill and also exactly when he recovers. 00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:46.160 But it's a serious illness that happens in January 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:49.920 of 1387. We'll get into that a little bit more 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:54.119 in the upcoming episodes. Before I close out 00:17:54.119 --> 00:17:58.599 today's episode, I want to credit a few secondary 00:17:58.599 --> 00:18:01.500 sources that have been incredibly, incredibly 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:07.940 helpful as I have been putting together my understanding 00:18:07.940 --> 00:18:13.640 of today's document and also the at times very 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:18.839 difficult to figure out chronology and also the 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:25.579 location of this period of the transition of 00:18:25.579 --> 00:18:31.609 the succession. So first of all, An article by 00:18:31.609 --> 00:18:36.109 Nuria Silleras-Fernandez about Sibilla de Fortia 00:18:36.109 --> 00:18:39.630 has been super helpful. There's been a whole 00:18:39.630 --> 00:18:43.309 bunch of scholarship done by LIedo Ruiz Domingo 00:18:43.309 --> 00:18:47.029 that's been incredibly helpful. And also Zita 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:51.589 Rohr and Claire Ponsich have been helpful in helping 00:18:51.589 --> 00:18:56.049 me to figure out what was going on in these particular 00:18:56.049 --> 00:19:02.799 days. Go to the web page for this episode on 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:06.660 jonathanseyfried.net in order to see the 00:19:06.660 --> 00:19:13.680 full citations for those sources Okay There's 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:18.259 so much more to say But we will save that for 00:19:18.259 --> 00:19:20.819 upcoming episodes We are just doing our sweep 00:19:20.819 --> 00:19:22.720 through the documents here, even when there's 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:26.869 a juicy interesting one like this Thanks for 00:19:26.869 --> 00:19:29.450 listening to this episode of the Historian's 00:19:29.450 --> 00:19:33.549 Notebook, Season 1, Molt Cara Companyona. If 00:19:33.549 --> 00:19:36.190 you are leaving with more questions than you 00:19:36.190 --> 00:19:40.250 arrived with, I have once again done my job because 00:19:40.250 --> 00:19:44.549 the motto of the Historian's Notebook is dissatisfaction 00:19:44.549 --> 00:19:49.150 guaranteed. Visit the website to see an image 00:19:49.150 --> 00:19:51.670 of today's document and to look through this 00:19:51.670 --> 00:19:55.009 whole bunch of show notes for this one and listen 00:19:55.009 --> 00:19:58.230 again tomorrow to hear about the next day in 00:19:58.230 --> 00:20:02.309 the first year of the reign of Joan I of Aragon 00:20:02.309 --> 00:20:06.609 and Queen Violant de Bar. In the meantime, 00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:07.690 take care.