WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:06.450 Hello. In the Crown of Aragon 639 years ago, 00:00:07.070 --> 00:00:14.330 it was January 5th, 1387. My name is Jonathan 00:00:14.330 --> 00:00:17.550 Seyfried. I'm a PhD candidate in history at the 00:00:17.550 --> 00:00:21.070 University of New Mexico. And this is the Historian's 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:25.629 Notebook, a podcast about how history gets made. 00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:30.399 Season one is titled Molt Cara Companyona. We're 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.299 looking at a document from each day of the first 00:00:33.299 --> 00:00:37.579 year of the reign of King Joan I of Aragon and 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:41.560 Queen Violant de Bar. Let's begin today's 00:00:41.560 --> 00:01:09.450 document. I want to start out the discussion 00:01:09.450 --> 00:01:14.370 of today's document by talking about the materiality 00:01:14.370 --> 00:01:20.969 of the register itself. So this register 1786 00:01:20.969 --> 00:01:26.219 definitely had a serious worm attack, especially 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:28.980 in the pages that are at the very beginning at 00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:31.519 the very end. It's actually not too uncommon 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:34.579 in these registers to see that the very first 00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:37.760 pages and the very last pages have been eaten 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.859 away a whole lot more than the pages that are 00:01:40.859 --> 00:01:44.120 in the middle. If you're able to take a look 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:47.859 at the three pages of today's document, what 00:01:47.859 --> 00:01:52.200 you'll see is that the texture of them is just 00:01:52.489 --> 00:01:56.549 in my opinion, really delightful. You have all 00:01:56.549 --> 00:02:00.689 of these kind of, oh, it looks like a coastline 00:02:00.689 --> 00:02:05.010 around the edges, especially of the middle page 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:11.629 folio 260R. And then the color is all kind of 00:02:11.629 --> 00:02:16.050 interesting as it gets into shades of a darker 00:02:16.050 --> 00:02:19.650 beige around the edges. And then you can also 00:02:19.650 --> 00:02:23.689 see that there has been someone, at some point, 00:02:23.930 --> 00:02:29.969 some archivist has painstakingly repaired the 00:02:29.969 --> 00:02:34.669 edges and fortified them with some reinforcing 00:02:34.669 --> 00:02:39.789 paper. And this has happened a lot in the registers 00:02:39.789 --> 00:02:43.750 as I've looked at the images of them, and it 00:02:43.750 --> 00:02:48.009 really just is a moment of pathos for me, where 00:02:48.009 --> 00:02:52.849 I just imagine all of that uncredited labor that 00:02:52.849 --> 00:02:56.870 has gone into preserving these documents through 00:02:56.870 --> 00:03:01.669 the centuries. I also believe that there were 00:03:01.669 --> 00:03:05.590 centuries that went by in which nothing happened 00:03:05.590 --> 00:03:09.460 to these volumes or the stacks of paper that 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:12.159 later were bound into volumes where they just 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.919 sat in boxes sometimes maybe for I mean sometimes 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:21.639 maybe for like as long as three centuries undisturbed 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:26.479 in certain cases just uninterrupted storage through 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:31.129 time and now they're digitized and I can look 00:03:31.129 --> 00:03:35.389 at them from the other side of the world. It 00:03:35.389 --> 00:03:39.930 is just marvelous. I had to wax poetic about 00:03:39.930 --> 00:03:42.189 this. It's one of the reasons that I'm doing 00:03:42.189 --> 00:03:44.949 this podcast, which is to really try to share 00:03:44.949 --> 00:03:49.430 with people how amazing it is that this information 00:03:49.430 --> 00:03:54.129 has survived for over 600 years, and the way 00:03:54.129 --> 00:03:57.490 that it has survived, and the contact that is 00:03:57.490 --> 00:04:03.979 possible now. for an unlimited audience. It used 00:04:03.979 --> 00:04:06.840 to be that you had to go to the Archive of the 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.039 Crown of Aragon in order to see these things 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:13.680 at all. And now it's almost like the opposite. 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:16.480 I've heard that if you go to the Archive of the 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:21.459 Crown of Aragon in Barcelona and you try to get 00:04:21.459 --> 00:04:26.480 access to look at a register like this one that 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.939 I'm looking at now that's been digitized, the 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:34.100 archivist will say you have to come up with a 00:04:34.100 --> 00:04:37.819 legitimate reason that you need to look at the 00:04:37.819 --> 00:04:41.879 physical object versus the high resolution scanned 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:45.199 images. And if you can't come up with a reason 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:48.500 for why you need to be in contact with the physical 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:53.699 page, then you're not going to be able to access 00:04:53.699 --> 00:04:57.579 it. I mean, that's secondhand information. It's 00:04:57.579 --> 00:05:00.060 possible that the archivists at the Archive of 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:02.740 the Crown of Aragon are than happy to let people 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:08.259 encounter the historical object. And I've just 00:05:08.259 --> 00:05:11.939 heard that in archives around the world it's 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:15.740 becoming more and more common for researchers 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:21.680 to be directed to use the digitized image even 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:24.439 if they're there physically in the archive. So 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:28.339 this is a trend in archives around the world. 00:05:29.490 --> 00:05:32.410 Alright, so that was a little bit of nerding 00:05:32.410 --> 00:05:37.430 out about archives and the preservation of materials 00:05:37.430 --> 00:05:43.350 and the cool coastline formations that you can 00:05:43.350 --> 00:05:46.730 see around the edges of the paper. I just love 00:05:46.730 --> 00:05:49.610 that. And of course, in the middle of the paper, 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:54.649 we've got the little lacunae created by the worms 00:05:54.649 --> 00:06:00.720 at various moments. All right, let's talk about 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.199 this document itself. I think one of the reasons 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:08.259 that I went on about the materiality of it for 00:06:08.259 --> 00:06:11.019 so long is that this is a long Latin document 00:06:11.019 --> 00:06:15.319 and I'm telling you, I'm not doing it. I'm drawing 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:19.019 a line and I'm saying I'm not going to do a faithful 00:06:19.019 --> 00:06:23.379 translation of this document. Why? Because it's 00:06:23.379 --> 00:06:27.579 clearly just not really of primary interest to 00:06:27.579 --> 00:06:33.230 me. in my project, which is to really figure 00:06:33.230 --> 00:06:37.329 out a lot more about how Joan and Violant 00:06:37.329 --> 00:06:42.089 related to each other, what their marriage was 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:46.949 like, how they negotiated the gender dynamics 00:06:46.949 --> 00:06:49.170 between the two of them, and also how they were 00:06:49.170 --> 00:06:52.490 seen in terms of their masculinity and femininity. 00:06:53.189 --> 00:06:57.019 So this particular document So it does relate 00:06:57.019 --> 00:07:00.519 in a kind of indirect way, but it doesn't really 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:03.740 tell me a whole lot about that. Let me explain. 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:07.519 This document is Joan's ruling on a petition. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:11.540 The petition is related to gender dynamics because 00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:15.120 there is some kind of dispute happening between 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:20.680 the wife of somebody who I think has died, and 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:25.360 then the family, two family members. So... The 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:29.920 wife's name is Francesca. Francesca is in some 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:35.500 kind of dispute with a Bernardo and a Pedro, 00:07:35.779 --> 00:07:41.160 and it's over money. And at the end, somebody 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:47.459 has to pay somebody else about 600 solidis. And 00:07:47.459 --> 00:07:51.339 remember an earlier episode we looked at the 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:56.000 salary for Violant's baker and for three months 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:03.040 of work that was 356 solidis. So, you know, 600 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.579 solidis is a fair amount of money, especially 00:08:06.579 --> 00:08:10.319 if we're not talking about nobility here. So 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:15.279 it's an impactful ruling, for sure, in the lives 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:19.199 of the individuals involved here. And it does 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:22.769 bring up something that I find really is interesting, 00:08:23.089 --> 00:08:26.970 and another scholar has done some amazing work 00:08:26.970 --> 00:08:33.669 on this. Marie Kelleher, who sadly passed away 00:08:33.669 --> 00:08:38.269 about a year and a half ago, she has done a lot 00:08:38.269 --> 00:08:44.850 of work on women and the legal system in the 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:48.730 late medieval Crown of Aragon. And in fact, right 00:08:48.730 --> 00:08:52.740 around the time period, that I'm looking at in 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:57.259 this podcast. So I highly, highly recommend her 00:08:57.259 --> 00:09:03.039 work and I'll have some citations on the webpage 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:10.299 for this document today. Marie Kelleher has argued 00:09:10.299 --> 00:09:16.139 that women could make use of the legal system 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:20.360 in the Crown of Aragon in order in a really interesting 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:23.639 way, to turn patriarchy kind of against itself. 00:09:24.019 --> 00:09:28.360 To kind of use the tools that were created for 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:33.100 very patriarchal reasons in order to win cases. 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:38.100 And the ways that that happens sometimes pretty 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:41.360 counterintuitive, but women learned how to be 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:45.799 very successful at it in this general time. place. 00:09:46.059 --> 00:09:49.519 So I wouldn't be surprised if Francesca was the 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:52.720 winner in this petition, because there's a lot 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:57.639 of records of women winning when they appeal 00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:02.860 to the particular authority figure for their 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:06.220 region. And in this case, the person that was 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:10.860 petitioned to is Joan in his capacity as the 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:17.250 Duke of Girona. If we look at the last line 00:10:17.250 --> 00:10:20.330 of this document, well, first of all, it's a 00:10:20.330 --> 00:10:23.389 little confusing. What is the last line? Because 00:10:23.389 --> 00:10:27.029 it seems like the document is over at the bottom 00:10:27.029 --> 00:10:31.330 of folio 260 R. But then if you look at the next 00:10:31.330 --> 00:10:36.730 page, folio 260 V, there's content in there that 00:10:36.730 --> 00:10:41.149 clearly relates to what was going on. It's the 00:10:41.149 --> 00:10:43.149 same people that are being described. There's 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:48.850 Francesca. There's Bernardo. There's Pedro. So 00:10:48.850 --> 00:10:52.330 and then Francesca is the wife of Guillaume and 00:10:52.330 --> 00:10:54.409 Guillaume is mentioned a whole bunch in there 00:10:54.409 --> 00:11:01.009 too. So basically the end of folio 260r. It looks 00:11:01.009 --> 00:11:05.450 like the end of a document but there's no dating 00:11:05.450 --> 00:11:10.230 there and so I think that the ruling on the petition 00:11:10.230 --> 00:11:14.909 is what concludes on 260 are and then maybe after 00:11:14.909 --> 00:11:18.610 the ruling is a an additional message saying 00:11:18.610 --> 00:11:22.750 and then here's what the penalty is going to 00:11:22.750 --> 00:11:26.649 be or here, here is who has to pay who and then 00:11:26.649 --> 00:11:32.269 that is the overall conclusion all right the 00:11:32.269 --> 00:11:37.250 date on this is January 5th. It's really clear, 00:11:37.529 --> 00:11:41.549 January 5th. Remember yesterday, Joann wrote 00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:46.309 a letter to Marti on January 4th, and he said 00:11:46.309 --> 00:11:53.710 that he was at the Hostal de Belladona. Now look 00:11:53.710 --> 00:12:01.690 at this. It's January 5th, and the location is 00:12:01.870 --> 00:12:09.889 Gerona. That's a direct contradiction. So what 00:12:09.889 --> 00:12:14.289 is going on here? I have a theory. My theory 00:12:14.289 --> 00:12:20.289 is that the letter to Marti reflects Joan's 00:12:20.289 --> 00:12:26.429 actual location on January 4th, and that he was 00:12:26.429 --> 00:12:31.730 not in Girona on January 5th. I think what happened 00:12:31.730 --> 00:12:38.110 is that Joan verbally ruled on this petition 00:12:38.110 --> 00:12:42.309 in Girona. And then the Chancery staff either 00:12:42.309 --> 00:12:44.710 they were like staying behind in Girona for a 00:12:44.710 --> 00:12:47.250 little while or they like gathered up everything 00:12:47.250 --> 00:12:51.950 and and went along with Joan and were also in 00:12:51.950 --> 00:12:57.690 Belladona. But in any event they had to write it 00:12:57.690 --> 00:13:00.980 up after Joan had verbally issued his decision. 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:04.700 And so they're writing it up at a later time, 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:12.460 but the actual ruling had taken place earlier. 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:17.340 And so I don't know why they're not backdating 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:23.460 it. They clearly don't have a problem with having 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:28.440 the dates out of order and having in the register 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:33.620 one letter from one day going out of order in 00:13:33.620 --> 00:13:36.379 the next day. But I think what they're trying 00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:41.080 to do is they're trying to... kind of be faithful 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:43.759 to two different things, to the time and the 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:48.100 place. So Joan made the ruling, this is my guess, 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:53.960 made the ruling verbally in Girona, but then 00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:59.379 they're dating it accurately according to when 00:13:59.379 --> 00:14:04.720 they finished writing it up. So that's my guess 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:07.820 is what's happening here. There might be some... 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:12.519 other explanation, there's just simply no way 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:15.299 that Joan went back to Girona and was there 00:14:15.299 --> 00:14:19.419 on January 5th. Because the next place that he's 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:23.340 at, according to other documents, a huge number 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:26.259 of documents in the register, is actually further 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:30.879 on the way toward Barcelona. His next place is 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:36.000 in Hostalrich or near Hostalrich. So basically 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:41.840 what we're seeing in this last line is just not 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:47.100 possibly reflecting reality in terms of the matching 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:54.100 up of the date and the location. So, you know, 00:14:54.299 --> 00:14:57.700 those chancery scribes giving us a curveball. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:03.600 But I think they might have accounted for this 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.179 and apologized for it because if you look at 00:15:06.179 --> 00:15:13.080 the bottom of the middle page of folio 260r there's 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:16.500 some very faint handwriting and it's interrupted 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:20.779 by the worms and the jagged or curvy coastline 00:15:20.779 --> 00:15:24.820 at the bottom there and I think they might be 00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:29.820 writing something about how the location and 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:33.980 date are wonky for this particular letter, but 00:15:33.980 --> 00:15:41.519 I didn't really have the time myself or honestly 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:46.600 the fortitude or motivation to try to really 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:50.639 dig into that that little passage. Someone who 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.820 really wants to take on as a project a real kind 00:15:53.820 --> 00:15:57.879 of like micro history of these 30 days I think 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:01.419 this is a great place for them to start if they 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:05.240 if they really want to just zoom in only on the 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:10.179 period from say you know January 1st to January 00:16:10.179 --> 00:16:13.419 19th and like really get into that I think this 00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:16.340 document is is a really helpful one for that 00:16:16.340 --> 00:16:22.139 project. But for the purposes of my project we 00:16:22.139 --> 00:16:26.919 are done with this document. Thank you for listening 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:29.899 to this episode of The Historian's Notebook, 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:34.480 Season 1, Molt Cara Companyona. If you are leaving 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.360 with more questions than you arrived with, then 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.980 I have done my job. Even if I didn't do my job 00:16:40.980 --> 00:16:43.100 by figuring out exactly what is happening in 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:47.539 this document. Remember, the motto of The Historian's 00:16:47.539 --> 00:16:51.789 Notebook is dissatisfaction guaranteed. Visit 00:16:51.789 --> 00:16:54.830 the website to see an image of today's document 00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:58.090 and additional show notes. Also check out some 00:16:58.090 --> 00:17:00.570 of those publications by Marie Kelleher. They're 00:17:00.570 --> 00:17:03.549 really good, really good reads. And listen again 00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:07.269 tomorrow to hear about the next day in the first 00:17:07.269 --> 00:17:12.029 year of the reign of King Joan I of Aragon and 00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:15.829 Queen Violant de Bar. In the meantime, take 00:17:15.829 --> 00:17:16.150 care.