WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.900 Hello. In The Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:13.800 it was February 12th, 1387. My name is Jonathan 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:17.300 Seyfried. I'm a PhD candidate in history at the 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:21.199 University of New Mexico. And this is the Historian's 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:25.460 Notebook, a podcast about how history gets made. 00:00:26.140 --> 00:00:29.899 Season one is titled Molt Cara Companyona. We're 00:00:29.899 --> 00:00:32.799 looking at a document from each day of the first 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:37.060 year of the reign of King Joan I of Aragon and 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:41.700 Queen Violant de Bar. Let's begin today's document. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:12.599 Welcome to the 50th document for the podcast. 00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:17.719 Wow, they really do just add up, don't they? 00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:22.560 I can't believe that this is number 50. If you've 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:29.239 been listening to all of them, wow. Yeah, it's 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:36.549 adding up, and we are not even 25 % done. because 00:01:36.549 --> 00:01:43.870 we are going for the long haul of 365 and I have 00:01:43.870 --> 00:01:48.090 to admit that I'm not sure if it's actually gonna 00:01:48.090 --> 00:01:54.629 materialize the 365 because it does take a lot 00:01:54.629 --> 00:01:59.670 of time especially if it's a Latin document for 00:01:59.670 --> 00:02:04.500 me to figure out what's going on and to do some 00:02:04.500 --> 00:02:09.379 of the work to contextualize what's happening 00:02:09.379 --> 00:02:13.439 in a particular document, and it is more than 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:15.599 I thought it would be. I knew that it would be 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:21.400 a lot, but sometimes there can be just a very 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:24.599 long period of investigation to figure out even 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:28.080 just some of the basics. So we'll see what happens. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:33.650 I'm still really pumped to do a whole year, because 00:02:33.650 --> 00:02:37.229 I think we'll get to see things that we otherwise 00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:42.650 wouldn't see. So I'm still into it. Let's see 00:02:42.650 --> 00:02:46.689 what happens when we get to episode 100. But 00:02:46.689 --> 00:02:49.650 yeah, it's a process. But I've been enjoying 00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:53.289 it so much, and I hope you are too. And all right, 00:02:53.349 --> 00:02:57.129 let's talk about today's document. The document 00:02:57.129 --> 00:03:03.189 is from the very earliest folios of a secret 00:03:03.189 --> 00:03:09.409 seal register of Joan's. So we are looking at 00:03:09.409 --> 00:03:19.330 folio 2V of register 1954. And the wormholes 00:03:19.330 --> 00:03:25.199 and bug holes that we see here are very extensive. 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.659 It's not actually the worst that I've seen, but 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:33.000 it's pretty bad. I think that these patterns 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.620 are beautiful to look at, honestly. I think that 00:03:36.620 --> 00:03:40.340 there's kind of a sadness at the destruction 00:03:40.340 --> 00:03:46.639 of the historical content and the idea that we're 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.520 missing out on the information, so there's a 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:55.169 sense of loss there, but There's also this kind 00:03:55.169 --> 00:04:01.050 of commemoration of the passage of time and the 00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:06.710 force of the non -human actors on these material 00:04:06.710 --> 00:04:12.930 objects. So the patterns that we see are sort 00:04:12.930 --> 00:04:18.550 of like a Rorschach kind of experience. where 00:04:18.550 --> 00:04:22.490 you can look at them and see destruction, or 00:04:22.490 --> 00:04:27.649 you can look at them and see collaboration of 00:04:27.649 --> 00:04:33.889 material and living entities over this gigantic 00:04:33.889 --> 00:04:37.790 period of time. Although I would like to know 00:04:37.790 --> 00:04:41.040 how long it takes for this destruction to to 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.959 occur. So once a worm gets in or once the bugs 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:49.920 get in, how many days does it take or years does 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:53.660 it take to generate this? The holes that we see 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:59.180 don't go all the way through. So there's certain 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:02.600 holes that will appear on every single folio 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:05.040 of a register because some kind of worm went 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:09.420 just you know perpendicular to you know the thing 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:14.660 and uh and then other times we see like in this 00:05:14.660 --> 00:05:19.800 one this particular register the damage is really 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:24.240 extensive in like the first 10 folios but once 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.560 you get deeper in they just didn't go further 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:31.600 and so they stayed sort of along those surface 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:36.720 layers so I'm really curious to know the time 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:41.439 span of this action that we see a remnant of 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:45.220 on the part of the worms and bugs. I'd also really 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:49.000 like to know more specific details about, if 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:54.160 we can, what kinds of worms and bugs did this? 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:59.959 I just am interested in the materiality of this 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:07.939 archive. And remember, over six centuries, paper 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:12.300 has been sitting around with this information, 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:16.819 this ink and paper. It's just sometimes easy 00:06:16.819 --> 00:06:22.000 to say 639 years, but just take a moment and 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:27.939 think about how much time that is. Where, for 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:32.100 example, stuff that feels so, so long ago, like 00:06:32.100 --> 00:06:37.949 the American Revolution is like only about a 00:06:37.949 --> 00:06:43.290 third of the way back to getting to when these 00:06:43.290 --> 00:06:46.769 characters were written with ink on this paper. 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:50.709 So I just wanted to riff about the experience of 00:06:50.709 --> 00:06:55.689 the archive and indulge in a little romanticization 00:06:55.689 --> 00:07:02.250 of this particular archive. And you know, there's 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:06.420 There's a critique of that, that historians can 00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:10.019 be too indulgent when it comes to romanticizing 00:07:10.019 --> 00:07:13.740 the archive, and so occasionally I do pull back 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:18.180 and... take notice of how the archive is commissioned 00:07:18.180 --> 00:07:22.439 with a purpose and that purpose is to bolster 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:26.519 power and to bolster an unequal social hierarchy 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:30.459 that was exploitative for a lot of people. So 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:34.660 it's always good whenever you slip into the romanticizing 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:38.199 of the archive to pull back and notice that this 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:45.079 is an instrument of power and that it was bolstering 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:51.500 and holding up a society that benefited the most 00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:55.779 powerful and the most wealthy and harmed those 00:07:55.779 --> 00:08:01.519 with little power. Let's talk about the document 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:07.680 itself here. So it's in Latin. The addressee 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.240 is very difficult to read because of the worm 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:15.879 damage. at the top, but at the bottom we can 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:24.879 see it very clearly. So the College of Cardinals 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:29.660 is the group that Joan is writing to in this 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:38.799 letter, and it's about the request or intercession 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:44.039 to promote somebody to be a cardinal for the 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:49.860 Avignon Papacy. And that person is someone that 00:08:49.860 --> 00:08:55.500 Joan is very well aware of. It's Joan's first 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:59.460 cousin once removed. So I always need a little 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:01.899 bit of an explanation when I get into some of 00:09:01.899 --> 00:09:06.730 the cousin descriptors. So... What's going on 00:09:06.730 --> 00:09:11.090 in this familial relationship is that Joan's 00:09:11.090 --> 00:09:17.809 father Père the Ceremonious, his cousin is the 00:09:17.809 --> 00:09:22.309 person who is being discussed here. So the cousin 00:09:22.309 --> 00:09:27.779 of Père the Ceremonious is named James and is 00:09:27.779 --> 00:09:32.500 a bishop in Valencia. He eventually does get 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:36.100 accepted into the College of Cardinals, so he 00:09:36.100 --> 00:09:43.460 becomes the Cardinal of Valencia. He was in Avignon 00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:48.879 starting in 1388, so I think it might have taken 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:53.320 a good year or more for his application to be 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:57.039 a cardinal to be processed and accepted. So at 00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.700 this moment, I think it seems like we're getting 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:04.039 the ball rolling, or we might be continuing on 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:08.860 with a process initiated by Pere the Ceremonious. 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:16.539 So in the interline between line four and five, 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:22.299 we can see that Joan is referencing his own 00:10:22.299 --> 00:10:25.899 father. And I think it's really interesting to 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:30.740 notice the word choices that he uses. And I'm 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:34.110 not quite sure of the valence. and resonance 00:10:34.110 --> 00:10:36.370 of those word choices right now, but I want to 00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:38.909 note them because I still can't get it out of 00:10:38.909 --> 00:10:42.409 my head when he wrote to his father -in -law 00:10:42.409 --> 00:10:46.789 and called him most dear father. That was a couple 00:10:46.789 --> 00:10:53.149 episodes ago. In this letter he refers to pair 00:10:53.149 --> 00:11:00.429 his father in the following way. Serenissimi 00:11:00.429 --> 00:11:11.070 Domini Regis Petri Genitoris Nostri. Our...genitor. 00:11:12.669 --> 00:11:16.389 I don't think the translation works quite at 00:11:16.389 --> 00:11:21.370 that level of cognate. Our progenitor. The person 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:26.980 who progenied me. I didn't actually look up this 00:11:26.980 --> 00:11:29.659 word in the dictionary, the Latin to English 00:11:29.659 --> 00:11:32.740 dictionary. So maybe there's a nice smoother 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:36.879 transition or translation there. But anyway, 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:40.159 I just wanted to point that out. Another Latin 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:42.759 word that's coming up again and again in this 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:49.240 letter is publicaciones. And it's a really interesting 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:53.659 word because I did look that one up and it's 00:11:53.659 --> 00:11:56.399 like there's all these different resonances that 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:01.259 can be used for that word. It has something to 00:12:01.259 --> 00:12:07.759 do with of the state of the public body, but 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.220 I can't quite figure out why it's being used 00:12:10.220 --> 00:12:15.519 so much in this context. And why it's being used 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:20.000 in association with. the Bishop of Valencia, 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:25.860 Joan's first cousin once removed, named James. 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:29.980 One other thing that I want to bring in about 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:33.720 James, who is the Bishop of Valencia, soon to 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:36.779 be Cardinal of Valencia, is that he was really 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:44.889 into literature and he commissioned a bunch of 00:12:44.889 --> 00:12:50.210 translations of classical literature, one of 00:12:50.210 --> 00:12:53.909 which was a text that's already come up in the 00:12:53.909 --> 00:12:59.210 podcast, Valerius Maximus. So this was the classical 00:12:59.210 --> 00:13:04.220 text that Joan was really anxious about securing 00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:07.240 from his father's library and he wrote to his 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:12.139 brother Marti as their father was dying and said 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:14.820 it's just really important for you to get these 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:18.500 items and make sure to hold on to them for me 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:23.240 and one of them was the Valerius Maximus text 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:25.799 and then there was like another there was one 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:28.320 that was like a dog one of the that was had a 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:37.350 name So, anyway, James Bishop of Valencia, he 00:13:37.350 --> 00:13:43.769 is someone who has been recorded as commissioning 00:13:43.769 --> 00:13:49.710 translations of classical texts, and I found 00:13:49.710 --> 00:13:56.129 that reference in a secondary source on the classical 00:13:56.129 --> 00:14:02.259 tradition in Catalan culture. I can't remember 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:06.100 the exact title. I will put it, though, in the 00:14:06.100 --> 00:14:11.379 web page in the bibliography for today's document. 00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:17.820 There's one other thing that I want to point 00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:23.440 out about this document, and that is on line 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:29.629 12, there's this interesting cross out. And then 00:14:29.629 --> 00:14:32.110 in the interline, we see a word that looks to 00:14:32.110 --> 00:14:37.990 me like inquisitura. So maybe this is something 00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:43.289 that has to do with an inquisition. But then 00:14:43.289 --> 00:14:49.330 we have after that regalis sanguinis. So something 00:14:49.330 --> 00:14:55.789 about like the royal blood. So I am I'm curious 00:14:55.789 --> 00:15:02.490 about what's going on there and what is the content 00:15:02.490 --> 00:15:06.590 of this long letter that Joan is writing in 00:15:06.590 --> 00:15:10.490 support of James Bishop of Valencia becoming 00:15:10.490 --> 00:15:14.789 a cardinal and how that word Inquisitura might 00:15:14.789 --> 00:15:19.230 relate to it and just have to leave that as an 00:15:19.230 --> 00:15:23.750 open question for now. and come back to it after 00:15:23.750 --> 00:15:27.129 getting a bit more practice with Latin this year. 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:32.169 Thanks for listening to this episode of the Historian's 00:15:32.169 --> 00:15:36.649 Notebook, Season 1, Molt Cara Companyona. If you 00:15:36.649 --> 00:15:39.090 are leaving with more questions than you arrived 00:15:39.090 --> 00:15:43.929 with, then I have once again For the 50th time, 00:15:44.309 --> 00:15:47.909 done my job, because remember, the motto of the 00:15:47.909 --> 00:15:51.610 Historian's Notebook is, dissatisfaction guaranteed. 00:15:52.409 --> 00:15:55.470 Visit the website to see an image of today's 00:15:55.470 --> 00:15:58.590 document and additional show notes, and listen 00:15:58.590 --> 00:16:01.649 again tomorrow to hear about the next day in 00:16:01.649 --> 00:16:04.889 the first year of the reign of King Joan I of 00:16:04.889 --> 00:16:09.750 Aragon and Queen Violant de Bar. In the meantime, 00:16:10.309 --> 00:16:10.809 take care.