WEBVTT 00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:06.389 Hello. In the Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, 00:00:06.910 --> 00:00:13.470 it was March 13th, 1387. My name is Jonathan 00:00:13.470 --> 00:00:17.210 Seyfried. I'm a PhD candidate in history at the 00:00:17.210 --> 00:00:21.230 University of New Mexico. And this is the Historian's 00:00:21.230 --> 00:00:25.370 Notebook, a podcast about how history gets made. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:31.039 Season 1 is titled Molt Cara Companyona. We're 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:34.020 looking at a document from each day of the first 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:38.939 year of the reign of King Joan I of Aragon and 00:00:38.939 --> 00:00:43.200 Queen Violant de Bar. Let's begin today's document. 00:01:07.059 --> 00:01:12.819 Today's document is written by Violant, and 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:19.579 it is to certain authorities in Mallorca. And 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:24.719 it's in Catalan, so I know exactly what's going 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:28.540 on, which is nice after yesterday's toughy Latin 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:34.680 document. So what's going on here is that certain 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:41.840 people are being summoned to Barcelona from Mallorca. 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:49.439 And these individuals are textile workers. So 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:55.780 they're referred to as brodaders, which is sort 00:01:55.780 --> 00:02:00.340 of sounds like the English embroiderers. So they 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:05.340 are artisans of textiles, and I think what we're 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:12.180 looking at is the beginning of a project to get 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:16.780 Violant some amazing new clothes for her wardrobe. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:19.900 Or, I mean, it could be for decorating the palace, 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:23.460 but I like to think that this is about fashion. 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:27.960 but it could be any kind of textile work. It 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:33.340 doesn't really specify. There are two letters 00:02:33.340 --> 00:02:38.740 about the Brodaderos of Mallorca. The first 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:44.479 one is in the center of folio 92 R, and the second 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:49.539 one is at the bottom. Now it seems to me that 00:02:49.539 --> 00:02:53.840 these two letters are addressed to different 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:58.539 recipients. So the one that's dated on the 13th 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:02.740 in the center of the folio seems to be directed 00:03:02.740 --> 00:03:10.080 towards somebody who would be able to enforce 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.879 Violant's wishes in Majorca, like some kind 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:18.139 of official. And then the second letter, which 00:03:18.139 --> 00:03:23.110 is dated actually for tomorrow, March 14th, that 00:03:23.110 --> 00:03:29.889 one is to the brodadeiros themselves. So it's 00:03:29.889 --> 00:03:33.009 a little bit weird that the first of these two 00:03:33.009 --> 00:03:39.169 letters doesn't have a stated... yeah, it doesn't 00:03:39.169 --> 00:03:46.129 seem to have a stated addressee. So maybe because 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:49.439 the second letter is there and it's clear that 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:54.659 it needs to go to whoever is maybe the Veguer 00:03:54.659 --> 00:04:00.360 in Mallorca, the royal official, or the bailiff 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:05.979 in Mallorca, or the governor in Mallorca. It's, 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.460 yeah, I'm not sure who the person would be that 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:15.300 would enforce this and would be the addressee 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:20.019 for the first letter. What Violant is asking 00:04:20.019 --> 00:04:25.319 for is for the Brodaders named in these letters 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:30.040 to leave Mallorca and come to Barcelona in order 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:33.839 to do their amazing work that she has heard about. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:38.920 These documents reveal quite a lot. They're telling 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:42.819 us that an artisan could just be summoned, like 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:46.509 it doesn't... matter if you've got some reason 00:04:46.509 --> 00:04:49.470 why you don't want to journey to Barcelona. If 00:04:49.470 --> 00:04:53.129 you are these brodadeiros in Mallorca, you are 00:04:53.129 --> 00:04:57.170 going to be going to Barcelona, because at the 00:04:57.170 --> 00:05:00.250 end of the second letter, Violant talks about 00:05:00.250 --> 00:05:05.949 how there will be punishment, correctio e peña, 00:05:06.449 --> 00:05:11.550 if the brodaderos don't come to Barcelona. And 00:05:11.550 --> 00:05:14.129 then in the first letter, she talks about how, 00:05:14.850 --> 00:05:19.209 if there's any problem or delay, she uses the 00:05:19.209 --> 00:05:23.870 word Tarda, any delay with the Brodaders coming 00:05:23.870 --> 00:05:29.629 to Barcelona, then she is going to have some 00:05:29.629 --> 00:05:35.149 molt desplahens. So she's going to be very displeased. 00:05:36.589 --> 00:05:42.860 So... This is not a request or a question. This 00:05:42.860 --> 00:05:48.259 is a command. And if you are a subject in the 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:52.480 Crown of Aragon and the monarch wants you to 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:58.500 go to their palace and do your artisanship there 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:03.339 for them, you kind of just have to. And there's 00:06:03.339 --> 00:06:07.110 no real freedom to say no. Maybe you could come 00:06:07.110 --> 00:06:10.889 up with some excuse. Oh, my family member is 00:06:10.889 --> 00:06:13.189 really sick. I can't leave right now. And they 00:06:13.189 --> 00:06:17.649 would understand. But I think you're pretty much 00:06:17.649 --> 00:06:22.949 at their command for doing your artisan work 00:06:22.949 --> 00:06:28.930 for them. And certainly the monarch herself has 00:06:28.930 --> 00:06:35.199 that expectation that these amazing textile artisans 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:42.360 are going to be at her disposal and will show 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:46.019 up in Barcelona. They'll be paid well. She does 00:06:46.019 --> 00:06:49.199 mention that. And they're going to create for 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:54.740 her some amazing clothwork. I personally like 00:06:54.740 --> 00:07:00.639 to imagine this as fabulous dresses. but it could 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:02.819 be, it really could be anything. We don't have 00:07:02.819 --> 00:07:06.300 a clue because it's referred to as artes or obras. 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:12.980 All right. Another feature of this set of documents 00:07:12.980 --> 00:07:20.120 is that the letter that is sent out to the authorities 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:28.220 of Mallorca to gather up these brodaders and 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:34.199 get them to leave and go to Barcelona. That is 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:39.379 dated on the 13th of March, and then the letter 00:07:39.379 --> 00:07:45.699 to the brodaders themselves, that letter is dated 00:07:45.699 --> 00:07:53.240 the following day. So I really want to know why. 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:57.800 Why would you need to have these on different 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:04.279 days? It's interesting to me to think about the 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:09.279 logistics of the letter writing and the chancery 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:16.699 operations and mail delivery. So if Violant 00:08:16.699 --> 00:08:20.920 was literally writing these letters on different 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:27.920 days, It really is kind of strange, because why 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:31.879 would she wait a day to do the second letter 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:37.320 when it's on the exact same topic? Is it that 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:42.879 she had this thought overnight that, ooh, you 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:46.220 know, I should maybe write to these brodaderos 00:08:46.220 --> 00:08:51.259 directly instead of just to my officials in Mallorca? 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:58.080 That's possible, I guess. And that would be revealing 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:02.740 of something else about the thought process that 00:09:02.740 --> 00:09:06.539 Violant goes through as she's deciding to summon 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:13.000 artisans to create textile work for her. But 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.279 I just don't think that that's the likely explanation. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.299 I - especially because they're right next to 00:09:20.299 --> 00:09:23.840 each other in the register like the scribes had 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:27.340 them these two letters both together and they're 00:09:27.340 --> 00:09:31.159 copying one right after the other so I think 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:35.019 what's more likely is that they're written on 00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:40.299 the same day they're composed on the same day 00:09:40.299 --> 00:09:43.919 they're Maybe Violant is just verbally dictating 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:48.320 these to Pere de Basant, the scribe who's in the 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.480 probata for both these. So maybe it's the exact 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:58.879 same day that Violant is saying to Pere de Basant, 00:09:59.340 --> 00:10:04.000 hey, I've heard about these amazing textile artisans 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:08.840 in Mallorca. Here are their names. Get them here. 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:14.509 And maybe that's all she says. And then Père 00:10:14.509 --> 00:10:20.169 de Besant is the one who is creating the composition 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:23.669 of the letter and couching it in all the terms. 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:27.830 That's possible. It's also possible that Violant 00:10:27.830 --> 00:10:31.269 is dictating this word for word, so I don't even 00:10:31.269 --> 00:10:33.649 know which of those I would place as more likely 00:10:33.649 --> 00:10:38.830 at this point. I don't know. But I think... that 00:10:38.830 --> 00:10:42.509 there's a decision made, not sure if it's Violant 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:46.549 who decides it, or if it's the Chancery staff 00:10:46.549 --> 00:10:50.909 who decide it, but there's a decision made to 00:10:50.909 --> 00:10:58.309 label these letters for two different days. And 00:10:58.309 --> 00:11:03.710 I think there's like a strategy at work, or not 00:11:03.710 --> 00:11:05.629 necessarily strategy, but just like an order 00:11:05.629 --> 00:11:10.159 of operations in mind. that they know that the 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:15.860 way that mail delivery works, the letter that 00:11:15.860 --> 00:11:23.899 is labeled the 13th of March will be prioritized 00:11:23.899 --> 00:11:28.259 in its delivery over the letter that is labeled 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:32.679 the 14th of March. That when these letters get 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:37.230 to Majorca, that the officials, the royal officials 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:44.090 in Mallorca, will get this news with some advanced 00:11:44.090 --> 00:11:51.610 notice ahead of when the news gets to the brodaderos 00:11:51.610 --> 00:11:56.250 themselves. Looks like there are three brodaderos. 00:11:57.269 --> 00:12:05.659 Nicolao Torrent, Johan Sabrega, and Francesc 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:12.960 Clara. So those three brodadaires are going to 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:15.600 find out that they've been summoned to Barcelona, 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:21.659 and because their letter is dated the 14th of 00:12:21.659 --> 00:12:25.740 March, they're going to find it out after the 00:12:25.740 --> 00:12:31.360 governor already knows. So this is maybe a way 00:12:31.629 --> 00:12:38.750 to address a potential problem that might come 00:12:38.750 --> 00:12:43.370 up with the summons. Like, maybe if you let the 00:12:43.370 --> 00:12:47.169 officials know ahead of time, they themselves 00:12:47.169 --> 00:12:52.669 might deliver the letter to the brodaderos and 00:12:52.669 --> 00:12:56.210 know what's in it so that if the brodaderos 00:12:56.210 --> 00:13:04.129 try to protest, the official will be ready. I 00:13:04.129 --> 00:13:06.210 don't know. I mean, that's just kind of like 00:13:06.210 --> 00:13:12.090 real speculation there. But I just can't figure 00:13:12.090 --> 00:13:16.970 out why these letters would be on different dates. 00:13:17.029 --> 00:13:20.649 And it's not some kind of scribal error. Like 00:13:20.649 --> 00:13:28.159 it is clear that the number 13 is put there for 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:31.200 the 13th day for the first letter and then the 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.440 number 14 is put there as the day for the second 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:38.220 letter it's just there's no there's no way around 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:40.759 that paleographically it's just really easy to 00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:46.039 see the four strokes after the x for the second 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:53.450 letter to indicate 14th so It's an interesting 00:13:53.450 --> 00:13:57.149 moment to try to imagine how all of this would 00:13:57.149 --> 00:14:00.549 play out very practically, which is something 00:14:00.549 --> 00:14:03.330 that I really like to imagine and try to guess 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:07.509 about as I'm working with these documents. Hopefully 00:14:07.509 --> 00:14:12.090 at some point we'll see these brodaders come 00:14:12.090 --> 00:14:15.990 up in the archive again. I would really love 00:14:15.990 --> 00:14:20.549 to find the payment record for whatever they 00:14:20.549 --> 00:14:24.529 received for their work, because sometimes those 00:14:24.529 --> 00:14:31.929 payment records in the Patrimonio Real in the 00:14:31.929 --> 00:14:34.950 Treasury record books will specify a little bit 00:14:34.950 --> 00:14:40.690 more than just saying artes or obras. But unfortunately, 00:14:41.269 --> 00:14:46.750 we don't have the Treasury books from the first 00:14:46.750 --> 00:14:51.720 half of or at least the beginning months of Joan 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:55.559 and Violant's reign. So I'm not sure if they 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:58.240 are missing from the archive of the Crown of 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:01.720 Aragon or if they just haven't yet been digitized, 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:05.440 but it does seem like the treasury records did 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:11.580 not survive as thoroughly, comprehensively as 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:16.580 the letters did. The outgoing letters and documents 00:15:16.580 --> 00:15:21.360 were almost, they're almost all there. All the 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:25.539 different registers in sequence. But the treasury 00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:29.440 books for not just Joan and Violant, but 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:32.539 other monarchs around this time, the treasury 00:15:32.539 --> 00:15:36.919 books are not available on PARES. They're not 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:39.980 digitized in as great volume or consistency. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:44.940 And I think I would have to really reach out 00:15:44.940 --> 00:15:48.779 and talk to the archivists. at the archive of 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:50.480 the Crown of Aragon in order to figure out why 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:54.740 that is. My guess though is that they're not 00:15:54.740 --> 00:15:57.460 there, that they were transported, that they 00:15:57.460 --> 00:16:01.240 were used a lot more maybe, and so they have 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.779 been lost. But I'm not sure. Maybe they're there 00:16:04.779 --> 00:16:08.759 and they just haven't been digitized as a priority. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:14.259 All right, well, we talked about a document from 00:16:14.259 --> 00:16:18.419 the 14th of March. So I will admit that the idea 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:20.840 occurred to me that I could kind of like have 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:23.960 an easy episode tomorrow and just kind of split 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:29.399 these two into two different episodes. But no, 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:32.200 I'm not going to do that. It's kind of like because 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:35.500 they're the same topic on the same folio. I don't 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:41.620 know. I just feel like I would be Just doing 00:16:41.620 --> 00:16:45.500 too much of a shortcut on that wouldn't be... 00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:50.639 I wouldn't have fidelity to the mission of this 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:55.980 project. So, we will have another different document 00:16:55.980 --> 00:17:00.679 tomorrow. Thanks for listening to this episode 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:05.359 of the Historian's Notebook, Season 1, Molt Cara 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:09.289 Companyona. If you are leaving with more questions 00:17:09.289 --> 00:17:13.650 than you arrived with, I have done my job. Remember, 00:17:14.029 --> 00:17:18.269 the motto of the Historian's Notebook is dissatisfaction 00:17:18.269 --> 00:17:22.390 guaranteed. Visit the website to see an image 00:17:22.390 --> 00:17:25.130 of today's document and additional show notes. 00:17:25.609 --> 00:17:29.930 I'll also add in there some bibliographic citations 00:17:29.930 --> 00:17:35.170 for textiles in the Crown of Aragon in the late 00:17:35.170 --> 00:17:40.049 Middle Ages and generally around the Mediterranean 00:17:40.049 --> 00:17:44.049 and Western Europe in the late Middle Ages. And 00:17:44.049 --> 00:17:47.609 listen again tomorrow to hear about the next 00:17:47.609 --> 00:17:51.630 day in the first year of the reign of King Joan 00:17:51.630 --> 00:17:56.829 of Aragon and Queen Violant de Bar. In the meantime, 00:17:57.390 --> 00:17:58.009 take care.