Season 1, Episode 10

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Joan tells the leadership in Barcelona that he is on his way there, but will jaure, rest, in Bella Dona. He also tells them that he has received their letter dated January 2nd, at the hour of 3:00.

Today’s Document

• Subject: Joan’s communication with the leadership of Barcelona about Pere’s grave illness
• Date: January 3, 1387
• Day of the Week: Thursday
• Language: Catalan
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R1952 f11v
• Link to PARES
• Place: Girona
• Sender: Joan
• Recipients: Prohomens of Barcelona

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: Joan must perceive the potential for trouble if the transition of power goes poorly and so remaining in contact with the city leaders in Barcelona remains paramount; if he already knows he’s getting sick, then this raises thos stakes even higher

• Contextualization: Joan battled a severe illness in the autumn of 1386 and so he might be in a weakened state at this moment; during the previous decades, Joan never had a great relationship with the town councilors of the cities in the Crown of Aragon and over the course of his reign this deteriorates even more

• Corroboration: I would really like to find the letters that mention Joan’s illness in January but I haven’t yet found archival reference numbers for documents about it in the secondary literature; most of the scholarship relies on Tasis i Marca and his book does not have footnotes

• Close-Reading: I got very interested in Joan’s choice of the word ‘accidents’ for his father’s illness and the entry from the online dictionary at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans helped greatly to see how this word could mean misfortune with illness in particular;

What is this document doing?

• This document attempts to maintain the appearance of stability for the upcoming succession as Joan promises that he will present himself in Barcelona soon
• The document elides any mention of Joan’s own health condition

Questions

• What symptoms was Joan experiencing on January 3rd?
• What was the speed of mail delivery at the time? Could it be delivered faster than overnight?
• When does Violant decide that she will proceed to Barcelona separately?

Bibliography

• Tasis i Marca, Rafael. Joan I: el rei caçador i músic. Editorial Aedos, 1959.

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