Season 1, Episode 109

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Joan informs the King of Castile, his ‘rey muy caro hermano,’ that he needs the knight Galceran de Vilanova to leave Castile and go to help fight a rebellion in Sardinia.

Today’s Document

• Subject: the recall of the knight Galceran de Vilanova from Castile
• Date: April 12, 1387
• Day of the Week: Friday
• Language: Castilian
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R1751 f43r
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Sender: Joan
• Recipient: Juan I of Castile

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: as a fellow king, Joan might have sympathized with Juan I’s concerns over the impending invasion by John of Gaunt; however, this did not stop Joan from prioritizing his own military needs with the rebellion brewing in Sardinia

• Contextualization: maintaing a hold on Sardinia remained a constaint challenge for the monarchs of the Crown of Aragon in the fourteenth century but its value as a breadbasket made it impossible to let go of; see the Contextualization notes in Episode 90 for more precise info

• Corroboration: in light of yesterday’s episode, Joan was almost certainly aware of the King of Castile’s concerns about an incoming invasion; the document examined in Episode 90 corroborates Joan’s concern about rebellion in Sardinia, as he sought funds from the Bishop of Zaragoza to pay for troops to send there; more information would be needed from Castile to understand the impact of the decision to recall Galceran de Vilanova

• Close-Reading: Joan sends this letter out in Castilian and refers to Juan I as ‘muy caro hermano’ and perhaps this letter contains more than the boilerplate pleasantries; the conspicuous absence of any mention of the impending invasion by John of Guant might indicate a lack of coordination between Violant’s advisers and Joan’s advisers

What is this document doing?

• This document invokes comraderie to soften the blow of the action taken.
• The document reveals that the sender felt the need to supply a legitimate reason for the recall notice.

Questions

• Why didn’t Joan say anything about Juan I’s troubling situation of an invasion of the English coming in from Portugal?
• How would the recall of Galceran de Vilanova have been seen by Juan I? A devastating blow? Possibly a relief?
• Did Galceran de Vilanova have a large entourage?
• What were Joan’s expectations for how Galceran de Vilanova would contribute to the fight for control over Sardinia?
• Did Violant know about this document?
• What does this document demonstrate about the level of power or status difference between Castile and the Crown of Aragon at this time? Does it show that Castile was weak?

AI Usage

ChatGPT helped me to find out more about Galceran de Vilanova and the grammar of this document. The output from the OpenClaw pipeline was ok but I still needed ChatGPT to help me sort out the grammar details.

Bibliography

• Bisson, Thomas N. Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History. Clarendon Press, 1986.

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