Season 1, Episode 122

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Violant writes to James, now the Cardinal of Valencia, with the usual pleasantries and a request for him to send her a book of songs and poetry.¹

Today’s Document

• Subject: pleasantries, the converting of schismatics, Joan’s health, and a songbook
• Date: April 25, 1387
• Day of the Week: Thursday
• Language: Catalan
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R2037 f15v-16r
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Sender: Violant
• Recipient: James, the Cardinal of Valencia

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: Violant addresses the letter to reverend father and cousin because James is Joan’s first cousin once removed; participating in the exchange of cultural products, such as the songbook mentioned in this letter, reflects the ongoing interest of Violant and Joan in musical fashions

• Contextualization: when Violant praises James for his success in converting schismatics, she is talking about those who continued to follow the pope in Rome during this period in the Great Western Schism

• Corroboration: in the document examined in Episode 50, Joan asked the College of Cardinals to make James, the Bishop of Valencia, into a Cardinal; evidently this worked because today’s letter shows that by the end of April James had the title of Cardinal; consult the several previous episodes tagged with the Great Western Schism; when Violant reiterates a cheery story about Joan’s health, she might be truthful since this is just prior to Joan’s near-death moment on April 28th, but Violant is also highly motivated to keep the news positive about Joan’s health in order to avoid having their monarchy take on the reputation of weakness; Episode 31 also focused on social network analysis

• Close-Reading: Violant uses the verb ‘to convert’ in order to describe when supporters of the Pope in Rome change to support the Pope in Avignon; this indicates that she saw those on the other side of the Great Western Schism as of a different religion, possibly even as different as Judaism or Islam from Christianity

What is this document doing?

• This document positions supporters of the Roman Pope as requiring religious conversions.
• The document activates Violant’s social network for the purposes of the exchange of cultural products.

Questions

• When exactly had James become a Cardinal and how difficult had that been to achieve?
• How popular was the Roman Pope, Urban VI, in Valencia at this time?
• What was the songbook that Violant is requesting in this letter? Would James have parted with it only reluctantly or was he happy to share it?
• At this time, did Joan’s health actually appear stable and ‘normal’?

AI Usage

No AI was used for this document because it was fully transcribed by Antonio Rubió y Lluch.

Bibliography

• Cortijo Ocaña, Antonio. La evolución genérica de la ficción sentimental de los siglos XV y XVI: género literario y contexto social. Tamesis, 2001.
• Ponsich, Claire. “Des lettres, le livre et les arts dans les relations, vers 1388-1389, de Violant de Bar et Gaston Fébus, autour de 1388.” In Froissart à la cour de Béarn: l’écrivain, les arts et le pouvoir, edited by Valérie Fasseur, 277–304. Turnhout: Brepols, 2009.
• Rollo-Koster, Joëlle, and Thomas M. Izbicki, eds. A Companion to the Great Western Schism (1378-1417). Brill, 2009.
• Rubió y Lluch, Antonio. Documents per l’historia de la cultura catalana mig-eval. Vol. 1. Barcelona: Institut d’Estudis Catalans, 1908. Full text available on Hathi Trust
• Rubió y Lluch, Antonio. Joan I, humanista: i el primer perióde de l’humanisme català. Barcelona: Arts Grafiques, S.A., 1919.
• Seyfried, Jonathan. ‘The Social Networks of Violant de Bar,’ Medieval People, Vol. 40 (2025).

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