Season 1, Episode 15

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Violant requests that the Governor of Majorca send one of the officials there, Pere d’Amaniyo, to Barcelona.

Today’s Document

• Subject: Violant establishes contact with Crown of Aragon administrators in Majorca
• Date: January 8, 1387
• Day of the Week: Tuesday
• Language: Catalan
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R1819 f72v
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Sender: Violant
• Recipient: Governor of Majorca, Francesc de Sagarriga

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: this appears to be another example of Violant surveying all of the important territories and establishing authority over them

• Contextualization: throughout the Middle Ages, Majorca was a major hub in Mediterranean trade and travel; at times, Majorca resisted Aragonese rule, but mostly stayed within the Crown of Aragon during the Late Middle Ages

• Corroboration: this parallels the outreach to the Count of Empúries

• Close-Reading: as a short missive, this letter seems to exhibit a rather stripped-down administrative tone

What is this document doing?

• This document furthers the project of creating new ties between territorial administrators and the new monarchs
• The document reveals more about the extent of the territorial holdings of the late fourteenth-century Crown of Aragon

Questions

• What was the geo-political status of Majorca at this time?
• Violant says that Joan asked her to write to the Governor of Majorca - does this mean that Majorca is in Violant’s portfolio? Or is it a temporary measure while Joan is ill?

AI Usage

ChatGPT helped me to identify Francesc de Sagarriga as the recipient of this letter. I later realized that my transcription of this letter had accidentally left out a phrase in the third line. However, after looking closely at that line I am pretty sure that the overall intent of the letter is not affected.

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