Season 1, Episode 162

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Joan’s treasury officials intervene in a financial transaction, possibly a dispute, in Perpignan.

Today’s Document

• Subject: organizing the payment of funds in Perpignan
• Date: June 4, 1387
• Day of the Week: Tuesday
• Language: Latin
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R1825 f161r-v
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Sender: Joan
• Recipient: Francisco Palasol, an official in Perpignan

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: the scribe for this document is Violant’s chancellor but it is in Joan’s name, in his Commune register; this document takes us into the innards of the state financial record-keeping and enforcement, somehow originating from within the Treasury

• Contextualization: the sheer number of state revenue streams and financial transactions in the Crown of Aragon at this time make it difficult to contextualize this document, other than to say that it is one small part of a very vast network of financial connections; the royal treasury involved itself in transactions like this when collecting taxes or arbitrating disputes

• Corroboration: the document examined in Episode 141 might be worth comparing to this one, as it is a financial dispute but in the very different context of the Jewish aljama of Lleida

• Close-Reading: the probata for this document gave me some trouble since it is difficult for me to settle on ‘relato’ being a last name, but it appears directly after ‘Berenguer de’; the word ‘apocha’ appears frequently in this document, a word meaning ‘receipt’ and emphasizing the importance of the documentation of the transfer of funds

What is this document doing?

• This document connects the royal treasury in Barcelona to a series of financial transactions in Perpignan.
• The document demonstrates the ability of the state to intervene in financial transactions at a very granular level.

Questions

• What was the origination of this document and how was the Royal Treasury involved?
• Why had these financial dealings come to the attention of the Royal Treasury?
• Were any of the people mentioned in the document in violation of the law?
• Why was Violant’s chancellor involved in the creation of this document?

AI Usage

I gave an initial transcription by Gemini to Claude for a reconciliation. Claude then produced a translation with footnotes. The final product from Claude helped me to pinpoint ‘Racionalis magisteris’ at the end of line 14 and make progress on comprehending the probata.

Bibliography

• Feliu i Montfort, Gaspar. “Finances, Currency and Taxation in the 14th and 15th Centuries.” Catalan Historical Review, no. 9 (2016): 25–44.
• Sánchez, Manuel, Ángel Sesma Muñoz, and Antoni Furió. “Old and New Forms of Taxation in the Crown of Aragon (13th-14th Centuries).” In La fiscalità nell’economia Europea secc. XIII-XVIII, edited by Simonetta Cavaciocchi. Firenze University Press, 2008. Available for free at CSIC

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