Season 1, Episode 163

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Joan intervenes in a conflict over regional leadership that had previously been in the queen’s portfolio.

Today’s Document

• Subject: Joan’s attempt to solve a longstanding battle over who rules the Els Ports region
• Date: June 5, 1387
• Day of the Week: Wednesday
• Language: Latin
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R1826 f150v-151v
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Sender: Joan
• Recipients: all of the officials and magistrates around the town of Morella

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: Joan refers to an earlier effort by Violant to impose a settlement on the fighting factions, and it appears that this region had also been in the Queen’s portfolio during the reign of Sibilla; in this document, Joan uses his authority as king to attempt to compel the fighting parties in Els Ports to end their feuding

• Contextualization: there had been decades of fighting between local lords and councils over which authority would have the dominant political role in the Els Ports region¹; it is clear, though, that the current document failed to solve the problem since the dispute over provincial rule in Morella became a large part of the Cortes of Monzón²; the Cortes of Monzón met in 1388-1389 and Joan walked away in frustration leaving the negotiation in the hands of Violant, who handled the finalization of the Cortes, a resolution that kept the royal court from getting its funds cut off³

• Corroboration: the document examined in Episode 160 is also about Morella, but I could not find a connection between that and today’s document other than a general sense of instability and violence in the region;

• Close-Reading: in this document Violant is referred to as ‘illustres Yolant regina aragonis consoris nostra carissima’ which is basically Latin for ‘molt cara companyona’; the words for ‘destruction’ and ‘ruin’ toward the end of this document reflect the high level of ongoing violence

What is this document doing?

• This document transfers the problem-solving responsibility in this region from the queen to the king.
• The document presumes ultimate royal authority over the Els Ports region.

Questions

• Was this document essentially an escalation from Violant’s authority to Joan’s authority?
• To what extent, if any, did the feuding leaders in Els Ports respect royal authority?
• Was Violant, or members of her court, involved in the creation of this document?
• Who were the major leaders in the factional fighting in Els Ports?
• Was the murder investigation from the June 2nd document related to this larger picture of factional violence?

Additional Notes

In this episode, recorded on June 1st, I discussed my bulk image download from PARES earlier this year and also the current access problems to PARES when attempting to search its database from an IP address in the United States. I was able to fully access PARES through a VPN in France.

I checked again on June 3rd, and PARES fixed the problem. As of that date it is possible access PARES from IP addresses in the USA.

AI Usage

I gave an initial transcription by Gemini to Claude for a reconciliation. Claude then produced a translation with footnotes.

Bibliography

• Girona y Llagostera, Daniel. “Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, Fill Del Rei En Pere III. 1350-1387.” III Congreso de Historia de La Corona de Aragón (Valencia), Hijo de F. Vives Mora, 1923, 169–592. Available on Google Books, accessed December 26, 2025.
• Royo Pérez, Vicent. “Árbitros y mediadores en el mundo rural valenciano durante la Baja Edad Media: Els Ports y El Maestrat (s. XIII-XIV).” Espacio Tiempo y Forma. Serie III, Historia Medieval, no. 32 (April 2019): 379–412.
• Sánchez Adell, José. “La comunidad de Morella y sus aldeas durante la Baja Edad Media: notas y documentos.” Estudis Castellonencs, no. 1 (1983): 73–184.

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