Season 1, Episode 168

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Joan provided details to the Count of Cardona about how he plans to pay back the thousands of florins that he owes him.

Today’s Document

• Subject: a payment plan for Joan to settle his debt with the Count of Cardona
• Date: June 10, 1387
• Day of the Week: Monday
• Language: Joan
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R1867 f1r
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Sender: Joan
• Recipient: Hugh the Count of Cardona

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: the probata of this document clearly has ‘domina’ and indicates Violant’s participation in its composition; since the creditor and recipient of this letter, Hugh of Cardona, was a friend of Sibilla da Fortia, it is unclear whether Joan considers him a hostile force in this financial relationship; Joan mentions Johan de Muntros as the agent who will pay Hugh of Cardona the money, directly from the tithes collected under the new ruling by the Pope

• Contextualization: money problems plagued the monarchy of the Crown of Aragon ever since the financial crisis of 1380; as explained in the notes for Episode 48, the economic context of the Catalan financial industry of the fourteenth century provides overwhelming evidence for the interpretation that by the time of Joan’s ascension to the throne there was nothing any monarch could have done to achieve control over the finances of the state

• Corroboration: the document examined in Episode 165 makes for an interesting corroboration with this one because that earlier document is one that has Joan as the creditor and the Bishop of Lleida as having made only a partial payment

• Close-Reading: the explicit connection to the Pope’s authorization of new tithes appears to be an argument to assure Hugh of the imminent receipt of additional funds to pay him back; the use of the word ‘realiter’ might indicate that the intention was to make the payment in actual coins and not money of account

What is this document doing?

• This document attempts to calm a creditor who might be worried about repayment.
• The document promotes a view of the debtor as highly organized in his repayment plan.

Questions

• Why is the queen in the probata? What role did Violant have in the composition of this document?
• Was this debt giving Joan anxious feelings? Why/why not?
• How realistic was the plan for repayment?
• Was Johan de Muntros going to essentially transfer money he got from some bishops directly to Hugh?
• What had the original loan from Hugh been used to fund?
• Did Johan de Muntros provide Hugh with payment in coinage and not a bill of exchange?

The Bofarull Legacy in the History of the Archive of the Crown of Aragon

In this episode I mentioned the modern archivist Próspero de Bofarull, whose handwriting appears on many of the registers from the fourteenth century. Also, his son, Manuel de Bofarull his nephew, Antonio de Bofarull were historians and archivists.

AI Usage

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

Bibliography

• Feliu i Montfort, Gaspar. “Finances, Currency and Taxation in the 14th and 15th Centuries.” Catalan Historical Review, no. 9 (2016): 25–44.

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