Season 1, Episode 169

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Violant requires the testimony of two ‘men of the house’ of her brother-in-law Martí.

Today’s Document

• Subject: a messenger from Violant collecting testimony from people in Martí’s house
• Date: June 11, 1387
• Day of the Week: Tuesday
• Language: Catalan
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R2053 f13r
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Sender: Violant
• Recipient: Martí, Joan’s brother and the Duke of Montblanch

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: this is the first letter in a long while that I have seen addressed to Martí and this makes me think that Martí was in Barcelona for most of the time between February and June of 1387; Martí’s Commune et Curie register shows him as in Barcelona for most of May, but he had been visiting locations such as Tarragon and Zaragoza in March and April (ACA, CR, R2075); Martí’s Curie et Peccunie 1 register shows him in Barcelona during June (ACA, CR, R2095)

• Contextualization: each of the monarchs had their own household and officers, which functioned in many ways like the royal court; for an idea of what Martí’s household would have looked like, it could be helpful to look at scholarship about the households of other dukes and duchesses¹

• Corroboration: the document examined in Episode 60 also requires obtaining the testimony of someone, but in that case it was a direct summons

• Close-Reading: Violant wrote that there is ‘peril in delay’ so the matter at hand must have some level of urgency to it, perhaps a serious crime has been committed

What is this document doing?

• This document presumes that Martí will agree to let these two members of his household sit for an interview with the scribe Violant is sending.
• The document blends family connection with a legal process.

Questions

• What was the case at hand? Was it a criminal investigaton?
• Where was Martí at this time?
• How would Martí have reacted to this request from Violant?
• What was the background of the two men identified in this letter?

AI Usage

The transcription and translation of this document was carried out by my OpenClaw pipeline. I also used Claude to research more about Martí around this time in 1387.

Bibliography

• Ruiz Domingo, Lledó. “Surrounding the Future Queen of the Crown of Aragon: Violant of Bar’s Household as Duchess of Girona (1384–1386).” Royal Studies Journal 10, no. 1 (2023): 96-135.
• Silleras-Fernandez, Nuria. Power, Piety, and Patronage in Late Medieval Queenship: Maria de Luna. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

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