Season 1, Episode 17

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This document records the death of Pere the Ceremonious in a manner of certification at the end of a treasury record book. The episode relates a few notable events from the life of King Pere, who reigned from 1336-1387.

Today’s Document

• Subject: an official record of the death of King Pere the Ceremonious
• Date: January 10, 1387
• Day of the Week: Thursday
• Language: Latin
• Archival Reference Number: ACA RP MR, vol. SG, 652, inside back cover (image 258)
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Recorder: Unnamed treasury official

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: we do not know who wrote this and that is not the usual kind of treatment in the chancery and treasury records, in which a lot of dedication gets put into notarizing by name

• Contextualization: this document glories in the vast Mediterranean territorial holdings of the Crown of Aragon, currently at its apex

• Corroboration: Violant’s letters signed as La Reyna begin on January 6th

• Close-Reading: the document begins Migrauit ab hoc seculo, he departed from this earthly world;

What is this document doing?

• This document literally closes the book on Pere’s reign, certifying its end in the format and language appropriate to the state bureaucracy.

Questions

• Was it standard practice to close out the last treasury record volume like this when the subject died?
• How were these volumes bound and re-bound over the centuries since their creation?
• Is the back cover reinforcement material made of parchment?

Bibliography

• Bisson, Thomas N. Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History. Clarendon Press, 1986.
• Catlos, Brian A. “Contexto y conveniencia en la Corona de Aragón: Propuesta de un modelo de interacción entre grupos etno-religiosos minoritarios y mayoritarios.” Revista d’història Medieval 12 (2001-2002): 259–68.

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