Season 1, Episode 2

A recommendation letter for Bernardo Maloll

Episode 2

Today’s Document

Subject: Joan recommends Bernardo Maloll for an ecclesiastical post
Date: December 26, 1387
Day of the Week: Wednesday
Language: Latin
Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R1675 f19v
Link to PARES
Place: Girona
Sender: Joan, Duke of Girona
Recipient: Juan Fernández de Heredia, Master of Rhodes, head of the Hospitallers

Sourcing: written by the duke, the second most powerful person in the kingdom; ascension imminent; the recipient is a longtime correspondent of both Joan and Violant
Contextualization: Western Schism of 1378, Pere attempted neutrality and Joan sided with Avignon; the monasteries in the letter are in Catalonia (Santa Creus) and Aragon (Santa Fe is near Zaragoza); Hospitallers have a lot of clout in the Mediterranean;
Corroboration: the letter above, in Latin, Joan recommends Maloll to the Pope
Close-Reading: this letter looks like a perfunctory recommendation, except when Joan uses the phrase ‘persona antiga’ which I think means that Maloll is elderly but why not use the word ‘vell’?

Who was Bernardo Maloll and was he a shoe-in or a longshot for this position?
Is this a routine and perfunctory recommendation letter?
Was it routine for Joan to intervene in ecclesiastical appointments?
Does Bernardo Maloll need Joan’s endorsement for this position? Were there competitors?
What does this say about the intertwined operations of the secular and religious authorities in this time and place? What kind of intermediary role is played by the Hospitallers?
Did the Pope involve himself in appointments at this level?

These two publications provide a good start for understanding the organization of the Archive of the Crown of Aragon.

McCrank, Lawrence J. “Documenting Reconquest and Reform: The Growth of Archives in the Medieval Crown of Aragon.” The American Archivist 56, no. 2 (1993): 256–318.
Udina i Martorell, Frederic. Guía histórica y descriptiva del Archivo de la Corona de Aragón. Ministerio de Cultura, Dirección General de Bellas Artes y Archivos, Dirección de los Archivos Estatales, 1986.