Season 1, Episode

Joan issues an approval for a sale taking place in Girona.

Episode 21

Today’s Document

Sourcing: in anticipation of all the new business coming his way as king, Joan might be looking to tie up all the loose ends from his duties as Duke of Girona;
Contextualization: the Kings of the Crown of Aragon did routinely intervene about very granular matters; I have some open questions about the expectations for what level of issues would routinely rise to the king’s attention - perhaps I have a too-modern assumption about this
Corroboration: it is difficult for me to understand the division of labor in diplomacy and governance when I notice that Violant writes to the Pope at about the same time that Joan writes up an approval paper for what seems like a minor property transaction in a second tier city; I have seen Ramon de Soler in several of Joan’s documents and I think he was the main money man for Joan at this time
Close-Reading: in the second line, is it all property categories or something else - patios or pigs; ‘sperend’ appears at the end of this document and the other one on this folio and I’m not sure what that means - possibly Esperandeu Cardona

This document demonstrates the willingness of high officials to intervene in minor transactions. (Unless I am mis-interpreting the document, which could very well be the case here.)

Is this document all about properties or are those ‘porches’ actually boars?
What level of urgency was this item of business for Joan? Why is he occupied by this during an intensely busy time?
Was this a substantial sale? Did it affect Joan’s revenues in any way?
What possible disputes might the seller, Bernguer, have encountered in this situation?

In the ChatGPT transcript you can see me arguing with the chatbot about ‘porches.’

Russell-Gebbett, Paul. Mediaeval Catalan Linguistic Texts. Dolphin Book Co., 1965.