Season 1, Episode 34

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Joan orders changes at the Ripoll Monastery, undoing some of Sibilla da Fortía’s influence there.

Today’s Document

• Subject: Joan initiates a change at the Ripoll Monastery
• Date: January 27, 1387
• Day of the Week: Sunday
• Language: Latin
• Archival Reference Number: ACA CR R1825 f14v
• Link to PARES
• Place: Barcelona
• Sender: Joan
• Recipient: Nicolas de Pomerio

Historical Thinking Notes

• Sourcing: this might be a personnel change, but certainly Joan, as king, seeks to direct the operation of Ripoll Monastery in a way that differs from what was happening before Pere died; Joan and Violant’s purpose in documents like these must somehow fit into the larger project of transitioning authority from Sibilla to themselves; in this document, we see Joan at work as the chief executive officer of state apparatus, and although this does relate to an ecclesiastical institution, the job does not seem to be an ecclesiastical appointment

• Contextualization: the big background for this document has to do with the importance of networks and state governance in the Crown of Aragon and other medieval European polities; a monarch’s authority largely operated through the set of people who they could trust to carry out their wishes; making personnel changes in various posts around the realm furthered a monarch’s political control

• Corroboration: this document is likely corroborated by other ones that arrange personnel changes as Joan and Violant establish their reign; it remains to be seen how closely this document regarding Sibilla relates to the document in Episode 33 about one of Bernat da Fortía’s holdings

• Close-Reading: Joan does not use the word ‘queen’ to refer to Sibilla, but instead refers to her as ‘servant of King Pere’; the term ‘fabulosam suggestionem’ likely means gossip, or slander, and possibly means ‘invented’ or ‘fake’; the inclusion of a fine of one thousand gold florins indicates a level of seriousness for the orders Joan gives in this document

What is this document doing?

• This document furthers the transition of power from the regime of King Pere the Ceremonious and Queen Sibilla to that of King Joan and Queen Violant.
• The document puts force behind its objectives with the threat of a substantial fine.

Questions

• What exactly does this document order to be done?
• What are the roles of Nicolas de Pomerio and Guillaume de Bardo at Ripoll Monastery?
• What would incur the fine of one thousand gold florins?
• How does the answers to the two questions above relate to what Sibilla had been doing with the Ripoll Monastery?
• Did this document have the effect of harming Sibilla’s fortune beyond what had already been done?
• How does this document fit into the overall project of establishing Joan’s and Violant’s new regime of rule?

Additional Notes

In yesterday’s episode, I mentioned the unusual probata statement at the end of that document. Today’s document provides an excellent example of the standard basic probata, with the simple statement written by one of the most frequent scribes of Joan’s letters, Bernardo de Jonquerio, that translates to ‘the lord king gave this to me, Bernardo de Jonquerio, Probata.’

In today’s episode, I forgot to mention that Wilfrid the Hairy’s body is still interned at the Ripoll Monastery, having been there since his death in 897 CE.

AI Usage

ChatGPT helped me to figure out what the possible valences of meaning could be for the term ‘fabulosam suggestionem’ but I confirmed that meaning using Whitaker’s Words Latin dictionary. I also used ChatGPT to search for the association between Nicolas de Pomerio and the Ripoll monastery.

Bibliography

• Silleras Fernández, Núria. “Money Isn’t Everything: Concubinage, Class, and the Rise and Fall of Sibilla de Fortià, Queen of Aragon (1377-87).” In Women and Wealth in Late Medieval Europe, edited by Theresa Earenfight, 67-88. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

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