We don’t have to probe too deeply to identify the impetus for these acts: it was simple greed.
Four Kidnappings in Thirteenth-Century Aragon: Christian Children as Victims of Christian-Muslim Domination
March 29, 2015 By
Late Medieval Knight Reflecting on his Public Life: Hugo de Urriés (c. 1405-c. 1493), Diplomacy and Translating the Classics
October 22, 2014 By
This article focuses on Aragonese courtier Hugo de Urriés’s public profile by means of analyzing the critical points derived from examining his personal, political, cultural and historical stands making use of an invaluable primary source, his letter to Fernando the Catholic in the early 1490s.
Men Who Talk about Love in Late Medieval Spain: Hugo de Urriés and Egalitarian Married Life
February 13, 2014 By
In the last third of the fifteenth century, Hugo de Urriés’s work can offer the modern reader a very rare and informative perspective from the points of view of social history and history of ideas.
The Most Dramatic Moment of the Middle Ages!
January 12, 2014 By
An evil king versus a good king. They are half-brothers. It’s a fight to the death. In a tent!
Commons in the late medieval Crown of Aragon: Regulation, uses and conflicts, 13th-15th centuries
December 21, 2013 By
In this paper, we shall show some characteristics of the use of pastures and commons in the Crown of Aragon between the thirteen and fifteenth centuries.
Crisis and Regeneration: the Conversos of Majorca, 1391-1416
June 10, 2013 By
This dissertation investigates the economic, social and political factors that promoted Jewish identification among the first two generations of conversos in Majorca following their baptism in 1391.
Conflict in the Parish: Antagonistic Relations Between Clerics and Parishioners
April 19, 2013 By
Parishioners repeatedly complained about suffering under the rule of a petty tyrant who held grudges and exploited his power to administer the sacraments, or about the surly, combative temperament of their priest who was prone to fighting and creating discord within the parish.
“Of Arms and Men”: Siege and Battle Tactics in the Catalan Grand Chronicles (1208-1387)
April 9, 2013 By
What was the nature of combat as then practiced by the Aragonese? Who and what was involved? How were the practicalities of battle realized on the field?
Delivering stability: Primogeniture and autocratic survival in European monarchies 1000-1800
March 27, 2013 By
Although the dominating position of primogeniture at the end of the period might seem natural given primogeniture’s many advantages for the monarch and the ruling elite it was first rather late in history that the principle came to dominate Europe.
Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation
March 18, 2013 By
Our research on hunting in the kingdom of Aragón in the 12th-15th centuries is based on the information provided by two groups of legal texts: those for local or regional areas and those that were applied to all the kingdom after the 13th century.
The Scientific World of the Crown of Aragon under James I
March 3, 2013 By
This article seeks to provide a general overview of the cultural landscape during the reign of James I, with a particular focus on science.
“We Have Met Devils!”: The Almogavars of James I and Peter III of Catalonia-Aragon
December 9, 2012 By
Who were these Almogavars, who were able to defeat these heavily-armed and highly-trained knights? Why were they consistently effective against all who came before them? How were they utilized by James I the Conqueror (1213-1276) and his son Peter III the Great (1276-1285), count-kings of Catalonia-Aragon, to further the interests of their realm? These are the questions that this paper will attempt to answer.
Juana “The Mad”: Queen of a World Empire
December 9, 2012 By
It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that scholars discovered new material about Juana in the Spanish and Austrian archives that gave another side to the person of the woman who had been con- sidered “la loca.”
Translators, Interpreters and Cultural Mediators in Late Medieval Eastern Iberia and Western Islamic Diplomatic Relationships
October 28, 2012 By
Although linguistic competence and language knowledge were essential, rulers often looked for the cultural aptitudes of their official translators to guarantee the success fo the diplomatic missions.
The Regulations of James I concerning the Jewish Moneylenders: a Preliminary Report
October 15, 2012 By
This article enumerates the constitutions and statutes dictated by James I regarding the usurers, and the usurers of the Jews, between 1228 and 1251, from shortly before to shortly after the conquest of the kingdoms of Majorca and Valencia.
A Tale of Two Kings: The Use of King David in the Chronicle of Pere III of Catalonia
September 25, 2012 By
It is my contention that Pere chose to emulate David because David was a highly respected Biblical king, as well as the fact that David’s history as a warrior could be used to spiritually justify the military actions of Pere.
King Pedro IV of Aragon, royal propaganda and the tradition of royal speechwriting
August 15, 2012 By
In the archives of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona is preserved the autograph manuscript of a speech against the rebellion of the Judge of Arborea in Sardinia made by King Pedro IV of Aragon to open the corts, probably that held in Sant Mateu, Valencia in 1369.
Templars and Confraternities: Organizational Competition in Thirteenth Century Iberia
August 12, 2012 By
The undoing of the Templars was in part a result of their own over-reaching, but it also came because they opened up an organizational arena that other military orders and confraternities came to fill.
The Difference A King Makes: Religion And National Unity In Spain
June 3, 2012 By
It is the end of the Roman period, however, that interests us most. What happened then is a model for the relationship between Church and state that has had an enduring and powerful influence.
The parliamentary calendar of Spanish and English assemblies in the twelfth century
April 8, 2012 By
This analysis will concentrate on the rhythm experienced by royal assemblies from the 1150s to the 1180s, thus challenging the traditional dates for so long believed to mark the beginning of parliaments in England and the Christian kingdoms of Spain.
Communities and sustainability in medieval and early modern Aragon, 1200-1600
January 12, 2012 By
This paper examines the case of sheep raising in Aragon from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century to explore the political dynamics and social criteria that rural communities used to manage their common land, and their role in larger economic and political frameworks.
Polish Pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostella: Way of St. James in Poland
December 13, 2011 By
It is very difficult to estimate the exact scope of Polish pilgrimages to Santiago de
Compostela in the Middle Ages on the basis of preserved historical sources. The presence of pilgrims from Poland was mentioned in the Pilgrim Records of the Middle Ages found in the archive of the Kingdom of Aragon in Barcelona…
Aragonese Historiography in the 11th and 12th Centuries
October 9, 2011 By
Aragonese Historiography in the 11th and 12th Centuries Nelson, Lynn H. The American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain (2005) Abstract One of the peculiarities of early Aragonese history is the relative dearth of historiographic materials surviving from the old heartland of the kingdom. The Aragonese have traditionally been viewed as proud of family and jealous of tradition. […]
In A Woman’s Hand? The Question of Medieval Women’s Holograph Letters
September 7, 2011 By
In A Woman’s Hand? The Question of Medieval Women’s Holograph Letters Tarvers, Josephine Koster Postscript, Vol. 13 (1996) Abstract “Who was the first woman to write in English?” This question, posed informally by John Hurt Fisher almost two decades ago, has so far defied answer. Our fragmentary knowledge of medieval educational practices, the problem of manuscript […]
From a Master to a Laywoman: A Feminine Manual of Self-Help
August 28, 2011 By
From a Master to a Laywoman: A Feminine Manual of Self-Help By Montserrat Cabre Dynamis : Acta Hispanica ad Medicinae Scientiarumque. Historiam Illustrandam, Vol.20 (2000) Abstract: This article analyzes master Joan’s Tròtula, a late fourteenth-century Catalan text on women’s health addressed to an infanta of Aragon which survives in one late fourteenth-century manuscript. It presents […]
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