Anti-Jewish Riots in the Crown of Aragon and the Royal Response, 1391-1392 1107164516, 9781107164512

Table of contents :
Contents
Maps
Acknowledgments
Introduction “As If the Jews Had No Lord”
Part I “THE THINGS AS THEY HAPPENED” – HASDAI CRESCAS TO THE JEWS OF AVIGNON
Prologue The Kingdom of Castile
1 The City of Valencia
2 The Kingdom of Valencia
3 The Island of Majorca
4 Barcelona
5 Girona
6 Elsewhere in Catalonia
7 The Kingdom of Aragon
Epilogue
Part II “UNLESS THE LORD WATCHES OVER THE CITY . . . ” – PSALM 127:1
8 King Joan
9 Queen Iolant
10 Duke Marti (and the Duchess Maria)
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

Anti-Jewish Riots in the Crown of Aragon and the Royal Response, 1391–1392 The most devastating attacks against the Jews of medieval Christian Europe took place during the riots that erupted, in 1391 and 1392, in the lands of Castile and Aragon. For ten horrific months, hundreds if not thousands of Jews were killed, numerous Jewish institutions destroyed, and many Jews forcibly converted to Christianity. Benjamin R. Gampel explores why the famed convivencia of medieval Iberian society – in which Christians, Muslims, and Jews seemingly lived together in relative harmony – was conspicuously absent. Using extensive archival evidence, this critical volume examines the social, religious, political, and economic tensions at play in each affected region. The relationships, biographies, and personal dispositions of the Aragonese royal family are explored to understand why monarchic authority failed to protect the Jews during these violent months. Gampel’s extensive study is essential for scholars and graduate students of medieval Iberian and Jewish history. Benjamin R. Gampel holds the Dina and Eli Field Family Chair in Jewish History at The Jewish Theological Seminary. His published works include The Last Jews on Iberian Soil: Navarrese Jewry 1479–1498 (1989) and Crisis and Creativity in the Sephardic World: 1391–1648 (1997).

“Letter of King Joan I to the royal falconer, Francesch Bertrandi, on July 26, 1391.” See page 218. Source: Arxiu de la Corona d’Arago, ´ Cancilleria Reial, Registre 1961, folio 53r.

Anti-Jewish Riots in the Crown of Aragon and the Royal Response, 1391–1392

BENJAMIN R. GAMPEL

One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107164512  C Benjamin R. Gampel 2016

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2016 Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Inc. A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Gampel, Benjamin R., author. Anti-Jewish riots in the Crown of Aragon and the royal response, 1391–1392 / Benjamin R. Gampel. New York : Cambridge University Press, [2016] Includes bibliographical references. lccn 2016017859 isbn 9781107164512 lcsh: Jews – Spain – Aragon – History, – 14th century. Antisemitism – Spain – Aragon – History, – 14th century. Aragon (Spain) – Ethnic relations – History, – 14th century. Aragon (Spain) – History – 14th century. lcc ds135.s75 a7237 2016 ddc 946/.300492409023 – dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016017859 isbn 978-1-107-16451-2 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

To Hannah and Abe with love and admiration

Contents

List of Maps Acknowledgments

page ix xi

Introduction: “As If the Jews Had No Lord” part i “the things as they happened” – hasdai crescas to the jews of avignon Prologue: The Kingdom of Castile 1 The City of Valencia 2 The Kingdom of Valencia 3 4 5 6

1

13 24 56

The Island of Majorca Barcelona Girona Elsewhere in Catalonia

68 92 114 134

7 The Kingdom of Aragon Epilogue

162 185

part ii “unless the lord watches over the city . . . ” – psalm 127:1 8 King Joan 9 Queen Iolant 10 Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria) Conclusion

193 271 315 352

Bibliography Index

355 369 vii

Maps

1 Iberian Polities 1391–1392 2 Sites in the Kingdom of Castile where Jews were killed or harmed 3 Sites in the Crown of Aragon where Jews were killed or harmed

ix

page 10 23 25

Acknowledgments

The hundreds and hundreds of documents that lay unpublished in Spanish archives, that form the backbone of this work, and that needed to be deciphered, read, interpreted, and analyzed have made the composition of this volume a daunting task. But I have been exceedingly fortunate to have family, friends, and institutions who have supported me over the years and have wholeheartedly endorsed my conviction that this project was a worthwhile venture. First and foremost, I am blessed to have a family that provides me with endless support and encouragement. My wife, Miriam Schacter, always my greatest fan and supporter, and my children Hannah and Abe Schacter-Gampel – who have known since they were kids that Daddy is working on 1391, have surrounded me with so much love as to make my work a seamless part of our family life. To Hannah and to Abe I dedicate this book with unending love and admiration. Dr. Hannah and Rabbi Abe are now adults with lives and projects of their own. Brian Meister – alongside Hannah, and Rabbi Sarit Horwitz – alongside Abe, have become charter members of our family, and now they too know about 1391 and the challenges it represented. I have been privileged with many friends, and some very good ones, but I wish especially to single out Jeffrey S. Gurock, who was my sounding board, cheerleader, interlocutor, and frequent reader of so many drafts, and without whom the book would not have been produced in the form that it now takes. An American Jewish historian of note, Jeff is now – to my mind, a fine medievalist as well, and an expert in Castilian and Aragonese history. xi

xii

Acknowledgments

The Jewish Theological Seminary of America has been my scholarly home for so many years, and I have been the fortunate recipient of their largesse. To select but one instance, I wish to call attention to a merit leave endowed by the (now late) Judge Howard M. Holtzmann who was so happy to support my work, but especially by my colleagues – particularly Jack Wertheimer who has been my Seminary colleague and dear loyal friend for many years, whose companionship, intellectual and emotional, has provided fertile ground for the continuous development of my scholarly personality. Thanks to my community of loving family, friends, and colleagues, I send this work out into the world with an abiding sense of deep satisfaction.

Introduction “As If the Jews Had No Lord”

On January 22, 1392, after riots that, in the previous year, had ravaged many of the Jewish communities throughout their Crown of Aragon, King Joan and Queen Iolant, ruefully observed that the Jews had been treated “as if they had no Lord.” For Joan and Iolant, the Jews belonged to the royal patrimony, and attacks against this minority demonstrated utter disregard of their monarchic authority. For the Jews, the riots of 1391–1392 were the most recent, though decidedly horrific, example of their historical vulnerability. As a people few in numbers, the Jews, for their own security, often relied on the security arrangements that they had negotiated with other members of the society in which they lived. In the Christian middle ages, territorial lords, who extended charters to Jews to come and settle in their lands, understood their obligation to assure the Jews of their safety in exchange for the economic benefits the Jews brought to the society, and for the taxes they rendered. When Rudiger, the bishop of Speyer, decided in 1084 “to make a ¨ city out of the village of Speyer,” he promised those Jews, who would accept his invitation to establish residence in his territory, that he would surround them with a wall. Similarly, when in 1170, King Sancho VI of Navarre granted a new charter to the Jews of Tudela, he ceded, in perpetuity, the city’s fortified area for their residence. Sancho acknowledged that if the Jews were attacked in the fortress, and the Jews either killed or wounded their assailants, the Jews would not be punished for defending themselves. In the following century, King James I of Aragon, in 1239, promised the Jews of the newly conquered city of Valencia that they and their property were under his special protection and 1

2

Introduction

safeguard, and that no one would be allowed to harm either them or their property.1 While the history of the Jews in the Middle Ages encompassed long stretches of time in which governmental authorities successfully preserved and defended the Jews, incidents where Jewish-owned property was damaged, and when Jews were harmed and even killed, and their communities destroyed, were not unusual. Even as Bishop Rudiger promised the ¨ Jews that an accurate appreciation of the charter’s stipulations “remain throughout the generations,” and despite the goodwill exhibited by his successor, Johann I of Kraichgau was simply unable – when the crusaders, en route to the Holy Land, invaded the town less than twelve years later, to protect his Jewish charges.2 In the early fourteenth century, after Judah ben Asher left German lands and came to settle in Castile, he viewed the German realm – doubtlessly in comparison with his adopted homeland, as one where, despite all guarantees, persecution of Jews was to be expected. When Judah, who became a Toledo communal leader and a renowned halakhist, died, in 1349, events in the Kingdom of Castile might have prompted Judah to reevaluate his perspective on the security of Sephardic Jews.3

1

2

3

Alfred Hilgard ed., Urkunden zur Geschichte der Stadt Speyer (Strassburg, 1885), pp. 11– 12, no. 11, for the 1084 privilegium extended to the Jews by Rudiger Huozmann; Fritz ¨ Baer, Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien, vol. 1 (Berlin, 1929), pp. 933–935, no. 578, for Tudela, and pp. 93–94, no. 91 for the city of Valencia. All are translated in Robert Chazan ed., Church, State, and Jew in the Middle Ages (New York, 1980), pp. 59–60, 72–73, and 74–75, respectively. The Tudelan Jews had received a charter in 1115 from King Alfonso I of Aragon in the wake of his conquest of the city from the Muslims. See Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 920–921, no. 570, and Chazan, Church, State, and Jew, pp. 69–70. Karl Heinz Debus, “Geschichte der Juden in Speyer bis zum Beginn der Neuzeit,” in Die Juden von Speyer. Bezirksgruppe Speyer des historischen Vereins der Pfalz (Speyer, 2004), pp. 2–10. “The Testament of Judah Asheri” can be found in Israel Abrahams ed., Hebrew Ethical Wills, vol. 2 (Philadelphia, 1926), pp. 166, 180, and 189. His perception surely derived in part from the imprisonment, by King Rudolph of Hapsburg, of Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg, the eminent teacher of his distinguished father Asher ben Yehiel. See Irving A. Agus, Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg. His Life and His Works as Sources for the Religious, Legal, and Social History of the Jews of Germany in the Thirteenth Century, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1947), pp. 125–155 and Jorg “Erez gezerah – ‘Land ¨ R. Muller, ¨ of Persecution:’ Pogroms against the Jews in the Regnum Teutonicum from c. 1280 to 1350,” in Christoph Cluse ed., The Jews of Europe in the Middle Ages [Tenth through Fifteenth Centuries] (Turnhout, 2004), pp. 245–260.

Introduction

3

Despite long-standing promises of royal protection by Castilian monarchs, noble forces allied with Enrique of Trastamara were able, in 1355 – ´ early on in that kingdom’s civil war, to attack the Jewish quarters of Toledo and Cuenca. Armies of the future Enrique II – the cornerstone of whose political program was opposition to the (alleged) domination by Jewish officials of the government of his half-brother King Pedro, massacred the Jews of Briviesca in 1366, and demanded large sums of money from the Jews of Burgos. Later that year, Enrique, as king, compelled the Toledo Jews to render equivalently large sums, and in the following year, his forces destroyed synagogues in Valladolid, and pressed Burgos and Palencia Jewries for additional funds. Even Pedro, chided by his opponents as “king of the Jews,” when in need of funds to pay his Muslim troops, allowed Jews of Ja´en to be kidnapped by Muslims and to be sold into slavery.4 King Pere III of the Crown of Aragon, concerned about the resultant social anarchy unleashed by the Black Death, and the attendant attacks on Jewish communities, ordered local officials, such as those in Barcelona, to protect his Jewish subjects from further assaults. Although they were not accused, as they were in the mid-fourteenth century in other European lands, of having poisoned wells and therefore having directly caused the epidemic that devastated the Aragonese population, Jews were killed in the wake of the plague. Pere’s measures could be favorably contrasted with the behavior of the authorities in contemporaneous Speyer, where its rulers were either unable or unwilling to protect the Jews. In the Crown of Aragon, as in Castile, the Jews’ security, for better and for worse, was often seen as the exclusive concern of the monarchy.5 4

5

Yitzhak Baer, A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1961), ´ Trasta´ pp. 364–367 and Julio Valdeon ´ Baruque, Los jud´ıos de Castilla y la revolucion mara (Valladolid, 1968), pp. 33–34 and 43–50. Valdeon ´ shows that Enrique II, as king, employed as many Jews in his administration as had his half-brother Pedro. Debus, Geschichte der Juden in Speyer, pp. 33–37, and Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 324– 328, nos. 230–232; and pp. 333–339, nos. 240–245. (Numbers 230, 232, and 240 of Baer have been translated into English in Chazan ed., Church, State, and Jew, pp. 128–131.) See Amada Lopez de Meneses, “Documentos acerca de la peste negra en los dominios ´ ´ 6 (1956), de la Corona de Aragon,” Estudios de Edad Media de la Corona de Aragon ´ pp. 291–447 and, generally, Jaume Sobrequ´es i Callico, ´ “La peste negra en la pen´ınsula ib´erica,” Anuario de Estudios Medievales 7 (1970–1971), pp. 67–101. David Nirenberg, Communities of Violence. Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages (Princeton, N.J., 1996), pp. 237–241, demonstrates that the sins of the Jews and others were seen as the causal factors in the spread of the plague. Alexandra Guerson, Coping with Crises: Christian Jewish Relations in Catalonia and Aragon, 1380–1391

4

Introduction

The most devastating attacks against the Jews of medieval Christian Europe took place during the riots that erupted, in 1391 and 1392, in the lands of Castile and Aragon. King Joan, Queen Iolant, Duke Mart´ı, the infant and later king (and to a lesser extent, Mart´ı’s wife and future queen, Maria de Luna), who were responsible for the Jews’ safety in the Crown of Aragon, attempted to suppress the uprisings. And so did the regency council, which surrounded the young King Enrique III of Castile. Historians have expended much effort in attempts to understand these and other instances of violence against medieval Jewries. They have examined the attackers’ motives from social and economic perspectives, and have explained how disadvantaged elements of the population lashed out against royally protected and economically successful Jews. Others have exhaustively chronicled the manifestations of Christian religious hatred toward the Jews, and have demonstrated that the rise of innovative and virulent strains of anti-Judaism in the late middle ages had a profound impact on the ideology of the assailants. Some scholars have attended to the hostility and competition between and among the governing authorities – royal, municipal, and ecclesiastical – and have viewed the harm that befell the Jewish communities as collateral damage in the ongoing strife between the various strata of medieval European society. Yet other writers have mounted social and psychological investigations into the assailants’ motivations and have made convincing arguments that the violence reflected profound characterological impulses on the part of the attackers. All these methodological forays have yielded interesting and, at times, learned insights into these episodes of savagery.6 What remains to be investigated, more profoundly, are the responses of those individuals whose responsibility it was to protect the Jewish community. Students of the royal alliance that was forged between the Jews and the central authorities have long been aware that in the absence

6

(University of Toronto dissertation, 2012), pp. 21–39, argues that violence against Jews in the wake of the Black Death was not plague related. See Yitzhak Baer, A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, vol. 2 (Philadelphia, 1966), pp. 24–28. David Nirenberg, Neighboring Faiths. Christianity, Islam and Judaism in the Middle Ages and Today (Chicago, 2014), pp 76–77 describes the political situtation of Iberian Jews in the late fourteenth century. See, inter alia, Anna Sapir Abulafia, Religious Violence Between Christians and Jews: Medieval Roots, Modern Perspectives (Palgrave, 2002) and Nirenberg’s Communities of Violence. Nirenberg’s Neighboring Faiths, pp. 75–88, explores how struggles over control of the Jewish population were often reflections of larger conflicts over sovereignty and governance.

Introduction

5

of monarchic authority – as for example during an interregnum, the Jews, who were almost entirely dependent on the rulers’ promises and good graces, inevitably have been harmed. But insufficient energy has been devoted to examine the behavior of royal authorities, who were effectively in power during specific episodes of violence against Jews, to determine whether or not they fulfilled their mandate to protect this vulnerable minority.7 So why were they not successful? The day after the riots broke out in Valencia, the city fathers, in an attempt to deflect criticism of their own behavior during the unrest, cited the second half of the first verse of Psalm 127: “Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, frustra vigilat qui custodit eam,” – “ . . . except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain.” The municipal leaders, on Monday July 10, did not only seek to make a theological assertion but also attempted to focus attention on the royals’ lack of effective oversight.8 When over seven months later, in early 1392, both King Joan and Queen Iolant determined that their subjects had behaved toward the Jews “como los judios no habian senor,” as if the Jews had no lord, they surely were making a political observation and not offering a theological reflection. But were Johan and Iolant correct in their perception that the Aragonese people, and indeed even the local authorities, considered the Jews as without protectors, and if so, why? And did the Aragonese King and Queen contribute to this understanding by their own ineffectual response to the violence? To appreciate fully the actions that the Aragonese – and Castilian – royal authorities took to counter the burgeoning unrest, I present – in 7

8

Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, The Lisbon Massacre of 1506 and the Royal Image in the Shebet Yehudah (Cincinnati, 1976), and Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, “Servants of Kings and Not Servants of Servants: Some Aspects of the Political History of the Jews” (Rabbi Donald A. Tam Institute for Jewish Studies, Emory University, 2005). See also Maurice ´ Kriegel, “De l’Alliance royale a` la religion de l’Etat. Yerushalmi entre Baron, Baer et Arendt,” in Sylvie Anne Goldberg ed., L’histoire et la m´emoire de l’histoire. Hommage a` Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi (Paris, 2012), pp. 29–43 and Marina Rustow, “La notion de l’Alliance royale et Yerushalmi por maˆıtre,” in Sylvie Anne Goldberg ed., L’histoire et la m´emoire de l’histoire, pp. 29–43 and pp. 57–69, respectively. The notion that God had abandoned the Jews was a staple of the adversus Judaeos tradition as far back as the writings of the early church fathers, but the implication of the Valencia magistrates, was that the Jews’ conversion to Christianity, supported by the magistrates, would serve to bring the newly converted under the protective care of municipal and ecclesiastical authorities, if not again under the sheltering wings of the Lord. See, generally, Rosemary Ruether, Faith and Fratricide; The Theological Roots of Anti-Semitism (New York, 1974).

6

Introduction

the first part of the book before you, the first comprehensive treatment of these peninsular riots. The violence started, in early June, in the city of Seville in the Kingdom of Castile, and then broke out throughout Andalusia, and erupted as far north as Logrono. ˜ The turbulence did not respect borders. Jews were assaulted in the city of Valencia, in early July, and attacked afterwards in many locales within the same-named kingdom. Disturbances followed in the Balearic Islands, in Barcelona, Girona, and elsewhere in the principality of Catalonia, and in the Kingdom of Aragon. Eventually, in April 1392, the turbulence drew to a close in the mountainous city of Jaca. Throughout these ten months, hundreds if not thousands of Jews were killed, numerous Jewish institutions destroyed, and many Jews forcibly converted to Christianity.9 Reductionist analyses that have attempted to explain the unrest solely in terms of social and economic dynamics, or alternatively, through an exclusive focus on the nature of late medieval anti-Judaism, have to confront the undeniable evidence, among other intriguing phenomena, that people of all political and economic classes participated in these assaults, and that these attacks were not recorded either in Portugal or in Navarre. A uniform pattern to the violence cannot be discerned nor a clear profile of the rioters identified. And while social, economic, and religious tensions between Christians and Jews were present in the mid-fourteenth century peninsula, widespread violence did not erupt. There were sporadic attacks on Jews, but the events of 1391–1392 were surprisingly unique in their intensity, scope, and duration.10 9

10

Although some of these horrific attacks have attracted the interest of scholars, all the local episodes of violence can be fully appreciated only when seen in the aggregate. Eduard Feliu, “Sobre la lletra que Hasday Cresques adrec¸a` a la comunitat jueva d’Avinyo´ parlant dels avalots de 1391,” Tamid 5 (2004–2005), pp. 171–219 and Norman Roth’s two articles, “1391 in the Kingdom of Castile, Attacks on the Jews” and “1391 in Aragon, ´ Catalonia, Valencia and Majorca,” Iberia Judaica III (2011), pp. 19–48 and pp. 49–75, respectively, are recent attempts, based on secondary sources and previously published documents, to chronicle the riots. For interpretations of the Castilian violence, see Emilio Mitre Fernandez, Los jud´ıos de Castilla en tiempo de Enrique III. El pogrom ´ de 1391 (Valladolid, 1994), pp. 25–27. In the effective absence of documentary evidence regarding the Castilian riots, Mark Meyerson’s brief analysis in his Jews in an Iberian Frontier Kingdom. Society, Economy, and Politics in Morvedre, 1248–1391 (Leiden and Boston, 2004), p. 272, appears persuasive. While Baer, A History, vol. 2, pp. 95–110 grasped the economic causes and appreciated the social dimension of the unrest, he stressed religious ferment as the major causative factor. Philippe Wolff, “The 1391 Pogrom in Spain. Social Crisis or Not?,” Past and Present 50 (1971), pp. 4–18, on the other hand, cautioned scholars not to be “hypnotized” by the “predominantly anti-semitic character of the disturbances” and

Introduction

7

So why did the latent social and economic tensions which had long simmered in Iberian society, and the religious antagonism toward the Jews which had been kept in check with relative success, flare quickly into murderous attacks that not only lasted many months but spread effectively across a wide swath of the peninsula? By focusing on the days and weeks leading up to the attacks, and the actual time during which the riots and conversions took place, we have the opportunity to observe how daily decisions made by the royal authorities influenced the shape and scope of the violence. In the second half of the book, I will examine the behavior of the Aragonese royal family, King Joan, Queen Iolant, and Duke Mart´ı – who was in the city of Valencia when the riots erupted, and the Duchess Maria, within the context of their biographies and their records as protectors of Jewish communities, their developing royal concerns and interests and the limits of their effective power, and their evolving relationships with each other. Within these necessary contexts, the lords’ behavior, during these ten months of upheaval, will be evaluated. Although the Jews’ security was of interest to all of them – Jews at the very least were crucial to their treasury, the safety of the Jews was simply one of many interests competing for their attention. How they juggled the multiplicity of their concerns is the subject of this book. These rulers cared about the Jews; the question remains whether the Jews were a sufficiently high priority for these royals that the Jews’ safety could reasonably be assured.11

11

instead emphasized the social and economic dimensions of the “revolt.” See the inter` esting comments by Jaume Riera i Sans in the “Colloqui,” Jornades d’historia dels jueus a Catalunya (Girona, n.d.), pp. 172–173. Riera argues that late fourteenth century millenarian sentiment is the key to appreciating both the ubiquitousness of the riots, and the contours that the violence assumed. See, infra, the chapter on the city of Valencia, note 10. Muslims – who presented an economic profile different from their fellow minority Jews – were among the targets in many locales. Interestingly, the Muslims seem not to have been either gathered into fortresses or brought to the Cross in order to secure their safety. A thorough treatment of their fate during the riots is a desideratum. Maurice Kriegel, Les Juifs a` la fin du Moyen Age dans l’Europe m´editerran´eenne (Paris, 1979), pp. 206–215 stresses the significance of the political vacuum that obtained in the peninsula. On royal authority and the Jews, and the events of 1391, see David Nirenberg, “L’Ind´ecision Souverain: G´enocide et Justice en Valencia, 1391,” in Julie Claustre, Olivier Matt´eoni, and Nicolas Offenstadt eds., Un Moyen Age pour aujourd’hui: m´elanges offerts a` Claude Gauvard (Paris, 2010), pp. 495–508. The useful dichotomy that is drawn between the vertical alliance, where Jews rely on the Lord, and the Jews’ horizontal relationships with other governing institutions within the society, is nevertheless simplistic. This is especially so in the middle ages when royal

8

Introduction

Thanks to the voluminous documentation found in Aragonese archives, and particularly the letters – preserved in the Arxiu de la Corona d’Arago´ – that Joan, Iolant, Mart´ı, and Maria penned during the ten months of unrest that gripped the constituent kingdoms of their Crown, we can reconstruct the course of the disturbances and their immediate aftermath. The Jewish communities were viewed by the royal family as its patrimony, so naturally it preserved information about the violence. While these sources only sporadically inform us who was responsible for these assaults and why they occurred, the documents do enable us to follow the daily behavior of the royal family, and to observe how its members reacted to the turbulence and, specifically, to the attacks against the Jews. Consequently, the available evidence allows for a volume on the Jews’ protectors. The surviving data should not lead us to imagine that the royal response was the determining factor in the spread of the violence, but awareness of the royals’ personal concerns and idiosyncrasies also lets us explore the importance of contingency factors in the development of the riots. While the assaults are an important feature of medieval Iberian history, the documents permit that the violence can be chronicled, as well, from the perspective of concerns central to Jewish political history – the effectiveness of the royal alliance – both in the middle ages and beyond. There are comparably few contemporary sources available in Castilian archives that can tell us about the actual progress of the riots in that kingdom, or inform us of the royal response. And, regrettably, few if any Jewish sources, aside from a letter written by the Saragossan rabbi, courtier, and philosopher, Hasdai Crescas, were composed during the course of the riots. Owing to the paucity of Jewish materials, this landmark event in Castilian and Aragonese history, and in Jewish history, will be told mainly from sources external to the Jewish community.12

12

power was severely restricted by the effectiveness of local officials upon whom they needed to rely. Many authors have made reference to King Joan’s actions during the riots. See, ´ among others, Rafael Tasis i Marca, Joan I. El Rei Cac¸ador i Music (Barcelona, 1959), pp. 195–207, and the brief but accurate comments about the royal family in Eliseo Vidal Beltran, ´ Valencia en la e´ poca de Juan I (Valencia, 1974), pp. 60–61. On the sources available for the riots in Girona, and by extension for the unrest in the Crown of Aragon, see Jaume Riera i Sans, “Els avalots del 1391 a Girona,” in Jornades ` d’historia dels jueus a Catalunya (Girona, n.d.), pp. 95–96. A Hebrew poem ascribed to Reuven Girondi, translated into Catalan in Riera, p. 156, was prove to be fabricated: see, below, the chapter on Girona. Important documents have been published by Fritz Baer in his documentary compilation Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien, volumes 1

Introduction

9

For the most part, the book before you is a history of suffering, and of political neglect, benign and otherwise. Let us begin.13

13

and 2, and by Jaume Riera i Sans in many of his publications. Noteworthy is his “Los tumultos contra las juder´ıas de la Corona de Aragon ´ en 1391,” Cuadernos de Historia. Anexos de la Revista Hispania 8 (1977), pp. 213–225. Other published sources will be cited in the appropriate chapters. Aside from the Aragonese royal documentation extant from those ten violent months, I have also utilized a variety of sources from municipal archives. Much more information about the riots was revealed over the months and years after the unrest came to an end, but that archival exploration would have made the project the labor of a lifetime. On the relevant Hebrew sources, written months and years after the riots, see the appropriate chapters. I have generally eschewed their use for details about the events, especially given the richness of the archival information. Some materials in Part II, Chapters 8 and 10 have appeared in my “‘Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ’: Joan of Aragon and his Jews, June-October 1391,” Elisheva Carlebach and Jacob J. Schacter eds., New Perspectives on Jewish-Christian Relations. In Honor of David Berger (Brill: Leiden and Boston, 2012), pp. 65–89; and in my “Royal Priorities: Duke Mart´ı, the Riots against the Jews of the Crown of Aragon and the ‘Blessed Passage to Sicily,’ (1391–1392),” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 10 [Aldina Quintana, Raquel Ibanez ˜ Sperber and Ram Ben-Shalom eds., Between Edom and Kedar. Studies in Memory of Yom Tov Assis, Part 1] (Jerusalem, 2014), pp. 35–53. They are utilized here with permission of the publishers.

10

Introduction

map 1. Iberian Polities 1391–1392

part i “THE THINGS AS THEY HAPPENED” – HASDAI CRESCAS TO THE JEWS OF AVIGNON

Prologue The Kingdom of Castile

Hasdai Crescas, Rabbi of Saragossa and a leader of Aragonese Jewry, reported to the Jews of Avignon on 20 Marheshvan, 5152 (October 19, 1391) that, On the day of the New Moon of the fierce and impetuous month of Tammuz, God drew back the bows of the enemy against the great community of Seville whose population ranged from 6 to 7,000 heads of families. They set her gates afire, and killed a great number of people. The majority, however, converted. Some, including children and women, were sold to the Muslims. The streets of the Jews became desolate. Many died having sanctified His Name, many having profaned the holy covenant.1

Whether or not Sunday June 4, 1391, the “day of the New Moon” of Tammuz, was the actual day of the attacks, Crescas was quick to link 1

Eliakim Carmoly published the text of Hasdai Crescas’ letter in an appendix to Max Wiener’s edition of Das Buch Schevet Jehuda von R. Salomo Aben Verga (Hannover, 1856), pp. 128–130, and in a German translation on pp. 260–263. Meyer Kayser¨ ling, “Das Sendschreiben des Don Chasdai Crescas noch einmal,” Monatsschrift fur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums 16 (1867), pp. 311–316, compares the two versions of Crescas’ letter, with its citation in Gedalya ibn Yahya’s sixteenth century Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah. There are many translations of this letter. A full rendition in English can be found in Warren Harvey, Hasdai Crescas’ Critique of the Theory of the Acquired Intellect (Columbia University dissertation, 1973) 1, pp. 15–17. See also Franz Kobler ed., “Rabbi Hasdai Crescas Gives an Account of the Spanish Massacres of 1391,” in his Letters of Jews through the Ages. From Biblical Times to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century, vol. 1 (New York, 1952), pp. 272–275. It is not known why Crescas penned the missive. Perhaps, as many have conjectured, he hoped the local Jews would intercede with the Avignonese Pope. On Hasdai Crescas, see Warren Zev Harvey’s Hebrew biography, Rabbi Hasdai Crescas (Jerusalem, 2010), where he has conveniently reproduced the letter on pp. 23–24.

13

14

“The Things As They Happened”

the tragedy in Seville with Tammuz, the month in which Jews annually began their commemoration of tragedies that had befallen their people. And while the Seville Jewish families who perished do not appear to have numbered in the thousands, it was undeniably true that the forces unleashed that day in Seville, and the resultant death and conversions, dramatically affected the lives of many peninsular Jews.2 After the initial outbreak in Seville, the conflagration spread. Crescas continued: From there the fire came forth and consumed all the great scholars, the community of the holy city of Cordova. There too, many converted, and the community was reduced to ruins.3

By June 16, King Enrique III of Castile asserted that it was well-known how, in recent days, in the very noble cities of Seville and Cordova, the archdeacon of Ecija induced and persuaded some of the gentes menudas, small people, of these cities – crude and ignorant men, who not considering their error or the damage done to us, neither fearing God nor my justice, nor mindful of my age and circumstances, moved against the Jews of the aljamas of these cities, killed some of them, robbed others, and forced other Jews to turn Christian, which caused the depopulation of these Jewish aljamas, about which, I was greatly angered on account of the substantial disservice that I suffered.

In the opinion of the underage Castilian king, Enrique, but more likely ´ his councilors, Ferrant Martinez, the archdeacon of Ecija, and the lower classes in Seville and Cordova were responsible for the attacks on the Jews.4 2

3 4

In the account of the fifteenth century Sevillan city father, Garci Sanchez, the attacks in Seville stretched over the course of two days: Monday June 5 and Tuesday June 6. See Juan de M. Carriazo, “Anecdotario sevillano del siglo xv. De los Anales de Garci Sanchez, ´ jurado de Sevilla,” Anales de la Universidad Hispalense 14 (1953), p. 24. According to the seventeenth century Ortiz de Zu´ niga – see below note 7, Seville’s Jews were attacked ˜ on Tuesday June 6. In 1391, 1 Tammuz, the second day of rosh hodesh Tammuz, fell on Sunday June 4. The Hebrew elegists, see notes 11 and 12 infra, also underscored the historical significance of the month of Tammuz as a terribly sad month for the Jews. The total Jewish population of Seville might have been 400–500 people in the late fourteenth century. See Antonio Collantes de Teran, ´ Sevilla en la baja edad media; la ciudad y sus nombres (Seville, 1977), pp. 206–209. According to Garci Sanchez, ibid., the riots in Cordova occurred on Thursday June 8 and Friday June 9. Aljama (pl. aljamas) is the Castilian term for the organized Jewish community. In an attempt to explain – in the absence of essential documentation – the violence that spread throughout Castile, observations have been made about the nature and sources of anti-Judaism in late fourteenth century Castile, and how they impacted the rioters.

Prologue

15

Indeed, the Seville Jewish community had warned three successive Castilian kings about Martinez’s inflammatory sermons, his interference in litigation concerning Jews, and his threats to nearby town councils if they did not banish Jews from their midst. Already in 1378, Enrique II, the young king’s grandfather, had declared Martinez’s actions an infringement upon the prerogatives of the royal authority since “the Jews pertain to our chamber.” Juan I, who followed his father, Enrique II, ordered Ferrant Martinez, in 1382, not to incite Christians through his sermons, to harm Jews, or to riot against them. Juan was angered, in 1383, that Martinez had asserted that the king and queen would be pleased if a Christian killed a Jew, and would pardon them for their actions. King Juan explicitly feared that Martinez’s preaching would result in the destruction of Seville’s aljama. On December 22, 1390, Enrique III ordered the revocation of Martinez’s reappointment as a judge, provisor, in the Seville diocese, whose see had become vacant when archbishop Pedro Gomez Barraso had died on July 9. King Enrique, together with mem´ bers of his regency council, took this step in response to complaints of the Jewish community that synagogues in Alcala´ de Guadaira, Coria (del Rio), and Cantillana had actually been destroyed on Martinez’s instructions, and upon threats by Jews that they would emigrate from the kingdom.5

5

´ Trastamara, ´ Valdeon pp. 72–83, stressed ´ Baruque, Los jud´ıos de Castilla y la revolucion the zealotry of recently converted Jews to Christianity as they sought to convince their former coreligionists of the truth of their new religion, the virulent preaching of antiJewish Christian clerics, and the interventions of the Avignon Pope, Gregory XI. Valdeon ´ also discusses anti-Jewish declarations made at meetings of the Castilian Cortes. See Jos´e ´ de un conflicto social. El antisemitismo en Mar´ıa Monsalvo Anton, ´ Teor´ıa y evolucion la Corona de Castilla en la baja edad media (Madrid, 1985), especially pp. 245–254 and Mitre Fernandez, Los jud´ıos de Castilla, pp. 35–45, where he reflects upon Valdeon’s ´ ´ particulars and analyzes their importance. All these many assertions aside, we are still left in the dark about the motivations of the rioters, or how these avowedly anti-Jewish trends actually influenced the attackers. With documentation on the actual riots in Castile scarce, much effort has been expended in the analysis of materials related to Ferrant Martinez. Our knowledge of Martinez’s actions vis-a-vis the Jews starts with the legal proceedings that a Seville Jew and aljama ` official, Hia ibn Ataben, brought against the churchman in 1388. This lawsuit occasioned the collection of previous royal actions against Ferrant Martinez, from which historians have derived most of their information about the churchman. These materials also contain some brief information on the population of Seville, and on its Jews. These documents were first published by Jos´e Amador de los R´ıos, Historia social: pol´ıtica y religiosa de ˜ y Portugal, vol. 2 (Madrid, 1876), pp. 579–589 and 592–594, and los jud´ıos de Espana then by Fritz Baer, Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien, vol. 2 (Berlin, 1936), pp. 210–218, no. 221. See the treatments of Amador de los R´ıos, Historia social, pp. 338–348, Henry Charles Lea, “Ferrand Martinez and the Massacres of 1391,” American Historical Review

16

“The Things As They Happened”

Local Seville church officials, as well as those from the larger archbishopric, acquiesced to the royal authorities, on January 15, to remove Martinez from his position of provisor. The ecclesiastics directed the churchman to cease preaching against the Jews, and ordered him, under threat of excommunication, to rebuild the destroyed synagogues within a year. Martinez declared, in response, that all synagogues in Castile had been built in violation of both civil and religious law. Furthermore, he contended, he was not subject to the royal government, but only to the church, and that, regardless, the ecclesiastics attached to the local cathedral chapter were not his judicial superiors. Anyway, their commands, he asserted, were based solely on accusations leveled by Jews, and were therefore not to be followed. Echoing Christian arguments that had their roots in late antiquity, Martinez reasoned that he could not be required to rebuild these “houses of the devil,” those synagogues of Satan, wherein three times daily Christ, the king, and the Christians were cursed.6 The people of Seville, the “gentes,” were stirred up against the Jews, according to Pero Lopez de Ayala, the contemporary Castilian courtier, ´ statesman, royal chronicler, and member of the governing regency council. As Lopez de Ayala explained, Jewish courtiers had arrived in Madrid ´ where the Cortes was meeting in 1391 – and where Lopez de Ayala ´ was in attendance as one of the Toledo representatives, to settle their tax-farming contracts. They reported to the regency council that they were in possession of a letter from the Sevillan aljama, which described that “the archdeacon of Ecija of the Seville church,” Ferrant Martinez, had preached publicly against the Jews, and how, as a result, the entire “pueblo” was incited against them. Leaders of the Sevillan aljama had also detailed to these Jews that Juan Alfonso, Conde de Niebla, and Alvar

6

1 (1896), pp. 209–219, Mario M´endez Bejarano, Histoire de la juiverie de S´eville, Madrid, 1922 in the Spanish translation, Historia de la juder´ıa de Sevilla (Seville, 1992), pp. 86– 91 and Isabel Montes Romero-Camacho, among her other publications, “Antisemitismo sevillano en la Baja Edad Media: El pogrom de 1391 y sus consecuencias,” Actas del III Coloquio de Historia Medieval Andaluza. La Sociedad Medieval Andaluza: Grupos no privilegiados (Jaen, 1984), specifically pp. 59–62. Martinez had threatened members of ´ other town councils, such as those in Ecija and Santa Olalla (del Cala), if they did not destroy their local synagogues, but these municipal leaders appear not to have complied. Lea, Ferrand Martinez, pp. 220–225. Martinez’s arguments evoke those of Ambrose of Milan who in 388 responded to Emperor Theodosius I’s order to rebuild the destroyed synagogue in Callinicum. See, inter alia, Neil B. McLynn, Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1994), pp. 298–315. On the adversus iudaeos tradition, generally, see Rosemary Ruether, Faith and Fratricide and Jeremy Cohen, Living Letters of the Law. Ideas of the Jew in Medieval Christianity (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1999).

Prologue

17

Perez de Guzman, the aguacil mayor of Seville, had hanged a man who had done ill to the Jews, whereupon the entire population of Seville arose, imprisoned the chief magistrate, and threatened to kill both the Conde and Alvar Perez. In the wake of this incident, the royal chronicler asserted, all the cities were incited to “destroy” the Jews. The Jewish representatives in Madrid, recounted Lopez de Ayala, ´ implored the regency council to intervene. In response, the conseio dispatched couriers, supplied with urgent messages from the king. When these envoys arrived in Seville, Cordova and other locales, they were only somewhat effective in relieving tensions, because, the chronicler reported, the gentes were very aroused, and were without fear. The people’s desire to pillage the Jews, he wrote, increased daily.7 7

´ I rely on Constance L. Wilkins and Heanon M. Wilkins eds., Pero Lopez de Ayala. Coronica de Enrique III (Madison, Wisconsin, 1992), Capitulo ix, p. 13. Robert B. Tate, “Lopez de Ayala, humanist historian?,” Hispanic Review XXV (1957), pp. 157–174 was ´ translated by Jesus ´ D´ıaz in Robert Brian Tate, Ensayos sobre la historiograf´ıa peninsular del siglo XV (Madrid, 1970), as “Lopez de Ayala ?‘historiador humanista?,” pp. 33–54. ´ On Lopez de Ayala, his life and works, see Antonio Serrano de Haro, El embajador ´ ´ Don Pero Lopez de Ayala (1332–1407) (Madrid, 2001) and German ´ Orduna, El arte narrativo y po´etico del Canciller Ayala (Madrid, 1998). Other chronicles of this period, written much later, should be used (see above, note 2, on Garci Sanchez), if at all, with much caution. The so-called Cuarta Cronica Gen´ ´ de documentos in´editos para la historia de Espana, ˜ vol. 15 (Madrid, eral, in Coleccion ´ ˜ (Madrid, 1893), p. 105, which Ramon Menendez Pidal, Cronicas generales de Espana 1893), pp. 93–97, demonstrated was penned in 1460, based on the earlier work of the thirteenth-century chronicler, Rodrigo Jim´enez de Rada, and with many interpolations, some anonymous, recorded that on Ash Wedesday, there was a great revolt against the Jews in Seville, because two Christians, who had called Jews dogs, were whipped. The “pueblo menudo” rose up, freed the two who had been scourged, and delivered them to the church of St. Mary. Thereupon, the people wanted to stone the aguacil, Alvar Perez. Diego Ortiz de Zu´ niga, a seventeenth-century churchman who did consult archival ˜ documentation – see the Seville 1978 reprint of the Madrid 1795 edition, Anales ´ ´ eclesiasticos y seculares de la muy noble y muy leal ciudad de Sevilla, metropoli de la Andalucia, pp. 236–237, presented an ecclesiastically tinged record of events, framed within the context of what to him was the Sevillans’ understandable hatred of the Jews. For Ortiz de Zu´ niga, it was on March 15, also the first day of Lent, that the alcalde mayor ˜ of Seville – the Conde de Niebla, Juan Alonso Guzman, together with his kinsman, the aguacil mayor – Alvar Perez de Guzman, and two other alcaldes, Rui Perez de Esquivel and Fernan Arias de Quadros, captured many of the individuals gathered in the city. This assemblage had been stirred up by Fernando [sic] Martinez, “varon de exemplar vida pero de zelo menos templado que conviniera,” who had railed against the Jews. (This view of Martinez is already present in the Scrutinium Scripturarum of Paulus de Sancta Maria, Pablo de Santa Mar´ıa, where he praised the archdeacon as possessed of a “literatura simplex et laudabilis vitae,” a “simple education though virtuous.” Through Martinez’s unorthodox activities, Paulus argued in 1435, he was able to bring so many

18

“The Things As They Happened”

When the June riots erupted in Seville, Enrique III had reigned for less than eight months. Born in Burgos, on October 4, 1379, Enrique had just passed his eleventh birthday when, suddenly, on October 9, 1390, his father Juan I died. On January 31, 1391, the Cortes which met in Madrid that year from January 21 to April 25, designated twentyfour individuals – comprising prominent members of the nobility and particular representatives from urban areas, to form a regency council. Among those named was the alcalde of Toledo, Pero Lopez de Ayala.8 ´ Fearful that attacks against Jews would spread, Enrique III attempted, from his court in Segovia, to put a halt to the deaths and depredations. On June 16, he sent a letter to the municipal leaders of the noble city of Burgos – “the principal city of Castile and of my chamber,” declaring that he and those of his [regency] council had begun to investigate the events at Seville and Cordova, and were determined to punish those responsible in a fashion that would deter any future anti-Jewish actions. The king reminded his correspondents that his ancestors, kings of Castile, had always defended the Jews, and that the church had seen this role as the legal responsibility of the monarch. Enrique asked the leaders of Burgos to announce publicly that anyone who harmed Jews or damaged their possessions, or even intended to stir up anti-Jewish passions, would be subject to both corporeal and monetary punishment. He demanded from the Burgos officials an account – just as previous leaders of the city had rendered to his predecessors, of the state of affairs in the city, and of the Jews living in the Jewish quarter. King Enrique reasoned that if Burgos, with its distinguished position within

8

Jews to abandon Judaism and choose the correct path.) The officials proceeded to whip two of the protesters and to have them imprisoned. As a result, the pueblo was moved to outright revolt, which the aguacil mayor and the Conde de Niebla, at risks to their lives, were unable to mollify. The mob turned their furor against the Jews, attacked and robbed them. Eventually, the city was pacified. Punishments could not be administered because of fear of causing a major riot, and pardons were consequently published. For this chronicler, the riots that erupted on June 6 were a separate uprising, which followed upon this first revolt. Read recreations of the events in Seville in Amador de los R´ıos, Historia social, pp. 357–359, Lea, pp. 215–216, M´endez Bejarano, p. 90, Benzion Netanyahu, The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain (New York, 1995), p. 143, and Romero-Camacho, p. 62. Luis Suarez Fernandez, “Problemas pol´ıticos de la minoridad de Enrique III,” Hispania ´ ´ XII 46 (1952), pp. 163–231, specifically pp. 174–177. On Enrique III, generally, see Fernando Suarez Bilbao, Enrique III (Palencia, 1994). Emilio Mitre Fernandez, “Los ´ ´ Jud´ıos y la corona de Castilla en el transito al siglo xv,” Cuadernos de Historia. Anejos ´ de la revista Hispania 23 (1969), pp. 347–368 covers the period before and after the riots.

Prologue

19

Castile, remained quiet and calm, it would set a good example for the rest of his kingdom.9 The royal order appeared to have its desired effect. There is good reason to believe that the year 1391 passed and the Jewish community of Burgos remained relatively unscathed. But the ultimate goal proved elusive; riots did spread throughout the Kingdom of Castile.10 Many of the Jewries of Andalusia, and of other regions of Castile, were devastated. According to Hasdai Crescas, about seventy Jewish communities were destroyed. The destruction in Toledo was especially momentous for Crescas. He noted that the Toledo assault took place on Tammuz 9

10

Archivo municipal de Burgos, Historica, no. 2959, original papel, addressed to the “los ´ alcalles e merinos e los sese omnes bonos de la muy noble cibdad de Burgos,” can be found in Fritz Baer, Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien, Erster Teil, Zweiter Band (Berlin, 1936), pp. 232–233, no. 248. The complete text was also published, with some differences, in Francisco Cantera Burgos, Alvar Garc´ıa de Santa Mar´ıa y su familia de conversos (Madrid, 1952), pp. 53–54. A brief discussion of the problematics of the text is on pp. 21–22. Salo W. Baron translated the letter in part in his A Social and Religious History of the Jews, vol. 10 (New York and London, 1965), pp. 170–171, and John Edwards rendered most of Baer’s text into English in his edited volume, The Jews in Western Europe, 1400–1600 (Manchester and New York, 1994), pp. 47–48. See also Teofilo Lopez Mata, “Morer´ıa y juder´ıa,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de la Historia ´ ´ 129 (1951), p. 358. Amador de los R´ıos, Historia social, p. 378 asserts, without citing sources, that the Jewish community was attacked, even annihilated, on August 12 of 1391. Archivo Municipal de Burgos, Libro de Actas de 1391, dated September 8, 1391 – discussed by Lopez Mata, ´ pp. 359–360, Cantera, pp. 22–23, and by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 2, pp. 238–239 though he mentions the year 1392 – indicates that there was tension surrounding the Jewish quarter and its inhabitants, not that there were any attacks on persons or property. Baer’s claim, A History, vol. 2, p. 98, that there was an outbreak of violence several days after the royal proclamation, presumably on June 16, seems without foundation. Documents from September of 1391, which refer to the Jewish community, do not mention any destruction. As for the documents of November 1391, which, inferentially, demonstrate that there was space in the juder´ıa to quarter members of the royal party does not indicate to my mind that the Jewish quarter had become depopulated as a result of attacks suffered specifically during the past year. On evidence from later Hebrew poetry about assaults in Burgos, see infra, the following note. Clearly the Jews of Burgos were besieged in 1392; see Archivo Municipal de Burgos, documento papel no. 2960, dated July 20, 1392, and no. 2961 of July 30, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 2, pp. 237–239, no. 253 and pp. 239–240, no. 254, respectively. A fuller version is in Lopez Mata, pp. 361–363 and pp. 363–365. See also Cantera Burgos, ´ Alvar Garc´ıa, pp. 24–27. On July 20, the attackers are described as again besetting, “agora nuevamient,” the Jewish community, but it is not clear if this refers to events in other locales of the previous year or to an attack in Burgos earlier that year. The Jews, according to the king, are about to be robbed. Theories about the reasons for the diffusion of the riots are presented and analyzed ´ pp. 254–263 and Mitre Fernandez, by Monsalvo Anton, Los jud´ıos ´ Teor´ıa y evolucion, ´ de Castilla, pp. 19–31.

20

“The Things As They Happened”

17 – a day that according to rabbinic chronology multiple sorrows befell the Jewish people, and suggested a parallel between olden times when God’s wrath was manifest against the holy city of Jerusalem, and the devastation suffered by the Jewish community of Toledo in 1391. Crescas asserted that the religious significance of the attack lay in the public sanctification of God by the Toledo rabbis – “the principled and chosen seed of Rabbi Asher,” their children and students, some of whom chose death over baptism. Crescas allowed that many of the Jews in Toledo converted to Christianity, unable as they were to defend themselves.11 11

Crescas may have wished to link the sacrificial system prescribed in the ancient Temple and the present-day sacrifices of the Toledo rabbis. The poem, ‘Adat yeshurun kulkhem’ (All of you, Congregation of Yeshurun), dates the Toledo attack, as well, to 17th Tammuz, and mentions that a Rabbi Yehudah sacrificed his wife and children. His own fate is not recorded. In his early sixteenth century chronicle, Sefer Yuhasin, Herschell Filipowski ed., Sefer Yuhasin haShalem (London, 1857), p. 225a, Avraham Zacut simply mentions that Rabbi Yehudah son of ROSh, Rabbi Yitzhak ben Shushan, and others were killed. Earlier in his chronicle, p. 222b, Zacut relates that all the family of Yehiel, father of Rabbenu Asher (ROSh), were labeled holy ones, kedoshim, since they sanctified the name (of God) during all the persecutions. Especially so the holy Rabbi Judah, his wife, and mother-in-law and their children, who each killed the other. Cf. his programmatic comment on p. 51a. On later perceptions of these suicides, including evidence of such behavior during the course of the riots, see Ram Ben-Shalom, “Kidush [sic] ha-Shem and Jewish Martyrdom in Aragon and Castile in 1391: Between Spain and Ashkenaz [Hebrew],” Tarbiz 70 (2001), pp. 227–282 and Ram Ben-Shalom, “Jewish Martyrdom and Conversion in Sepharad and Ashkenaz in the Middle Ages: An Assessment of the Reassessment [Hebrew],” Tarbiz 71 (2001–2002), pp. 279–300, which is in response to Abraham Gross, “Conversions and Martyrdom in Spain in 1391: A Reassessment of Ram Ben-Shalom [Hebrew],” Tarbiz 71, pp. 269–277. The conversation between Ben-Shalom and Gross revolves in the main on the ahistorical comparison of evidence derived from later literary accounts of Jewish behavior during the first crusade, and the evidence of Jewish suicides during the 1391 attacks. I will note the evidence for suicide throughout Castile and Aragon in the relevant chapters. Asher ben Yehiel, c. 1250–1327, was an Ashkenazi born and trained rabbi who in 1305 became the rabbi of Toledo. See Alfred Freimann’s articles in the Jahrbuch der Judisch-Literarischen Gesellschaft: “Ascher b. Jehiel: Sein Leben und Wirken” 12 (1918), pp. 237–317 and “Die Ascheriden (1267–1391)” 13 (1919), pp. 142–254. These articles have been translated into a Hebrew book entitled Ha-Rosh. Rabbenu Asher b”r Yehiel ve-Ze’eza’av (Jerusalem, 1986), note pp. 114–115. On the perception that Ashkenazi Jewry would choose to die rather than be baptized, see inter alia, Jeremy Cohen, Sanctifying the Name of God: Jewish Martyrs and Jewish Memories of the First Crusade (Philadelphia, 2004). Besides Rabbi Yehudah, the great grandson of Asher ben Yehiel, the anonymous author of ‘Adat yeshurun kulkhem also records (as did Zacut much later) that a famous Rabbi Yitzhak was killed. Rabbi Shmuel the minor, according to the poet, refused the blandishments of conversion and, therefore, like Yehudah and Yitzhak, was killed. Additionally, Rabbi Yisrael the poet was either killed or took his own life (poem is ambiguous), and the same fate befell Shlomo his brother, who viewed his dead brother’s

Prologue

21

In Lopez de Ayala’s account, numerous aljamas, including those of ´ Burgos, Toledo, and Logrono, ˜ were ruined as a result of the riots in the kingdom. Indeed, there was destruction in, among other places, from south to north, Jerez de la Frontera, Cuenca, Madrid, Segovia, and Soria.12

12

corpse. A similar destiny that was the lot of Rabbi Yisrael and Shlomo overtook Moshe ben Asher. A young man, Avraham ben Ofrit, was drowned in the river. According to the anonymous poet, nine synagogues and five study halls (each called midrash) were destroyed in the attack. A number of the dirges on the events of 1391 mention Toledo. See the convenient chart, in Hebrew, of information extracted from the elegies compiled by Yonah David in his The Poems of Yehiel Ben-Harosh (New York, 1986), pp. 64–65. While historians have utilized this information to provide data about the Toledo Jewish community, there are methodological difficulties in attempting to extract data about the attacks from this or any other poem. On the Hebrew elegies and the challenges they pose to the investigator, see also note below. The text was published with an introduction and annotations by Cecil Roth, “A Hebrew Elegy on the Martyrs of Toledo, 1391,” Jewish Quarterly Review 39 (1948), pp. 123–150. The dirge was translated by Norman Roth in Carlos del Valle, Norman Roth, and Arie Schippers, “Eleg´ıas hebreas sobre las persecuciones de 1391 en Espana,” ˜ in Carlos del Valle Rodriguez ed., Las persecuciones de 1391 en las eleg´ıas hebreas. Iberia Judaica, vol. 3 (Madrid, 2011), pp. 99–105. Both Cecil Roth and Norman Roth provide bibliography on other recensions and previous publications of this poem. I have relied upon Hasdai Crescas, archival sources, and Pero Lopez de Ayala to deter´ mine in which Castilian cities, villages, and locales Jews were harmed. There are other sources (including some chronicles – see above note 7) that are insufficiently trustworthy, and whose data I have not included in the text. Among those materials are Hebrew elegies, see previous note, written over the course of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which appear to reflect on the events of 1391. Dan Pagis, “Dirges on the Persecutions of 1391 in Spain” (Hebrew), Tarbiz 37 (1968), pp. 355–373, is the first synthetic article that analyzed this corpus of poetry, and added two additional poems to the list of already published material. A list of the poets and their poems, with all the relevant citations, appears on pp. 370–371. A chart of the poets and which towns they mention appears on pp. 372–373. Now see del Valle, Roth, and Schippers, Eleg´ıas hebreas, pp. 77–113, which contains Spanish translations of some of the poems by Carlos del Valle, and English translations of others by Norman Roth and Arie Schippers. Locales – where attacks on Jews are mentioned in the poems, are bolded. Both these articles contain pertinent bibliography. Other recent articles about these dirges are Carmen Balesteros, “Perseguic¸oes ˜ aos judeus espanhois ´ atrav´es ´ Revista Cultural do Concelho de de trˆes Kinot ou Lamentac¸oes ˜ Judaicas,” Ibn Maruan, ˜ vol. 8 (Lisbon, 1998), pp. 251–268, Wout Van Bekkum, “Structures of Spanish Marvao, Qinoth from the Fifteenth-Century,” Eleventh World Congress of Jewish Studies, C vol. III (1994), pp. 21–28, and Wout Jacques Van Bekkum and Joseph Yahalom, “Come Back into the Fold, My Beloved One: A Fifteenth-Century Hebrew Dirge on the Fate of ¨ 36 (2010), pp. 69–83. Spanish Jewry,” Frankfurter Judaistische Beitrage It is not known when these elegies were written, and if their authors might be referring, in some cases, to events that took place after the 1391 riots. What is needed is a comprehensive essay on the themes that recur throughout these elegies, from destruction to conversion to God’s providence, and fewer attempts to locate some of the references strewn throughout these dirges. Despite the justified hesitation in mining

“The Things As They Happened”

22

(Footnote 12 continued) these sources for data about the riots, it is important to note when the poems refer to locales that do not appear in other sources. I do not use the poetry to chronicle the riots in the Crown of Aragon, about which we contain abundant archival data. Amador de los R´ıos, Historia social, pp. 359–363, sees the lines of attacks moving from the archbishopric of Seville to the bishopric of Cordoba, and then onto Ja´en through ´ Montoro and Andujar, although he is not clear if Jews were assaulted in these towns. ´ ´ And then he reports that the violence proceeded from Ubeda through Navas de Tolosa to Ciudad Real. It appears that Amador may simply have imagined the best possible route for the rioters as if a group of them traveled from one locale to another. The towns listed by Amador were then reproduced and enhanced by Wolff, The 1391 Pogrom in Spain, pp. 8–9, and following Wolff, by other Spanish historians. A cartographic depiction of the sites of some of the peninsular riots, and the supposed routes that the violence took, is in Angus MacKay, Spain in the Middle Ages. From Frontier to Empire, 1000– 1500 (New York, 1977), Map 5. Pagis, Dirges on the Persecutions, p. 357, correctly maintains that it is not known when most of the attacks occurred, and that the order of the communities that were assaulted changes from one poem to another. In any event, a poet’s sense of organization is not that of the historian. Nevertheless, below is a list of all the towns (thirty-five) that were mentioned in the Hebrew poems of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The account of the riots in the late fifteenth, early sixteenth century work by Shlomo ibn Verga, Shevet Yehudah ed., Azriel Shohat (Jerusalem, 1946), p. 119, refers to sites not indicated by ´ other sources. They are Carrion, Escalona, Illescas, Ocana, ´ Ecija, ˜ and Torrijos. While Crescas asserted that the number of locales where violence against the Jews occurred amounted to seventy, it is not clear if they were all in Castile, or in Castile and Aragon. Alcaraz Astorga ´ Avila Baeza Benavente Burgos Carmona Cordova Coria Cornago Cuenca Huete

Ja´en Jerez Leon ´ Logrono ˜ Llerena Madrid Mayorga Osuna Palencia Paredes Salamanca Sanlucar ´

Segovia Seville Soria Toledo Toro ´ Ubeda Valencia (de don Juan) Valladolid Villareal Yanguas Zamora

Jews appear to have been protected in Murcia; see the discussion on Oriola in the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia. The comparison between Oriola and Murcia is raised by Juan Torres Fontes, “Los jud´ıos murcianos a fines del siglo xiv y comienzos ´ del xv,” Miscelanea Medieval Murciana 8 (1981). See pp. 61–63 and Luis Rubio Garc´ıa, Los jud´ıos de Murcia en la baja edad media (1350–1500), vol. 1 (Murcia, 1992), p. 147.

Prologue

map 2. Sites in the Kingdom of Castile where Jews were killed or harmed

23

1 The City of Valencia

The violence was not confined to the Kingdom of Castile. On July 9, a month and five days after the tumultuous events in Seville, riots broke out against the Jews of the city of Valencia, the capital city of the southeastern kingdom of the neighboring Crown of Aragon. In the wake of the attacks on Castilian Jewry, the leaders of Valencia’s Jewish community had been anxious about the safety of their members and had turned to the royal authorities to oblige the executive officials of the Valencia municipality, the jurats, to ensure their safety. King Joan I, on June 27, responded positively to the Jews’ petition, and the Jewish officials, royal letter in hand, approached the city fathers. At a plenary meeting of the city council, the jurats read aloud Joan’s message, wherein the king instructed them to punish anyone who either verbally or physically injured either the aliama or its members.1 There was good reason for the city fathers to have been apprehensive as well. Even as the city had assumed a predominant political and economic position within its kingdom during the fourteenth century, tensions had risen between local Christians and Jews. The Jewish population had increased to approximately 2,500 individuals out of the city’s 30,000

1

Arxiu de la Corona d’Arago, ´ Cancilleria Reial, Reg. 1878, fol. 49r-v and fol. 50r-v. See the chapter on the king. For a general overview of Valencia muncipal government, see Rafael Narbona Vizca´ıno, Valencia, municipio medieval: poder pol´ıtico y luchas ciudadanas (1239–1418) (Valencia, 1995), pp. 25–40 and ff. Aliama is the general Catalan term for the organized Jewish community.

24

The City of Valencia

map 3. Sites in the Crown of Aragon where Jews were killed or harmed

25

26

“The Things As They Happened”

inhabitants, and Jews had begun to inhabit residences in streets adjacent to their traditional quarter.2 Christians who were distressed by the expansion of the Jews’ presence in Valencia initiated calls to delimit the Jews’ area of residence, and such efforts gained momentum during the reign of Joan I. A commission comprising local officials and Crown representatives confirmed the presence of the Jews outside their quarter and agreed, in February 1390, to restrict Jewish residence to an enlarged but contained neighborhood. King Joan, in November 1390, cautioned the town’s leading men, the prohomens, against allowing those repelled by Jews to incite the population against the Jewish community. Other Valencians, concerned that the closure of the well-located Jewish sector would limit their access both to the city center as well as to the port, appealed for the opening of a street that would cut through the juheria, the Jewish quarter. In February 1391, the municipality acknowledged the grievances of those disadvantaged by the closure, and in April of that year decided on a new route to span the Jewish quarter. On June 14, less than a month before the riots, both the Xerea neighborhood inhabitants and the Dominican friars – those who resided between the port and the center of town, continued to press for the opening of the road.3 2

3

The overall population of the city and of its Jews grew in the fourteenth century despite episodes of the plague and instances of drought. See Agust´ın Rubio Vela, “Sobre la poblacion Bolet´ın de la Sociedad ´ de Valencia en el cuatrocientos (Nota demografica),” ´ Castellonense de Cultura 56 (1980), pp. 158–170, and Agust´ın Rubio Vela, “La poblacion ´ ˜ de Valencia en la Baja Edad Media,” Hispania. Revista espanola de historia 55 (1995), pp. 495–525. Meyerson, Jews in an Iberian Frontier Kingdom, p. 213, asserts that Valencia’s self-perception as a Christian mercantile republic perforce had a negative impact on the Jews. For a history of the Jewish quarter in Valencia and specifically fourteenth-century attempts to contain the growing neighborhood, see Francisco Danvila, “Clausura y delim´ itacion ´ de la juder´ıa de Valencia en 1390 a´ 1391,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de la Historia 18 (1891), pp. 143–159, Jos´e Rodrigo Pertegas, ´ “La juder´ıa de Valencia,” in Jos´e Sanchis y Sivera ed., La Iglesia Parroquial de Santo Tomas de Valencia (Valencia, 1913), pp. 245–267, Angelina Garcia, “La crisis del siglo xiv valenciano y Bonifacio Ferrer,” in Juan Garcia Gonzalez and Jos´e Trenchs Odena eds., Estudios de Historia de Valencia ´ (Valencia, 1978), pp. 81–89, and Marilda Azulay and Estrella Israel, La Valencia jud´ıa: ´ (Valencia, 2009), pp. 189–248 (with many espacios, l´ımites y vivencias hasta la expulsion helpful maps). See also Vidal Beltran, ´ Valencia, pp. 13–19, Jos´e Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia. From Persecution to Expulsion (Jerusalem, 1993), p. 23, Francisco A. Roca Traver, Los jud´ıos valencianos en la baja edad media (Valencia, 1998), pp. 104–109, Rafael Narbona Vizca´ıno, “El trienio negro: Valencia, 1389–91. ˜ Medieval 35 (2012), pp. Turbulencias coetaneas al asalto de la juder´ıa,” En la Espana ´ 184–188, 195–197, and 199–200, and Meyerson, p. 269. Andr´es Ivars Cardona, “Los jurados de Valencia y el inquisidor Fr. Nicolas ´ Eymerich. Controversia luliana,” Archivo Ibero-Americano 6 (1916), pp. 68–159 and 15 (1921), pp. 212–219, offers a characterization of the religious atmosphere in Valencia.

The City of Valencia

27

Forewarned by the king, Valencia leaders embarked on a multipronged strategy to secure their Jewish population from attack. They mounted an effort to keep out the latest riot information that Castilians and other travelers were bringing daily into Valencia, and which was fomenting unease among the population. The city fathers ordered officials in professional and craft organizations to reprimand and punish their constituents who, lacking judgment, would dare to attack the Jews. The jurats also dispatched criminal magistrates and well-trained guards to patrol the Jewish quarter at night, and to make frequent appearances during the day. Further, the municipal leaders had gallows constructed and placed throughout the city – especially at sites near the juheria, to indicate the punishment that awaited putative violators. According to the Valencia magistrates, the Jews and their leaders were satisfied with these security arrangements.4 All these precautions were of no avail. On Sunday July 9, during the siesta hour and while people were at dinner, a band of about fifty boys, minyons, marched from the market area of the city toward the plac¸a de la Figuera and the portal of the juheria. Carrying small blue/white pennants stitched with white crosses, and crosses fashioned from reeds, these minyons called out to the Jews that the archdeacon of Castile (a likely reference to Ferrant Martinez), cross in hand, was coming to baptize them, and that the Jews would be killed if they refused to convert. A group of these boys then entered the Jewish quarter through the northeastern gate adjacent to the plaza. The Jews responded by shutting the portal through which the minyons had penetrated the juheria, and by closing all other entrances to their quarter. The fingers of one of the boys were severed as his hand, presumably, was caught in the closing doors.

4

ACA, Reg. 1875, fol. 112r-v, Joan’s letter to the Valencia leaders, was published by Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 217. The new passage through the Jewish precinct involved the enlargement of an alleyway and the construction of a wall to separate pedestrians and other passersby from the denizens of the quarter. In some instances, the walls of houses served as a demarcation; in other situations, windows and doorways opening onto the new street had to be shut. In a few cases, the demarcation line was drawn through apartment blocks where Christians and Jews lived together. As a result, some houses were designated for expropriation. Workers on the new wall were attacked by affected residents, and the jurats had to make certain that they would be safeguarded from violence. Jews could well have been among those who were disadvantaged by the closure. It is noteworthy that the Muslim quarter was not subject to definition, and that some Muslims continued to live outside the city walls. See note 1 above. Hasdai Crescas reported that in the wake of the attacks on Castilian Jews and before the attack on the Jews of Valencia, “we Jews here,” a reference to the Jews of the Crown of Aragon, or perhaps only to Saragossa, were on guard night and day.

28

“The Things As They Happened”

Some youths were confined inside. Those in the plaza heard the clamor of the minyons trapped within the now-locked juheria, and cried aloud that their companions were being killed by the Jews. The youths remaining in the plaza were now joined by those who had enlisted for a military expedition to Sicily. Since June 11, recruitment tables had been set up in the plaza and “vagabonds, strangers and people of low and poor estate” had been milling about. When they heard the cries of the minyons, they rushed to aid them. The Jews bolted the gates of their quarter even more securely, and the rumor began to spread among those gathered, and throughout the city, that the youngsters inside had been slain. Upon hearing what happened, the jurats, the governor, and the criminal magistrate with his subordinates repaired to Don Mart´ı – the duke of Montblanc, the Aragonese governor general, and brother of King Joan, who had arrived in Valencia at the end of June to command the naval expedition. The duke rose from his dinner table, dispatched members of this embassy to different portals of the juheria, and rode off to the plac¸a de la Figuera where the minyons had massed.5 Assembled in front of the juheria, the jurats, the other city officials, and the duke were eyewitnesses to many of the following events yet they disagreed on some of the particulars. The duke reported to his brother that Sunday evening how he, armed with his javelin, waded into the crowd that had congregated in the plaza, and that the uproar subsided. The jurats, governor, and magistrate then joined him, and the crowd began to move toward the other end of the juheria. Mart´ı claimed that he ordered the closure of all the portals of the Jewish quarter, and dispatched all of these officials to guard these entrances. As he rode to the various portals, the crowd gravitated to the other entrances. According to the city 5

This account of the events of Sunday July 9 is based on a letter the city fathers wrote the king that Sunday and on the July 10 report of the city council. The letter of the jurats to the king is from Arxiu Historic Municipal de Valencia (hereinafter AMV), Lletres ` misives, g3–5, fol. 19r-20r and was first published by Roque Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, “Los jud´ıos valencianos. El robo de la juder´ıa en 9 Julio de 1391,” El Archivo 5 (1891), pp. 184–185. It also can be found in Agust´ın Rubio Vela, Epistolari de la Val`encia medieval (Val`encia, 1985), pp. 269–271, no. 103 and in Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, p. 328, no. 6. The July 10 account of the jurats and the consellers, councilors, is in AMV, Manual de Consells A-19, fols. 241r–245v and has been published many times. It can be found in Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, pp. 112–116 and Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 329–331, no. 7. Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 117, asserts that, given the tensions in Valencia it was to be expected that the riots in the Crown of Aragon would begin in that city. That assertion is the burden of the article by Narbona Vizca´ıno, El trienio negro.

The City of Valencia

29

officials, it was not the duke but the Jews themselves who had shut all the gates and then secured them even further.6 When the officials arrived at the juheria’s gates, the jurats reported that day to the king, they encountered tumultuous crowds. Although sufficient manpower was deployed to prevent the portals of the juheria from being stormed, the Jewish quarter was invaded. Wooden railings were broken above the wall overlooking the old enclosure, and it was from this unforeseen spot that the attackers had entered. The jurats suggested that this area of the juheria might have been chosen because it was there that the Jews had killed a Christian. Indeed, according to the city officials, the body of the dead person was carried out of the juheria and displayed to the duke. Soon thereafter the entire Jewish quarter was under assault. When the various officials arrived at the portals of the juheria, the jurats explained the next day in council, the duke ordered the Jews to open the gates so the youths who were inside could leave. He mistakenly anticipated that when the boys would be seen alive, the crowd positioned outside the quarter would be calmed. He further hoped, according to the jurats, that while the Jewish quarter was unlocked, he and others would be able to protect the Jews who had secured themselves within their houses. He imagined that the multitude outside the quarter would not dare to enter since public criers had made known throughout the city the severe penalties that awaited those who attempted to breach the juheria. The Jews were not as sanguine about the duke’s ability to protect them and disagreed among themselves whether they should unlock the doors to their quarter. Ultimately, fearful of what might ensue, they refused to accede to the duke’s wishes. Outside, the tumult increased. The Christians, unable to enter the Jewish quarter through its regular openings, penetrated the juheria by climbing onto the flat roofs of houses of Christians that abutted the Jewish quarter, and by passing through the old enclosure below the bridge. The duke, jurats, and others, however, could not enter the Jewish quarter. Neither were they able to stop the flow of the mob, which was enraged that Jews within the enclosure had killed a Christian and severed the finger of another. When the duke heard noise coming from within the call, the Jewish street, he imagined that the Jews were creating the uproar until he learned 6

The July 9 letter of the duke is from ACA, Reg. 2093, fol. 112r-v and was first published by Riera Sans, Los tumultos, pp. 220–221 and then by Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 327–328, no. 5. See the chapter on the duke for more on Mart´ı’s letter to his brother.

30

“The Things As They Happened”

that the mob was the source of the tumult. They had fallen upon the Jews with swords and some Jews had been killed. When the portals were opened – probably from the inside and by the attackers, he saw Christians firing crossbows and hurling stones at Jews. He then distanced himself from the fighting.7 On July 21, Juseff Abarim, a Valencia Jew who survived the riots, testified at an inquest into the robbery and assault on the Jewish quarter. He appeared as Johan Perez de Sant Jordi; he converted most likely as a consequence of the attacks, possibly on July 9. His testimony at these criminal court proceedings corroborates some of what we already know. He deposed that on that Sunday around midday, he was at his home, which apparently formed part of the perimeter wall of the Jewish quarter. When he heard the great tumult and the closure of the portals to the juheria, he secured the gate to his own house. Before the third hour of the afternoon, he declared, city people attacked the quarter from the old enclosure and from other vantage points. The lock to his door, although fastened with “large and strong spikes,” was shattered; all that remained of the door itself were the beams. More than twenty men, some dressed in hooded cloaks and armed with swords, knives, and sticks, entered his home. Writing boxes and cabinets were reduced to splinters; the straw mattresses on the beds were torn apart. The destruction was so pervasive that even nails were pulled out of the walls. The current Johan de Sant Jordi estimated the damage to his house to be 3,000 golden florins. Clearly the former Juseff was a wealthy man. How he had amassed his fortune is apparent from the remainder of his testimony. A small box constructed of juniperwood and inlaid with ivory, Johan added, had been destroyed as well. It contained credit notes and debt contracts worth more 7

Many have retold the story. It is apparent to Vidal Beltran, ´ p. 55, followed by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 24, that no guards were on patrol that Sunday since the youths, whom he describes as hotheads, were able to travel across a third of the city. On the recruitment tables, see Jaume Riera i Sans, “Estrangers participants als avalots contra les jueries de la Corona d’Aragon el 1391,” Anuario de estudios medievales, vol. 10 (Barcelona, 1980), p. 578, incorrectly citing fol. 270r-v of ACA, Reg. 2029. In the municipal letter of the 17th, all the officials traveled together to the Jewish quarter; in the missive of the 20th to the councilors of Barcelona, the jurats stressed that they went immediately to the duke. On all, see below. Roca Traver, pp. 108–109, is confident – based on the jurats’ letter of July 9, he can locate where the attackers had broken the wooden railings overlooking the old enclosure, and had entered the Jewish quarter. In the city magistrates’ letter of July 10, though, they described those involved in the assault as having climbed onto the flat roofs of houses of Christians and passed through the old enclosure below the bridge. Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 25, basing himself on later documents, calls attention to this discrepancy.

The City of Valencia

31

than 30,000 florins. Juseff might well have been a moneylender or a tax and rent collector; his writing box and book cabinets were probably the most obvious physical representations of his business activities. That one could enter his house from outside of the Jewish quarter was probably ideal for such a professional. But that was not all. The assailants placed a knife at the throat of his brother Nachor who successfully fought them off with a crossbow. “Badly-born without the fear of God,” they raped his niece Lisa – married to Isaar Lobin, and Sober, a slave and his son’s wet-nurse. The leader of this assault troop, armed with a stick, hit Juseff on his arm and behind his ear. Asked by the court whether he could identify the attackers, all Johan could say was that one of them was a man of social rank but that he could not be certain.8 As late as sunset on Sunday, the riots were ongoing and the Jewish quarter was being sacked. Although the jurats reported that the violence had mostly ceased, they continued to seek the most effective remedy to contain the “tempestuous pestilence.” The municipal leaders explained how both they and the duke ordered the city gates to be locked, that guards be installed at its entranceways to ensure that the principal agitators and participants in the attacks would not be able to flee, and that the booty stolen from the juheria could not be removed. Mart´ı declared that he had devised another remedy to resolve the continuing crisis. Many Jews had exited their quarter, and announced their wish to be baptized. In order “to mitigate the wickedness of the Christians,” the duke dispatched priests, armed with a crucifix, to enter the juheria. Mart´ı reasoned that as more and more Jews were baptized, the attackers would cease their depredations. And so it happened. As Christians witnessed the baptisms, they let up on their attacks and allowed Jews to leave the juheria. As of sunset, Mart´ı wrote, Jews were still leaving their quarter, and proceeding to churches to convert. So many had already become Christian, there were “very few left to be baptized.” While, on July 9, the jurats made no mention to the 8

Francisco Danvila published this text in “El robo de la juder´ıa de Valencia,” Bolet´ın de ´ la Real Academia de la Historia VIII (1886), pp. 390–391 with a Castilian translation alongside the original. He cites the Archivo del Regno de Valencia, Papeles de justiciazgo criminal, Robo de la juder´ıa, 1391. I have not been able to locate the document in the ARV. Eleazar Gutwirth, “Towards Expulsion: 1391–1492,” in Elie Kedourie, ed., Spain and the Jews. The Sephardi Experience, 1492 and After (London, 1992), p. 54 translated part of Danvila’s text into English. Johan Perez de Sant Jordi may well have sought to ´ protect his own safety by professing ignorance of the attackers’ identities.

32

“The Things As They Happened”

king of the conversions, they reported, when they met the next day in council, that many of the Jews had indeed converted. While the riots were progressing, Mart´ı apprised the king that one Christian and a few Jews had died. Even though he acknowledged, on July 9, that he did not know the exact number of Jews who had perished, “I well imagine that it is not large,” he assured his brother. The jurats, that Sunday, reported to King Joan that “some Christians died there but many more Jews.” The next day, the jurats announced in council that some hundred Jews had been killed in the assault on the Jewish quarter. The Valencian, Johan de Vilarrasa, explained to his father, on Monday July 10, that he was unable to resolve a judicial matter with one Fornet because the local prosecuting attorney, the fiscal, was involved in investigations. Johan wrote that, aside from the wounded, 230 Jewish men and women and ten to twelve Christians had died.9 While the jurats and the duke may have been in agreement that the minyons were the proximate cause of the riots, and of the ensuing murder of almost ten percent of Valencia Jewry, they do not inform us whose idea it was to dispatch this youth delegation toward the Jewish quarter, or even, more prosaically, who actually sewed the crosses on the banners. The juvenile marchers came armed not only with their standards but also with slogans – die Jews die or become Christians, and with the name of the scourge of Castilian Jews, Ferrant Martinez – professionally misidentified as the archdeacon of Castile – on their lips. The jurats and the duke do not mention whether the youths were organized by traveling Castilians or whether the local Dominicans – whose order’s ideals included the conversion of the Jews, and were among those who, only weeks earlier, agitated for a Jewish quarter accessible to the rest of the city – were responsible for the procession of minyons.10 9 10

The letter to Francisco de Vilarrasa is from Danvila, El robo, p. 392, who cites Archivo ´ de los condes de Faura. Correspondencias, l´ıo 13. Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, p. 248, observes that by invoking the role of children, adults by implication were freed from bearing the responsibility of their own actions. Narbona Vizca´ıno speculates, pp. 206–207, that these youths should be identified with the children of distinguished Valencia families who were involved in rowdy behavior in the weeks prior to the riots. See the interesting materials collected by Raquel ˜ Medieval 24 Homet, “Ninos y adolescentes en fiestas y ceremonias,” En la Espana ˜ (2001), pp. 145–169. While Ferrant Martinez is called the “archpriest of Seville” on July 10, he was labeled the “archdeacon of Castile” on the 9th and, see infra, on the 17th. He is also labeled such by King Joan on May 4, 1392; see, below, the chapter on the king. Although the conversion of the Jews was not the only ideal professed by the Dominicans, such yearning had only grown in importance since the early thirteenth century.

The City of Valencia

33

The authorities also portrayed the nautical recruits and the others milling about the plaza as crucial to the explosion of violence, although such emphasis, like their stress on the minyons, may have served simply to turn away attention from the adult inhabitants of Valencia. Indeed, while two weeks earlier, the jurats, encouraged by the king, warned members of professional and craft organizations not to harm Jews, the accounts written by Mart´ı and municipal leaders in the immediate aftermath of the violence, do not refer to such individuals or groups. Instead, they assert that the uproar was started by youngsters marching toward the Jewish quarter, and waving cross-embroidered pennants. Youngsters and sailors aside, Juseff Abarim – contrary to the claims of the duke and the jurats, testified that a person of social rank was amongst his attackers. Perhaps he recognized other of his assailants as well. Being hooded protected the rioters even as it safeguarded Juseff, days later, from having to identify individuals who could still pose a threat to him despite his conversion. Juseff’s attackers were armed, and their intention was to plunder, but also to murder and to rape. Christians knew the physical layout of the Jewish quarter, and the location of some of the Jews’ houses. They knew where to stand to fire their cross-bows into the quarter, and some knew how to break into Juseff’s house, and presumably, to enter the homes of other Jews. Indeed, conversion of Jews may not have been the principal goal of many of the Christian rioters. Still one wonders whether Juseff volunteered to be baptized while the attack on his house was underway, or whether his assailants offered conversion as an option through which he could save his life. Perhaps Juseff made this decision after the riots had On the Dominicans and their relationship with members of other monotheistic faiths, see Robin Vose, Dominicans, Muslims, and Jews in the Medieval Crown of Aragon (Cambridge, England, 2009). The mendicant orders’ reappraisal of the status of Jews in western Christendom is explored in Jeremy Cohen, The Friars and the Jews. The Evolu` tion of Medieval Anti-Judaism (Ithaca, 1984). Jaume Riera i Sans, Jornades d’ historia dels jueus a Catalunya, pp. 172–173, has argued that, although there were other motivations for the violence, apocalyptic sentiments, a sense that world was to end in the waning years of the fourteenth century – and a world would be inaugurated in which there was economic, political, and religious equality (that all Jews and Muslims would convert to Christianity), should be seen as an overarching motivation for the rioters. David Nirenberg, Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition (New York and London, 2013), pp. 218–222 and ff. expands on this notion and argues that the rioters, as well as a variety of officials, were stimulated by this vision of a world without Jews. See also Robert Lerner, The Feast of Saint Abraham: Medieval Millennarians and the Jews (Philadelphia, 2001), pp. 101–110 and Narbona Vizca´ıno, pp. 190–195. See Introduction, supra, note 10.

34

“The Things As They Happened”

ended. Mart´ı asserts that he encouraged these conversions, whether out of belief in the goodness of the act, or out of the awareness that it might prove to be an effective strategy, or both. Nevertheless, robbery and plunder was a significant motivation, or at least an important outcome of the violence. On Monday morning, the juheria was still being pillaged, and the walls of houses were being pulled down. The duke reported to the king that when he arrived at the Jewish quarter, he found people roaming the streets and surveying the damage. The jurats did not report continued unrest that Monday but detailed how early that morning a representation of municipal leaders arrived at the duke’s lodgings as he awakened, and asked him to proclaim that all goods taken from the Jewish quarter be returned. Mart´ı ordered a public declaration, accompanied by the sounds of trumpets and timbrels.11 Aware that the support of the larger city council was necessary for this policy to be effective, the jurats convinced the councilors that Jews were allowed, as ecclesiastical and temporal leaders had averred, to live a protected life among Christians, although they did not share Christian laws and beliefs. Clearly, the older Augustinian paradigm, that Jews were a fixture of Christian society, to be debased yet protected, needed to be asserted by the Valencia leaders in the wake of the riots. So disposed, the council members pronounced the riot, deaths, and robbery contrary to human and divine law, and potentially dangerous to the public order. Consequently, agitators and casual participants were to be severely punished, and measures taken to ensure the return of stolen goods.12 The council unanimously agreed that the jurats and some prohomens declare to the duke their intention to penalize all guilty parties regardless of class or privilege, and to offer the city’s help in pursuit of that goal. It recommended that groups consisting of ten and fifty cavalry and foot soldiers accompany the duke and other royal officials as they attempted to administer the necessary punishments. Additionally, the councilors suggested that loyal and upstanding individuals be charged with the compilation of an inventory of stolen items, and that they be accompanied in their task by notaries public. As the city fathers continued in session on Monday, those who wished to return goods taken from the Jewish quarter gathered in the portico outside the council chambers, in the patios of the corts, the municipal 11 12

The letter from Mart´ı to his brother, on Wednesday the 12th, can be found in ACA, Reg. 2093, fol. 116r-v, and in Riera Sans, Los tumultos, pp. 221–222. See, above, note 10.

The City of Valencia

35

court – and in the plaza below. Some left items in the portico outside the council hall and in the catwalk that ran from the portico to the office of tax administration. Concerned what a determined council might do, individuals may have been unwilling to retain stolen goods and property in their possession. Although the jurats had posted guards at the city gates, much had been secreted outside the city walls during the night. Again, the council designated individuals to find these items and place them in safekeeping. Berthomeu de Villalba, the council’s scribe, proclaimed that after these rules and provisions had been enacted, the jurats and a few prohomens (for the second time that day) proceeded to the bishop’s residence where the duke was lodged, and requested that he approve that which had been agreed upon in the council, specifically the severe punishment that would be incurred by the instigators of the riots and those that participated. They also requested his endorsement of the measures adopted to facilitate the return of stolen property. The duke, in his role as lieutenant general of the king, pledged his support to all those chosen by the council to effect these goals. Berthomeu noted that many from both the duke’s retinue and from the city-council delegation witnessed the exchange.13 Already from the onset of the riots, and even in its anticipation, the duke, jurats, and other officials were careful to alert significant officials within the kingdom about the situation in Valencia, and to make known how they were keeping the peace. These authors also made sure to portray 13

AMV, Manual de Consells A-19, fols. 241r–245v; see above note 5. Upon hearing the public proclamation about the return of stolen goods, the council reported that some individuals had come to the plac¸a de les corts, asking about the address where the items should be delivered. Even so, the council reinforced the guard stationed at the city’s portals. They also announced that four councilors and a notary public would be chosen to identify stolen items from each local parish, as well as to inventory goods received from individuals. The items were to be placed under lock and key in the local parish churches. The council anticipated that in case one of the four councilors could not serve, a replacement was to be selected from the prohomens of his parish. The council elected four people to make a list of all the items deposited in the chamber, in the adjoining building, and in the corts. They were identified as the citizen, En Pere Solanes; En Pere d’Almenar, a cloth-maker; the tanner, En Pere Daries; and En Jacme Alfons, a pharmacist. These four, notaries at their side, were to place the items under lock and guard either in the rooms of the adjacent house or in the palace of Sent Jacme, and have the goods returned to their rightful owners. Nine men, all of whose expenses were to be advanced by the municipal treasurer, were to travel outside the city in groups of four, three, and two, accompanied by notaries, armed foot-soldiers, cavalry, and constables. Nine people, all named in the report, included two members of the nobility.

36

“The Things As They Happened”

their behavior in the best possible light. So when the jurats recognized, on Friday the 14th, that they had failed to inform their representatives at the royal court what had transpired on July 9 and in the days following, they indicated to En Ramon Soler and En Pero Marrades that grief over the unfortunate events was the cause of their tardiness. The jurats briefly retold the story of the riots, referred to the minyons and their crosses, and passed over the details of the assault. But they directly confronted the issue that surely was the subject of intense discussion at court: who was at fault for the events of the previous Sunday. Although some suggested that the youths had been influenced by others, and while the city fathers themselves harbored suspicions, wrote the jurats, neither the city officials nor the duke possessed any reliable information. The jurats proclaimed righteously that they would not defame anyone unjustly, or indulge in unfounded speculation. Nevertheless, the municipal officials listed the putative sailors as the primary instigators of the riots. While the jurats had already declared on July 10 that these nautical conscripts had participated in the violence, they now asserted that the assault and robbery was incited by those who had signed up to serve in the galleys, as well as by procurers, vagabonds, and people of little and poor estate. At the same time, they broadened their list of the groups involved in the rioting. Once the riots began, they noted pointedly, even noble families and their heads – those whom you would not have imagined to be involved, joined in the tumult. While they did not wish to commit to paper the names of those whom they believed were principally negligent, they promised to do so at another time. Despite the collapse of public order, the jurats wanted the royal court to know that the rule of law had been restored. They recounted to their representatives how, on Monday morning, they appealed to the duke to order the return of all items stolen from the juheria, and how they quashed a putative attempt on the Muslim quarter, and hanged one of the instigators in a window. Aided by the city’s armed infantry and cavalry, the duke had been instrumental in keeping the peace. Indeed, about ten members of the upper class – men of peerage, and seventy to eighty of the people had already been imprisoned for the assault on the Jewish quarter. Other guilty parties, they reassured Soler and Marrades, would receive their just deserts.14 14

The jurats’ letter to Soler and Marrades, whose “wisdom and cordial friendship” were instrumental in the maintenance of good relations with the royal court, is in AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 20v–22v, and has been published a number of times: Joaquin Lorenzo

The City of Valencia

37

The municipal authorities implicitly and explicity suggested to Soler and Marrades that the urban nobility with whom they had been in a protracted political conflict were complicit in the attack. But then again, as the correspondence of the authorities suggests, so were many other elements of Valencia’s population. Indeed, only three days after their letter to Soler and Marrades, the jurats presented another version of the events. Belatedly, on July 17, the municipal authorities acknowledged to the king that while they had informed him of the invasion and robbery of the Jewish quarter, they had not followed up their July 9 letter with further communications about the course of the riots and their aftermath. They took pains to excuse themselves, again blaming their profound agitation of the week just past. “Truth is,” the jurats began, “the riots were started by the minyons, a fact which we have already made known to you.” When the riots ceased, however, some unnamed people insinuated both to themselves and to the duke that the youngsters had been advised in their course of action by the majors, their elders. But the city fathers told the king, as they had to Soler and Marrades, neither they nor the duke had been able to ascertain the truth of this accusation. Now the jurats contended that since the minyons arrived at the Jewish quarter from the marketplace, which as they had repeatedly described, was “filled in those days with those who were signed up to travel on the galleys, procurers, vagabonds, strangers, and others of low and poor estate,” there were grounds to accept this speculation. The municipal authorities suggested other causative factors. When the minyons arrived, the Jews had fastened all the portals to their quarter. As a result, not only were some of the youngsters locked inside but also adult Christians who were in the juheria on business. Before long a cry went up from inside the quarter that Jews were killing Christians. The shouts increased when some of the fingers of a minyon were severed and with the death of a Christian man near the old enclosure. The jurats claimed that with the first scream both they and the duke immediately repaired to the Jewish quarter. As they had written in their letter to Soler and Marrades, the city fathers defended the duke to his brother even as they were protecting themselves and linking their actions ˜ vol. 2 (Madrid, 1804), pp. 178–184 Villanueva, Viage literario a´ las iglesias de Espana, (on Villanueva, see Jaume Riera i Sans, “La historia dels jueus en el “Viage Literario”, ` del P Jaume Villanueva,” Calls 3 (1988–1989), pp. 9–28), Amador de los R´ıos, Historia social (reprint ed., Madrid, 1960), pp. 955–958, Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, pp. 185–188, and Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 332–334, no. 11.

38

“The Things As They Happened”

to his. They presented to the king the same general understanding of events as they had publicly offered on the day after the riots. Once the Christians had found ways to enter the locked Jewish quarter, the jurats concluded, only God could have remedied the situation. The city fathers proved far more expansive than they had just three days before to their representatives at the royal court when it came to report on the identity of those groups who participated in the riots. Truth to tell, the jurats informed Joan, a variety of noblemen and distinguished individuals, among others, participated in the “assault, entry and robbery.” Some of them “offered the excuse” that they had entered the Jewish quarter and forced their way into some of the houses in order to rescue Jews whom they knew and to preserve their property. “About all this,” the jurats remarked, “the truth will be known, God willing.” The jurats then related to the king the events of Monday the tenth, the account of which followed the declaration that they had promulgated that day in council. The city fathers attempted to impress upon the king, as they had upon Soler and Marrades, that the stolen goods were being recovered at a satisfactory rate. But as they allowed to their representatives, the date set by the duke for the submission of the manifests of the stolen property had been delayed several times, and now the deadline was set for the end of the day Tuesday. They assured the king that, with the help of God, extreme force would be used to ensure that all the property be recovered. In their report to Joan about the events of Monday the 10th, the jurats perforce mentioned the attack on the moreria, the Muslim quarter. They described the attackers, disparagingly yet revealingly, as stimulated by Sunday’s events in the Jewish quarter. The rioters, as on the day before, had departed from the market and, as they marched toward the moreria, created an uproar. The jurats assured the king, as had their other correspondents, that the governor, accompanied by royal officials and by bona gent, good people, immediately ran to the site of the disturbance. They declared how they had immediately seized one of the instigators, a vagabond, and summarily hanged him from a window at the crossroads, where the Muslims’ shambles was located. They continued to report about their success in quelling the riot and in keeping the city quiet, thanks to the guard posted by themselves, the governor, and the royal officials. To underscore their identification with the royal posture, the jurats pronounced the attack and robbery an abomination. They claimed to have jailed more than hundred people of diverse backgrounds – noblemen,

The City of Valencia

39

artisans, and master craftsmen, and declared that they were proceeding against them as well against other culpable parties.15 City fathers also owed apologies to the other Aragonese monarch. They explained to Queen Iolant, also on July 17, that, on account of the great agitation and displeasure they experienced the previous Sunday and the concomitant urgent press of correspondence, they had not had the opportunity to write to her. The jurats acknowledged having heard of the Queen’s displeasure from the king and having read a letter that they had just received from the Queen herself. Indeed, while they had communicated to the king immediately after the invasion and robbery of the Jewish quarter, they scarcely had time to write to him at length, something that they had just remedied that very day. They repeatedly begged her forgiveness and promised to write extensively and soon. By apologizing profusely, they revealed what was apparent to anyone who had thought about the devastation of the Jewish quarter, and was aware that the juheria of the city of Valencia belonged to her seigniory: their lack of communication with the Queen was a strategic blunder. They tried to assure her, now already a week after the riots, that, in all their actions, they had always kept their service to her in mind and that they would continue to do all in their power to fulfill her commands.16 Now that the immediate crisis had passed, the jurats expanded the scope of their correspondence, responding to those who had written to them about the violence. Barcelona officials, for example, had reported that riots that had erupted in their own city had been successfully quashed, and that they intended to punish rigorously all who were involved. On July 20, the city fathers told their story to the municipal councilors of Barcelona. They began with the minyons, and continued from there. At times, they utilized similar words as they had in their July 17 letter to the king. And when they closed their letter, the city fathers, as was 15

16

The jurats’ letter to Joan of July 17 is from AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 23r–24r, and was published by Rubio Vela, Epistolari de la Val`encia medieval, pp. 271–275, no. 104 and by Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 334–336, no. 16. In this letter, the magistrates did not repeat what they had written to the king on July 9 about what the youths were carrying or what they had called out to the Jews. Here they identified the distinguished attackers as homens de paratge, escuders, and companye[r]s de casades. See below. For a convenient list of terms used for Catalan nobility, see Carme Batlle, L’expansio baixmedieval [segles XIII–XV] (Barcelona, 1999), p. 257. Narbona Vizca´ıno, El trienio negro, describes the tensions between the urban nobility and the city magistrates in the years leading up to the riots. AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 25r, ¶1, published in full by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 336, no. 17.

40

“The Things As They Happened”

their custom, called upon the Holy Trinity to protect their Barcelona counterparts.17 While the jurats’ invocation of the Godhead may have been a matter of form, Christian ideals were consciously and consistently invoked by both the duke and the jurats in their communications ever since the day of the riots. Just as the disturbances according to both the duke and the jurats were incited by the shouts of the youths calling upon the Jews either to convert to Christianity or die, Christian values were utilized by these officials to quell the upheaval. What had transpired, announced Mart´ı to his brother on July 9, reflected “the judgment of God and nothing else.” And the jurats, also writing on Sunday to the king, remarked how the Jewish quarter was sacked despite their strenuous efforts, undertaken at peril even to their own safety. This unexpected outcome pointed to a “disposicio divinal,” to God’s involvement, in the events of the day. The jurats in their declaration of July 10, after detailing the prophylactic measures they had taken prior to July 9 to ensure the Jews’ security and before offering their account of Sunday’s events, saw fit to cite part of the first verse of Psalm 127: “Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, frustra vigilat qui custodit eam” – “ . . . except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain.”18 The religious motif appears again in the writings of the duke and of the Valencia jurats. After the jurats detailed to Ramon Soler and Pero Marrades what had happened in the city both on that Sunday and in the following days, and declared that all the city officials were upset by the “evil,” the officials returned to what they characterized as the religious dimension of what had transpired. When the Jews feared the worse and decided not to open the portals despite the entreaties of both the duke and the municipal leaders, the Christians were incited to invade the Jews’ quarter. To the municipal leaders, the conversions that ensued that prevented the situation from deteriorating into a blood-bath reflected the hand of God. Indeed, an entire series of miraculous events indicated to Valencia officials that what had transpired on July 9 was truly the work of the Lord. The jurats wrote that one Jew, prior to his conversion, had beheld 17

18

AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 27r–28r, and in Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 340, no. 26. The jurats did not mention miracles in their letter. For the first time, perhaps, the jurats wrote that when the duke ordered the portals to be opened, both the “gent” and the Jews were upset. Latin is from the Vulgate, English from the King James Version.

The City of Valencia

41

the crucified Christ in three separate dreams. The Jew related these visions to his rabbi, who instructed him that he was not to repeat his experiences to anyone and assured him that God would come to his aid. The officials further reported to Soler and Marrades about another Jew who claimed that, when the riots had begun on Sunday, he had seen a man of majestic appearance standing upon the flat roof of the main synagogue. The man was carrying an infant on his shoulder; Sent Christofol, the officials wrote, is typically depicted in this manner. The jurats added that an image of the saint had been installed in the now abandoned synagogue, and that the site had become a destination for pilgrims who lit candles in the saint’s honor. The same rabbi to whom the man with the visions of Christ repaired with his news and likewise the individual to whom some Valencia Jews expressed fears about their safety in advance of the riots, assured his flock that all would be well if Tuesday July 11 would pass without the Jews having suffered any harm. Clearly to Valencia leaders the events of the past Sunday all reflected God’s will. Great numbers of Jews had crowded that day into the cathedral and into the parish churches to be baptized. As a result of the large number of conversions, all chrismatories throughout the city were drained prior to the dinner hour, and the Valencia priests were eager to obtain more of the consecrated oil. When the curats awoke the next morning, declared the jurats, they each found their chrismatories filled. These miracles, “seen, proven and tested,” were duly recorded by four separate notaries at the request of an official who visited the churches and were pronounced by the municipal officials to Soler and Marrades, their representatives, to be the principal wonder among all the supernatural events they had reported. The Valencians, in their letter, also detailed local miracles surrounding the chrism which were reported in the three parishes of Sent Nicolau, Senta Catalina, and Sent Andreu. The city officials were intensely aware that Soler and Marrades had to defend the municipality’s behavior before the royal authorities, and were cognizant of the political import of their religious claims. Although all the city officials had escaped harm, the magistrates remained troubled that the royal couple had not grasped the religious dimension of the events. The city fathers pointedly suggested to their representatives that they should reflect upon whether these marvelous matters could have resulted from natural causes. Although we were very displeased by the assault and robbery, the jurats declared, we acknowledge the divine hand in these events. Even the Jews who were now Christians, they offered, realized that “the robbery was the cause of the salvation of their persons.”

42

“The Things As They Happened”

Awareness of divine involvement, the leaders suggested to Soler and Marrades, would help quiet any concerns they might have about the role of the municipal officials in the violence. The jurats closed their missive, as they had to those in Barcelona, by wishing that the holy trinity watch over them. The city fathers, when they corresponded with the king three days later, continued to exploit the divine dimension of the riots. They invoked God’s name repeatedly as they presented an account of the miraculous events in their city. They petitioned God’s aid when they wrote about their efforts to determine the nature of the involvement of distinguished personages in the riots, and when they described their efforts to have all of the stolen goods returned to their rightful owners. Although what happened in Valencia was odious to God, the jurats declared that only God could have provided the remedy. The leaders informed Joan, though at shorter length than they had to Soler and Marrades, how the empty chrismatories were later found filled with the sacred oil. They reported on the baptisms that were effected both in the city of Valencia and elsewhere in the kingdom, and noted that while all loyal Christians should take pleasure in this turn of events, the malefactors would nevertheless be punished. Notwithstanding the “divine mystery,” many Jews had been killed. By July 20, both the duke and the jurats appear to have accepted the figures first advanced by the city fathers on the tenth. The duke, in a letter to his wife Maria, wrote that approximately one hundred Jews and some Christians were killed. And the jurats told their counterparts in Barcelona that some hundred Jews were killed as well as one Christian, the man whose body was displayed to the duke while the tumult was gathering momentum, and whose death was considered critical in the eruption of the riots. Over a month later, on September 2, the jurats informed the Cardinal of Valencia that twelve Christians had died, and were graphic in their descriptions of the hundred or more deaths of Jews that, on July 10, they simply reported had perished in different ways. Some, they wrote, were killed by force of arms, others were thrown off roofs, and a number of children were drowned in wells.19 But the overwhelming majority had indeed been made Christian. Indeed on July 12 the duke wrote to the Queen that only 200 Jews were

19

The September 2 letter to the cardinal of Valencia is in AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 49bis v. It is briefly reprised in Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, p. 194. See also Vidal Beltran, ´ p. 57. Vidal Beltran ´ asserts, p. 74, that the pre-riot population of Valencia Jews was 600 individuals. On Mart´ı’s July 20 letter to his wife, see the chapter on the duke.

The City of Valencia

43

left in the city who had not yet converted. And, two days later, the jurats declared to Soler and Marrades that, excepting those Jews safely hidden in Christian homes, nearly all the Jews of the city including their rabbi had been baptized. Presumably the rabbi was the same individual who had been informed by a local Jew that he had dreamed of the crucified Christ on three separate occasions. When the city councilors wrote to the king the following Monday, they continued to proclaim that most of the Jews had converted.20 Reports from the baptismal front were included when the jurats communicated again to Soler and Marrades on July 22. They kept their representatives abreast about the conversions of Jews that had been effected over the last few days elsewhere within the kingdom. And they added a new dimension to their portrayal of the July 9 riots. They wrote of the involvement of religious mendicants during the attack on the Jewish quarter, and of “a friar who performed devilish deeds” in the midst of the assault. But the jurats did not identify the religious order to which this friar belonged, the nature of his “devilish deeds,” or whether these acts included forced baptisms of Jews. But the list of individuals and groups whom the magistrates asserted were involved in the deaths and conversions proceeded to lengthen.21 Official interest in the baptism of Valencia Jewry persisted after the riots had ceased. Isaac bar Sheshet Perfet, the rabbi of the Valencia aliama, Jewish community, was pressured to convert on July 11. He may have been forced into his decision by local officials who, basing themselves 20

21

By August 19, the jurats informed their messengers at court that 200 Jews were living among the “novells christians” in the juheria of Valencia: AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 44r-v, and in Hinojosa Motalvo, p. 347, no. 42. On October 19, Hasdai Crescas wrote (see the prologue for bibliographical details) that 250 Jews died in the riots and labels them martyrs. It may be that city officials did not count those Jews who suicided rather than come to the Cross. Crescas, on the other hand, may well have presumed that those dead could have saved their lives by succumbing to baptism. Cf. the situation in Girona, see chapter infra, where these differences may well have been rooted in debates over responsibility. See also the chapter on Barcelona. The July entry of the municipal diary of Barcelona – Dietari municipal de Barcelona published in Frederich Schwartz y Luna and Francesch Carreras i Candi eds., Coleccio´ ´ de documents historichs in´edits del Arxiu Municipal de la Ciutat de Barcelona. Manual de Novells Ardits vulgarment apellat Dietari del Antich Consell Barceloni, vol. 1 (Barcelona, 1892), p. 16 notes that most of the Jews converted and that the synagogue was converted to a church in honor of St. Christopher. Jaume Riera i Sans, see infra, correctly argues that it was written later. AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 28v–29r. It was reproduced partially by Villanueva, Viage literario, pp. 184–185, and by Roca Traver, p. 199, document no. 31. See Vidal Beltran, ´ pp. 53, 57 and ff.

44

“The Things As They Happened”

purposefully on spurious charges, threatened him with punishment for the alleged crimes unless he agreed to be baptized. And it may well have been Perfet to whom the jurats had referred, in their letter to Soler and Marrades, as the rabbi of the Valencia Jews who had converted. Perfet was given the name Master Jaume de Valencia after Jaume de Aragon, the Avignon-based bishop of Valencia.22 Other Jews were forcibly converted in the days after the July 9th riots. Toward the end of the month, accusations were leveled against the city that a number of Jews who had been saved in Christian homes were dragged from these houses and baptized. On July 29, the jurats responded to allegations concerning the fate of maestre Numer Tahuel, his sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren who had taken refuge in the home of mossen Pere d’Arters. According to the charges, Numer was taken from the house of d’Arters, and was forcibly baptized after demands for his surrender had been voiced. The city fathers claimed that although the Tahuel clan was compelled, as were many other Jewish families, to leave the house in which they had taken refuge, there were no calls for these Jews to be converted nor were they subjected to forced baptism. Instead, the jurats maintained, Tahuel together with his entire family had been baptized some days after the riots.23 22

23

On all this, see Jaume Riera i Sans, “On the Fate of R. Isaac Bar Sheshet (RIBaSh) during the Persecutions of 1391,” (Hebrew) Sefunot, N.S. 2, 17 (1983), pp. 11–20 and in an updated version, “El baptisme de Rab´ı Ishaq ben Seset Perfet,” Calls 1 (1986), pp. 43–52 for a full discussion with supporting materials. One of the sources is the municipal diary of Barcelona – see above and below – which speaks of the conversion of the rabbi of Valencia. The entry is dated July 9 but was probably written, according to Riera, a week to ten days afterward when the information about what transpired in Valencia reached the city of Barcelona. Master Jaume appeared publicly in a Dominican habit for at least a year and a half before fleeing to Algiers and resuming his life as a Jew and as a rabbi ministering to his coreligionists. Shimon ben Zemah Duran, Sefer ha-Tashbez, vol. 2 (Lemberg 1890–1891), p. 21ab, no. 128, recorded a story that a man named Shlomo Matis approached Perfet in Valencia, before the gezerah, and reported to him a dream that a great fire was to take place in the rabbi’s house. It is unclear whether “before the gezerah” meant immediately prior to the outbreak of the riots, or whether this dream was in some way connected to that of the man who dreamed of the crucified Christ. According to Duran, Perfet later regretted not having declared a public fast after hearing of the dream in order to avoid the destruction. See below the chapter on the duke. AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 35r–36r is the July 29 letter to Pero Marrades at court. The reference to Numer Tahuel is on fol. 15v (¶3). This document is cited briefly by Vidal Beltran, ´ pp. 68 and 69. Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 447–448, no. 307 (1371) and p. 579, no. 380 (1386) refers to Humer [sic] Tahuel. Teshuvot ha-Rivash (Jerusalem, 1993) vol. 1, No. 309, pp. 414–415, speaks of En Yitzhak Tavil and his father Amram

The City of Valencia

45

Some Jews were killed, many more converted, but nearly all were robbed. Although the authorities instituted measures to ensure the return of the stolen goods, Jewish property continued to be plundered. The main synagogue of the call was converted into a church dedicated to Sent Christofol, and another Jewish house of worship was appropriated in honor of Sancta Maria de Gracia. The king spoke disapprovingly, on July 16, of those Valencians “who wish to make a church out of the sinoga of the aliama.” When the jurats defended themselves to the royal court, on July 26, they testified to miracles that had taken place in the church of Sent Christofol which was “formerly the sinoga major.” In the municipal diary of Barcelona, the July 9 entry reads that the main synagogue of Valencia was converted into a church and dedicated to Christopher’s memory whose feast-day was being commemorated that Sunday, and that another synagogue was transformed into a Christian house of worship through the invocation of Sancta Maria de Gracia. While these comments were surely not recorded that Sunday, the information about what had transpired in Valencia may have been known in Barcelona a week to ten days later.24 As a consequence of the attacks and in the face of those who questioned their behavior and motivation, all Valencia officials acted to preserve their reputation as upholders of law and order. But even as the jurats reassured the king on July 22nd that they would not rest until “with God’s help” the recovery and restitution of stolen goods would be resolved as completely as possible, they added yet another dimension to the challenge they faced

24

Tavil prior to 1391. See Baer, A History, vol. 2, p. 468, Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 188– 189, Meyerson, p. 261, n. 130, and Yom Tov Assis, The Golden Age of Aragonese Jewry. Community and Society in the Crown of Aragon, 1213–1327 (London, 1997), p. 105 on Tahuels in Valencia. See below, the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia, on some Valencia Jews who traveled to Murcia to avoid conversion. The letter of July 26 to Johan Mercader is in AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 30v–31r. It was published in full by Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 342–343, no. 32, and in part by Roca Traver, pp. 202–203, document no. 33. See infra. The July 28 missive to the Lleida magistrates is in AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 31v–33r. Sections of this document are in Villanueva 2, pp. 185–186, and in Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, p. 42. Interesting materials on the church of St. Christopher were collected and analyzed by Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, pp. 41–46. For the Barcelona diary entry, see above. A royal letter of 1396 charged Hasdai Crescas with the restoration of the synagogue in Valencia: Roca Traver, p. 123. St. Christopher was noted as a saint capable of warding off plagues and epidemics. Nirenberg, p. 248 and n. 61 points out that the Valencia leaders labeled as pestilence the city’s internal discord.

46

“The Things As They Happened”

in pursuing justice in the wake of the riots. The officials explained that, had not the rumor spread of the possible intervention of Granada Muslims in Valencia affairs, the rigorous punishment of the guilty parties would have already been administered. Much effort was required to contend with the Muslim peril, the magistrates insisted, and the prosecution of the principal agitators and participants in the attack on the Jewish quarter, consequently, had been delayed. The municipal leaders reassured Joan that both they and the duke were supportive of these criminal procedures, and that their goals in these matters were identical with those of the king. Despite the reports about the Muslims, the city fathers averred, their prosecutory efforts would proceed. What constituted the Muslim peril was not made clear by the jurats. But the municipal authorities did inform the king in detail of another urgent matter in a postscript to their missive. They had just learned how some Valencians had presented briefs to the royal court, in which they praised some members of the nobility, and defended them against charges relating to the riots. These Valencians placed the responsibility for the events in the juheria at the feet of the regidors, the municipal magistrates. The king, the jurats implored, should not mine the briefs for information about what actually transpired – do not believe any of this they wrote, but rather view these materials as a reflection of the customary discord prevalent within the city. The jurats noted cryptically that in time all would become abundantly clear, and the king would be fully informed.25 25

AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 29r–30r, and published by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 342, no. 31. The Queen was sent a copy as well; see fol. 30r. See the excerpt by Chabret, Sagunto, p. 338, end of note 2. The jurats identified those Valencians who presented the briefs to the royal court as enemies of “that Count of Morvedre.” On the political strife that beleaguered the city in these years, see Narbona Vizca´ıno, El trienio negro, pp. 189–190 and ff. Anxieties about Muslim military incursions were a feature of the Christian Iberian landscape. Other letters sent that same day by the jurats enable us to observe the larger strategy the city employed to defend themselves. The city fathers wrote to Pedro Mac¸a de Lic¸ana, lord of Mogente and their ally at the royal court, AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 28rv, and to their representatives, Ramon Soler and Pero Marrades. In these missives, the magistrates attempted to deflect any criticism that had been leveled against them. The jurats informed Soler and Marrades that they were aware of the activities of the nobleman, the Comanador de les Coves, their unrelenting adversary, in speaking ill of the city and its officials. The magistrates instructed their envoys to be prepared to dismiss his sinister accusations. Indeed, they claimed it was upon the order of the Comanador that a friar had performed devilish deeds while the riots were raging, acts that led to the extensive involvement of the mendicant orders in the upheavals. The “comenador de les Coves” appears in a July 30 letter from the king to the duke, ACA, Reg. 1961,

The City of Valencia

47

Even among the Valencia municipal leaders, questions were being raised about the pace of justice in the city, and doubts were expressed about the sincerity of the criminal processes. The jurats who often represented themselves to others as speaking on behalf of the entire city council were now under attack by this larger group of municipal leaders. In the council chambers, on Monday July 24, some city councilors demanded to know why two weeks after they had convened in the same room – July 10, the day after the riots – and had agreed to investigate the crime and punish the perpetrators severely, no punishments actually had been dispensed. The jurats maintained that both they and the duke had imprisoned a socially diverse group of about one hundred individuals, and had begun criminal procedures against them. They had even tortured some of the accused. The jurats maintained that any delay or laxity in the resolution of the criminal procedures was not the result of negligence but rather a consequence of the Muslim threat, which the city fathers expansively described in a way which they had not done in their July 22 communication to the king. “Letters [that] arrived here from the border between the Kingdom of Castile and Granada a few days after these processes were initiated,” the officials asserted, “that the king of Granada with large companies of cavalry and foot-soldiers both from his kingdom and from North Africa were preparing to enter Christian territories.” As a result of this putative invasion and “because . . . of the lack of confidence engendered by the attack made against the Jewish quarter, the Muslims of Valencia who are a great multitude became suspicious and furnished themselves with arms and provisions.” The Muslims had explained “these defensive actions . . . so that the Christians not invade them . . . as the juheria had been.” The jurats added that some Christians questioned whether

fol. 55v and published in Daniel Girona y Llagostera, “Itinerari del Rei En Joan I,” Estudis Universitaris Catalans 14 (1929), p. 129, no. 195, wherein he delivered a “letra de creenc¸a” from the duke and then was detained by the king in connection to the royal arrival in Valencia. See Narbona Vizca´ıno, p. 182 and n. 16 on the municipal antagonists, including the Comendador de Coves de Vinroma. ` The jurats indicated as well that the inhabitants of Morvedre had suggested to the king that locals from the city and the orta had attacked the Jewish quarter. The jurats rejected this assertion and offered that the rioters were outsiders, perhaps from Puc¸ol, just south of Morvedre. On July 20 the Valencia jurats were concerned that arms were being brandished by individuals within the city. People were openly carrying knives and swords – permitted by law, and transporting a variety of weapons outside of the city. The city of Valencia was becoming an armed camp.

48

“The Things As They Happened”

the actions of the Valencia Muslims were in response to the invasion of Granada Muslims, but did not furnish an alternate understanding of the Muslim reaction. The officials announced – after consultation with the duke, a twofold response to the Muslim threat. They would write immediately to the king and forward him the letters they received from the Castilian frontier. Secondly, the jurats would send three or four three-man teams of bons homens, good men, each composed of two Christians and one Muslim from the local moreria, to all the major population centers in the Kingdom of Valencia where substantial numbers of Muslims lived. These teams would come armed with letters whose purpose would be to pacify the Muslims, and to assure them of their safety. The city fathers were concerned that rumors about the invasion of Granada Muslims would incite Christians to attack local Muslims.26 Neither the jurats’ explanations for the delay in the criminal proceedings, nor their account of the riots themselves, were accepted by others within the kingdom. Although the magistrates professed not to divine the intention of their detractors, the jurats understood the criticisms as being four-fold. In a July 26 missive to the “most honorable and most wise Johan Mercader, doctor of law at the royal court,” the jurats described their first failing as having written of miracles in their account of the riots. And when they had described the conversions at Gandia, their critics intuited that the jurats approved of those developments. While the municipal leaders protested their commitment to the criminal procedures, skeptics wondered whether justice would ever be pursued against those responsible for the upheavals. Lastly, although the city fathers asserted that silver and money had been returned in large quantities, the reality, gleaned from other letters that the king received, was that very little had been returned. 26

AMV, Manual de Consells A-19, fols. 247v–249v, large parts of which were published by Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, pp. 117–118. According to the report of the July 24 meeting, the Valencia councilors acknowledged the jurats’ explanation for the slowness of the judicial process. They agreed with the city fathers about the importance of calming the Muslim population but maintained that the criminal investigation and the punishment of the rioters ought to be pursued to its appropriate conclusion. The councilors stressed that these procedures be executed according to charters – furs and privileges, and that the status of the accused not be allowed to influence the pursuit of justice. On August 1, the municipal council ordered payment to those Christians who traveled with Muslims throughout the kingdom to calm the Muslim community: AMV, Manual de Consells A-19, fol. 251r-v, and cited by Roca Traver, p. 203, document no. 34. The August report is on fols. 249v–251v.

The City of Valencia

49

The city fathers claimed to be unbowed by this wave of censure. After all, they contended, the Gospels had been critiqued by many heretics yet its message had remained intact. The municipal leaders acknowledged that while they had many enemies (as God pleases, they added), and although those dark forces took pleasure in their activities and in the exercise of their power, they, the jurats of Valencia, would not be intimidated. For as much as their antagonists planted false ideas about them, the truth would not be destroyed. The city fathers singled out the son of Nicholau – Nicholau de Valldaura served that year as a jurat in Valencia, whom they accused of “playing his games.” It was Nicholau’s son who traveled to Gandia for a few days, they asserted, and disseminated false information about the municipal leaders. The jurats were heartened that their previous letter to the royal court, while not understood by the king at first reading, was later savored by his mercy. While many at the royal court were skeptical of the jurats’ reports of miracles and may have doubted the strategic wisdom of publicizing these supernatural occurrences, the jurats remained unapologetic about their claims. Had we supressed our knowledge about the first miracles surrounding the oil, they wrote their ally, the stones of the crisma – chrismatory – themselves would have cried out. And while we passed lightly over these matters to some of our correspondents, the city fathers acknowledged, it was God’s wish that we write to others about these matters, and at length. So let he who wishes keep it secret, they offered, but no one could conceal the infinite number of miracles that took place and that were witnessed by innumerable individuals. Public documents were issued, the jurats reminded Mercader, that supported claims of the augmentation of chrism, without human intervention, within the new lamps of the former main synagogue – now the church of Sent Christofol, and of the lighting of these lamps. Further, they added, the oil was found to possess curative properties. Eyewitness reports of crippled people who were instantly cured after being annointed with the chrism were not fiction. Indeed, how else could it be explained, they contended, that more ill people were traveling to the city of Valencia from all over the kingdom and were returning home cured than were making trips to the graves of the holy saints. Now let those who satirize our claims, they triumphally declared, decide whether we should remain silent about such divine forces. Still, the city fathers declared that they were prepared to discipline those guilty in the upheavals. Just as those who crucified Jesus deserved to be condemned even though the Holy Passion of Our Savior ultimately

50

“The Things As They Happened”

caused the salvation of humankind, the jurats argued, so too should those guilty of the July 9 riots be castigated, notwithstanding the positive developments. The municipal leaders suggested that the only reason that they had reported on the conversions in Gandia was to emphasize that the Jews had converted voluntarily despite the presence in town of the Marqu´es de Villena, who maintained that the Jews ought to remain securely in their law. That the king wished to reestablish the juherias was a further indication of how many Jews in the kingdom were baptized. Unlike our critics, the jurats proclaimed, we were not displeased with the Jews’ conversion “and we think that it would neither displease them if they saw with what devotion the new Christians are coming to hear masses and sermons.” The jurats were dismissive of those who accused them of indifference in their pursuit of justice and suggested that a careful reading of this letter would demonstrate their complete agreement with royal policy. Although the doors to the Jewish quarter were locked and guarded when the attacks began, the jurats allowed how some precious items had been taken out by “devils.” Nevertheless most has been collected, the municipal leaders claimed, and more items were found every day. The manifests that had been compiled of the stolen items was proof of the return of these goods and indicated the large quantities of precious materials that had been recovered. The jurats requested that Johan Mercader show the letter to their friends and even to their adversaries, and to publicize how the leaders of the city were committed to the best interests of the king.27 Valencia leaders took steps to ensure that their version of the events was available as well to a number of municipalities who would request 27

See note 23 for the relevant citations. Nicholau’s son had arrived in Gandia to help the Marqu´es de Villena prepare for his trip to Castile. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia on the Marqu´es and his activities. For more on Nicholau de Valldaura, see Narbona Vizca´ıno, pp. 182–183. He participated in a later embassy to the king in Barcelona regarding the attacks on the Jewish quarter: see AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 84r of January 1392. The jurats’ reference may have been to their missive to the king dated July 17. The jurats made the striking theological argument to Mercader that just as the Jews deserved to be punished for their role in the crucifixion, although it resulted in the salvation of humanity, so should those Christians involved in the killing of the Jews be punished. Among the stolen items they claimed were returned were fine silver tableware, vexella, and other silver items, which mossen Pere d’Arters (see above) and En Lagostera had amassed toward the ransom of captives. These had been secreted away within the city and in a vineyard outside and later had been found. For more on the exasperation of the jurats, see AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 52v–53r, dated September 6, and briefly reported on in Vidal Beltran, ´ p. 62, note 52.

The City of Valencia

51

this information. On Friday July 28, the jurats wrote to their counterparts in the city of Lleida, responding to their queries about the invasion of the Jewish quarter, and the number of Jews who were killed and of those who were baptized. The Lleida officials had also requested particulars about the miracles surrounding the augmentation of the chrism, and regarding the Muslims of the Kingdom of Valencia who, prompted by their fear that the fate of the Jews served as a preview of what was being held in readiness for them, were on the verge of an uprising. In the jurats’ by now familiar account, only a few of their comments are noteworthy. There was no armed uprising of the people on July 9th, they declared, since most of the folks had been dining when they heard the tumult, and consequently were barefoot and ungirded. Indeed, they did not break the railings when they entered the Jewish quarter. The Valencians contended that they were not aware why the main synagogue had been dedicated as a church in Sent Christofol’s honor but repeated their earlier claims that a Jew at the commencement of the riot had seen a grand-looking man with a child on his shoulder – in the manner which St. Christopher was painted, on the highest point (sumitat) of the synagogue. As soon as the riot was over, the synagogue had been converted into a church and renamed. The jurats additionally reported that three of those who had been imprisoned for their role in the riots had been tortured; one, a nobleman, had escaped from jail, and another asserted that he was a monk. They requested that the officials in Lleida be on the watch for goods that appeared to be of Valencian provenance – they may have been secreted out through the sewers, imprison those who possessed the contraband, and inform them of the incident.28 While the Valencia jurats defended themselves to those in Lleida, they also challenged the claims of the leaders of Alzira, amongst whom the idea had circulated that the Valencians, in order to ingratiate themselves with the king, had charged three or four noblemen and three members each of the middle and lower classes of being involved in the riots. The Alzira officials had also heard that the ax and the chopping block were prepared in advance of the trial of the noblemen En Carroc¸, Mossen Pere de Siscar, and Mossen Huc de Bordils, who were later decapitated. The other defendants were hanged. The Valencians categorically rejected these charges and claimed that the identity of the principal agitators of the 28

Note 24 contains the archival citation and publication information. Vidal Beltran ´ discusses the letter on pp. 53–54, pp. 55–56, and ff.; Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 25 and pp. 30–1, follows Vidal Beltran. ´

52

“The Things As They Happened”

upheavals was still being investigated. They acknowledged that rumors against the curials, the royal criminal-justice operatives, had originated in Saragossa, and had spread to Valencia, Morvedre, and elsewhere in the kingdom.29 On Saturday July 29th the jurats realized that despite their letters to those at court and elsewhere within the kingdom, they needed to communicate directly to the king. In a crisply written letter, they reviewed their efforts over the past few days. They acknowledged that while those at the court read their references to miracles involving the crisma as an excuse to exculpate the guilty or to alleviate their sentence, the Valencians declared that their intentions were pure. It would not have been sensible to keep quiet about those matters, they protested, since others wrote to you at length about the miracles. Still these beliefs did not lessen our resolve to punish severely the malefactors as all our letters and our actions have indicated. For even if miracles did occur, they maintained, the awareness of such phenomena did not diminish the realization that wicked acts were perpetrated. The jurats beseeched the king not to give any credence to the many false accusations openly spread against them at court. They welcomed the arrival of the royal councilors whose visit they suggested would support their claims.30 By August 1, the jurats realized the futility of their efforts to convince others of the rightness of their position and bitterly complained to Pero Marrades about the accusations leveled against them at court. The jurats, who had defended themselves to the king on these charges just three days earlier, threw up their hands at this latest of allegations.31 Marrades persuaded the jurats to write to the king yet again. In all likelihood, he had reinforced the Valencia leaders’ own perception of the ineffectiveness of their strategy, which they had first deployed on July 9, the day the riots erupted. In their letter to Joan of August 5, the jurats appeared to have changed their tactics. They did not claim that the punishment of the guilty parties and the return of the stolen goods were proceeding apace. Nor were God and his miracles mentioned by the city fathers in this missive. Rather the jurats reminded the king how, immediately after the invasion and robbery of the juheria, both 29 30 31

AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 33r–34r. Vidal Beltran, ´ p. 62, note 50, quotes from the letter. AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 34v in Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 343–344, no. 33, where the date within the letter is incorrectly transcribed as July 21. AMV, fol. 36v. This letter is partially quoted by Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, p. 191. For more on d’Arters and the Tahuels, see supra.

The City of Valencia

53

they and the entire city council had begged the duke to open an inquest into the events and to punish the agitators and chief culprits. Despite the duke’s heavy work-schedule, those culpable had been denounced before the prosecutor, the procuracio fischal,and the duke had initiated a number of criminal procedures. The jurats admitted that, even though nearly a month had elapsed since the outbreak of the riots, no punishment had been dispensed. The city fathers feigned hesitancy in justifying their delinquency, and acknowledged for the first time that if the king wished he could discover the reasons for their lack of success. Nevertheless the jurats offered Joan two arguments in their own defense. The Valencians asserted that “magnates” had effectively delayed the judicial process by ensuring that those most responsible for the upheavals would not be denounced. These noblemen had threatened those who had sought to recover damages by appearing before the fischal. Indeed, the jurats maintained, individuals from all classes were involved in the riots: members of the Order of Montesa, mendicants, those exempt from taxes including men of noble lineage and city dwellers. In light of this widespread complicity, the jurats concluded, “they all would have been punished if your royal Majesty were here in person.” The king’s presence in the city, affirmed the Valencians, was essential to the effective administration of law. The city fathers had not completed their identification of those who impeded the successful pursuit of justice. Indeed, some of those complicit in the attack on the Jewish quarter, the Valencians informed the king, were members of the royal retinue. These guilty parties ingeniously attempted to divert attention from themselves, and to incite most of the people to act maliciously toward the city fathers. These royal retainers persuaded the people that it was the mischief perpetrated by the menors – members of the lower class – which had prompted the jurats to initiate judicial procedures. The jurats solemnly averred to the king that these individuals had also written and caused others to write things to the royal court that were contrary to the truth and that provoked your majesty’s wrath against the city, its council, and its regidors who, thank God, neither in intention nor in action, had anything to do with those abominable deeds. But, the jurats added, there will be no cure for all these troubles – aside from God they hastened to add, except for your royal presence and the punishments that you would administer. Many good things, the jurats suggested to the king, would emerge from your arrival. First and foremost you would mete out the requisite punishment, which would also serve to pacify the public agitation. With

54

“The Things As They Happened”

the application of this necessary discipline, the jurats predicted, both the strife with the accused parties and the contention among the various classes would come to an end. With your actual presence within the city, they wrote confidently and challengingly to Joan, you would be able to determine who indeed were the guilty parties and who served you and the kingdom with unfeigned zeal.32 The jurats followed up their letter to the king by informing Marrades that they gratefully had followed his counsel and truly looked forward to the arrival of the king and members of his retinue. They were confident the king would thoroughly understand the situation, and that he would punish and reward people accordingly. They instructed Marrades to rip up this private communication and apprised him that they would shortly send a more extensive letter that he could show to whomever he wished.33 By August 5, the king had already decided to travel immediately from Saragossa to Valencia. Joan wrote to the aliama of the city that Saturday, assuring them that he would heed their request to come. He promised to protect them from all harm and to punish the malefactors.34 Unaware perhaps of Joan’s recent decision to travel to their city, and persuaded of the importance of the criminal procedures, the councilors asked the king to come immediately to Valencia. These municipal leaders, on August 6, dispatched a high-ranking embassy to the royal court to request his presence. Accordingly, the jurats informed Marrades, the following day, that the Valencians unanimously agreed to send an embassy to the king and identified the individuals who were to represent the city. Perhaps, as a reflection of their anxiety about this decision and what it might portend for their leadership, the jurats made sure that Marrades knew how grateful they were for the Mart´ı’s presence at the time of the riots, and how they would have been at a loss without the duke.35 32

33 34 35

AMV, fol. 37r-v. The letter was first transcribed by Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, pp. 191–192, and then by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 345, no. 36. Noteworthy is the absence of any mention of sailors and vagabonds. AMV, fol. 37v. The section referring to the king is quoted in Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, p. 192. ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1961, fol. 60v, and published by Girona y Llagostera, p. 130, no. 197. AMV, Manual de Consells A-19, fol. 251v–253v is the record of the council meeting of August 6. It was published by Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, pp. 119–120. Cf. Vidal Beltran, ´ p. 64. The letters to the king and queen apprising them of the embassy are in AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 38v, ¶s 1 and 2, respectively. The councilors chose the jurat En Francesch de Fluvia, the lawyer Micer Ramon Soler (who with Pero Marrades served as the city’s representatives to the royal court), En Miguel de Novals, and Micer Bernat

The City of Valencia

55

On August 9, the king thanked the jurats for their intentions to safeguard his honor and future prosperity, and informed them that he indeed intended to travel immediately to their city, after the festival of St. Mary in August, in order to secure the public good. But by the next day, the king alerted the jurats and promens, his brother, and the Master of the Order of Montesa that troubles brewing in Barcelona and the necessity to focus his energies on that city forced him to postpone his planned trip to Valencia.36

36

Angles, an expert in municipal decrees. The jurats and the city treasurer were to provide for the mission. AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 38r-v, cited and briefly described in Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, pp. 192–193 and Vidal Beltran, ´ p. 64 and note 61, is the letter of the jurats. On Monday August 7, the king expressed his appreciation to his governor of Valencia for his help in having protected the Jews from harm, encouraged him to continue those efforts, and apprised him that he planned to travel to Valencia and to restore the aliama to its just estate. The governor had sheltered thirty Jewish families for which he deserved much praise and remuneration. King Joan was frank about the rewards that the governor would reap: “you will not remain unremunerated similarly as the destroyers will be punished for their terrible crime.” The king notified the governor that he had made similar requests of his brother and indicated that he would arrive in the city in short order. The king explained that the governor’s actions were of great service to both him and the queen, to whose treasury the Jews belonged. Jews were the beneficiaries of royal privileges and a source of profit: “qui’ns era singular e profitos joyell e regalia.” ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1878, fols. 100v–101r, was published in Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 346, no. 40. See, below, the chapter on the king. ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 63r, and published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 131, no. 199 (b) is dated August 9. King Joan’s letter of the 10th to the jurats is in ibid., fols. 63v–64r, and in Girona y Llagostera, ibid., p. 131, no. 200 (a); to the duke in ibid., fol. 74r; and to the Master of the Order of Montesa in ibid., fols. 64v–65r, and in Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 346–347, no. 41. See also ibid., fol. 65r. The jurats, on September 2, informed the cardinal of Valencia, who was at the papal court in Avignon, AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 49bis v-52r, about the events of the last number of weeks, including the conversion of all of the Jews in the Kingdom of Valencia, save those in the castle of Morvedre. Parts of this document were published in Roca Traver, pp. 205–206, no. 37. On September 6 in a letter to their messengers at the royal royal court, ibid., fols. 52v–53r and briefly in Roca Traver, p. 206, no. 38, the council categorized as a false rumor that the juheria had been attacked and robbed the previous Saturday (August 31). Four royal letters of September 27, Reg. 1949, fols. 9r-v, 10r, 10r-v, and 10v–11r reflect the king’s summary comments and reactions to the situation in Valencia. See the king chapter. On November 15, 1392, the king pardoned the Valencia population, ordered the return of stolen clothing, and listed the twenty Valencians most culpable in the attack on the Jews: AMV, Manual de Consells A-20, fol. 37v published in Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 377, no. 103 and in Roca Traver, pp. 208–209, no. 42. On December 2, the king officially issued his pardon in exchange for a 2000 florin subvention toward an expedition to Sardinia: AMV, Manual de Consells A-20, fol. 50r, briefly in Roca Traver, p. 209, no. 43.

2 The Kingdom of Valencia

The riots spread across the length and breadth of the Kingdom of Valencia, against both Jews and Muslims. Even before the violence devastated the Jewish community of the city of Valencia, tensions had been apparent north of the capital. Members of the aliama of Segorbe had been verbally and physically abused, and, on July 5, Mart´ı, the duke of Montblanc, had to order protection for the local Jews and for those of Borriana, and the following day, for the Jews of Ll´ıria. The justicia, jurats, and prohomens of each city and its local royal officials were instructed to safeguard the Jews and their property, even as the regidors of the aliama were to repair to these officials with their complaints and with suggestions for their remediation.1 The southernmost end of the kingdom had to be secured as well against the bloodshed. The day that riots broke out in the capital city of Valencia, Mart´ı made sure that the nobleman Olfo de Proxida of the city of Oriola would defend the Jews of the nearby town of Elx, and the Muslims of the neighboring hamlet of Crevillent, from all attacks. These minorities were informed, on July 9, that Mossen Olfo would guard and defend

1

ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 2093, fol. 103r ¶1 and fol. 106r refer to Segorbe and are dated July 5. Protection was granted to the Jews of Ll´ıria on July 6; and, on July 5, was extended to Davi el cano, a Jew of Segorbe, and to the aliama of Borriana, ibid., fol. 106r. I use the contemporary names for places and not those that were used in the documents, with the exception of cities that are well-known in English like Cordova and Saragossa.

56

The Kingdom of Valencia

57

their communities, and was the person to whom they should turn each time provisions had to be drafted to ensure their safety.2 Physical and verbal abuse was also the lot of Jews and Muslims south of the city of Valencia in Xativa. Duke Mart´ı, on July 11, directed the ` nobleman Johan de Vallera, the criminal magistrate – justicia criminal – of the city of Xativa, to aid the local city council in defending these ` aliamas against injury and “scandals.” He instructed them to punish the offenders, to dispatch cavalry in groups of ten and fifty to patrol the city, and to station guards at its portals and other locations. Similar ducal letters were sent on July 12th to the city officials of Ll´ıria on behalf of the Muslims, and on the 13th to their counterparts in Borriana in support of the Jews.3 Once riots had erupted spectacularly in the city of Valencia, chaos threatened the entire Kingdom of Valencia, and local authorities were enlisted to stem the encroaching violence. Unrest flared on the Mediterranean coast in Morvedre, and the duke, on July 12, ordered the local royal judicial agent, the algutzir, to join the municipal officials in defending the Jews against physical and verbal attacks, and instructed them to install guards at the portals of the Jewish quarter and the like. In the meantime, local aliama officials informed the king that those who had been responsible for the uprising in Valencia had initiated the riots in their town. Although Bonafonat de San Feliu, the royal batlle, bailiff, and alcayt, castellan, of the local fortress, had been in city of Valencia at the time of the attack, he traveled immediately to Morvedre, and together with his military aide, Ferrando Munyoc¸, settled the Jews within the castle and maintained order in the city.4 2 3 4

ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 2093, fol. 115r-v; fol. 115v ¶1 for the locales of Elig and Crivilent. In early 1392, the Jews of Elx were attacked; see the chapter on the duke. Ibid., fols. 114v–115r to Xativa, Ll´ıria, and Castellon de Borriana. ` Ibid., fol. 117r ¶2 is the July 12 ducal letter. Reg. 1961, fol. 41v is the royal letter of June 16 to the city officials and to Bonafonat. It was published with some minor variations in Antonio Chabret, Sagunto. Su historia y sus momumentos, vol. 2 (Barcelona, 1888), p. 336, n. 1, and in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 657–658, no. 410. The king encouraged the officials to continue to provide for the Jews’ safety and suggested that if the officials needed his help, they should contact his brother, the duke, who not only could act in his behalf but, since he was nearby in Valencia, could provide immediate support. The king wanted his brother to proceed vigorously against these individuals and not to offer pardons to anyone. The king suggested that, in order to better preserve the Valencia Jews, they be installed in the castle in Morvedre or in another locale that Mart´ı would deem appropriate. See Reg. 1961, fol. 41v–42v, and published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 655–657, no. 409. See, above, the chapter on the city of Valencia. On the king, the duke, their reactions, and their correspondence, see the respective chapters in Part II.

58

“The Things As They Happened”

Letters continued to travel back and forth among King Joan, Duke Mart´ı, Bonafonat de San Feliu, aliama members, Morvedre officials, the bailiff, and the governor of Valencia about the Jews’ safety and about the punishment of the evildoers. The king averred that if the duke did not punish the criminals accordingly, he would ride immediately and directly to the town and punish those culpable in a manner that would ensure that no one would dare commit such acts again.5 On Wednesday the 19th, the king officially granted protection to the aliama of the Jews, its members, and their property, and furnished Morvedre Jews with safe-conducts to travel anywhere within the royal dominions. Correspondingly, Joan and his trusted adviser and vice-chancellor of the Kingdom of Valencia, the lawyer Domingo Mascho, declared to the Morvedre authorities that anyone who assaulted the Jews would be subject to corporal and financial punishment. Similar protection was afforded to those Jews who had arrived in Morvedre from elsewhere within the kingdom.6 Since many Jews fled to Morvedre “as a result of the riots and agitation incited by the people in the Kingdom of Valencia” to restore themselves and secure their property, Joan ordered his bailiff, Bonafonat, on July 20, to receive all these refugees and their belongings and to defend them against attack. Joan asked the bailiff to publicize that these Jews were under his special protection so that no one could feign ignorance of their status. The duke reported to the duquessa, that same Thursday, about the many Valencia Jews who had arrived in Morvedre, and stressed that had it not been for Bonafonat, who instructed them to ascend to the castle, they would have been severely harmed.7 Inhabitants of Morvedre, in an attempt to deflect criticism of their behavior, claimed that it was Valencians, joined by individuals from Puc¸ol and a few vagrants, who attacked the Jews of their town. Morvedre

5

6 7

Accounts of the attacks in Morvedre can be found in Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 48–50 and Meyerson, pp. 24–25. Reg. 1961, fol. 43v is the king’s letter of July 16 to Bonafonato, which published in Chabret, pp. 336–337, note 2 and in Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 337, no. 19. Ibid., fol. 43r is Joan’s July 17 letter to the aljama, published in Chabret p. 337, note 1 and in Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 336–337, no. 18. Reg. 2093, fol. 97v is Mart´ı’s missive to Bonafonat dated July 18. Mart´ı encouraged Bonafonat to provide as best he could for the security of the Jews until he would be able to intervene. Again, see the chapter on the duke. Reg. 1901, fol. 38r-v, and published in Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 339–340, no. 25, and Reg. 1849, fol. 117r-v, published in ibid., pp. 338–339, no. 23. The king’s letter is in Reg. 1901, fol. 46r, and was published in Chabret, p. 338, note 1, mostly in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 658, and in Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 341, no. 27. The duke’s July 20 missive is in Reg. 2093, fols. 119r–120r, and was published by Riera Sans, Los tumultos, pp. 222–224.

The Kingdom of Valencia

59

officials asserted, that when the violence erupted, they had shut the doors to the Jewish quarter in order to protect its residents. The Valencia jurats rejected these charges that were leveled against them and instructed Joan not to take seriously these accusations, which owed, they suggested, to long-standing intra and inter-urban squabbling between these two population centers. When the jurats of Valencia detailed to Soler and Marrades, their representatives at the royal court, the various miracles surrounding the conversion of some Valencia Jews, they added that a “miracle” had also occurred in Morvedre. Unlike what had transpired in Valencia, the local chrismatory in Morvedre was surprisingly found empty when an infant needed to be baptized. It was so dry that it appeared as if it had never held any consecrated oil. As a result, the child had to be sent off to Puc¸ol for conversion.8 Moving the Jews to a fortified area such as the local castle in Morvedre appeared an effective way to protect the Jewish population. Another possible strategy to safeguard the Jews was conversion, as a Mossen Diago of Ll´ıria proposed when he informed Duke Mart´ı of an attack on the local Jews. Mart´ı – who had utilized this tactic in the city of Valencia, was cautious in this instance: “We would have great pleasure that the Jews of the said villa become Christians,” he advised, on July 13, but only “if this is what they want because we leave such to their will as we have already made known to you through another letter.” The duke asserted to the insistent Diago that it pleased him to learn that converted Jews’ property would be retained by the converts, or released to the aliama.9 8

9

The July 22 letter to Soler and Marrades is AMV, in Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 28v–29r. See the chapter on the city of Valencia for information about its publication information. The sections relating to Morvedre (fol. 29r) can also be found in Chabret, pp. 337– 338. When Valencia jurats, on September 2, informed the cardinal of Valencia about the events of the last number of weeks, AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fols. 49 bis v52r – publication information in the city of Valencia chapter, they mentioned that the Morvedre alcayt was in Valencia at the time of the riots, and that the Jews, who were installed in the local castle thanks to the efforts of the alcayt, and did not descend to convert, were still there (fol. 51r). Meyerson analyzes the story of the empty chrismatory and discusses the few Morvedre Jews who did convert. See Mark D. Meyerson, A Jewish Renaissance in Fifteenth-Century Spain (Princeton, 2004), pp. 26–27. On the tensions between Morvedre and Valencia, see ibid., p. 24. On the Sant Feliu family, see Meyerson, A Jewish Renaissance and Meyerson, Jews in an Iberian Frontier Kingdom, s.v. Sant Feliu. The jurats also claimed in this letter that miracles had occurred in Castelo de Borriana among other locales, and asserted that the Jews there and in all of the surrounding area of la Plana had been baptized. See below on Castello. ´ ACA, Reg. 2093, fol. 117v ¶2. On July 18, the duke expressed concern that the property of Ac¸ach Faraig of Ll´ıria, newly Ramon Tolza, would be conserved for him in his native

60

“The Things As They Happened”

Jews converted “in Liria, Cullera and a few other small towns,” the Valencia jurats notified their royal representatives. The magistrates, on July 14, also identified Xativa as one of the places where all of its Jews ` were baptized. Although the duke, on the 11th, had ordered the protection of local Jews and Muslims, some lawless people rose up against the Jewish community, and stole jewels and other property from the Jewish quarter. By June 18, Mart´ı reported to the king that after the riots and robbery in Xativa, the Jews were forced to ascend the castle whether or not ` they wished to leave their residential area. There these Jews were made Christians. The fortress in Xativa, unlike in Morvedre, could protect their ` persons but not their faith.10

10

town. See ibid., fol. 95v ¶2 where the duke’s letter about the former Ll´ıria Jew was crossed out and not completed. Mart´ı’s letter to the king is in ibid., fols. 96v–97r. On July 14, the duke informed the lieutenants of the governor of Valencia and the justicia criminal of Xativa, Johan ` de Vallera, of the attacks and robbery. Mart´ı contemplated traveling to the city to administer punishments but put the trip on hold. In the meantime, he asked the officials to proceed with caution in negotiating compromises with those implicated in the uprising, not to sign off on any definitive resolutions, and indeed divested them of all power to do so. The duke, on July 18, acknowledged the efforts of Johan de Vallera and one of the lieutenants of the governor of Valencia, whose district encompassed the area south of the Xuquer (Jucar) river, to suppress the riots, and to punish the 15–20 instigators as ´ ´ well as those most culpable in the attacks. Although the duke encouraged these officials, he cautioned that no settlements could be made with the transgressors and removed any authority from the local government to effect these arrangements. Mart´ı now announced that he would soon travel to Xativa and proceed against those accountable: ibid., ` fol. 94r-v. The jurats and prohomens of Xativa were among those who contacted Duke Mart´ı ` about the gathering of the king of Granada: Reg. 2093, fols. 120v–121r to the king, dated July 21. See, above, the chapter on the city of Valencia. The fullest account we have of what transpired in Xativa itself was written a year and ` a half later in January 1393 when Joan I granted a general pardon to its inhabitants who had not already been found guilty of any criminal activity: Reg. 1904, fol. 148r–151r, and published by Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 401–403, no. 134 and summarized on pp. 57– 58ff. The king recalled that the news of what had transpired in Valencia had arrived in Xativa at dawn on Monday July 10. Many locals of Xativa viewed those events and ` ` those which had occurred recently in the Kingdom of Castile as a miracle and the work of God. Lawless individuals and evil strangers who wished to dispossess the Jews of their property as had been done in the city of Valencia were able, through their evil and venomous words, to convince people that the local juheria had to be destroyed and the Jews forcibly baptized. A rumor that the Jews desired to convert spread throughout the city. According to the king, it was this late-breaking information that further incited Xativa inhabitants against the Jews. The news also encouraged the designs of those bad ` people – persons of low status and mostly strangers as he later described them, and that night the Jewish quarter was plundered. One raving Jew, who was found tied up and

The Kingdom of Valencia

61

Specifics regarding conversions in Gandia were forthcoming. Valencia jurats proclaimed that, just the day before (July 13), the great “Don Samuel Abravalla had been baptized there with great solemnity,” the marquis having served as his godfather. Don Samuel took the name Alfonso Fernandez de Vilanova, the latter appellation after a place of the same name he possessed in the marquisate.11 In one instance, inhabitants from one town sought to export the violence to a nearby locale. 200 inhabitants of Vila-real set off for nearby Borriana (about 5 kilometers distance) where they stirred up riots, and pressed the locals to present the Jews with the choice of either dying or becoming Christians. Thereupon the outsiders entered Borriana, cursed the Jews, harmed and robbed them, and carried away their property. On June 18, the duke declared to his brother that all the Christians collectively, comunament, had agitated strongly against the Jews, and afterwards had inveighed against the Muslims. Mart´ı ordered the justicia of Vila-real, that same day, to join with the alguatzir, his judicial agent – whom he had sent to capture the main ringleader and hang him by the neck until he died, to punish the rioters.12

11

12

chained, was killed. The rest of the Jewish population was gathered into the castle by the city fathers, who otherwise had been unable to protect them. The next day, which was market-day in Xativa, brought many people from the surrounding locales and even ` frontier areas into the town. Together with some locals, they tried to block deliveries of food to the castle, hoping that the Jews would have to descend from the fortress and become Christians. Despite the danger of the situation, which threatened to overwhelm the city fathers as well, the municipal officials adopted the following measures. First they declared that the moreria and the Muslims, which the king noted was the largest in the kingdom and the most profitable to the royal patrimony, were to be safeguarded and that no harm come to any of the Muslims or their property. Secondly, the council requested that the duke and the general governor (who was neither in the kingdom or nearby) punish all those guilty of criminal activity and offered its support for their efforts. And lastly, the city fathers proclaimed that both locals and outsiders had to return all stolen property – coins, table-service, and clothing – and deliver it to those deputized by the council so that those items could be returned to their rightful owners. According to the king, these proclamations were effective and much property of all types was restored. The jurats added that the conversion of Samuel Abravalla took place in the royal domicile of En Gasco. Danvila, El robo de la juder´ıa de Valencia, pp. 385–386, calls the nobleman, ´ the Marques (de Lombay). See also Vidal Beltran, ´ p. 70. ACA, Reg. 2093, fol. 96r-v is to the justicia of Vila-real. Ville Regalis is one of the sites where Jews were killed or suicided and died intestate; see the royal document dated September 22, Reg. 1949, fol. 16v and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 687–688. Mart´ı reported to his brother on the 18th, ibid., fols. 96v–97r, how the 200 inhabitants of Vila-real traveled there, entered the town by force and robbed all the Jews but did not write that they were all forcibly converted. See the chapter on the duke. On July 20, Valencia jurats reported to the city councilors of Barcelona that the

62

“The Things As They Happened”

Nazbert de Barbera, a lieutenant governor of the kingdom, recalled how he had requested the councilors of Castello´ that they, out of fealty to the king, help defend the Jews and their property, and issue public proclamations to that effect. The lieutenant of the local batlle tendered a similar request to the council. The Castello´ magistrates, through two of their number, en Pere Moster and en Pasqual Ferrando, took issue with any criticism of their behavior and declared publicly to the lieutenant governor and to the batlle’s aide, on July 14, that they had protected all of the royal prerogatives, and that they would do their best, as always, to protect the Jews of the town. Starting July 18, a number of Jews who had been baptized in the local church, had converted to the Catholic faith and had been deemed newly Christian, demanded the return of their property and requested that the town council treat them like the other residents of the town. Their requests were granted.13 The state of the Jews in this southern Iberian kingdom was surveyed by Mart´ı for his duquessa, on July 20. He began his overview by asserting that riots similar to the one in Valencia had taken place in Xativa, ` where the Jewish quarter had been sacked and all the Jews had become Christians. The duke added that “the Jews of d’Alzizira (Alzira is north of Xativa on the road to Valencia) all became Christians without suffer` ing any harm.” The duke declared to his wife that, as had been the case in Alzira, the Jews were converted and not harmed “in Liria as well as in many other places.” He wrote about the 200 men who marched from Vila-real to Borriana and, possibly aided by some of the local inhabitants, entered the town by force. He reported that they robbed the juheria, and that the Jews were made Christians.14

13

14

Jews of Borriana were among other of the kingdom’s Jews who were baptized and had converted to the Christian faith, events “which should please all loyal Christians.” See, above, the chapter on the city of Valencia. The claims of the lieutenant governor and the response of the council is in AMC, LC and was published by Jos´e Ramon ´ Magdalena Nom de Deu in his essay on Castello´ in Jos´e Donate Sebastia and Jos´e Ramon ´ Magdalena Nom de Deu, Three Jewish Communities in Medieval Valencia (Jerusalem, 1990), pp. 112–113, no. 25. Magdalena Nom de Deu also published the requests of the New Christians, AMC, LC, in ibid., pp. 112– 116, nos. 22–28, which are dated through the end of July and even later. See also his earlier “Notas sobre los conversos castellonenses en 1391,” Bolet´ın de la sociedad castellonense de cultura 53 (1977), pp. 161–170 and Roca Traver, pp. 133–134 and 188–190, document nos. 22 and 23. Castilionis Burriane is also mentioned in the royal September 22 document as one of the sites where Jews were killed or suicided. See below. For the duke’s letter, see above note 7. The Valencia jurats in their first letters to their representatives at court on July 14 had already mentioned Dalgezira as a place where the Jews were baptized and so did

The Kingdom of Valencia

63

In the northernmost reaches of the kingdom in Morella, Jews converted to Christianity as well. [N]Arnau Catala, a wool-carder, acknowledged, on July 26, that he had received from Pere Guerra, one of the local jurats, 287 royal Valencia sous for two bolts of red cloth, which Arnau used to clothe Jews “who were converted to the catholic faith.” Disturbances erupted in the nearby town of Sant Mateu, which was under the jurisdiction of the military Order of Montesa. On July 19, the king wrote to the master of the order that lawless people in town, without cause, had agitated against individual Jews, and were antagonistic toward the aliama as well. The king requested that the Master of Montesa protect the Jews, and punish all who would dare to harm them.15 Despite the attempt, as early as July 10, to pacify the Valencia moreria, large numbers of Muslims fled the capital city and the spreading violence, and relocated themselves in the mountains. Fears of Muslim revenge spread among the Christians. The town council of Oriola alerted the jurats

15

they on July 20 to the councilors of Barcelona. The jurats of Valencia responded to criticism of the leaders of Alzira on July 28 of 1391. See above p. 43. The document of September 22 mentioning Alzezire is in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 688, and was cited in the previous notes. See also below. On Alzira, see the brief mention by Riera in his article on Girona, p. 114. See Narbona Vizca´ıno, El trienio negro, p. 180 and note 9 on pardons, and the identification of those who were behind the attacks. The pardon of February 28, 1393 to the community of Alzira indicates that there were riots against the Jews that had resulted in harm to Jews and their property. The document was published by Chabas ´ y Llor´ens in El Archivo, vol. 2, pp. 392–396, from a “Pergamino del archivo del Alcira,” and then in a Castilian translation by Leopoldo Piles Ros, “La juder´ıa de Alcira,” Sefarad 20 (1960), pp. 371–373. The royal pardon to Xativa of January 1393, see above, mentions that on the evening of Monday July 10 ` after the municipal officials and the duke had done their all to save the Jewish quarter and to protect its Jews, the people of Xativa learned that at midday all the Jews of ` Algezira (Alzira) had been baptized. Documents from October 1, 1392 further corroborate the robbery of the Jewish quarter in Borriana. See Leopoldo Piles Ros, “La juder´ıa de Burriana,” Sefarad 12 (1952), pp. 114–117 where the texts have been translated into Spanish and, following him, Magdalena Nom de Deu in his essay on Borriana in Three Jewish Communities in Medieval Valencia, p. 174 and an original text on pp. 215–218. Manuel Grau Monserrat, “La juder´ıa de Morella,” Sefarad 24 (1964), pp. 320–321 published a document from Arxiu Historic Eclesiastic de Morella (AHEM), Notari ` ` Guillem Esteve, 1391, w/o folio number. The king proclaimed that not only would he be quite displeased if the Jews were to be harmed, but if what happened in Valencia were to happen there, those guilty would be severely punished. See the chapter on the king. The royal document of September 22 mentions Morelle. See below. Sent Matheu was a center for the wool trade as well. The document of July 19 was first published by Riera Sans in Los tumultos, pp. 218–219 and appeared again, with lacunae, in Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 339, no. 24. The Valencia jurats in a letter to the king of August 5, see the chapter on the city of Valencia, had mentioned members of the military Order of Montesa, among others, as responsible for the riots in their city.

64

“The Things As They Happened”

and prohomens of the town of Elx that the (Muslim) king of Granada had dispatched 2,000 cavalry to wreak havoc “in your land.” As far as the Jews of Oriola, the Valencia jurats notified their representatives at the royal court, on July 22, that a letter had just arrived that “all the Jews and Jewesses voluntarily – de lur bon grat,” were baptized and made “good Christians.”16 The Muslim community of Pedralba, which belonged to the patrimony of the duke’s conseller and majordomo, the nobleman Mossen Pero Sanchez de Calatayud, became endangered by the disturbances precipitated against the Jews and Muslims of the nearby city of Ll´ıria. Mart´ı requested, on July 13, that the Ll´ıria municipal officials take these local Muslims under their protection, and if necessary send a company to nearby Pedralba to protect the Muslims and their property.17 Both the fate of Muslims and Jews animated the royal family. On July 21, the king expressed his concern to the justicia and the city-councilors of Xativa about the riots against the Jews, and that the locals intended ` to attack the Muslims. On July 16, the duke had communicated his 16

17

Mart´ı reported to his brother Joan on the events in Oriola: Reg. 2093, fol. 116v, part of larger document published by Riera Sans, Los tumultos, pp. 221–222. Mart´ı enclosed a copy of the Oriola missive so the king could take the necessary measures. For more on Mart´ı’s actions, see the duke chapter. The account of the conversions in Oriola are in AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 28v. See the chapter on the city of Valencia. According to the sixteenth century chronicler Pedro Bellot, cited by Torres Fontes, “Los jud´ıos murcianos a fines,” p. 60, representatives of the Oriola aljama repaired to the houses of the bishop where they encountered the governor (Olfo de Proxita [sic]), ´ the royal bailiff (Jaime Roncesvalles), and members of the city council. All of them assured the Jews that they would be protected and that they need not flee the city. Royal documents from January 16–17, 1393 (in Hinojosa Montalvo pp. 404–407, nos. 138– 141) indicate that riots, killings, and robberies took place in the city of Oriola, and also in the city of Alicante and in other surrounding locales. Many Jews converted. Some Jews who found themselves in this corner of the Kingdom of Valencia when the upheavals began and fearful of being physically harmed and of being forcibly converted, fled across the Aragonese-Castilian border to Murcia from where they sought to recover the property they had left behind in their haste. Still Hinojosa Montalvo claims, p. 66, that “no physical violence was unleashed against the Jews.” Baptisms in Murcia are attested to in the jurats letter to their royal representatives, Soler and Marrades, see above. Three cases of Jews who fled to Murcia are described by Torres Fontes on pp. 61–63; the texts can be found on pp. 104–107. Yahuda, the iron worker, was in Callosa (northeast of Oriola) and returned to his native city; Yanto Aseo was a Valencia goldsmith who lived in Elx and was working in Alicante; and Zag Cohen, spice-merchant, and his wife were natives of Murcia but were visiting her parents in Oriola, when the conversions began in that city. See also Agust´ın Nieto Fernandez, Oriola en sus documentos. Vol. 4: ´ Musulmanes y jud´ıos en Oriola, siglos XIV–XIX (Murcia, 1997), pp. 4–8. ACA, Reg. 2093, fol. 89r ¶2.

The Kingdom of Valencia

65

displeasure to the justicia, jurats, and prohomens of Alcoi regarding “those who had instigated against the Muslims of the moraria of Cocentayna [sic] and others of those parts menacing them and harming them in their persons and property without any reason,” especially considering that the Muslims of Cocentaina (just north of Alcoi and south of Xativa) ` pertained to the Queen. On July 21, the queen herself communicated directly to the officials in Cocentaina. She informed them that she had heard of the scandals, and how the local Muslims had been “frightened, harassed, and unsettled.” She ordered the local officials to restore order and to keep the Muslims safe. Indeed, she wrote, Muslims had arrived in such places because they viewed these locales as a refuge from the surrounding peril. She recalled that the king had written to the officials of Alcoi and to nearby Penaguila in support of these Muslims, and on ` behalf of all Muslims of the Kingdom of Valencia.18 Morvedre’s town’s castle continued, during the month of August, to serve as a refuge for Jews whose situation had remained tenuous. The king, on August 1, again suggested to his brother that the Jews of the city of Valencia, as well as those from elsewhere within the kingdom, be transferred to the Morvedre fortress, protected there, and have all their necessities furnished. King Joan thanked Bonafonat, once more, for having safeguarded the local Jews, and having taken under his protection and extended aid to all those Jews who had arrived in Morvedre. He promised the bailiff and proclaimed to to the local Jews, on August 5, that he would come to town for a brief stay, when he would punish the guilty and secure the town’s stability.19 The jurats of Valencia, as well, recommended Morvedre as a safe haven. On August 19, they notified their representatives at court that, with the situation in the Kingdom of Valencia still uncertain and in accordance with the wishes of the king, those Jews from the city of Valencia, who had not converted and who were still concerned for their well-being, could travel to the castle of Morvedre. They would be escorted on their journey 18

19

Regarding the Muslims of Xativa, Reg. 1961, fol. 46r was published by Daniel Girona ` i Llagostera, “Disposicions de Joan I sobre ‘ls avalots dels calls,” Bolet´ın de la real academ´ıa de buenas letras de Barcelona 14/103 (1929), pp. 113–114 and by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 341, no. 29. The duke’s letter is in Reg. 2093, fol. 92v, and the letter of the queen in Reg. 2029, fol. 173v ¶2. See below in Iolant chapter. Reg. 1878, fol. 91r-v, published in Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 344–345, no. 35, is dated August 1. Reg. 1961, fol. 60r-v is the letter of August 5, and can be found in Chabret, p. 339, note 2, and in Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 345–346, nos. 37–39. The king also declared his intent to Bernard de Jonquerio.

66

“The Things As They Happened”

by the justicia and be accompanied by a retinue of horsemen, or protected in another equally secure fashion.20 Castles at the northern end of the Kingdom of Valencia were also places of refuge for those fleeing southward from Catalonia to escape the violence. King Joan declared to the lieutenant of the castellania of Amposta, on August 3, that it was incumbent upon local leadership to guard royal Jews who originated in Gandesa (in southwest Catalonia) and elsewhere, and were “passants e anants,” passing through the hamlets and villages of the castellania. Native Jews and their property should also be protected, and those who instigated violence be punished.21 With riots against Jews spreading throughout the Crown of Aragon, and with many Jews on the road looking for safety, the king, and Domingo Mascho in the king’s name, thanked the Morvedre city fathers yet again, on August 13, for their protection of the native and immigrant Jews, and promised them recompense for their efforts. The king recognized their great diligence and attentive care with which they had defended the aliama. Mascho felt impelled to reiterate that the Jews were the king’s patrimony and “our treasure by divine and human law and that those Jews who live quietly deserve to be defended by the temporal lords.” Mascho asked the municipal leaders, who either worked in tandem with local royal officials or separately from them, to defend the Jews against all who would attack their persons or property. The king himself requested that they continue their wonderful work for a few short days 20

21

AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 34r according to Vidal Beltran, ´ p. 69. The letter of the jurats to their representatives on August 19 is on fol. 44r-v, but I cannot find the reference to Morvedre. Fol. 34r is part of a letter dated July 28. Vidal Beltran ´ suggests that such a policy may have been agreeable to the authorities because they did not wish the juheria reconstituted. The king again, on August 7, had recommended the castle of Morvedre to the governor as a place of refuge. See the chapter on the city of Valencia. Reg. 1878, fols. 93r–94r. Gabriel Secall i Guell, Els jueus de Valls i la seva e´ poca. ¨ Estudis Vallencs, vol. IX (Valls, 1980), p. 446 writes, based on this document, that in Gandesa, which pertained to the Hospitallers, the property of the Jews was plundered in 1391. He refers to the doctoral thesis of Riera i Sans in claiming, based on ACA, Cancelleria Real, Reg. 1878, fols. 105r and 106v, that Jews can be documented there in 1391. Gabriel Secall i Guell, Les jueries medievals Tarragonines. Estudis Vallencs, vol. ¨ XIV (Valls, 1983) repeats these assertions. I do not see this information in these folios. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Duchess Maria, wife of Mart´ı, as “procurator and lieutenant general of her husband in all his lands,” concerned about the harm that some men of Montalban ´ (just over the border with Valencia in Aragon) wreaked upon the local Muslims, ordered on August 7 to have these Muslims safeguarded in the houses of Nadal, the local merino. See Reg. 2018, fol. 2r.

The Kingdom of Valencia

67

when he would arrive in their town, and thank the good and penalize the wicked in a fashion that would serve as a punishment for them and as an example to others.22 By September 22, the riots appear to have abated within the Kingdom of Valencia, and King Joan sent a circular letter to his bailiffs ordering them to survey all the property that the Jewish communities owned prior to the riots. He was especially interested in the possessions of those Jews who died without leaving any heirs, including those who were killed or had committed suicide so as not to be converted. Hasdai Crescas, writing almost a month later on October 19, surveyed the Kingdom of Valencia from another perspective and declared: “the sum of the matter in the Kingdom of Valencia is that no Jew is left except in one place called Morvedre.” Clearly matters were not that bleak but since that Sunday July 9 in the capital city of the kingdom, Jewry in this constituent kingdom of the Crown of Aragon would never be the same.23

22

23

Reg. 1878, fol. 139v, dated August 25, was published by Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 349– 350, no. 47. Reg. 1961, fol. 84r-v, of the same date, was published by Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 216. Reg. 1949, fol. 16v, and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 687–688. The letter (see the king chapter) was sent to bailiffs within all of Joan’s Iberian kingdoms. For Crescas, see Wiener, p. 130.

3 The Island of Majorca

Only one day after the Valencia riots, and in a setting evocative of what had occurred on the Iberian mainland, fights broke out among a few Christian youths outside the main portal of the call of the City of Majorca, and the brawl incited a disturbance within the Jewish quarter. Francesc Sa Garriga, the royally appointed governor of the island, immediately informed Majorca officials what had occurred in the capital city, and threatened to hang any miscreants if riots against local Jews erupted within their bailiwicks. As a prophylactic measure, Sa Garriga, on Monday July 10, directed these leaders to seize and imprison anyone who “said words against the Jews.” Details of what had transpired in Castile as well as in Valencia – from the deaths and the despoliation, even to Duke Mart´ı’s attempts to investigate the incident and punish the guilty, became public knowledge on the island over the course of July. Concerned that this news might stir up his subjects against Majorca’s Jewish population, Sa Garriga, on July 12, declared, in the name of the king, that the island’s Jewish communities were under royal protection, and that those who agitated against Jews would be decapitated if they were from the upper classes, hanged if they were commoners. Christians or Jews who insulted one another, the governor proclaimed, would have their tongues ripped out of their mouths.1 1

˜ vol. 21 (Madrid, 1951), pp. 223– Jaime Villanueva, Viage literario a las iglesias de Espana, 224, cites the notary Mateo Salzet who recorded that news of the mainland riots arrived in Majorca. Salzet was congratulatory of Mart´ı’s efforts. See below, note 13, on Salzet. The recruitment tables for Mart´ı’s expedition were placed on June 10 in Majorca, as well as in Valencia, Barcelona, Tortosa, and Collioure (Cottliure): see the chapter on the duke.

68

The Island of Majorca

69

While manifestations of violence against Majorca Jews were unprecedented, Christian islanders had exhibited animosity toward this minority over the course of the previous half century, and indeed from the early years of Christian rule over the Balearics. In the wake of Alfons III (of the Crown of Aragon)’s edict to have the Jews of the city live within one district, Jews began to move, in the years between 1285 and 1290, from the Almudaina – their original settlement within the castle’s precincts, and from other areas of the city to their new quarter. In this call nou, their neighbors, including the Santa Clara convent, the monastery of the Franciscans, and the church of Santa Eulalia, consistently harassed them. Members of these religious institutions attempted to limit the Jews’ settlement and, in the mid-fourteenth century, these Christians missionized among the Jewish residents.2 Tensions also abounded among the island’s Christians, especially between the forans – those who lived outside of the City of Majorca, and the urban inhabitants – primarily the municipal leaders and the wealthy classes. In the late fourteenth century, this conflict was evidenced in grievances the forans presented about their underrepresentation in the general council, the island’s effective governing body. The artisan class of the capital city also complained that they were insufficiently represented in island government and, like their rural counterparts, resented the tax burden that the urban patriciate required them to shoulder.

2

Antonio Pons, Los jud´ıos del reino de Mallorca durante los siglos xiii y xiv, vol. 2 (Palma de Mallorca, 1984), p. 313, cites Arxiu Historic [del Regne] de Mallorca, (origi` nally named Arxiu Historic ` de les Balears. Hereinafter I will use ARM, Arxiu del Regne de Mallorca), Lletres comunes, without foliation, for the document of July 10. Sa Garriga’s edicts of July 10 and 12, ARM, Pregones, fol. 124v, are discussed in ibid., pp. 163–164, ˜ Sus monumentos y artes – su and by Pablo Piferrer and Jos´e Mar´ıa Quadrado, Espana. naturaleza e´ historia. Islas Baleares (Barcelona, 1888), p. 210. Baer, A History, vol. 2, p. 102 writes that on July 10, the governor had Jews evacuated from the villages to the city. See below note 9 on Soller. ´ Rowdy youths were to be found outside the Jewish quarter in Valencia in the weeks prior to that city’s riots. The July 9 march on Valencia’s juheria by the group of youths appears to have been planned. See, above, the chapter on the city of Valencia. On the establishment of the call nou and the Christian institutions’ behavior toward the Jews, Natalie Oeltjen, Crisis and Regeneration: The Conversos of Majorca, 1391–1416 (University of Toronto dissertation, 2012), pp. 53–57, and ff., provides a fine summary. See also Jorge Ma´ız Chacon, ´ Los jud´ıos de Baleares en la Baja Edad Media. Econom´ıa y pol´ıtica (Oleiros, Spain, 2010), pp. 41–43 and on the sites of Jewish residence, generally, Margalida Bernat i Roca, El call de ciutat de Mallorca a l’entorn de 1350 (Mallorca, 2005), pp. 13–39.

70

“The Things As They Happened”

Pere III, and later Joan I, attempted to dispel the ill will engendered by the urban ruling elite by promises to increase the representation of both the forans and the urban artisan class in the governance of the island. But loans made to Joan by the jurats, and which were effected without consultation with the consell general, exacerbated strained relations between these groups and the monarchy. Most islanders suspected that the extension of credit to the king by the municipal leaders – such as those made in September 1390, would lead inevitably to imposition of higher taxes on the locals. As a result, people both inside and outside of the capital city viewed both the urban elite and the royal authorities with suspicion.3 Majorca Jews were burdened as well by an array of taxes and subsidies. But while both Pere and Joan frequently placed heavy financial demands upon the aliamas, the Jews received royal privileges and protections in exchange. So when a number of Jews were accused of criminal activity on the island, Joan, through his councilor Domingo Mascho, instructed the governor Francisco Sa Garriga, on June 6, 1391, to have compassion on those charged, and to issue them an order of protection.4 After Pere conquered the Balearic islands in 1343, and officially annexed them to the Crown of Aragon, the following year, he encouraged the Jews’ commercial activities with an eye to funds that Jewish islanders would forward to the royal treasury. While most Jews worked in textile production and in the leather industry, some traded in these products, and a few cultivated and maintained significant commercial links to North Africa. Although many Majorca Jews were impoverished by mid-century, a small percentage was active in moneylending, in part as a means to invest capital from their other economic activities. Many 3

4

Jos´e Mar´ıa Quadrado, Forenses y ciudadanos: historia de las disensiones civiles de Mallorca en el siglo XV (Palma de Mallorca, 1895), pp. 65–69 and Maria Teresa Ferrer i ` Mallol, “Conflictes populars a Mallorca a la fi del segle XIV,” Estudis Balearics (IEB) 84/85 (2006), pp. 87–92, describe the situation in the late fourteenth century. Ferrer i ´ Mallol relies on Alvaro Santamar´ıa Arandez, “Mallorca en el siglo XIV,” Anuario de ´ estudios medievales 7 (1970–1971), pp. 165–238. Josep Francesc Lopez Bonet, “La revolta de 1391: efectivament, crisi social,” XIII ´ ´ Comunicacions, Palma de Mallorca, 1989, p. Congr´es d’Historia de la Corona d’Arago, 112, describes the 1390 grants. ACA, Cartas Reales, Caixa 5, No. 567. On taxes in exchange for privileges – based on royal documentation from the mid-fourteenth century, consult Oeltjen, pp. 84–93. Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 558–560 – no. 367 dated March 22, 1384; pp. 577–578 – no. 379 from February 27, 1386; p. 561 from January 21, 1390; and pp. 644–647 dated January 30, 1391 (and December 5, 1390 and April 1391), contains interesting material on both concessions to the Jewish community, and on monies requested.

The Island of Majorca

71

of these loans were extended to those outside of the capital city, and to those who dwelled in rural areas.5 Jews were a presence in the Majorca countryside in towns such as Inca (Sineu, Petra), Soller, Pollenc¸a, Alcudia, Arta, Manacor, and Felanitx, as ´ ´ well as in other population centers of Menorca and in the other Balearics. Whereas some of these Jews engaged in moneylending and its associated activities, Jewish merchants and artisans also lived outside the capital city.6 Animosity toward island Jews appears to have intensified during 1390. Perhaps in an attempt to prevent an escalation of hostilities, aliama secretaries counseled the governor that Jews not be allowed to bear arms in the call during nighttime hours and, as a safety precaution, ordered that no Jews be allowed to leave their home late at night without carrying lights. In March of 1391, the governor warned the bailiffs of Inca and Sineu that, during Holy Week, they should protect Jews from violent disturbances.7 Attacks against the Jews of Seville and of other Castilian cities in June 1391 served notice to the Crown of Aragon that their Jewish populations were in jeopardy. Anxious that local authorities were not sufficiently mindful of the looming danger, King Joan warned City of Majorca magistrates, on the 27th of June, that in his absence, the Jews were their responsibility. The king had been concerned ever since he learned how impious individuals had both verbally and physically provoked local Jewish notables. After riots erupted in the Kingdom of Valencia, the king notified a variety of Majorca municipal and royal officials – including the governor, vicar, bailiff, jurats, and good men of the City of Majorca,

5

6 7

Ma´ız Chacon, ´ Los jud´ıos de Baleares, pp. 103–134. See also David Abulafia, A Mediterranean Emporium. The Catalan Kingdom of Majorca (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 75–99 and ff. See Oeltjen, Conversos of Majorca, pp. 112–115, 118–122. ARM, Pregones, fol. 117, from March 1390, as reported on briefly in Jorge Ma´ız Chacon, ´ “Apreciaciones sobre la part forana. Mentalidad y marginalidad en el siglo XIV mallorqu´ın (1391),” Mayurqa 28 (2002), p. 246 and in Los jud´ıos de Baleares, p. 150. It is hard to know why the aliama officials so advised the governor. Were they concerned about Jews defending themselves militarily, and therefore causing an upsurge in the violence? The letter in March 1391 is described in Lopez Bonet p. 112 and Quadrado, ´ p. 210. Hostility toward Jews during Holy Week was a feature of medieval Christian civilization. See Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, pp. 200–230. An atmosphere of violence seemed to pervade the island in the late 1380s and early 1390s: see Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, pp. 159–161.

72

“The Things As They Happened”

about the attacks and, on July 12 and 15, ordered them to preserve the Jewish community, punish the lawless, and to follow royal orders.8 Governor Sa Garriga, in turn, declared to the batle, royal bailiff, of Soller, on July 15, that it was reprehensible that Jews in his district were ´ ill-treated and, even worse, that the Jews were confined to a particular house from which they were ordered not to exit. The governor instructed the batle to permit the Jews to travel to the city of Majorca, and to ensure their safety by furnishing the necessary guard at his own expense. If Jews decided to remain in Soller, the batle was duty bound to shield them from ´ abuse.9 Sa Garriga was concerned that violence should not erupt elsewhere in the Balearics. The governor, on July 17, reminded his Menorcan counterpart, Francesch Johan Santa Coloma, and that island’s jurats and prohomens, about the riots against the Jews of Seville and Valencia, the royal mandate to guard both the aliama and its individuals, and the officials’ obligation to punish harshly those who would harm the Jews. While Majorca had been the victim of popular unrest, Sa Garriga asserted that provisions he had instituted prevented the development of anything untoward.10 Santa Coloma remained on Sa Garriga’s mind. The Majorca governor thought to notify the Menorcan, on July 18, that boats carrying cloth and other merchandise plundered from Valencia Jews had arrived in “your waters.” He contemplated instructing the Menorcan leader to seize these

8

9

10

Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, pp. 162–163, citing ARM, Lletres reials, fol. 210, is from June 27. Without access to the documents, it is hard for a reader of Pons to distinguish between the contents of the documents and his embellishments. See the chapter on the city of Valencia, where the June 27 letter to the city of Valencia was also sent to Majorca officials. The letters of July 12, ACA, Reg. 1878 fols. 67v–68r and July 15, fols. 69v–70r, were also addressed to Barcelona leaders. ARM, Lletres comunes, without additional information, and published in Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, pp. 313–314. The document is discussed in ibid., p. 164 and in Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 211, where they report that a similar letter was dispatched to Alcudia. ´ ARM, Lletres comunes 61, fol. 87v, and published in Ramon Rossello´ i Vaquer and Andreu Murillo i Tudur´ı, Els jueus dins la societat Menorquina del segle xiv (Menorca, 1990), pp. 125–126, and reported on in ibid., pp. 92–93. See also Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 164, and Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 211. Josep Mascaro´ Pasarius, “Los jud´ıos de Menorca en la baja edad media (El siglo xiv),” Revista de Menorca 74 (May 1983), pp. 241–281, is not helpful. See Riera i Sans’s assessments of Mascaro´ Pasarius and Antonio Pons in “Estudis sobre el judaisme catala. Anys 1970–1984,” Calls 1 (1986), pp. 124 and 130, respectively.

The Island of Majorca

73

stolen goods but for some reason did not send the letter. He did inform him, on July 21, that riots had not materialized in Barcelona.11 Despite continual attempts, through the month of July, by the governor and others to protect the Jews, Jews understood that an eruption might be inevitable. On July 31, some Jews of the City of Majorca hid their valuables in anticipation of an attack on their quarter. Some concealed expensive clothing, including silks, and others secreted gold and silver jewelry beneath the floor of their children’s bedroom. Na Fatima buried a small earthenware jug containing jewels and currency, and her daughterin-law, Na Lauda Massana, received her permission to deposit clothing, jewels, and two or three account books in Na Fatima’s hiding places.12 Early in the morning at the second hour, on Wednesday, August 2, Francisco Sa Garriga learned that “plures gentes forenses,” a large number of individuals who lived outside of the capital city, had either arrived in the capital or were on the road leading from Inca toward the City of Majorca. Their intention, according to the contemporary Christian notary Salzet, was to attack the Jewish quarter, and destroy the call and the Jews living within it. Responding to this anticipated assault, the governor and many of the city folks, “gentium civitatis,” both mounted and on foot, confronted these outsiders and attempted to convince them to return home. The forans acted without cause and in an unrestrained manner, according to Salzet, wounded the governor and killed the mount on which his adviser, Jacobus Llobera, was riding. At about that same hour, and again according to Salzet, these outsiders, were joined by many and diverse city-dwellers. Together they invaded and seized the Jewish quarter, and drove out all of its inhabitants. Salzet recorded that more than 300 Jewish men and women, as well as three Christians, were killed during the attack.13 11 12

13

ARM, Lletres comunes 62, fol. 89v and fol. 92r, respectively, briefly reprised in Rossello´ i Vaquer and Murillo i Tudur´ı, p. 93. ARM, Suplicacions, 1392–1402, without foliation, discussed in Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 161. Duke Mart´ı explained to Sa Garriga, on July 22, that since he was interested that the aliama of the Jews of Majorca and its members be preserved from all damages, the governor should make the necessary provisions for their defense and guard: ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 2093, fol. 101r ¶1. See the duke chapter. The protocols of the Majorca notary, Mateo Salzet, are located in the Arxiu Capitular attached to the cathedral in Palma. His notes about events that occurred during his lifetime cover the years 1372 to 1408. It is not known when Mateo Salzet penned his comments on the events of 1391. According to Lopez Bonet, La Revolta de 1391, ´

74

“The Things As They Happened”

In the immediate aftermath of the assault, property that had been secreted away could not easily be recovered. It seems that on Tuesday morning, Na Lauda Massana had enlisted another female member of her household to help her remove the items that Lauda and her p. 122, Salzet served as a local Majorca official, s´ındic, during the reign of King Mart´ı – probably in the first decade of the fifteenth century. Lopez Bonet deduces that he ´ belonged to the ruling political and economic classes. See the earlier brief remarks of Villanueva, Viaje literario, vol. 21, p. 22, and the admittedly speculative comments ˜ 1872, Calendario para of Tomas Aguilo, ´ Almanaque de las Islas Baleares para el ano ˜ de 1872 (Palma, las Islas Baleares: Mallorca, Menorca e Ibiza correspondiente al ano Mallorca, 1873), pp. 57–59. Salzet states that killed in the attacks were 300 Jews and three Christians, a tally, which to Lopez Bonet’s mind reflects the notary’s desire to focus attention on the anti´ Jewish aspects of the riots, as opposed to the economic and political factors. Lopez ´ Bonet cites an anonymous notary, ARM, Reial Patrimoni, 2048, who asserts that 300 Christians and 180 Jews died. (These numbers are found without citation in Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 165.) This fits better with his perception of what were the root causes of the riots. He imagines a scenario, p. 113, where the Jews were well organized, armed, and barricaded in a number of houses. He also suggests that the Christians fought amongst themselves, and indiscriminately killed Jews and those of their own faith. It is noteworthy that Lopez Bonet (and following him Ferrer i Mallol, Conflictes ´ populars, p. 93 and Oeltjen, Crisis and Regeneration, pp. 18–19) is willing to embrace these new numbers, and describe a course of events that supports these figures, without asking the same questions about the anonymous notary: Who was he, when did he write, and what was his social, economic, and political background. All sources should be treated with caution, not only those that do not readily conform to preconceived notions about the root causes of violent popular uprisings. Recent historiography on Majorca has embraced an almost exclusively economic interpretation of the attacks, following the lead of Philippe Wolff (see my Introduction), and has understood the anti-Jewish impulses of the attackers to be secondary, at the very least. For Lopez Bonet, and then Ferrer i Mallol and Oeltjen, economic ´ factors help clarify motivation, more so than religious hatred. Since their research is based on archival sources, political and economic dynamics perforce loom large. Their underlying assumption about human behavior is that people behave according to their economic interests in an understandable, if not rational, fashion. Better to my mind is to understand social action as stemming from a wide variety of factors, considerations that owe to as much to the perceptions of those involved as much as they do to the reality as understood by those who chronicle them. The attacks against the Jews in 1391 in Majorca, and elsewhere, cannot be reduced to fit predetermined notions of how people should and do behave. Religious, economic, and political hatreds, rational and irrational, all played a role in these riots, and cannot, easily or necessarily, be disentangled. Salzet’s report was first quoted by Villanueva, Viaje literario, p. 224 and again and more precisely in Aguilo, ´ Almanaque, p. 73. (In the latter, the two ellipses in Villanueva are filled in: the date of August 2 is correctly noted as Wednesday and not Friday, and the paragraph about the notaries is found after the paragraph on events in Barcelona and therefore belongs to the latter account. For Hasdai Crescas, see Prologue, note one, supra, the attacks took place on the New Moon of Elul. The second day of rosh hodesh,

The Island of Majorca

75

mother-in-law had hidden just the day before. On Thursday, the day after the riots, eighteen people aided a family member in searching the house for the stolen goods. Apparently, the missing items were of great value. Eventually, they determined that Na Lauda had dug another hiding place on the day of the riots, and therein placed both her own valuables as well as those of Na Fatima.14

14

1 Elul, fell out on Wednesday August 2.) Many authors who write about these events rely on Salzet and embellish his narrative. According to Piferrer and Quadrado, pp. 211– 213, and followed by Pons, pp. 165–167 – although Pons describes Quadrado’s pen as lively, a great convocation was scheduled that Wednesday the 2nd at the church of Sant Francisco, located adjacent to the Jewish quarter, in celebration of the anniversary of the establishment of Porciuncula, the first convent believed to be founded by St. Fran´ cis of Assisi. Piferrer and Quadrado may have been trying to understand why people from outside the capital city (peasants for a number of authors) were traveling that day. These authors imagine that while many people were gathering in the early morning to attend the festivities (in order to secure indulgences according to Pons), another crowd composed of peasants from island villages was marching on the city alongside the road ´ that ran from Inca. See also Alvaro Campaner y Fuertes, Chronicon Mayoricense. Noti´ cias y relaciones historicas de Mallorca desde 1229 a´ 1800 (Palma de Mallorca, 1881), p. 78. Vicente Mut, Historia general del Reyno de Mallorca por su cronista. (Palma, Guasp, 1650), p. 251, and following him to some extent Amador de los R´ıos, Historia social, pp. 471–472, interweaves events associated with Valencia in his description of the riots and attacks in Majorca. Salzet’s account covers Barcelona, as well, which gave rise to some conflation of data. Quadrado, Forenses y ciudadanos, p. 97, and then later Ma´ız Chacon, ´ Apreciaciones, p. 247, describe the attackers – unable to penetrate the castle of Bellver where some of the urban notables were sequestered, as diverted by Antonio Cigar toward the call. Lopez Bonet, p. 113, and therefore Ferrer i Mallol, Conflictes populars, p. 93, assert ´ that the Jews of Inca were attacked on August 1. Of that there is no evidence; it is only clear that at some point during the year the Incan Jews were assaulted. See Enrique ´ Fajarn´es, “Sobre el robo de la juder´ıa de Inca,” Bolet´ın de la sociedad arqueologica luliana 7 (1898), who published a letter from Sa Garriga found in ARM, Lletres comunes, 1392 on p. 394 (see also the document on p. 365), and Oeltjen, p. 17, n. 44. According to Piferrer and Quadrado, fences were breached, doors pulled down, and houses set afire as the Jews’ quarter was sacked. The Jews’ furniture was ruined as money and precious items, including gold and silver and clothing and rugs were either stolen or destroyed. Some of these possessions had been deposited with Jews as pawns. Piferrer and Quadrado write that the attack began at 3 hours in the morning and lasted until 10 hours, which derives from the anonymous notary identified later by Lopez Bonet. The ´ flames raged so furiously that the nuns of the nearby convent of Santa Clara were afraid the fire would engulf them. On the historiography of Majorca Jews and of the 1391 riots, see Ma´ız Chacon, ´ Los jud´ıos de Baleares, pp. 9–17 and Oeltjen, Crisis and Regeneration, pp. 2–5. See note 12. Pons’ account is confused and the relationships between the parties not clearly articulated.

76

“The Things As They Happened”

During the assault or in its wake, some Jews fled to the royal castle located within the Almudaina, the fortified precinct where Jews already had lived at the time of the Christian conquest from the Muslims. A few Jews may have set sail for North Africa, having decided that leaving the island was the only guarantee of their safety. When those Jews who sought refuge in the royal palace (which served as the seat of governor Sa Garriga, and where some of the city councilors had also taken up temporary residence) were safely ensconced, discussions may have taken place about the possibility of their conversion to Christianity.15 Over the next few days, the island was effectively without government, and power appeared to reside with the insurgents, now led by the royal batle Lluis de Bellviure. Even so, awareness of the political situation was not yet known on the mainland. Indeed, on Sunday August 6, the king congratulated the governor on the excellent and wise provisions that Sa Garriga had implemented to prevent riots against the Jewish community, aliama, violence that the governor had deemed imminent. Joan was mindful that some, “animated by foolish daring,” had attempted to provoke unrest but assumed that they had been prevented from carrying out their plan. With the help of God and the ingenuity of the governor, the king wrote, the aliama and its members would be safeguarded from rioting and public agitation. The king informed the governor of his intention to travel to Valencia, and severely punish those responsible for those riots, actions that, he believed, would serve as a warning to those who had similar initiatives in mind.16

15

16

The claim that the Jews left at night for North Africa is simply asserted by Gabriel Llabr´es, “La conversion ´ de los jud´ıos mallorquines en 1391. Dato in´edito,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de la Historia 40 (1902), p. 152. The departure of the Jews is also inferred by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 2, p. 102, Oeltjen, Crisis and Regeneration, p. 19 and others, in light of the later measures to prevent ships from leaving the island. See below on October 4, and the demand that if the Jews do not convert, they would be killed. The letter to the royal governor of Majorca is in ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1878, fol. 97r, and was published in full by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del Rei, p. 130, no. 198 and again in Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, pp. 118–119. The king sent similar missives to the municipal officials, and to the aliama leaders of the capital city. In his letter to the jurats and prohomens, fol. 97v, the king praised their actions and their obedience to royal dictates as the behavior of “good and natural vassals.” To the leaders of the aliama, fols. 97v–98r, Joan added that “per cas fortuit,” fortuitously, an attack did not occur. In the letter at fol. 98r-v, which lacks the name of the recipient, the king was clear about the attempt, and upset since the Jews were his royal treasure and were constituted under his special protection. For more on all this, see the chapter on the king. On the political situation in the city, see Lopez Bonet, p. 113. ´

The Island of Majorca

77

Back on Majorca, the governor, that same Sunday, in an attempt to ensure that stolen goods not be removed from the island, ordered the bailiff of Soller, among others, to remove the sails, rudders, and oars ´ from all boats anchored in its port, or that would dock there in due course, and to ascertain if any property taken from the call had been stored on board these vessels. All this was to be carried out with the greatest discretion. Stolen objects, when discovered, were to be deposited in a secure place for eventual reclamation by their rightful owners. Sa Garriga also directed all seamen stationed on the island to prevent the emigration of those who participated in the riots as well as its victims.17 In an effort not to disrupt the lives of those Majorcans who relied on the sea for their income, rules that prohibited ordinary maritime commerce were bent, the next day, to allow the residents of Alcudia to fish in the ´ waters between their northern port and the island of Menorca, and to sell their catch back in town. The governor also agreed to suspend the Sunday directive if fishermen would swear to the city officials that they would not allow anyone involved in the attack on the Jewish quarter to board their vessels, or permit any goods pillaged from the call to be transported. Travel restrictions were eased as well for those of Alcudia who, prior ´ to the riots, had already booked passage to Menorca. On August 8, the local bailiff in the port, attached to the town of Manacor, refused to allow the embarkation of two boats: one loaded with a cargo of twenty-two casks of wine, owned by Juan Castello´ and destined for Menorca and the other, the property of Bartolom´e Mari, which was outfitted to carry grain. These vessels were rigorously searched and nothing was found that could have been plundered from the Majorca call. The vessel carrying the wine was allowed to depart after its captain promised not to take on board anything other than its usual wares, and to employ a crew whose members were above suspicion.18 17

18

Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 170 cites ARM, Lletres comunes, without foliation. Although it is not known what the governor did between August 2 and 6, Pons, p. 169, describes him as active, while Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 213, view the government as lethargic. Piferrer and Quadrado understand Sa Garriga’s orders, on the 6th, as addressed to all naval personnel on the island. Baer, Die Juden, vol. 2, p. 102, has the governor on August 7 forbidding ships to sail so that no one could secretly leave the island. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 213 and Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 170 on August 7. Piferrer and Quadrado reported that the municipal leaders, in order to reestablish the public order, transferred power, on August 7, from Sa Garriga to two individuals. Still, according to Piferrer and Quadrado, Sa Garriga, probably at this time located within the castle, continued to manage the situation on the island. The activities of the bailiff

78

“The Things As They Happened”

A day or two earlier, the governor most likely ordered that a man be transported on an armed small lateen-rigged vessel from the island to Tarragona on the Catalan coast. The man aboard was charged with delivering letters to the Aragonese king in Saragossa, in which Sa Garriga apprised Joan “of the attack and robbery perpetrated in the Jewish call of the city of Majorca.” At the order of the governor, the royal procurator, En Berenguer Lobet, on August 8, paid the mariner Francesc Guimera´ twenty-two golden Majorca florins for having delivered the individual. By Wednesday the 9th the king knew of the attack on the call, although it is not clear how he had first learned of these events.19 On the island, Sa Garriga struggled to remain in control. The governor ordered Joan Avinyo, to encourage other locals not ´ the notary of Soller, ´ to allow vessels to sail from their ports until otherwise directed, and to keep this directive secret. Sa Garriga also commanded Avinyo´ to release to the authorities some men who were guilty of participating in the riots against the Jews.20 Governor Sa Garriga explicitly demanded from all island townofficials, and particularly those of Soller and Andraig with its noted port ´ facilities, the capture of Lluis de Bellviure, bailiff of the City of Majorca and castellan of Bellver, viewed now as the instigator of the riots. Sa

19

20

in Manacor are to be found in ARM, Lletres comunes, without foliation, and reported on in Pons, ibid. ARM, Reial Patrimoni, Dades extraordinaris de 1391 a 1392, fol. 72, as cited and published in Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 314. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 213, asserted without citing sources, that the ship – a laut – left on the 8th but the text indicates only that Guimera´ was paid on that day. See also Chronicon Mayoricense, p. 78 (citing Bartolom´e Jaume). In two letters, dated August 9, the king refers to the riots in Majorca and in other locales. See ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1878, fols. 103v–104v addressed to officials in Tortosa (similar letters sent to others), and Reg. 1961, fol. 62r directed to the Catalonian official, Guillermo de Rajadello, which makes reference to messengers who had passed through Majorca and Barcelona and reported on events affecting their Jewries. Fol. 62r-v, published in part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del Rei, pp. 130– 131, no. 199, is a letter from the king to the paers of Lleida in which Joan referred to a letter received from the Lleida authorities in which the Majorca disturbances against the Jews, among others, are mentioned. See also Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 667, no. 417. Reg. 1878 fols. 106v–107r, dated August 10, mentions the avolot in Barcelona and Majorca. Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, pp. 170–171. The account of the royal fiscal agent, procurator (ARM, Dades extraordinaries de 1391 a 1392, fols. 72–81), published by Pons on pp. 314–321, contains a reference, p. 314, to letters the governor sent, through the efforts of Guillermo Carles, to Soller and to the notary Joan Avinyo´ and to the scribe ´ of the royal scriptorium of the parish on account of the acts of some men who were complicit in the riots against the Jews. While the payment is dated August 14, there is no indication when these letters were written.

The Island of Majorca

79

Garriga ordered a search for Bellviure who, according to the governor, was rallying people in the communities outside the City of Majorca, and encouraging them to invade the capital city, yet again, and to riot against its call.21 All these measures proved unsuccessful. Indeed, on the night of August 9, Lluis fled to Menorca from the port of Soller. The governor did not ´ officially blame the local bailiff for his escape but suggested that since the bailiff had occupied himself with local affairs, he was unable to foil Bellviure’s flight. To impede others from running away, Sa Garriga commissioned two individuals to oversee the port and its marinas.22 In an attempt to reestablish his authority, the governor ordered the bailiffs of the rural parishes, parroquies de fora, on August 9, to travel to the City of Majorca and to discuss matters regarding the king and the public good. Many of the bailiffs, aligned with Lluis and the opposition, did not make the trip. That same day, Sa Garriga attempted to protect the property of the Jews and, by so doing, prevent the further erosion of the royal system of law and order. Under threat of financial and bodily harm, he forbade notaries to destroy records of transactions involving Jews, and warned them not to draw up or accept new instruments of quittance, adjustment, or release pertaining to monies owed to them.23 The governor was concerned that the Jews of the capital, as well as some of the municipal councilors, would again be attacked by those “bad and lawless men,” most of whom had arrived from communities outside 21

22

23

Piferrer and Quadrado, pp. 214–215 and Pons, p. 171. ARM, ibid., in Pons, pp. 314– 315, are records of payments, probably made on August 17, for letters which had been delivered to the island’s parishes. The recipients were instructed to hand over Lluis de Bellviure and others who were complicit in the riots against the Jews. Cf. Campaner y Fuertes, Chronicon Mayoricense, p. 78, note 2 where the amount rendered differs from that listed in Pons. Pons, ibid. Pons is at times unclear about the chronology of events. It would seem that Sa Garriga’s decision not to blame the bailiff must have been taken after the 9th. Still, Pons’ citation, p. 171, is to ARM, Lletres comunes, without foliation, which he dated August 9. Piferrer and Quadrado described these events on pp. 213–214 and, in a note, detailed the various posts held by Lluis. Pons, p. 170, does not identify Guillermo Carles, the bearer of the document from Sa Garriga to the notary of Soller, nor he does provide ´ information about Francisco Carbonell and Bernardo Duran, ´ who were deputized to oversee the port. See Mateo Salzet’s notes as reproduced in the Almanaque, p. 74, Piferrer and Quadrado, Islas Baleares, pp. 213–214, and Pons, pp. 171 and 178. Cf. Villanueva, Viage literario, vol. 21, p. 224, and Fidel Fita y Colom´e and Gabriel Llabr´es, “Privilegio de los hebreos mallorquines en el codice Pueyo. Tercer per´ıodo, Seccion ´ ´ tercera.” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de Historia 36 (1900), p. 492, who present a French pr´ecis of the remarks. Salzet, a professional notary, would have especial interest in this order.

80

“The Things As They Happened”

the capital city. Clearly the fate of these two groups were intertwined, and were seen by their assailants as political allies. Consequently, Sa Garriga sought protection for himself and for the Jews and city authorities who had taken refuge within the Almudaina. He engaged Antoni Mates and ten veteran crossbowmen, on August 11, to guard the royal castle day and night. As another preventive measure, all the doors to the palace, except for the main entrance, were walled-up. Sa Garriga also ordered the return of thirty noblemen and wealthy individuals who had fled the city, but only a few acceded to his demand. Despite the safeguards installed, some Jews and perhaps some who had converted to Christianity took to the seas and left the island.24 Concurrently, Sa Garriga continued his attempt to ensure that stolen property would not be exported off-island, and that the criminal investigation of those responsible for the upheavals would proceed apace. The governor ordered the batle of Soller to detain ships in port that had been ´ found to have items on board belonging to the Jews. And as Sa Garriga unsuccessfully pursued Bellviure, and as he conducted investigations in Manacor, he punished those who had been found guilty of the August 2 attacks. Arnau Vedell, an official in the “house of bans” of the capital city, was ordered to hang by the neck En Bernat Matheu and Joan Bofiy, two individuals who had been accused of injuring individuals and, generally, of having instigated the riots within the city. Arnau advanced his own personal funds to purchase the nooses, to procure the hemp needed to tie the accused’s hands, and to engage the executioner, Mart´ı Blanes. He also moved the ladder into position adjacent to the platform upon which Mathey and Bofiy were hanged, and later returned the ladder to the house of bans.25 24

25

Pons, pp. 172–173 – see also Piferrer and Quadrado, pp. 214–215, cites ARM, Lletres comunes, fol. 101v which can be found in his appendix, pp. 321–322, and ARM, Reial Patrimoni, Dades extraordinaris de 1391 a 1392, from September 2, on pp. 315–316. The latter was also published in Campaner y Fuertes, Chronicon Mayoricense, p. 78, note 1. Antoni Mates, identified as a perayre, wool-dresser, of Majorca, and his band were paid 6 sous per day. See also for October 4, Pons, p. 316 and Campaner y Fuertes, Chronicon Mayoricense, p. 78, note 3. Lopez Bonet, without citing sources, claims that ´ the call was attacked yet again. Perhaps, he bases his assertion on the governor’s order of protection for himself and the others sequestered in the castle. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 214, note 2, list the names of many noble and affluent Majorcans who were absent from the city during the attacks, and were ordered back to the capital. On the 14th of August, payment was made to G. Vilanova, a courier from Majorca, who had been dispatched to the batle of Soller with letters from the governor. The bookkeeper ´ added that the courier left Soller hurriedly during the night; perhaps Vilanova was ´ obliged to exit under the cover of darkness. That same day the clerk recorded a number

The Island of Majorca

81

King Joan recognized that the post-riot situation presented dangers to royal authority and its interests. He was distressed that those who had acted maliciously against the aliama of the Jews continued to move against Jews and their property. Joan ordered the governor on August 24 to protect the Jews and assured Sa Garriga that, after he visited Barcelona and Valencia and meted out punishment to the rioters, he would arrive in Majorca and proceed accordingly. The king was also concerned that local Jewish merchants who owned property in “barbaria,” sought permission to travel to north Africa to secure these holdings. Joan instructed Sa Garriga to grant them travel licenses as long as they provided sufficient guarantee of their return “to our senyoria.” Finally the king directed the governor to collect information, secretly and diligently, regarding the instigators and principals in the riots, in the robbery of Jewish property, as well as in the “resistance done to us,” so that the punishment dispensed would serve as a perpetual example to those in the kingdom of Majorca and elsewhere.26 The island population remained beyond the control of Sa Garriga and of the municipal authorities of the capital. On August 24, these officials tried a different tack en route to reduce tensions on Majorca and to restore their authority. The jurats, city council as well, and governor officially announced the elimination of a variety of imposts levelled on both city dwellers and those residing in the villages. They confirmed that the sexto on wine, the sisa on meats, special fees on the milling of wheat and on the cutting of fabric, as well as other taxes on foodstuffs and clothing were hereby cancelled.27

26

27

of payments to Gabriel Cantarelles, the notary and magistrate, and notari regent of the criminal court attached to the Majorca governor. Cantarelles had rented an animal and spent money on food and lodging for his travel to the town of Manacor where he received testimony prejudicial to the local bailiff and scribe. Payments were also made to the constable of Manacor, Bernat Gerrer, for having summoned the witnesses. See the relevant paragraphs from ARM, Reial Patrimoni, Dades extraordinaris . . . in Pons, p. 314. Ibid., p. 315, is concerned with the hanging. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 216, suggested that Mathey and Bofiy were the men responsible for the attack on the governor and his mount during the August 2 riots. Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 176 agrees. The executions took place between August 17 and September 2; there is no evidence, only speculation, about when it was carried out (some surmise in the wake of the August 27 attack: see Oeltjen, p. 21). ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1878, fol. 136r. On August 19, Reg. 1995, fol. 3r, King Joan ordered Sa Garriga to find a way for the Jews who lost their credit instruments in the attack to collect their debts. He also wanted Sa Garriga to grant Jews an allotted time to recover some of their North African goods. See Oeltjen, pp. 21–22, n. 59. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 215 and Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, pp. 173–174. Both these works assert that the authorities, by these actions, acceded to the demands of the artisans.

82

“The Things As They Happened”

Such measures were apparently unsuccessful. The unrest raged on. On August 27th, 4,000 country folk surrounded the city walls and, in the process, destroyed orchards and vineyards, especially those of the merchant, Jaime Canyellas. Two days later, city dwellers were admonished, under threat of capital punishment, not to join the ranks of those encamped outside of the city or to supply them with provisions. Guards of the capital were advised to report to their posts. Lastly, anyone who tried to enter the call prior to September 1 was threatened with loss of limb.28 The king was determined, meanwhile, to punish Lluis de Bellviure who, in the words of the king, “committed diverse and enormous crimes against our own person.” Joan dispatched Guillem de la Bona to Majorca to instruct local royal officials that, upon capture of Lluis and his companions, they should seize their mounts and their belongings, and inventory their property. Those taken into custody should be well guarded and escorted – salaries and expenses covered, to where the king was in residence.29 A month after the attack on the call, the governor paid in full his personal guard of crossbowmen who, since August 11, had patrolled the grounds of the Almudaina. It is hard to imagine that the governor’s payment indicated an intention to dismiss them. Rather, in this unsettled atmosphere, it might well have seemed a prudent and opportune time to

28

29

They imagine as well that an arrangement was made about the Jews, which included a promise by the authorities to encourage their conversion to Christianity. King Joan warned a variety of ecclesiastical officials including those in Majorca on August 30, ACA, ibid., fols. 142r–143r, that no Jews were to be forcibly converted. See Oeltjen, p. 19, who confronts the absence of references to conversion. Lopez Bonet, p. 113, and therefore Ferrer i Mallol, Conflictes populars, p. 94, and ´ Oeltjen, p. 21, date this decision to August 14. Lopez Bonet, cites [Estanislau de Kostka] ´ Aguilo, ´ “Antichs privilegis y franqueses del regne de Mallorca,” Bolet´ın de la sociedad ´ arqueologica luliana 9 (1893), pp. 13 and 15, based on ARM, Arxiu Historic, 419. ` Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 215, and Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, pp. 174. Piferrer and Quadrado date this order to the city dwellers to Tuesday the 29th and not to Tuesday the 18th, as Pons wrote seemingly about the same directive. In 1391, the 18th of August fell on Friday and not on Tuesday. Ma´ız Chacon, ´ Apreciaciones, p. 246, incorrectly dates the gathering outside the city to Sunday July 27. But those from off the island also posed a danger to the authorities. On Friday the 25th, an order was promulgated that no innkeeper or any other person should provide lodging for Castilians and other foreigners who had arrived on the island. These nonnatives were to return to their vessels under penalty of hanging. This directive was issued after four Castilian galleys had captured a Majorcan ship within view of the city port, and its crew had robbed the captives as well. The officials declared that those who had committed these crimes were to be incarcerated. Pons, p. 179, citing ARM, Pregones, fol. 128v. ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 88v is dated September 1.

The Island of Majorca

83

settle accounts. Apparently, it was a time for summation as well. On that same September 2, Sa Garriga reported to Berenguer Lobet, the royal procurator, on the events of that first Wednesday in August. Sa Garriga wrote of the rioters’ attack on the royal castle, and how some inhabitants of “the kingdom of Majorca” had struck him repeatedly and injured him. He went on to detail how, later that day, the “call judaic” of the City of Majorca had been cruelly invaded and then destroyed, at which time, all the Jews within the quarter, men and women, had been robbed, and some of them savagely murdered.30 When King Joan from Saragossa acknowledged to the governor and jurats of the city and island that he had received their reports on the perils in which Majorca found itself as a result of the “comocio del poble,” the king also made reference to documents that the governor had enclosed in his letters, and whose significance had been explained to him by Majorca representatives to the royal court. These “cedulas,” the king wrote on September 3, had been “found at the entrance to the royal castle, at the gate of the seat of the municipality, and at diverse locations throughout the city.” It may well be that these were manifestos posted by island rebels. As a result of the persistent unrest, royal authorities devised strategies to combat the lawlessness. King Joan announced again that he would journey to Majorca, punish the malefactors and pacify the island kingdom. Since he first had to travel to Barcelona, he would dispatch a royal aide – endowed with the requisite power and accompanied by an armed force, who would work with local island officials to put an end to this dangerous situation. The king ordered the governor to announce, throughout the city and in the rural parishes, that he had placed all Majorcans, whether Christians or Jews – of whatever estate or condition, or associates of whichever political faction or armed band – together with all their property, under his especial 30

According to Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 215, Sa Garriga imagined that he did not need his troupe of ballesters. In the expenses dated to October 4, see below, Sa Garriga again paid his crossbowmen, this time for two nights. It may be that they were on retainer and did not serve continuously. Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 167, citing ARM, Lletres comunes, fol. 101v, quotes sections from the first letter to the royal procurator. The second, located in ARM, Reial Patrimoni, Dades extraordinaris de 1391 a 1392, fols. 72–81, was published in ibid., pp. 315–316. This document is quoted in Campaner y Fuertes, Chronicon Mayoricense, p. 78, note 1. About this time, Sa Garriga also reimbursed Arnau Vedell for the materials he had needed to hang the two individuals who were involved in the riots. See note 25 above.

84

“The Things As They Happened”

protection. None of these individuals, in the future, would be allowed to insult, harm, or injure any of the others. Those who contravened the edict were to be considered traitors and enemies of the king, and treated as such wherever they were found.31 Sa Garriga promulgated the decree in the capital, on September 18, as the public crier of the judiciary, and, accompanied by a drummer and trumpeteers, announced the edict at the customary locations. The local jurats, under pressure from artisan leaders and representatives of those who lived outside of the capital city, argued that the declaration ran counter to their legal privileges. Accusations had been traditionally aired within a tribunal in the presence of local leaders, who possessed the latitude to adjust the charges. These Majorcans feared that common-law crimes would now be construed as acts of l`ese-majest´e, punishment for which could result in the confiscation of their property. In response to the protest, Governor Sa Garriga temporarily suspended the effects of the edict.32 Meanwhile, the local judicial system processed lawsuits that arose from the early August attacks. It was decided, for example, on September 7, that Guillermo Monge, the bailiff of Santa Margarita, would keep in his possession an ass with its small pack-saddle, a dark gray shawl, a white fastenable tunic, seven measures of hemp, a half-measure of burlap, and two Jewish books – all of which had been the property of the merchant En Abraham. These items apparently had been deposited with a Pons Gil prior to the riots, and Catalina, Abraham’s daughter, had demanded their restitution. Monge had removed all of these articles from Pons Gil, and the court determined that the bailiff should retain possession of them.33 31

32

33

ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 90v for the letter to the governor; fol. 91r ¶1 to the promens (in which he added that he had made the decisions to send on a notable “in our council”), and ¶two to other jurats. Maria Barcelo´ Cresp´ı and Guillermo Rossello´ Bordoy, La ´ Ciudad de Mallorca: la vida cotidiana en una ciudad mediterranea medieval (Palma de Mallorca, 2006), pp. 165–166, explains the porta of the sala as a reference to the sala within the royal castle. I am following the interpretation of Ferrer i Mallol, Conflictes populars, p. 94, n. 23. Ferrer i Mallol asserts that the contents of the cedulas were revolutionary and threatening. Pons, p. 177, reports on the announcment, citing ARM, Lletres comunes, fol. 106. Cf. ibid., p. 316, from ARM, Reial Patrimoni, Dades extraordinaris de 1391 a 1392 (within fols. 72–81). See Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 216. ARM, Lletres comunes, without foliation, reported on in Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 188. Pons also reports that on the 23rd of September, ARM, Lletres comunes, fol. 108v, the New Christian Bernardo Fuixa appeared in court before Moxi Aram. Pons, pp. 187–188, gives an account of another case, wherein the converso Antoni Mora, formerly the Jew Vidal Cassim de Alcudia, claimed that, amidst the confusion of the

The Island of Majorca

85

The Majorca jurats updated their king on threats to the public order. They informed him how the “homens de fora” had marched again on the city, had gathered in the vineyards outside the city, the vinyet, and how they intended to enter the city armed, and to set fire to the wealthy neighborhoods. When the king responded to the city magistrates on September 8, he made reference to their attempt to negotiate an agreement with the outsiders who had remained in the vinyet, had set fire to some of the vineyard’s dwellings, and continued to threaten to enter the city. The king reiterated his intention to send a high-ranking official to the island, and requested that they and the governor enact the necessary provisions for the security of the city and the kingdom.34 The king, ensconced on the mainland, continued his pursuit of Lluis de Bellviure, who apparently was seized attempting to flee Majorca on a Venetian vessel, scheduled to depart Soller for Mao´ (Menorca). Joan ´ contacted the Commander of the Order of the Hospitallers, Comanador, of Ulldecona – a town in southernmost Catalonia bordering the Kingdom of Valencia, when he learned that Jofredo de Cavanal had imprisoned “en Luis de Bellviure of the island of Majorca, a sclerotic man living a reprobate life who committed grave and enormous crimes against our own person.” Joan expressed his desire to the Comanador, on September 9, that Lluis be effectively incarcerated and punished accordingly.35 The king was so determined to have Lluis de Bellviure under his personal control that he informed the Comanador, that same day, that he would send Francesc Sa Garriga to collect the prisoner. The Comanador was to keep Lluis well-guarded until he could hand him over into the custody of “his beloved councilor” who, in turn, would deliver him to the king. Four days later, Joan ordered all his officials to aid Sa Garriga in his efforts and to extend him all necessary assistance, even armed men. The king, who apparently was willing to have Sa Garriga leave the island on this important mission, informed the governor, on September 12, regarding new arrangements for his collection of Lluis de Bellviure,

34 35

riots and the looting of his own possessions, he entrusted a piece of off-white woolen cloth to the local bailiff for greater security. Later, when he attempted to reclaim the item, the bailiff refused to return it. The governor declared that the bailiff, under threat of financial and corporal punishment, restore the property to its rightful proprietor. Pons does not date this judgment. ACA, Reg. 1961, fols. 95v–96r. ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 95r ¶2. It should be assumed that Lluis was apprehended on the island. See Ferrer i Mallol, p. 94 and Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 583, who cite ACA, Reg. 1879, fol. 27r-v. Cf. Piferrer y Quadrado, p. 214.

86

“The Things As They Happened”

and apprised him that cavalry and infantry would be available to him once he arrived in Ulldecona.36 The pacification of Majorca, and the protection of the rights and status of its Jews, was not as easily achieved. The safety of the Jews was intimately bound up with the broad political and economic struggles that wracked the island. When the forans yet again surrounded the walls of the capital city toward the end of September, its leaders dictated a variety of demands to the city fathers and to the municipal council, and threatened that these prescriptions (only minor revisions would be accepted) had to be promulgated as law by the end of the month. These ultimata were formulated in twelve articles and included the dismissal and disqualification in perpetuity of corrupt administrators, an exemption from all imposts authorized by the administrative council, the cancellation of usurious debts owed to Jews or Christians, the inclusion of leaders from outside the capital in the general council, and the incorporation of ten promens of the forans within the minimum council quorum of thirty, from which a four-fifths majority was required for the passage of resolutions.37 As Sa Garriga complied with their ultimata, on September 30, rumors swirled around the island about the fate of the forans’ representatives who had traveled to the Iberian mainland for negotiations with the king. Fearful of an armed uprising, the governor, that same day, forbade foreign seamen to enter the capital; summoned mariners to gather with their weapons at the church of San Juan and follow the instructions of their leaders; ordered the artisans to be furnished with arms and to be at the disposal of their superiors; secured the portals, bridges, and plazas of the capital city by directing guards to particular sites; prohibited slaves not to appear in public; and enjoined Jewish converts to Christianity, as well as enslaved Sardinians, from using a variety of weapons, including picks and darts, in defense of their persons and property.38

36 37

38

ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 95v, is dated September 9. Ibid., fol. 99v, directed to royal officials, and fol. 100r, to Sa Garriga, are from September 12. ARM, Arxiu Historic (AH) 419, fol. 15bis and ff. as cited by Lopez Bonet, La Revolta, ` ´ pp. 114–115 and p. 122. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 217, and Pons, p. 178 write that the usurious contracts were tendered by both Jews and New Christians. Lopez Bonet, p. 115, relying on ARM, AH 419, fol. 17bis ff. Piferrer and Quadrado, ´ pp. 216–217, provide detail on these demands although are vague on the dating of Sa Garriga’s efforts. See also Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, pp. 177–178. Ibid., 178–179 cites ARM, Pregones, fol. 14 bis for Sa Garriga’s program, and Fita y Colom´e and Llabr´es, Privilegio de los hebreos mallorquines, p. 492, refer to a text published by Jos´e Rullan,

The Island of Majorca

87

The situation remained tense. On October 2, the governor ordered all stores to be closed, except for bakeries, butcher shops, and fish markets. Concerned that the Jews, fearful of the breakdown of public order, would seek to leave the island, Sa Garriga forbade them to embark for Muslim territory or any other foreign country. He promised to set their vessels afire, and vowed to hang those who attempted to leave, as well as those who aided in their departure.39 By October 4, six to seven thousand people from all over the island arrived in the capital city and encamped outside its walls, despoiling the countryside of its crops and livestock. Afraid that the “peasants [who] have come in great number, want to enter the city at night, rampage through the town, and sack it,” the governor decided that evening to renew the guard at the Almudaina castle.40 There were attempted assaults on the city during the night. On the following morning, negotiations – the September 30 declarations served as a point of departure, continued between the royal authorities and the leaders of the assembled crowd. The Majorca councilors and jurats appear to have acceded to many of the conditions demanded by the forans, and the governor approved and signed the settlement. The agreement was read in the plaza of Sant Andreu.41

39

40

41

´ Historia de Soller, en sus relaciones con la general de Mallorca, vol. 1 (Palma, 1875), p. 328, which is not relevant to this subject. On the rumors, see Lopez Bonet, ibid. Ferrer i Mallol, Conflictes Populars, pp. 94– ´ 95, seems, in some instances, to have conflated events from the end of August and those that took place at the close of September. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 217, seem to suggest that the law forbidding the departure from the island was intended for conversos. Pons, p. 179, wrote that the order was directed at Christian owners of small merchant ships. Lopez Bonet, p. 115. Sa Garriga provided additional support to the nobleman Nuno ´ Unis, warden of the castle of Bellver where, the protesters claimed, some of their representatives were being held prisoner. The demonstrators demanded information about the whereabouts of the missing envoys – in some cases their fathers and brothers, and attempted to breach the castle walls: Piferrer and Quadrado, pp. 218–219; Pons, pp. 179–180. Pons p. 179 cites ARM, Reial Patrimoni, Dades extraordinaris de 1391 a 1392, (within fols. 72–81) and published the text on p. 316. It is also available in Campaner y Fuertes, Chronicon Mayoricense, p. 78, note 3. Those guarding the Almudaina stayed the two evenings of October 4th and 5th. See ARM, Lletres Comunes, fol. 101v in Pons, pp. 321–322. See Lopez Bonet, pp. 115–116 for a recapitulation of the main principles and their ´ reception by some of the rebels. Lopez Bonet reports, p. 122, that the capitols are to be ´ found in ARM, AH 419, fol. 19bis and ff. A modern Castilian pr´ecis of the October ´ 4 document is in Rullan, Historia de Soller, pp. 427–431. See also Pons, pp. 179–181, Piferrer and Quadrado, pp. 219–223, and Fita y Colom´e and Llabr´es, Privilegio de los

88

“The Things As They Happened”

For the first time since the start of the riots, the right of Majorca Jews to live as Jews was publicly compromised. While only four of the fifty-six stipulations that comprised the arrangement between the forans and the city authorities were directly connected with the property and status of the Jews, article 43 ordained that within a week’s time – ocho dias, Jews would have to convert to Christianity or they would be killed. While individual Jews had converted ever since the attacks of August 2, the conversion of the entire Jewish community was articulated by the rebels as one of their nonnegotiable demands and was accepted by the royal authorities.42 According to the pact, the island’s councilors had responded to previous requests that Jews be forced to accept Christianity under penalty of death, by characterizing such demands as illegal, and by declaring that willful conversion was the only acceptable procedure to bring Jews to the Cross. Now Jews were to be removed from fortified areas and compelled to embrace Christianity unless, within a week, they arrived at an alternate arrangement with the council regarding their conversion. Once their change of faith was effected, islanders would be freed from the discomfort engendered by all agreements Jews had previously made with Christians.43 The forans further insisted (article 35) that the jurats intercede with the king on behalf of all forans who had acted against the governor, the Jews, and the call. The king should pardon them, the agreement suggested, since their actions were all done in his honor and for the public good. The agreement called as well (article 45) for the suspension of the law, circulated by the rectors and vicars of the towns and villages, that had ordered the return to their rightful owners of money, jewels, and

42

43

hebreos mallorquines, pp. 492–493. Piferrer and Quadrado, pp. 219–221, offer much detail on the negotiating process and include remarks – transposed into modern Castilian, which the parties were said to have made in their sessions. When the agreement was read publicly at the first hour of the morning on October 4, the document was ripped from the hands of the notary and, to the delight of the rebels, emended. It is hard to know exactly what was changed: see Pons, p. 181 and Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 222. Cf. Lopez Bonet, p. 115. ´ Oeltjen, p. 23, without evidence, explains the demand for conversion as a result of the bishop’s representative, the vicar general, acting as the mediator between the citizens and the forans. She dates, to this time, the offer of 20,00 libras by the jurats to pay off the Jews’ collective debt in exchange for their conversion. ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1995, fol. 66v, dated March 30, 1392, reflects a complaint of the conversos that the financial stipulations were not honored. Cf. Llabr´es, La conversion, ´ pp. 152–154. Part of the text of article 43 regarding the conversion of the Jews is reproduced by Piferrer and Quadrado on p. 222, note 1.

The Island of Majorca

89

other items belonging to the Jews, and that had presumably been taken from the Jewish quarter during the attack. Instituted was the demand, agreed upon earlier (article 48), that all debts incurred to Jews negotiated within the last ten years, and to Christians as well if it involved usury, be absolved and that the debtors be granted ten additional years to remit the principal, subtracting any interest payments that already had been rendered. On the day following the public reading of the agreement, the forans’ encampment was lifted. King Joan was not of the opinion that the public announcement of the settlement was sufficient to defuse the volatile situation. Writing from Balaguer, on October 16, to the governor, sindics, craftsmen’s representatives, and the leaders of those from outside the capital, the king expressed concern about the great wickedness of the homens forans, and the effect that the riots and discord had upon the Jews. Joan ordered the Majorca negotiators, who had been stationed in Saragossa, to move to Barcelona, where he promised to arrive after he would travel to Lleida.44 Many Majorca Jews apparently converted to Christianity. In a letter of recommendation that Sa Garriga wrote on October 9 on behalf of Majorca Jews and their agents who had converted to Christianity and who traveled to North Africa on business to Abu Tashfin, the Zayyan´ı sultan, the governor parenthetically informed the Muslim king “that it happened with the Jews of this kingdom, that is, that they all became Christian.” Indeed, a number of converted Jews took advantage of licenses granted by the governor to travel to North Africa for a year, and continued to import and export goods from their new location.45

44

45

ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1961, fols. 135r ¶2, fols. 135v–136r mentions the riots against the Jews. Fol. 136v ¶2 was directed to the governor. In characterizing the forans as wicked, the king referred to an October 3 communication from Sa Garriga. On Joan’s itinerary during these days, see the king chapter. ARM, Lletres comunes, 61, fols. 111v–112r (cited as well in Pons, Los jud´ıos, vol. 2, p. 184) as reported on by M. Dolores Lopez P´erez, “El pogrom de 1391 en Mallorca y su ´ repercusion ´ en los intercambios comerciales con el Magreb,” Actes del Primer Colloqui ` d’Historia dels Jueus a la Corona d’Arago` (Lleida, 1991), p. 243. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 224, assert that there is no reliable documentation on how these conversions were actually effected, alluding but not citing later disputable claims. Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 223, mention individuals who were summoned to the royal palace on October 10 and then arrested. Lopez P´erez, ibid., refers as well to other letters (ARM, Lletres comunes, 61, fol. ´ 114v and Lletres comunes, 62, fol. 111r-v, dated October 24 and ibid., fol. 110v dated the 25th) that mention conversion. In the document of October 25, mention is made of a convert originally named Maimo Xulell, whose adopted Christian name followed that of his padrino, the governor Francesc Sa Garriga. Lopez P´erez, pp. 243–245 writes of ´

90

“The Things As They Happened”

According to Hasdai Crescas – writing from Saragossa on October 19 and summarizing for Avignonese Jews the situation in Majorca, 300 Jews had been killed, 800 had escaped to the castle, and the remainder had converted. Later that week, Governor Sa Garriga required “all the converts to the holy Christian faith,” who resided in or possessed houses within the call, to identify their residences and to state, within one month, whether they intended to live in these homes or to lease them. If declarations were not forthcoming, the governor indicated, on October 21, he would initiate appropriate judicial procedures.46 Most of the dwellings within the call evidently were without doors; they had been removed during the riots. To enable the conversos or anyone else to live in these homes, the governor, that same October 21, ordered anyone who knew the location of these doors to report this information to the governor’s court. If the doors were in their possession, they were to transport them to the burial ground of the church of Sancta Eulalia, where the cost would be defrayed by the shoemaker, En Pere Genestar, whose home fronted the cemetery. Those who did not abide by this order were liable to a 25-pound penalty payable to the royal fisc. The governor declared, as well, that islanders who had assumed guardianship over converso property, including debts, and whose title was contested by the conversos, had to appear in court by Monday at the third hour, and show cause why they should continue to control the belongings in question. If these custodians absented themselves from the

46

Sa Garriga’s response to the petition of these converted Jews to travel and trade from North Africa (he reproduces a document of October 26 from ARM, ibid., fol. 113r-v), and furnishes documentation of their licenses. See also Pons, p. 184. All references to the Crescas letter are above in the Prologue, note 1. Three documents from October 21 are at ARM, Pregones, fol. 57 bis, and are reproduced in full by Jos´e Mar´ıa Quadrado, “La juder´ıa de la ciudad de Mallorca en 1391,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academ´ıa de la Historia 9 (1886), pp. 294–295, and by Enrique Fajarn´es, “Los bienes de los jud´ıos y conversos de Mallorca despu´es del saqueo ´ del call (1391–1393),” Bolet´ın de la sociedad arqueologica luliana. Revista de estudios ´ historicos 8 (1900), p. 441. They are partially cited (and confusingly interpreted) by Pons, on pages 182 and 183, who dates one of the documents to October 24. Fita y Colom´e and Llabr´es, Privilegio de los hebreos mallorquines, describe this text as well citing Rullan, ibid., p. 433 who mentions the document briefly and dated it to the 24th. It is also fleetingly discussed in Piferrer and Quadrado, pp. 224–225. Cf. Oeltjen, pp. 23– 24 and her discussion of whether all the Jews within the castle converted. See Lopez ´ Bonet, pp. 116, which is not accompanied by source citations. The date, October 21, is found in a summary paragraph before the text cited by Quadrado, and directly refers to declarations by conversos whether they wished to continue to live in the call. The text mentions houses (alberchs or casas) in the cloenda, wall of separation, or tanca, low wall, surrounding the call.

The Island of Majorca

91

proceedings, the governor threatened to take appropriate judicial measures. On the following day, it was prohibited to either owners or creditors to transport, off island, clothes or other items that had originated in the call.47 In response to Sa Garriga’s call, 111 converso families presented themselves at the governor’s court between October 23 and November 3. They offered their Jewish names and their newly adopted Christian names – which they had taken from their baptismal patrons or from significant individuals who lived within the city, and then declared their intention to either remain in their homes or to sell, or rent, these dwellings. At the conclusion of this process on November 3, the governor announced the reestablishment of a Jewish aliama in the City of Majorca. On November 16, it appears that the aliama was “reorganized”; taxes were then imposed upon the community.48

47 48

The order is described by Pons, p. 183, and dated to the following day which according to Pons was October 25. Quadrado, La juder´ıa, pp. 295–305 and the summary of the responses on pp. 311–312. See also Pons, pp. 181–183, Piferrer and Quadrado, pp. 224–225, and Fita y Colom´e and Llabr´es, Privilegio de los hebreos mallorquines. According to Piferrer and Quadrado, p. 224 and quoted by Pons, p. 181, only conversos and not Jews, appear in documents from Majorca starting October 21 and continuing over the following months. See Oeltjen, Crisis and Regeneration, passim. The declaration of November 3 is in Fita y Colom´e and Llabr´es, Privilegio de los hebreos mallorquines, p. 493 where they cite Rullan, ibid., p. 433 who does not date the text. The document of November 16 is at ARM, Pregones, fol. 69 bis, and is mentioned by Pons, p. 184.

4 Barcelona

On August 5, three days after the outbreak of the Majorcan riots, violence erupted again on the Iberian mainland. In the words of Hasdai Crescas, it was the Sabbath following the spread of the pestilence to the island that God poured out his wrath upon the Jewish community of Barcelona. Barcelona Jews, like other inhabitants of that Mediterranean port, were still reeling from the devastating effects of the Black Death over four decades earlier when two-thirds to three-quarters of the city’s population had perished. Jews were accused of having spread the disease, and were attacked in their quarter on a May Saturday in 1348.1 The Black Death had put an immediate end to the steady growth that the city of Barcelona had enjoyed for centuries. Subsequent outbreaks of the plague, coupled with bad harvests and a concomitant scarcity of food, served to exacerbate the decline in the city’s fortunes. Social structures were weakened, and the equilibrium between the political and economic classes was disturbed. Even as immigrants from surrounding areas came 1

A brief reprise of the state of Barcelona Jewry in the second half of the 14th century can be found in Anna Rich Abad, La comunitat jueva de Barcelona entre 1348 i 1391 a trav´es de la documentacio´ notarial (Barcelona, 1999), pp. 32–36. Crescas’ remarks (see the Prologue for bibliographical information) parallel the comments of Hayyim Galipapa ˆ aˆ (The in his Emek Refaim. See Karin Almbladh, Joseph ha-Kohen. Sefer ‘Emeq ha-Bakh vale of tears) with the Chronicle of the Anonymous Corrector (Uppsala, 1981) pp. 47–48, Hebrew pagination. On the Black Death in the Crown of Aragon, and on the events in Barcelona, read Lopez de Meneses, Documentos acerca, pp. 291–447 and Amada Lopez ´ ´ de Meneses, “Una consecuencia de la peste negra en Cataluna. ˜ El pogrom de 1348,” Sefarad 19 (1959), pp. 92–131. See also Richard Gyug, The Diocese of Barcelona during the Black Death: the Register “Notule communium” 15, 1348–1349 (Toronto, 1994).

92

Barcelona

93

to live in the city and Barcelona’s population grew, the city suffered a banking crisis in the 1380s as a result of a depreciation of the currency, and watched its municipal debt rise to dangerous levels.2 In an attempt to resolve some of the pervasive social and economic tensions in the Catalonian capital, King Pere, in 1386, granted members of the merchant and artisan class access to the governance structures of the municipality. In the following year, King Joan overturned his father’s resolution and restored municipal power to the urban elites. Discontent was rife among those who had been newly empowered.3 Despite the devastation suffered by the city’s Jewish community in mid-century, Barcelona may well have featured the largest Jewish population of any city in the Crown of Aragon in the second half of the fourteenth century. Jewish artisans were involved in a wide variety of crafts, working with coral, silk, and bone in the manufacture of dice. Although the merchant class was not involved in maritime trade as it had been in previous years, traders were still active, notably in the import of luxury goods including silk and spices. In the immediate aftermath of the Black Death, the demand for credit from rural areas surrounding the city grew, and Jewish financiers responded to this increasing market. Members of a few families continued to extend credit to wealthier individuals and to the Christian ruling classes – including the royal household, and these families generally occupied positions of power within the Jewish community. New forms of moneylending, though, became available to Christians toward the end of the fourteenth century with the result that the Jews’ financial importance declined, and many Jews became indebted to Christians.4 The weakening social and economic status of the Jews conjoined with Christian anti-Jewish animus left the Jews in a precarious position by late spring 1391. Queen Iolant was mindful of this reality when she 2 3 4

´ Carmen Batlle Gallart, La crisis social y economica de Barcelona a mediados del siglo xv, vol. 1 (Barcelona, 1973), pp. 53–91. Batlle Gallart, ibid., pp. 91–100. See, infra, the chapter on the king. Guerson, Coping with Crises, pp. 18–21, briefly reprises our knowledge of the Jewish population of Catalonia and Aragon. Jaume Riera i Sans, “La Catalunya jueva del segle XIV,” L’Avenc¸ 25 (1980), pp. 52–55, estimates the population of Barcelona Jews at 1– 4,000 individuals. There may well have been 2,500 Jews in Valencia (about eight percent of the general population) on the eve of 1391: see the chapter on the city of Valencia. On economic life, see Rich Abad, La comunitat jueva, and, conveniently, her conclusions on pp. 339–352. Guerson, Coping with Crises, has much material on Barcelona scattered throughout. Baer, A History, vol. 2, pp. 35–37, asserts that the Jewish quarters were very crowded.

94

“The Things As They Happened”

cautioned Duke Mart´ı, on May 24, not to pronounce sentence against some comments of Maimonides that were deemed an affront to Christianity. Aware that the duke had intended to conclude a two-year long examination of these writings in the Catalonian capital, Iolant warned her brother-in-law that “a great escandel could follow in our aliama of the Jews of Barcelona . . . because the public which already holds them in great disgust will have even greater contempt for them.”5 Following the riots in Valencia, the danger to the Crown’s Jews was apparent to all observers. On July 12, King Joan called upon the royal vicar, veguer, and bailiff, batle, as well as the municipal prohomens, to take Barcelona Jews under their direct protection, and to preserve them from all harm. He forwarded them the information, sent by his brother, regarding the Valencia disturbances, and explained how he had ordered Mart´ı to punish the guilty parties so as to prevent such future occurrences. The municipal officials of Girona reported to their counterparts in Besalu, ´ also on July 12, how they had received communications from both the king and the Barcelona councilors about this unstable state of affairs.6 An attempt on the Barcelona call was apparently made on or around July 12th according to Joan and Iolant who, on July 17, separately congratulated the city councilors and the royal officials – the consellers, veguer, and batle – of Barcelona on successfully quelling the disturbance. While Iolant thanked them for putting an end to the uprising, Joan noted that the aliama of the Jews was grateful for the diligence they displayed both in their protection as well as in the restoration of their community.

5

6

The letter of the queen is in ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 2054, fol. 92v, and was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 649–650, no. 404 (and discussed by him in Baer, in A History, vol. 1, p. 94) and quoted in Salvador Sanpere y Miquel, Las costumbres catalanas en tiempo de Juan I (Girona, 1878), p. 277. See the chapter on the queen. Important materials are in Jaume Riera, “Un proc´es inquisitorial contra jueus de Montblanc per un llibre de Maimonides,” Aplec de Treballs del Centre D’Estudis de la Conca de Barbera` 8 ` (Montblanc, 1987), pp. 59–73. By the end of June, both Joan and Iolant – on the 27th and 28th respectively, ordered the municipal and royal officials of the city of Barcelona, among other population centers, to punish those who were menacing the aliama and its Jews and to prevent the “escandels” that could result. Joan’s letters are in Reg. 1878, fols. 49r–50r and 50r-v and Iolant’s in Reg. 2039, fols. 79v–80r. The letter of July 12 wherein the king refers to his previous missives is in Reg. 1878 at fols. 67v–68r, with the latter page filled with a list of the officials of other cities and towns to which this royal directive was sent. Arxiu Municipal de Girona, Ordinacions dels Jurats (=Correspondencia de los jurados), volume on 1391– 1392, fols. [11v?] fol. 12r is the letter from the Girona leaders. See the chapters on Girona and Catalonia.

Barcelona

95

The municipal leaders were urged to maintain their vigilance to prevent further outbreaks of violence.7 The fate of Barcelona Jews and that of royal officials appeared to be linked in the minds of all. In the domo inferiori, lower house, of the Barcelona city council on that Monday the 17th, it was decided that a thousand well-armed men would prove sufficient to prevent riots “that God does not want breaking out in the city against the Jews or the officials of the senyor Rey or others.” These thousand men, it was determined, should take an oath of loyalty – in the presence of royal officials or the city councilors, and swear to attend to the call or wherever else they might be needed. It was reported in council that royal officials and their retinue would undertake operations within the city the coming Saturday and Sunday.8 Both honored citizens and sailors gathered within the Casa de la Ciutat, the Barcelona city hall, on Saturday the 22nd – the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene, armed and on guard against any signs of unrest that could lead to popular riots against the Jews. A contingent of armed honored citizens and artisans were back again in the Casa de la Ciutat on Tuesday the 25th – the feast day of Saint James and Saint Cugat, motivated by the same concerns that had mobilized them on the previous holy day. 12 libres, 16 solidi, and 4 dinari Barcelonan were advanced to feed the honorary citizens, the men of the sea, and various officials and their entourages who were garrisoned for these three days from morning to evening in the city hall so that the uprising and riots, that “God does not want,” would not harm the Jews, as they had in the Valencia call when many Jews had died and their belongings stolen.9 7

8 9

The letter of the king is in Reg. 1878, fol. 72r ¶2, and that of the queen in Reg. 2039, fol. 85r. They are briefly summarized and cited by Batlle Gallart, La crisis social y ´ economica de Barcelona, vol. 1, p. 105, note 4. On Friday the 21st, Reg. 1961, fol. 46v ¶2, the king again acknowledged to the councilors and promens that he had learned of the attack on the Jews. Arxiu Historic de la Ciutat de Barcelona (AHCB), Llibre de Consell XXV, fol. 34r. ` The information on the 22nd and the 25th is from Schwartz y Luna and Carreras i Candi ´ eds., Coleccio´ de documents historichs, pp. 16–17, ibid., and Wolff, The 1391 Pogrom in Spain, p. 10 claim, based on this source, that the armed individuals were stationed in the Casa de la Ciutat from the 22nd through the 25th. The Dietari (compiled as Wolff notes from a variety of contemporary sources) reports that there were sailors serving alongside the distinguished citizens at the casa del consell de la ciutat, on the 22nd, and artisans gathered with them on the 25th. Miquel, Las costumbres catalanas, p. 274 asserts that the militia was at the ready on the 22nd and on the 23rd. Esteve Gilabert Bruniquer, Ceremonial dels magn´ıfichs consellers y regiment de la ciutat de Barcelona (Rubriques de ´ Bruniquer), II (Barcelona, 1913), p. 324 and IV (1915), p. 315 maintains that he relied

96

“The Things As They Happened”

The king thanked a number of citizens by name, on the 24th, including the royal chamberlain of the city, and various craftsmen – specifically silversmiths, bridle-makers, and tailors, on the 26th, for having guarded and defended the aliama of the Jews and its members. Joan added that the artisans should not only continue to serve but that their actions should prompt royal officials at their stations to join together with the craftsmen to preserve the Jews from all damage and scandel, riots, or public unrest.10 Barcelona municipal officials informed Joan of all they had done to secure the city and attempted to enlist his support for these policies. They also requested that he visit Barcelona as soon as his schedule would permit. Joan commended the city councilors on their security provisions, on July 26, and for their resistance to “some malicious people” who wished to assault “our juheria.” Joan reported that he had read their missive with great pleasure and had reread it at a meeting of the royal council. Not only do their actions deserve to be remembered, the king declared, but also their efforts should be greatly praised and appropriately rewarded. While he could not accede to their request to visit Barcelona, he would execute the sentences against those who rioted against the Valencia juheria, by which others would learn from his example. Joan contended that he was following a policy, which the Barcelonans themselves had wisely counseled.11 Despite municipal promises of vigilance, the city fathers at a meeting of the city council, a week later, appear to have been involved not with the city’s defense, but rather with provisioning the ships set to embark for Sicily. The Barcelona leaders were especially engaged, on August 2, with furnishing supplies for two Castilian vessels that were docked in the port. On June 11, the table at which people could enlist to join the military expedition had been installed in Barcelona (as they had been on the same day in Majorca and Valencia), and sailors and soldiers attached to Duke Mart´ı were present. By June 19, both the Duke of Montblanc

10

11

on documentation from the municipal archives of Barcelona for his account of the riots in Barcelona and Valencia. See also Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 196. The request for funds to cover the needs of the guards (bread, fruit, and glasses were itemized) is dated July 28 and can be found in AHCB, Liber albaranorum (Llibre de Albarans) 1391 vol. 22, 7, fol. 100r. The letter of the 24th is in ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1878, fol. 82r; that of the 26th at ´ fol. 84r-v. All of these names are cited by Batlle Gallart, La crisis social y economica de Barcelona, vol. 1, p. 105, note 4 where she asserts that they were being thanked for quashing the earlier disturbance. Reg. 1961, fols. 50v–51v authored by Bernat Metge, the secretary of Joan I, and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 662–664, no. 414. See the chapter on the king.

Barcelona

97

and Bernat de Cabrera, the nobleman who was instrumental in organizing the flotilla, had left Barcelona; Bernat headed for Majorca to recruit staff for the armada. By the end of June, Bernat de Cabrera had returned to Barcelona, accompanied by a large number of galley-slaves and other individuals.12 On Saturday August 5, riots erupted.13 Reports on the violence that beset Barcelona, during these days, sometimes overlap in their description of what unfolded. At other times, as to be expected, they contradict each other or, at the very least, view what took place from divergent perspectives. For the jurist Juan de Vallseca and the churchman and jurist Guillem Mascaro, ´ both of whom chronicled the disturbances, August 5 was the feast day of St. Dominic. For Hasdai Crescas, it was the Saturday after Rosh Hodesh Elul – the beginning of the penitential month of the Jewish calendar. The municipal diary noted that the Jews were attacked toward the hour of awakening; the racional – official in charge of the municipal accounts – recorded that it took place post prandium – after dinner; Juan de Vallseca wrote that it started between none and vespers; and Guillem Mascaro´ held that the avalot against the call and its Jews occurred at one and a half hours in the afternoon.14 12

13

14

Wolff, pp. 10–11 reports on the meeting of August 2. According to Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 578, Reg. 2029, fol. 270r-v tells of the recruitment tables. The document must be elsewhere. On the activities of Bernat de Cabrera, see Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, p. 107. See the king chapter. All the primary (see the following note) and secondary sources date the start of the riots to Saturday August 5, except Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, p. 106, who uses Saturday August 4, probably following Villanueva, Viage literario, vol. 18 (Madrid, 1851), p. 21, who mistakenly wrote the 4th. August 5 was Saturday in 1391. Villanueva’s short pr´ecis of Mascaro, ´ and therefore Batlle, does not distinguish carefully what events took place on which days. See also Marina Mitja, ` “Juan I y los acontecimientos del Call en 1391,” Barcelona. ´ Historica ´ Divulgacion 7 (1949), pp. 105–113. Now see Eduard Feliu, “Sobre la lletra que Hasday Cresques adrec¸a` a la comunitat jueva d’Avinyo´ parlant dels avalots de 1391,” Tamid 5 (2004–2005), pp. 171–219 who assembles many of the accounts of the riots in Barcelona on pp. 181–197. The relevant entries of the municipal diary can be found in Schwartz y Luna and Carreras i Candi eds., Manual de Novells Ardits, vol. 1, pp. 17–18. The “Cronica del ` Racional de la ciutat de Barcelona (1334–1417)” was published in Recull de documents i estudis (Barcelona, 1921) 1 fasc. 2, pp. 158–159, and in Feliu, Sobre la lletra, pp. 186–187. The report of Juan de Vallseca is in Fidel Fita y Colom´e, “Historia hebrea. Documentos y monumentos. Estrago de las juder´ıas catalanas en 1391. Relacion ´ contemporanea,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de la Historia 16 (1890), pp. 433–435 and ´ in Spanish translation on pp. 435–440. Vallseca commented that the reports – including the claim that most Majorcan Jews and the governor’s horse had been killed, were spurious because certifiable accounts about the assault on the Majorcan aliama were not

98

“The Things As They Happened”

Just as the time that the riots began was the subject of conflicting reports, so was the assignment of blame for the eruption of the hostilities. The councilors of Barcelona recognized, from the very outbreak of the violence, that the riots occurred because of “malicious and iniquitous individuals, outsiders as well as locals.” Vallseca and the Majorcan notary Salzet asserted that details about the attack on the Jewish aliama of Majorca had just begun to spread throughout the city. For Vallseca, the authors of the attack on the “alyama of the Jews” were the “gentes marittime,” a sure reference to the sailors who had assembled in Barcelona for Mart´ı’s expedition to Sicily. Among this group were approximately fifty Castilians who had arrived in two vessels from Valencia. One of the boats, Vallseca maintained, had carried the nobleman Bernat de Cabrera back to Barcelona.15 The entrances to the call were set ablaze according to Vallseca; Mascaro´ specifically mentioned the portal to the call opposite the church of San Jaume. The jurist Vallseca and the notary Salzet asserted that the shops of the notaries – including the scribania of the bailiff of Barcelona, which were located below the level of the call in the plaza de San Jaume, were burned as well. Hasdai Crescas recorded that some of the streets of the Jewish quarter were set afire. According to Mascaro, ´ the fire raged until Tuesday (while the riots lasted two to three days more – five or six days in total). The municipal diary, culled from a variety of sources, records that the Jewish quarter was plundered that day; Hasdai Crescas wrote that all the streets of the Jews were looted. The diarist notes that many Jews were killed and others converted to Christianity. Juan de Vallseca, numbered the dead Jews at about hundred; according to Crescas, approximately 250 dead Jews were counted. Crescas reported that those who remained of the

15

yet available. Mascaro’s ´ account is available in the Biblioteca de Catalunya, Ms. 485, fols. 293r–294v, and was summarized in Villanueva, Viage literario, vol. 18, pp. 21–22. On Mascaro´ and his work, see Joan-F. Cabestany Fort, “El cronico´ de Guillem Mascaro: ´ L’autor I l’obra,” Estudis Universitaris Catalans [Estudis de llengua i literatura catalanes oferts a R. Aramon i Serra . . . ] 24 (1980), pp. 115–122. Batlle Gallart’s comments on him on p. 106 have therefore been superseded. Salzet can be found in Villanueva – see the chapter on Majorca, and cited in full by Fita y Colom´e, Historia hebrea, p. 440. Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, pp. 106–107 (and in note 7), discusses whether the Castilian boats were merchant vessels or part of a small flotilla of galleys sent by Enrique III in support of Mart´ı and that first set sail from Seville. Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 580, note 16, presents a full picture of what we know about the itinerary of the Castilian vessels. The citation from the Barcelona councilors is in AHMB, Albarans XXII, 7, fols. 102v–103r and cited in Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 581. Riera reports that this comment is one of many such that were made.

Barcelona

99

Jewish community escaped to the tower (“migdal”). Vallseca numbered the Jews who abandoned their possessions and were received in the castro novo (Castell Nou or new castle located in the southeast corner of the Jewish quarter) at about hundred. Vallseca further wrote that the aliama continued to be despoiled throughout the day on Saturday and all through the night; the looters, in his understanding, disregarded their fear of God and the reproof of royal officials, municipal councilors and the “good men” of the city. Crescas asserted that the “yad manhig ha-medinah” – most likely a reference to the royal authorities in charge of the municipality – were not involved in the invasion. Rather, they marshaled all their resources to save the Jews, provided food and drink for those who took refuge in the tower, and endeavored to bring the transgressors to judgment.16 This violent spasm appeared to have run its course in one day, and efforts to pacify the city began. By Sunday the 6th, reported the Dietari, the city had stationed a 24-hour armed guard in the call. Vallseca noted that the royal officials, the municipal councilors, and many of the honored citizens reinforced the castle so that the “gentem minutam,” the little people who were not part of the municipal power structure, could not storm the fortress where the Jews had taken refuge. Attempts were also made to arrest those guilty in Saturday’s attacks. According to Vallseca, forty to forty-five Castilians, in possession of much stolen goods, were apprehended and were incarcerated in the prison of the court of the veguer. The royal veguer of Barcelona, Guillermus de San Clemente, together with the Barcelona councilors, were prepared, on Monday – the day after the festival of St. Dominic according to Mascaro, ´ to administer justice to those who had murdered people and had set fires in the call. Men whom 16

Joan Francesc Ferrer, Catalago dels Concellers de la Present Ciuta de Barcelona, Arxiu Historic ` de la Ciutat de Barcelona (AHCB) Ms. B-44, fol. 14v lists the councilors chosen on St. Andreu day of 1390 as Maestre Guillem de Vallseca, Pere Sastrada, Garau de Palou, Francesc Terre, and Arnau Destorrent. Similarly, Vallseca, writing on behalf of the city magistrates, named some of the city councilors at the time of the riots: Guillermus de Vallesicha – juris doctor, Petro C¸astrada, Geraldo de Palaciolo, Francisco Terreni, and Arnaldo Destorrent. Ferrer also mentioned the veguer en Guillem de San Climent and the en Ferrer de Gualbes. Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, p. 106, asserts that the veguer Ferrer de Marimon ´ and the Ferrer de Gualbes were powerless to prevent the bloodshed. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 114, writes that the sinagoga major was converted into the chapel of Sant Domingo on either the 5th (Dominic’s feast day) or the 6th of August. He also claims that aside from the 250 Jews who were killed and the few who were baptized, the rest, some 4,000 individuals, retreated to the Castell Nou. See infra. Riera cites only Batlle Gallart, pp. 103–131 for his comments.

100

“The Things As They Happened”

the veguer and the councilors had armed and stationed in the plaza of San Jaume joined the authorities there. The Dietari recorded that, on Monday the 7th, the councilors had instructed all the urban militia groups – organized in units of tens and fifties, to gather armed in the plaza of San Jaume and in the Casa de la Ciutat. Juan de Vallseca reported that at a plenary session of the Barcelona city council that day – at which various ranks of nobility (viri nobiles, milites, and homines de paratico), a large number of municipal officials, physicians, honored citizens, and merchants attended, a unanimous decision was made, inspired by the demands of justice and attention to the rey publice (common good) of the city of Barcelona, to sentence ten Castilians to death by hanging. These individuals were involved in the storming of the Jewish quarters in Seville and Valencia, and presumably were implicated in the riots on Saturday as well. Guillermus de San Clemente decided to implement this decision immediately, according to Vallseca. Around midday – Mascaro´ reported that it was at the time that justice was to be dispensed, a great tumult, even riots, erupted between “majores” and “minores” in the platea bladii (plac¸a del Blat) and in the platea de los calls (plac¸a del call). Some of the majores were injured by shots, presumably from crossbows. Jacobus de Solerio (whom Vallseca described as an honorable man, a citizen of Barcelona, just, upright, fearing God, and a good Christian) died a few days later of injuries he received. The Dietari reported, somewhat differently from Mascaro, ´ that at the same time the councilors appropriately sentenced some of the imprisoned Castilians, the cinquantenes (groups of fifty militia) and deenes (groups of ten) set out from the plac¸a del Blat for the Castell Nou. These militiamen had proceeded as far as the churches of Sent Miquel and Sent Just by 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Concurrently, a riot was stirring among sailors, fishermen and others – armed and with their crossbows at the ready, who had come up the street from the sea and had arrived at the plac¸a del Blat, calling out “death to all (tot hom) and long live the king and the people.” According to Vallseca, it was precisely when Guillermus de San Clemente was inducing the accused to confess prior to their execution – at about midday in the plac¸a de San Jaume – when all the people, most of them armed with crossbows and projectiles, waving flags, and crying out “long the live the people and the king,” assaulted the royal officials, and especially the veguer, the councilors, and the honored citizens.17 17

See map in Rich Abad, p. 74, and map no. 58 in Jesus ´ Mestre i Campi and V´ıctor Hur` tado, Atles d’historia de Catalunya (Barcelona, 1995), pp. 120–121. Jaume Sobrequ´es i

Barcelona

101

During the same hour, for Mascaro, ´ the “popularis” forced their way into the jail of the Barcelona veguer, and all the inmates fled, except for a Francischo Vilardell who did not wish to exit. Vallseca noted that when the rioters broke into the prison of the curia, court, they freed – against the will of the royal officials, he added, the Castilian and Catalan prisoners. Vallseca identified Petro Vilardell as the citizen accused of murder who refused to leave except if it were by the order of the king or his officials. The Dietari reported that the sailors, fishermen, and others had commandeered the court of the veguer and dragged out the Castilians and all the other prisoners whether or not they were involved in the disturbances. Afterwards, they proceeded to the Castell Nou where the Jews were sheltered.18 From these various reports, punishment of those accused in the assault of Saturday August 5 seemingly precipitated the series of violent episodes, including assaults on royal authorities, municipal councilors, distinguished citizens, and their institutions; and fighting amongst a variety of people both residents of, and visitors to, Barcelona. Eventually, the hostilities generated a renewal of attacks against the Jews. The Dietari described how the sailors, fishermen, and others stormed the fortress where the Jews had taken refuge, set fire to the portals, and – from the flat roofs nearby – used their crossbows to bombard the castle with missiles. This assault lasted until the evening (hour of “seny,” when the bell signaled). At that time, the peasants and those of the sagramental – a militia of peasants bound by a sworn oath and summoned by a call to arms – from outside the city unlocked the cort and the scrivania of the batle, seized the books that they found, which they then burned in the plaza of San Jaume. After the attack on the jail of the curia, according to Vallseca, some of the “little people” of the city, armed with axes, demolished the entrance gates to the walls of the city, sounded the sagramental, and then cried aloud that “los grossos” were destroying “los manuts.” The “gentes minute,” Vallseca opined, would have wanted to attack the residences

18

` Callico, de Barcelona, volumes 2 – La formacio´ de la Barcelona medieval and ´ Historia 3 – La ciutat consolidada (segles XIV i XV), both (Barcelona, 1992) include maps of the city and of the plazas and of important buildings and streets. See also Andres Avelino Pi y Arimon, Barcelona antigua y moderna, vol. 1 (Barcelona, 1854) p. 260. The plac¸a ` del Blat is to be identified with the contemporary plac¸a de l’Angel. According to Riera, Girona, p. 114, twenty-one of the main rioters and looters were to be put to death. Again, he cites only Batlle Gallart, pp. 103–131. ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1901, fol. 65v ¶2 dated August 20 rewards Francesc [sic] Vilardell for his refusal to leave. He was released on August 10.

102

“The Things As They Happened”

of the honored citizens, setting them afire, were it not for the unforeseen presence of God’s grace and mercy.19 Mascaro´ recorded that the “popularis” then broke through the small doors of the cathedral that opened on to the cloister and were successful in ringing all the bells. Joan Ferrer, a municipal chronicler, framed these events within the context of debates, which the “pobla” had with the citizens, and the desire of the populace to gain power within the municipal government. The populace, rioting and armed, moved toward the Casa de la Ciutat. Ferrer noted that Mos`en Pons de la Sala, one of the local citizens, finding himself in the plaza of San Jaume succeeded in diverting the path of the rioting mob away from the seat of municipal authority and toward the portal of the Jewish quarter located near the church in the plaza. And so began “lo barreitx del call,” the sacking of the call. Mascaro´ reported that the nobleman Poncius de la Cala, a knight, wanted to suppress the uprising and, waving two royal pennants, led the popularis to the castrum novum where the Jews had been installed and where they were now attacked with crossbows and other arms. Mascaro´ noted that other Jews were killed by Christians that day and night both within the call and outside of it.20 Castell Nou, wherein the Jews who took refuge, was seen as an outpost of royal authority. Vallseca noted that despite the presence in the new fortress of a royal flag that symbolized monarchic protection and the safeguarding of its residents, the Castell Nou was stormed, toward the hour of vespers (late-afternoon, evening) the next day, and crossbowmen discharged stones, arrows, and other projectiles into the fortress. The battle raged on past nightfall. Around midnight, the majority of the Jews left the castle and gathered in a variety of Christian homes. That same night, Vallseca continued, the rustics of the sagramental forced their way into the curia of the bailiff of Barcelona and set fire to the records that they found. According to Hasdai Crescas, it was after the municipal authorities helped Jews take refuge in the tower that “a tumult arose among the poor people (“dalat ha-am”) and among a great multitude, and they rose up 19

20

According to Fita y Colom´e, Historia hebrea, p. 438, the populo minuto sounded the bells of the city’s church, which accords with Mascaro; ´ see below. The grossos and the manuts might be Vallseca’s equivalent of Mascaro’s ´ majores and minores. Some of the details in Mascaro´ fol. 293v are not clear to me. On Joan Francesc Ferrer, see supra, note 147. According to Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 114, the algutzir of the infant Mart´ı diverted the mob toward the new castle and away from the authorities. Again, he only cites Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, pp. 103–131.

Barcelona

103

against the honored citizens (“nikhbadei ha-medinah”). They waged war against the Jews in the tower with cross-bows and catapults and they smote them and discomfited them there in the castle.” Baptism, according to Mascaro, ´ appeared then as an option for the beleaguered Jews. All the Jews in the castrum novum, dying of hunger and thirst, indicated – at one hour on Tuesday, their wish to come to the Cross, and were led off to be baptized. At the same hour, a procession from the cathedral church approached the Castell Nou, and ascended the fortress. A monk attached to the cathedral secured a cross at the highest point of the fortress. And for the rest of the day on Tuesday, Mascaro´ reported, most of the Jews were baptized in the cathedral or in other Barcelona churches. Those who were reluctant to convert were placed in private homes so they could be instructed in the Christian faith and were baptized in the following days. Those who refused baptism were set outside in the cemeteries of the cathedral and the other churches, from which they were dragged and killed by the popularis. Mascaro´ added that many Jews, especially women, were killed because the women were more resistant to receive the sacrament of baptism than the men. From Hasdai Crescas’ perspective, “many sanctified God in their midst. . . . Of these, many slaughtered themselves, others threw themselves from the tower and, already halfway down to the ground, their bodies were broken apart limb from limb. A few left the castle and sanctified the Name in the street. The remainder converted.”21 Despite the murders and baptisms, the peasant militiamen were not content, and the royal authorities appeared incapable of resisting them. Around the hour of compline, Mascaro´ continued, some men of the sagramental requested in writing from Guillermus de San Clemente to allow 21

Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 115, writes that, on Monday, some Jews, who could not tolerate the tension, flung themselves to their death from the castle. This may be Riera’s appreciation of Crescas’ comments. On Tuesday the 8th, he continued, eighty Jews who refused to be baptized were dragged from the churches and decapitated in the street. Riera i Sans, El baptisme, p. 49, note 9, reports, without citation, that, between August 5 and 8, three important Barcelona rabbis were subjected to accusations, like those leveled against Valencia’s Perfet, see the chapter on the city of Valencia, presumably in a similar attempt to have these rabbis convert and ultimately bring their flock with them to the Cross. Prospero de Bofarull y Mascaro, ´ ´ Coleccion de documentos in´editos del Archivo General de la Corona de Aragon. Procesos de las antiguas Cortes y Parlamentos de ˜ Aragon y Valencia custodiados en el Archivo General de la Corona de Aragon, Cataluna, vol. 6 (Barcelona, 1850), pp. 430–432, reproduces ACA Reg. 1900, fol. 206, that indicates that the stone-cutter Jaime dez Mas was among those who attacked the Castell Nou.

104

“The Things As They Happened”

them to inspect the Castell Nou, and to ascertain if any Jews had stayed behind. The royal veguer supplied them with written permission, and several Jews were discovered. Jewels, which the Jews had left behind in the castle in the custody of some individuals, were apparently plundered. That same night, between 2 and 3 hours of night, men of the sagramental and the popularis of Barcelona sacked the curia of the batle looking for all the curial writings and were not successful. Those they did find were set ablaze and destroyed.22 The Dietari’s entry for Tuesday, which concluded its account of the riots, noted that all the city’s Jews were to be found in the castle. Aside from the approximately 300 Jews who died, the majority of them converted. After the conversions, the Dietari reported, the peasants, pageses, forcibly took control of the Castell Nou. According to Vallseca, the castle was taken by force on Wednesday and restored to the authority of the veguer. The people and the rustics forcibly drove out all the Jews who had remained in the fortress. Those Jews who refused to be baptized were killed “in the quarter and in the streets.” On Wednesday and in the days following, Vallseca reported, more than 400 Jews were killed, stripped of their possessions and robbed. Against the will of the veguer and through the offices of the commanders of the sagramental, some of the rustics were released from their debts. Vallseca concluded that the killing of the Jews lasted for six days, ending on the Thursday after the riots had begun. Barcelona officials, preoccupied with the containment of the riots, had neither the time nor the will to inform their king and queen of what had transpired in the principal city of Catalonia. As late as Tuesday the 8th, Barcelona officials had yet to inform the queen in Saragossa that riots had erupted. Around midnight, perhaps when the remaining Jews, after a day of considerable bloodshed and significant conversions, abandoned the Castell Nou, the city leaders declared to their monarch that they were incapable of remedying the situation, or even of containing public anger. They had entered uncharted territory.23 22

23

Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, p. 108, without citation, adds to Mascaro’s ´ account that the curia of the veguer in the Castelvell were sacked by men who were looking for the dossiers connected to the trial proceedings regarding the sack of the call. Mascaro, ´ fol. 294r lines 9–17, followed upon the account of Tuesday without indication of when these events took place. Wolff, p. 12, sees these developments as having occurred over the months of August and September. Iolant, in her letters to Bernat de Cabrera, ACA, Reg. 2039, fol. 89r and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 665–666, no. 416 and by Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, pp. 397–398,

Barcelona

105

In response to these declarations of powerlessness, Joan alerted the good men and councilors of Barcelona that he would dispatch Pere Dezcatllar, the abat de Ripoll, to inform them officially that he had ordered royal militiamen to their city to execute justice. The city magistrates would be instructed to dispatch two prohomens to discuss the situation at the royal court. Meanwhile, the municipal leaders were to initiate all necessary provisions and, proceeding with caution, pacify the rioters as best they could. The king’s representative was additionally charged with investigative functions. The abat was to inquire into the intentions and courage of “the grossos and the others,” and to discover whether the “gents dafora,” people from outside, as well as of the sagramental, were complicit in the riots. Similarly, the abbot was to ascertain if any “of the estate,” whether of the city or its environs, was involved in the disturbances. The king wanted the abat to determine as well whether the Castilian ships anchored along the shore could be seized, and whether the land-based sailors could be captured and kept under guard. Joan wondered, additionally, if the boats, which had docked, could be commandeered without causing outrage.24

24

document no. 11; and to the city councilors, Reg. 2039, fol. 89r-v, on August 8, warned them not to allow rioting against “our” Jewish quarter in Barcelona. The marginal notes in the register indicate that each of the queen’s letters “non fuit expedita,” were not sent. See the queen chapter. Correspondence penned by King Joan on Wednesday August 9 makes clear that he was aware, as he wrote to Guillermo de Rajadello, the deputy governor of Catalonia, of what had transpired “ara novellament,” now again, against the Jews of Majorca and Barcelona. Joan’s letters to Guillermo de Rajadello and to the pahers and probis hominibus of the city of Lleida are in Reg. 1961, fol. 62r and fol. 62r-v respectively. Both letters were published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 667–668, no. 417. Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del Rei, pp. 130–131, no. 199, contains most of the letter sent to those in Lleida. King Joan, in an August 12 letter to the promens, Reg. 1961, fols. 69v–70r and published by Girona y Llagostera, ibid., p. 132, no. 201a, acknowledged a letter composed by the municipal authorities at midnight August 8. The king also confirmed receipt of another epistle, dated the 7th, which had been in his possession for a while. When the king addressed the municipal leaders of Valencia on August 10, Reg. 1961, fols. 63v–64r, published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del Rei, p. 131, no. 200a, he referred to letters from the Barcelona councilors wherein they had warned him about the perilous situation that prevailed in their city since the previous Saturday when the riots had commenced. The similar letter addressed to his brother, the Duc de Montblanc, is at fol. 64r; a short precis is in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 668. Reg. 1961, fol. 67v ¶1 is the August 10 note to the promens of Barcelona, while ¶2 is dated the 11th and has no addressee mentioned. Fol. 68r-v is the undated memorial. On this diplomatic attempt by the king, see Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, pp. 117–118. Joan also charged Pere Dezcatllar to inform the royal officials – the veguer, sotveguer, and batle, that the king was mindful that they be remunerated sufficiently. The king

106

“The Things As They Happened”

Despite protestations of their impotence to the king in their letters of Monday August 7 and of midnight Tuesday the 8th, the Barcelona magistrates sought ways – in their words – to preserve the public good and protect the city’s resources. In the three orders that the city councilors, on August 8, sent to en Pere de Ciges, clavari – treasurer – of the city, they displayed both the concerns they possessed that Tuesday, and their summary understanding of why the riots had started and the manner in which they had progressed. The great destruction, which took place this past Saturday in the Cayll Juych, they wrote, was a result of the robbery by unjust and wicked persons, outsiders as well as locals. The pillage developed into violent disturbances that included the setting of fires in the call, both of which caused the death of many Jewish men and women. After the Jewish quarter had been ransacked, the majority of the Jewish men and women, together with their infants, were herded into the Castell Nou of the city, which had not been stocked with food or other provisions. The prohomens with the clavari selected certain individuals to provide three-days worth of supplies for the numerous Jews (the number 4,000 was crossed out) who had been gathered in the castle. Indeed en Pere Johan, Berenguer Gibert, and Lorens Pedro, all Barcelona citizens, had at great risk, the magistrates reported, diligently and with care furnished the Jews with provisions. The city leaders ordered the clavari to deliver 55 Barcelonan libres to these individuals for the victuals they had already bought and dispensed.25 In summation, the councilors wrote, 300 Jewish men and women were killed, and fires set in the call had caused the destruction of many homes. The dead – who still lay in the streets and within the houses of the Jewish quarter, were to be buried or thrown into wells in a manner that did not either harm those removing the corpses or contaminate the city. Barcelona citizens, who together with porters and others had already done some of this work, were charged with the disposal. The fires raging in the call had apparently not yet been put out, and the situation was proving perilous. The councilors, in consultation with the prohomens, ordered these fires be extinguished immediately, and directed the clavari to pay the honrat

25

wanted them to keep a list of all the agitators, whether they were city-dwellers or lived outside Barcelona. When the abbot finished his work in the city, he was to write a lengthy report of the information he had gleaned, and include his own appreciation of what had transpired. AHCB, Liber albaranorum (Llibre de Albarans) 1391 vol. 22, 7, fol. 103r-v. Pere de Ciges was clavari of the city from 1390 through mid-1391; see Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, pp. 95, 112, 114, 115 and 275. Batlle Gallart, s.v. Pere Johan and Berenguer Gibert, provides additional information about these individuals.

Barcelona

107

Narnay Fferer, citizen of Barcelona, 82 libras and 10 solidis Barcelonan for his expenses, and for the efforts of both him and his men.26 The municipal leaders turned their attention to the shoreline and, on Friday the 11th, enacted a variety of provisions to retrieve all that was removed from the call. They deployed an armed lateen-rigged vessel in each of the two municipal wharves to ensure that no small boats could leave the city with stolen goods. Money was requested for en Jacme Miralles, the skipper of the municipal lahut, who was entrusted with the two vessels, and for the twelve men needed to staff them and who had guarded the seaboard since Monday. Two additional individuals were engaged to patrol the coast at night.27 Other dangers lurked close to the shore. The councilors, that same Friday, granted one to two months salary to galley workers who had enlisted for Mart´ı’s expedition to Sicily. The authorities, fearing a repetition of the galley slaves’ involvement in the recent savage attacks on the aliama and its Jews, hoped that the stipend would help quash any rebellion or uprising.28 Barcelona councilors, during these days, had to contend with King Joan’s continued declarations that he would arrive in the city and administer punishment. Indeed on August 11, the king attempted to ensure that armed militia were headed toward Barcelona, and would wait for him 26

27

28

Liber albaranorum, ibid., fol. 103v on the number of dead. The citizens were En Jacme Maces, en Michel Dani, Pere de Muntfort, Berenguer Fferer, Guillermo Vidal, and Macia Rocha. Ascertaining the number of dead was surely important when their salaries were negotiated. The councilors’ reference to houses being set afire leaves one to imagine that many of the Jews had been burned to death in their dwellings, and that their charred remains had to be removed from their homes. Ibid., fol. 104r ¶2 is about the fires. Ibid., fol. 104v. On August 9, the councilors had ordered the racionals to reimburse one en Jacme Salvador and his associates for having provided food and drink to the armed ciutadans honrats who had patrolled the streets and portals of the call all day Sunday and through the dinner hour on Monday. This crew had also helped the royal bailiff retrieve stolen merchandise from the Mediterranean shore and transport the items back to the Casa de la Ciutat: ibid., fols. 101v–102r. See also the municipal request for payment dated August 12 on fols. 102v–103r. Cf. the order of July 28, fol. 100r, mentioned above at note 9. AHMB, Llibre de Consell I, 25, fol. 36bis r quoted at length in Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 581 (Riera asserts that there is no record of an actual payment), and described generally in Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, p. 112 where, based on the same extra sheet – 36 bis, she writes of the first meeting of the council, on August 11, after the attack on the call. This may explain the request on that date, AHCB Liber albaranorum, fol. 106v ¶2, for salaries to be paid to those who conveyed all 100 jurats and the caps of the officis – heads of the artisans’ guilds – and other ciutadans of the city to the Casa del Consell because “of the great necessity [resulting from] the destruction and avalot perpetrated against the Juheus.”

108

“The Things As They Happened”

until he entered the city. Joan also confirmed that both his cousin the Count of Urgell and the Count of Cardona were prepared, without delay, to travel to Barcelona. The following day, Joan informed the promens that he would depart Saragossa after the festa de santa maria dagost August 15, and mete out “great and terrible punishment.”29 The promens discovered that the Queen too was in favor of royal intervention. On August 12, Iolant acknowledged to the Barcelonans that she had received their message from late Wednesday, and had also read the letter they had sent the king wherein they pronounced themselves incapable of lessening the tension within the city. Iolant informed the leaders that she had requested the king travel immediately to their city and reinstate law and order. They will see from his response that he would arrive soon.30 Given perceptions of municipal ineffectiveness, and indignant about the “grans avolots,” large-scale riots, against the aliama of the Jews of the city, Joan, on Saturday August 12, asked the bishop of Barcelona – in whose palace he learned some Jews had been sheltered, to guard the Jews until he arrived “in a way that they are not constrained nor forced to be baptized except by their own volition.” These surviving Jews should also be preserved from all injuries, the king added. Joan, in the same vein, communicated both to the assistant prior of Santa Eulalia de Camp and to Jacobo Devesa, canon and provost of the cathedral school.31 That the Barcelona municipal leaders were perceived as incapable of safeguarding monarchical interests in the city was evidenced by the royal intervention on behalf of the family of their adviser, Hasdai Crescas. On August 12, Queen Iolant interceded with the local bishop, Ramon Sescales, the prior of the monastery of the friars of the sack, and with provost Devesa, on behalf the family of Hasdai Crescas, “our servant and intimate.” Each of these individuals and their institutions had sheltered Jews to her great pleasure, and the queen requested that Crescas’ relatives and the others be secretly held under especial and private protection and not be forcibly baptized if they did not wish to receive the sacrament willingly.32 The king, on August 16, intervened as well with Devesa on behalf of the family of Hasdai Crescas. The king had learned that the son of Hasdai 29 30 31 32

ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1961, fol. 67r, dated August 11, and fols. 69v–70r from the 12th. Reg. 2054, fol. 101v, and published in large measure in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 669. Reg. 1878, fol. 109r. Reg. 2039, fol. 89v was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 669, no. 418. See the queen chapter.

Barcelona

109

Crescas, Crescas’ grandchildren, and other Jews had taken refuge in the cathedral provost’s private home. The king too requested that Devesa protect and guard them until he arrived in the city, and instructed the churchman that these Jews should not be constrained to be baptized or to suffer any injuries to their persons. In a similar vein, Joan respectfully asked his niece, Maria, daughter of his son Mart´ı and the Queen of Sicily, who was then residing in Barcelona and apparently had taken Jews into her protective care, to defend them from all harm and not to allow them to be forcibly baptized against their will.33 Despite these high-level intercessions, both the security of Crescas’ family and of their continued identity as Jews were not assured. Barcelona, evidently, had not been stabilized. That same Wednesday the 16th, the queen indicated to, among others, the city councilors how she was very pleased to have learned that the son of Azday Cresques [sic] and other Jews were welcomed and sheltered in some houses within the city. She requested affectionately that they use “the best and most clever ways” to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. She reminded them to preserve the Jews from all “scandals and peril” as they were to be viewed as legally attached to her – “recomanats axi com a cosa [sic] nostra propria.” Two days later on August 18, the queen was active again on Crescas’ behalf. She informed the nobleman Pere de Queralt that Crescas, “a Jew of our house,” had performed many services for her and she was therefore obligated to him, especially at a time when his need was so great. Iolant referred to a letter that he would soon receive from Crescas about the safety of both “his son and his entourage,” and instructed him to take them under his protection “for our honor,” and to preserve both them and their property from any harm.34

33

34

Reg. 1961, fol. 77v, the king’s letter to Devesa, was published in Baer, Die Juden, p. 676, no. 422. Ibid., fol. 77r-v is addressed to the queen of Sicily, and was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 675, no. 421, and by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del Rei, p. 133, no. 203. Baer suggested that the king was referring to Barcelona Jews who were in her custody. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 199, quotes from the letter. See the chapter on the king. The letters of the queen to the city council, and to maestre Ramon Querol, are to be found in Reg. 2054, fol. 102v. Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 676 suggests that Ramon Querol may have been the royal physician and professor of medicine in Lleida. Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 677, wrote that he could not find any information about P. de Queralt. Joan, “indignant about the attacks . . . against the aliama of Jews of the city of Barcelona,” wrote as well to the nobleman about the “wife, children, grandchildren and others of the entourage of maestre Atzay cresques of casa nuestra” who should be protected in a specific location of the city in acknowledgment of “his gracious and

110

“The Things As They Happened”

Resolutions decided upon at an August 17 session of the city council, at which councilors, honored citizens, merchants, craftsmen, and others attended, confirmed perceptions of the unsettled situation that prevailed in the city. At the meeting it was decided that the royal veguer continue his 24-hour a day patrol of the city. Those assembled also agreed to close the call’s portals, except for the main entrance whose dimensions were to be lessened by fashioning a portelleta, a small entrance way, through which people could enter and exit. Additionally, the councilors reported to the assembly that two loaded Castilian ships could not leave on their expedition to Sicily because of an embargo issued by the Duke against these departures.35 Decisions about Barcelona’s remaining Jews were on the council agenda at the August 22 meeting. There it was revealed that Jews were found who had not become Christians. These Jews were to be placed in the houses of “religioses” throughout the city so to be better informed of the “fe catholica.” If after instruction and exhortation they refused to convert, the councilors resolved that they were to be expelled from the city. Clearly, the councilors were of the opinion that the centuries-old Jewish presence in Barcelona should be brought to an end. Their presence was inflammatory. It was additionally decided that the conversos – who lived in alberchs or cases in the call that fronted the carrera publica, public street, of the Christians, could continue to inhabit their dwellings as long as all their doors and windows that opened toward the call were covered with lime and with stone. The council also approved that the honrats consellers had already written to the king to refrain from visiting the city. Since Joan still intended to travel to Barcelona, they agreed that the councilors should write again, cautioning against the trip.36 Although King Joan continued to prepare for his journey and informed mossen Bernat, on Sunday the 13th, that he should meet him with four lancers at Martorell so his troop could be paid the customary wages,

35 36

continual service.” The king declared that he had “taken it to heart” that Crescas’ family be protected in a secure location from all “sinistra occasio” about which “maestre Atzay made known to us at length in his letter:” Reg. 1878, fols. 124v–125r. AHMB, Llibre de Consell I, 25, fol. 37r. AHCB, Llibre de Consell XXV, fols. 37v–38r. If no Jews were living then in the call, the municipal authorities would not have been concerned that the converts could have easy, even visual, access, to the call. But they would want that all the former Jews’ household activities could be seen from the public thoroughfare. Wolff, pp. 12–13 writes that the meeting on August 23 shows that the councilors were “still somewhat concerned with the Jews. . . . ”

Barcelona

111

the king did not leave for Barcelona immediately after the feast day of St. Mary in August. Indeed, the king indicated to the Master of the Order of the Knights of Montesa on August 18 that developments in Saragossa, similar to those in Barcelona and elsewhere, were keeping him in the capital city of Aragon. Nevertheless, he repeated his request of August 10 that the Magistro de Muntesa be ready with fifteen to twenty “bacinets,” men outfitted with metal helmets, to travel to Vilafranca as soon as he would send the word. Yet on August 21, King Joan responded to those Barcelonans who had expressed to him the sense of their deliberative body that the king not visit their city. The king apprised the magistrates that he would remain in Aragon and place that city in “bon stament,” and urged them in the meantime to guard and preserve Barcelona until he would arrive.37 Barcelona Jews were on the move and seeking safe havens. The king announced to his veguer, on August 22, that the Jews who wished to leave the city and travel to Aragon, or elsewhere where there were Jewish aljamas, should be entrusted to either Galceran de Rosanes, an official of the expeditionary flotilla, or to others who would diligently defend them. Joan also enjoined the count of Cardona – in whose jurisdiction northwest of Barcelona some Jews who had survived or had escaped from the avolot against the Barcelona aliama had arrived, be defended, supported, and preserved from all sinister occurrences. Joan assured the nobleman that he would leave in short order for Catalonia and punish those responsible for their disregard of royal priorities.38 37

38

Reg. 1961, fol 71v ¶2 is dated August 13 and was published in full in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 133, no. 202b. Ibid., fol. 78r-v, of August 18, was published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 133, no. 204 and Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 678, no. 425. See the chapter on the king for the Joan’s intentions to leave Saragossa. Reg. 1961, fol. 79v is dated August 21 and was mostly published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 134, no. 206. Joan informed the veguer that the city councilors had agreed to guard well and preserve from scandal those Jews who were under his control and who were found in the houses of citizens: Reg. 1878, fol. 133r ¶1. Cf. the queen’s letter of the 23rd in Reg. 2054 fols. 103v–104r, reported on in the queen chapter. On the aguacil, Galceran de Rosanes, see Batlle Gallart, vol. 1, pp. 113 and 119. Ibid., fol. 133 ¶2 is the letter to Cardona. A similar letter was sent on September 5 to the count of Prades, a comtat to the south of Barcelona: Reg. 1961, fol. 93v ¶2. He also thanked a knight, Johannes de Faro, for his work to restore some of the Barcelona Jews: Reg. 1878, fol. 157r. See Batlle Gallart, p. 120, note 35. The king, also on August 22, having been told that men who were involved in the riots in Barcelona and elsewhere had been found and captured in Calatayud in the Kingdom of Aragon, ordered the justicia, juez, jurados, and hombres buenos of that city to punish the guilty and make a public inventory of the stolen goods. The next day Joan

112

“The Things As They Happened”

The municipal councilors remained concerned that Joan would soon leave his court in Saragossa and travel to Barcelona, even as they attempted to bring stability to their city. After all, the animosity toward monarchic power was a prominent feature of the riots. On August 25, they decided to send an embassy of promens, including a merchant and two artisans, to the king, and instructed them to beg for mercy, and to petition for the cancellation of the royal visit. If Joan would nevertheless continue with his travel plans, they planned to request that he arrive only with his officials and entourage, and not enter the city accompanied by armed men. They promised that if the king agreed to their conditions, the city would be appropriately subject and obedient. In an attempt to calm a city beset by “scandals, brawls, and other ills,” the magistrates also decided that day to confiscate a variety of arms, but made an exception for swords and daggers. On the 29th, both the relationship of the municipality with the king and the presence of arms still occupied their deliberations.39 King Joan responded, early in September, to three letters sent by the Barcelona councilors and magistrates, one in which he was informed at length regarding enacted municipal ordinances, and another that had asked him not to be concerned about his departure from Saragossa. The city leaders had also requested that Joan not grant licenses to Jews who wished to leave Barcelona, so that neither “commotion nor disturbances” would erupt in the city. The king expressed pleasure, on September 5, with the provisions that would help preserve its inhabitants, and notified the magistrates that he had not come to a decision about when he would leave Saragossa. Further, Joan denied that he had granted Jews licenses to leave Barcelona and declared that he did not intend to do so in the future. He admonished the Barcelonan to restore the Jews and their financial health until the time when he would arrive in their city.40 But when Crescas concluded his account of the events in Barcelona for Avignonese Jewry, he folded his personal tragedy within his tale of

39

40

ordered the justicia to hang them if they were found culpable. The letter to Calatayud of the 22nd, Reg. 1948, fol. 185r, and that of the 23rd, Reg. 1961, fol. 82r-v. See the chapters on the Kingdom of Aragon, the king, and the queen. Llibre de Consell XXV, ibid., fols. 38r–40r of Friday the 25th and fol. 40r dated to Tuesday the 29th. On the 30th, the councilors returned to consider the fees owed to Narnau Fferer, who had been charged to extinguish fires still raging in the call because of the danger they had posed to the entire city. See AHCB, Liber albaranorum, 1391 vol. 22, 7, fol. 111v. ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 92r was published in part – the references to Iolant, by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, pp. 136–137, no. 212. See the chapter on the king.

Barcelona

113

widespread communal destruction. While “many sanctified God in their midst,” Crescas noted that “among them was my son, my only one, a bridegroom, whom I have offered as an unblemished lamb for sacrifice.” Aside from those killed, those who suicided, and those who converted, Crescas was aware that those “who escaped to the cities of the nobility – seganim, were only of the honored people. They were but a few; a child could record their names.” And so, on October 19, Crescas felt compelled to lament: “[T]here is no one today that goes by the name Jew in Barcelona.”41

41

Crescas wrote that he offered his son as a burnt offering perhaps as his justification of God’s judgment (zidduk ha-din). Marc Saperstein, “A Sermon on the Akedah from the Generation of the Expulsion and its Implications for 1391,” Aharon Mirsky, Avraham Grossman, and Yosef Kaplan eds., Exile and Diaspora. Studies in the History of the Jewish People Presented to Haim Beinart (Jerusalem, 1991), pp. 111–114, suggests that Crescas might have been in Barcelona during the riots, and that he might have even sacrificed his own son, nothing of which is reflected in any of the documents. Kobler, Wiener, and Harvey translate the word hatan as bridegroom, and not as a given name.

5 Girona

For much of the fourteenth century, the demographic and economic trajectory of Girona and its Jews mirrored that of Barcelona, its more important neighbor to its south. Girona’s population, as did Barcelona’s, precipitously declined as a result of the outbreak of the plague in May 1348, and its Jewish cemetery quickly became overcrowded. Less than 1,000 Jews composed the Jewish community toward the end of the fourteenth century, amounting to perhaps five percent of the general population.1 Both the plague and the subsequent war between the Kingdom of Castile and the Crown of Aragon resulted in increased tax burdens on both Christians and Jews, who became increasingly impoverished. Most of Girona’s Jews continued to labor as artisans, while those who had previously lent money to their fellow urban dwellers, and indeed to the Girona municipality itself, now primarily extended loans to the population in the countryside.2 Girona Jews lived uneasily among their fellow townspeople. Instances of Holy Week violence were common already in the fourteenth century, although these hostilities were limited to the hurling of rocks against the windows and facades of Jewish homes. In the late 1380s, the antagonism appeared to intensify. When some clerics, on April 2 of 1387, attacked 1

2

Riera i Sans, La Catalunya jueva, pp. 52–55. On the 1331 holy week riots in Girona, see Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, pp. 207–213, and passim. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 97–98. For the emergence of new credit instruments that eliminated Jews from these economic roles, see Christian Guiller´e, “Fiscalit´e et soci´et´e a` Girona (XIVe si`ecle),” Actes du Colloqui Corona i Municipis i Fiscalitat a la Baixa Edat Mitjana, Lleida, 22–24 novembre 1995 (L´erida, 1997), pp. 367–382.

114

Girona

115

a Jewish guesthouse in the call, Girona Jews, protested that very day to ecclesiastical, royal, and municipal officials about their mistreatment by capellans, and by those who lived in the homes of these priests. Later that month, the king – in response to a complaint from seven-year old Salamo´ Scaleta, ordered his local batlle to proceed against the Christian youths who had forcibly baptized Salamo, ´ and then concealed him from his family. Both the queen, in October 1387, and the king, two years later in 1389, complained about Jews being stoned and demanded that such activities be halted, and the perpetrators, who hid in the homes of clerics, be brought to justice.3 The bishop of Girona was forewarned by King Joan on July 10, 1391 – the day after the riots broke out in Valencia, that the aliama of his city was endangered. When Girona municipal officials, on July 20, received their copy of the July 12 royal letter regarding the Valencia uprisings, they dutifully sent transcriptions to their counterparts in Besalu, ´ Torroella de Montgr´ı, and Figueres. The Girona leaders requested that their northern neighbors protect the safety of their local Jews.4

3

4

Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 111–113 and notes thereto. Riera, p. 112, reports on a royal order of January 15, 1388, Reg. 1829, fol. 165r-v, to officials of the many towns surrounding Girona to protect their Jews. In 1387, Easter that year was on April 7; the letter of the king was dated the 28th. See also Guerson, Coping with Crises, pp. 148– 150. While Guerson strives mightily to reduce the implications of these incidents to avoid the conclusion that they “fit neatly in the teleological narrative of Spanish Jewish history that culminates with the conversions of 1391 and the expulsion of 1492,” Riera, pp. 114–115, uses these same events to assert that the attack of August 10 of 1391 did not take anyone, especially the Jews, by surprise. In this, he follows Julian ´ de Ch´ıa, Bandos ´ y bandoleros en Gerona; apuntes historicos desde el siglo V hasta mediados del XVII, vol. 1 (Gerona, 1888), p. 171. Joan and Iolant, on June 27 and 28 respectively, ordered the municipal and royal officials of many population centers, including Girona, to punish those who were menacing the aliama and its Jews, and to prevent the “escandels” which could result. See, infra, the chapters on the king and queen. The July 10 royal letter to Berenguer d’Angleshola, the bishop of Girona, ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1878, fols. 60v–61r, was similar. Riera asserts that the letter was issued at the insistence of Hasdai Crescas. The letter of July 12 from which Girona’s leaders made their copies is in Reg. 1878, fols. 67v–68r. Information about the royal letter was already published by Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, vol. 1, pp. 171–172 and 182, and following him, Baer, A History, vol. 2, p. 106, Wolff, The 1391 Pogrom, p. 17, and then Riera, Els avalots, p. 118, who writes that the letter was received on the 20th. The copy the Girona officials sent to the batle, jurats, and promens of the town of Besalu, ´ the procurador, batle, and consols of the town of Torroella de Montgr´ı, and the batle and consols of the town of Figueres is in AMG, Correspond`encia dels Jurats 1391–1392), fols. 11v?–12r, and was based on a copy of the document found in the local archives. They sent out the letters on the 20th: see fol. 12v. The Jews of Figueres were attacked as indicated by the letter sent by the king

116

“The Things As They Happened”

News of the August 5 assault on the Jews of Barcelona reached the ears of Girona city officials the following day, courtesy of their Barcelona counterparts who had written to them the evening of the attacks. The carrier of the letters publicly recounted how peasants and other individuals from outside the capital had incited people against the Jews – a strategy adopted earlier by Valencians and Majorcans, among others, to blame the violence on those not under the jurisdiction of their municipality, and further explained how this terrible event had been incited by the devil, “the instigator and doer of all evil.” Perhaps in an attempt to forestall unrest in their own city, the Girona jurats Eimeric de la Via, Francesc de Segurioles, and Joan Madir, on August 9 – seemingly acting on their own, authorized the closing of a lane in the Jewish quarter which fronted the houses of Jucef Abraham and Abraham Maimoni.5 On Thursday August 10, the Girona call was invaded. That evening, the jurats, with “pain in their heart,” informed King Joan and Queen Iolant, the consellers of Barcelona, and the consols of Perpignan of the unfortunate events that had taken place that day – “the festival of sent lorens,” during the daylight hours. To those of Barcelona, they explicitly remarked that the assault had occurred after they had received their counterparts’ report about what had transpired in the port city. The Girona magistrates reported to all that “peasants and outsiders” – similar to the Barcelona leaders’ claims earlier that week, had set fire to the upper portal leading to the Jewish quarter and that, in the afternoon, the neighborhood was pillaged and a “few” Jews were killed. The municipal authorities asserted that both they and the royal officials did everything possible to prevent the attacks.6

5

6

on September 22. ACA, Reg. 1949, fol. 16v was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 687–688. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 95–159 is the definitive study of the subject, and provides a model for all studies of the riots against the Jews in 1391. It is replete with interpretive insights on almost every page. The letter sent by the Barcelona officials to those in Girona is in Bandos y bandoleros, vol. 1, pp. 174–175, without archival citation. The Barcelona letter implies – as will the letter later sent by the Girona leaders after the riot in their town, that the city’s inhabitants did not bear responsibility for the uprising. Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, p. 172, relies on a document, again without citation, and reflects on the possible motivations for the August 9 order. Riera, p. 119, calls attention to a later source cited by Enrique Claudio Girbal, Los jud´ıos en Girona (Girona, 1870), pp. 28–29 (footnote 1 starting at p. 28) from Archivo Municipal de Girona, Legajo de Cartas Reales, and dated September 25, 1392, to indicate that the sole reason would have been the protection of the inhabitants of these homes. The letter to the king is in AMG, Correspond`encia, fol. 13r, to the queen in ibid., fol. 13v ¶1; that to the Barcelona officials in ibid., ¶2 – and reproduced by Ch´ıa, Bandos y

Girona

117

The peasants and outsiders, pageses and homens forans, who had arrived in the city for the festival and who had been driven out after their invasion of the call, asserted the jurats in another letter to the king, returned on Friday to continue their assault. After much effort, the attackers were successfully expelled. The city fathers also claimed that they attempted, on Friday, to recover the goods that had been taken from the call the previous day, and that they assumed responsibility for the collection of these stolen items.7 Girona Jews looked for a safe haven. That same Friday, three Jewish families decided to leave Girona. As they headed north through Borrassa` toward the coastal towns of Peralada and Castello, ´ they were captured by the nobleman Guillem d’Hortal and his entourage. The Jews were robbed of all their possessions, including the animals on which their children had traveled.8 Despite the Girona leaders’ earlier apportion of blame, speculation abounded, by August 12, as to the identity of those responsible for the riots, and the role the jurats played in the suppression of the attacks.

7

8

bandoleros, pp. 174–175, note 2; and that to the Perpignan magistrates in ibid., fol. 14r. Claudio Girbal, Los jud´ıos en Girona, pp. 23–24 wrote of the events based on the letter to the king. Riera’s understanding of those events is in Els avalots, pp. 120–121ff. ˜ vol. 12 (Madrid, 1850), Jaime Villanueva, Viage literario a las iglesias de Espana, p. 285 cites an ecclesiastical chronicle that a “persecutio Judeorum” occurred on that day. Riera, Els avalots, p. 120, relying on Villanueva, p. 383, explains that the events of August 10 were planned in advance as a religious persecution, as an attempt to convert the Jews. Fita y Colom´e, Historia hebrea p. 435 in the original Latin and p. 439 in Spanish translation, cites Juan de Vallseca that the aljama was attacked, many were killed and robbed, a number were converted, and others fled. Those they captured were killed. Interesting is the claim, made in the fifteenth century, that the synagogue in Girona was ´ originally the church of San Lorenzo. See Mar´ıa de los Angeles Mas´ıa, “Aportaciones al estudio del call gerundense,” Sefarad 13 (1953), p. 288. Both Girbal, Los jud´ıos, and Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, pp. 172–175, wonder whether to trust the jurats’ account. None of these authors suggests that the jurats’ description of the events was meant to mirror the Barcelona riots, and similarly to underscore that the city officials were not at fault. Ch´ıa, p. 174, cites a 1440 document from the royal curia, and inserted into an apostolic inquisitorial dossier, about the riots, that refers to the complicity of the royal officials and the local jurados. AMG, Correspond`encia, fol. 14r-v is the letter to the king dated Sunday, August 13; that to the queen, also from the 13th, is in ibid., fol. 14v–15r. Fol. 16v contains rough drafts of the letters. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 123, writes of the attempts to recover the goods. See Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 123, who relies upon ACA, Reg. 1852, fols. 55r dated March 11, 1392; Reg. 1949, fols. 120v–121r dated July 15, 1392; and ibid., fol. 121r of July 22, 1392. See also ibid., p. 120 and n. 87. These stories also reflect the general insecurity that the Jews experienced in the Catalonia countryside. Riera, pp. 120–121, cites Reg. 1850, fol. 96r, dated December 8, 1391, that Jews placed some of their items in safekeeping.

118

“The Things As They Happened”

In response, a number of prominent city officials gathered that Saturday in the cloisters of the convent of the Franciscans where the city council assembled. Among the municipal officials present were the jurats Eimeric de la Via, Joan Madir – both of whom on August 9 had ordered the closure of one of the lanes of the call, Guillem Bonet, as well as a number of councilors. Called to this conclave were two secretaries of the aliama, Astruch Benet and Salomo´ Saporta, and Astruch Lobel Gracia and Jucef Abraham, two distinguished members of the Jewish community. The latter’s house fronted the lane that had been closed prior to the attack. In the presence of witnesses and a public notary, Eimeric asked these four Jews if there was truth to the rumor that the Jews had forwarded 800 florins to the jurats to bribe the artisans to halt the violence. In this jurat’s opinion, other groups had vested interests in the safety of the Jews. The Jews unanimously replied that they had not granted any sum either to the jurats or to others, but that they had remitted reasonable salaries to those who had guarded the call.9 Astruch Benet and Jucef Abraham took advantage of this assembly to request that the jurats, specifically Eimeric de la Via, return personal property that had been retrieved by city officials. Benet explained that, on Friday, he had asked Eimeric, as well as the bailiff and the sub-bailiff, to restore clothing that had been removed from his house. Benet had suggested that if they were hesitant to return the materials to him, they should deposit the items with a Christian until the king could decide on its proper disposition. Benet was concerned that the longer the jurats delayed, the greater the probability that the goods would not be restored. Jucef Abraham asserted that, the day before, he had seen some of his own clothing in the curia, and that Eimeric had ordered it returned.10 At the instigation of Eimeric de la Via, the jurats, also on Saturday, convoked a general session of the city council. Rumors were rife at the 9

10

AMG, Manual del Consell A 24, fol. 24v as described in Riera, Els avalots, p. 124 and Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, p. 176. The phrase used by the Jews was “suburnacio de diners.” Chia´ argues that one of these jurats was culpable, and that his involvement implicated the artisans. Ch´ıa’s ruminations on the political dynamics within the urban elite are on p. 177, Riera’s on pp. 123–124. Ch´ıa appears to suggest that this assembly was a meeting of the general municipal council, and not an ad hoc gathering called by these particular jurats. He also theorizes that the rioters had returned on Friday when the sum promised to them was not delivered. Although Jews were not required to appear before a municipal tribunal on the Sabbath, these Jews did present themselves on their day of rest. Given the tenous situation in the city, the Jews may well have come without hesitation. AMG, Manual del Consell A 24, fol. 25r as described in Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, pp. 177–178 and in Riera briefly on p. 123. Strikingly, the Jews pursued these business matters on the Sabbath.

Girona

119

meeting that large numbers of peasants and outsiders had gathered near the city and planned to destroy both Jewish and Christian-owned property. A committee consisting of twelve prohomens, four from each estate, and five jurats were charged with the protection of the Jewish population and the preservation of public order. These individuals were authorized to take all necessary measures, including borrowing funds, to ensure the security of the city. Among the committee members were known opponents of the ruling municipal government.11 The Girona city fathers, on Sunday, announced to the monarchs that they were now able to report on the number of Jewish casualties. Forty bodies of Jews from all socio-economic strata, “grans e pochs,” had been found. The surviving Jews, the Girona officials acknowledged, contended that many more Jews were missing. The Jews included in their tally those coreligionists – a few children among them, who had been killed by other Jews in order to prevent their conversion to Christianity, as well as women who died by their own hands, presumably to avoid baptism. Girona officials had not taken such individuals into account.12 The municipal authorities petitioned the king and queen for help in the restoration of the Jews, explaining that many men continued to hurl insults and to threaten the Jews, and that the city fathers were also targets of this rage. From the perspective of these magistrates, their fate was 11

12

AMG, ibid., fol. 26r as summarized in Ch´ıa, p. 178 and Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 124. Riera states that the tailor Pere Planell, the cobbler Andreu Figuera, and the dyer Guillem Banyils were distinguished members of the municipal opposition. AMG, Correspond`encia, fol. 14r-16v; see above note 10. According to Ch´ıa, pp. 178– 179, the municipal officials acknowledged the ineffectiveness of their previous defense strategy which had been to organize the city’s inhabitants into groups of tens and hundreds. The peasants, pace Ch´ıa, were not singled out as dangerous. The letter refers to “molt hom.” The Girona leaders, on the day the call was invaded, were unable to provide the king and queen with the numbers of Jews who died. The disagreement between the jurats and the Jews over the tally, see below the jurats’ letter of the 18th, may have been rooted in debates over responsibility and financial obligations, and not in rival theological perspectives. By October 19, Hasdai Crescas, asserted that many of the local rabbis publicly sanctified the name of God, rather than convert. Reference to the holy ones, kedoshim, in Girona can be found in a letter by Profiat Duran to en Yosef Avram, presumably the above mentioned Juce Abraham, on the death of his father, the poet Don Avraham Yitzhak ha-Levi, published in Jonathan Friedlander and Jacob Kohn eds., Ma’aseh Efod ¨ (Vienna, 1865), p. 194. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 123, argues that the baptism of the Jews was the preordained goal of the attackers, and consequently the Jews’ suicides and homicides should be seen as a conscious response to their assailants. See also his Els ´ Segles XII–XV (Girona, 2012), pp. 147–148. jueus de Girona i la seva organitzacio. Ch´ıa, approaching the subject from his philo-Semitic perspective, cannot imagine that Jews killed themselves. See Ch´ıa in ibid., pp. 179–181.

120

“The Things As They Happened”

linked with that of the Jews. The monarchs were unsympathetic. The king pronounced himself astonished and angered that the Girona aliama had suffered great and irreparable damage. A week after the riots, he ordered the protection of those Jews who had taken refuge in citizens’ houses, and declared that the Jews neither be pressured nor forced to take the waters of baptism. King Joan apparently had received information about attempts at the Jews’ conversion, effected perhaps to protect them. Baptism administered against a person’s will, Joan opined, could not transform that individual into a good Christian.13 The queen expressed outrage, on Friday August 18, as had the king the day before, at the “attack, robbery, injuries and trespasses” committed time after time against the aliama. She thanked many of her correspondents that day for their defense of the Jews, and for having gathered and sheltered them in their houses. She asked these individuals to continue to care for their new charges. From the veguer and batlle, she demanded that they open criminal proceedings “against one and all who grievously and offensively destroyed our tributes and the rights of the royal patrimony,” which did not permit forced baptism. Those who did not want to come to the Cross were to be defended from all harm and “conserved in their law.”14 The jurats hastened to preserve their reputation. They asserted to the monarchs, that same Friday, how they had instituted a variety of provisions to secure the city, and, focusing again on outsiders as they had since the outbreak of the riots, claimed that they had successfully impeded peasants and other “foreigners” from entering. The officials also reported to the king and queen that, after much effort and at peril to their own lives,

13

14

Joan’s series of letters, dated the 17th, to the jurats, prohomens, veguer, batlle, bishop, and a variety of citizens is in ACA, Reg. 1878, fols. 120v-121r. See the king chapter for Joan’s theological stance. Cf. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 125–126. ACA, Reg. 2029, fol. 178r ¶1 to the unnamed addressees and fols. 177v-178r to the veguer and batlle of the city, partially quoted with modernized Catalan orthography by Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 125–126. In a personal letter to the bishop, Iolant, aside from expressing irritation over the damage inflicted in “our” [word crossed out] aliama, stated her oppositon to those who threatened Jews with death so the Jews would allow themselves to be baptized. The queen declared that baptism could be administered only to those who willingly requested it and appealed to the bishop not to permit anyone to compel others to receive the sacrament. She asked that he persuade and caution those individuals, who wished to harm the Jews, to desist from their wicked acts. Ibid., fol. 178v ¶1, partially quoted in Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 126. Again, Riera asserts that the letters sent by the queen on the 18th were composed by Hasdai Crescas. While the king stressed that forced baptism was not transformative, Iolant declared that it was against the law. See the chapters on the king and queen.

Girona

121

they had successfully transferred Girona Jews to the Gironella tower where, the jurats may have reasoned, the Jews could not be converted against their will. The jurats pressed Joan for a solution, which would allow the Jews to live securely in the call. Perhaps anticipating why the monarchs were concerned that the Jews remain secure and in their own faith, they assured their king that very few of the Jews killed during the attack of the previous week rendered taxes, “tayes e enquestas,” to the royal treasury.15 The jurats dutifully reported, two days later, on matters that they imagined would find favor in their monarchs’ eyes, first that the writings of the curia had been rescued, that the Jews in large numbers were ensconced in the Gironella, and that they, the city fathers, were awaiting further orders. In response, the king, on August 23, ordered his officials to cooperate with the jurats in effecting all essential precautions to ensure the Jews’ defense. He encouraged them to continue to guard the city, and instructed his people that the Jews’ own funds be used for the Jews’ protection and for any necessary provisions.16 The city fathers continued to update the king and queen on the status of Girona Jewry. The magistrates assured the monarchs, on August 25, that despite the danger to themselves, they would continue to watch over 15

16

AMG, Correspond`encia, fol. 15r-v to the king and fol. 15v to the queen. See also fols. 16r–17r. Riera is mistaken in dating the jurats’ letter to the count of Empuries to August ´ 18. See Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, pp. 184–185, Riera’s source, where the letter is dated the 18th of September. That letter can be found in AMG, Correspond`encia, fols. 22r ¶2. For the jurats’ report, see Girbal, Los jud´ıos, p. 24, based presumably on AMG, Correspond`encia, fol. 18r ¶1, dated August 20, whose writing is faint. The king’s response of August 23 is in ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 82r, and was published in full by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 134, no. 208c. Joan promised the jurats that he would soon depart for Girona and, with God’s help, restore public order. His letter to the royal officials is in Reg. 1961, fol. 81r-v, partially published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 134, no. 208b and fully in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 680, no. 428. The following day, Joan declared to royal officials in Girona that he would leave on August 28 for Catalonia, and travel to Lleida, Barcelona, and then Girona. Severe punishment awaited, he wrote, for those complicit in the disturbances. See Reg. 1961 fol. 84v, published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 681–682 no. 430, by Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, pp. 117–118, and in Itinerari, p. 135 no. 209b. The queen also wrote to the jurats, promens, veguer, and sots veguer on the 23rd, and pronounced herself pleased to learn that the Jews had been established in the Gironella tower. Iolant offered to the city officials that, if they watched over the Jews, they would be recognized as true, good, and loyal vassals, preservers of the royal patrimony, its prerogatives, and financial resources. She promised to petition the king to demonstrate his appreciation by bestowing favors upon them: Reg. 2029, fol. 179r ¶1. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 126–127 quotes parts of the letter.

122

“The Things As They Happened”

the Jews confined to the Gironella. Now that Jews were not being forcibly baptized, they reported in a nod to the royal perspective, the condition of the city had improved. Those who had converted, they added, had done so willingly and spontaneously.17 The Jews who had been saved – presumably some of those sheltered in the homes of Christians, had been transferred to the fortress, the jurats informed King Joan, later that day and under separate cover. Also Ramon de Loret, the castlan, castellan, of the Gironella, had demanded and had received increased payments from the Jews in recognition of his greater responsibility. The jurats boasted that they had been successful in calming public agitation with undescribed creative maneuvers, “for Sir, ingenuity is more effective in this situation than force.”18 As the situation in Girona quieted in early September, the king dispatched a raft of messages to significant political forces within the city. Sixteen distinguished citizens were thanked by Joan, on the second of September, for their good works on behalf of the local Jews who “are restored.” King Joan declared that there was no better way to comply with the royal will than to maintain Jews who are “our prerogative and treasure and who are constituted under our special custody and protection.” 17 18

AMG, Correspond`encia, fol. 18v is the letter to the king; ibid., fols. 18v–19r is the parallel letter to Iolant. Girbal, Los jud´ıos, p. 25, based perhaps on ibid., fol. 19v, whose writing has faded. See also below for fol. 20r, the opening paragraph, and ¶2 which mentions the “clamor” created by the “gent menuda.” On August 26 and 31, respectively, Girona councilors informed the consols of Figueres and the batle and jurats of Besalu, ´ as earlier on July 20 they had kept their counterparts apprised of royal concerns, of what transpired in their city, of their missive to the king and of his correspondence with them: ibid., fol. 19r to Figueres and fol. 20r ¶1 to Besalu. ´ Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 127–128 discusses the dedicatory poem allegedly composed by Reuven Girondi, on the sefer torah written by his father Rabbenu Nissim. The poem is dated the day before rosh hashannah, which that year fell on August 29. We now know that the poem is a fabrication, and the sefer torah itself was most likely not written by Rabbenu Nissim. (Perhaps Baer already realized the poem was a forgery and therefore did not publish or use this text.) Riera i Sans, Els jueus de Girona, p. 149, reports that Reuven is not listed in a November 6, 1391 document that lists thirty-eight Jews, mostly of the elite classes, who took refuge in the Gironella. He assumes, based on the inscription, that Reuven was alive on August 27, which we now know may not necessarily have been true. See, conveniently, Warren Zev Harvey, “Hasdai Crescas’ Relationship to Nissim of Girona,” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 10 [Aldina Quintana, Raquel Ibanez ˜ Sperber and Ram Ben-Shalom eds., Between Edom and Kedar. Studies in Memory of Yom Tov Assis, Part 1] (2014), Hebrew Section pp. 99–112. Riera’s translation of the poem into Catalan (including a rhymed introduction) is to be found in his Els avalots, Annexo III, p. 156.

Girona

123

Similarly, Joan ordered the officers of the silversmiths and iron-workers, carpenters and stonecutters, tailors and furriers, weavers, shoemakers and skinners, wool-workers, book-coverers and purse-makers, pharmacists and barbers, that same day, to encourage their fellow artisans to protect the Jewish population, and to aid in their conservation and repair.19 With indignation at the attacks and gratitude for his protection of the Jews, Joan recognized the efforts of the castlan of the Gironella. “[W]e could not have done more,” the king pronounced to Ramon de Loret, on September 2, as he reminded Ramon to avail himself of the Jews’ own funds for their food and other necessities. The king authorized the castlan’s use of arms against anyone who would assault, injure or abuse his charges.20 Girona royal officials were instructed by the king to levy a fine of 1,000 golden florins on all who continued to injure Jews. The king also charged both the municipal and his royal officials, on September 2, to continue to protect the Jews and to provide for them – so they do not perish from hunger. Joan advised his royal officials – the sots veguer, batlle, sots batlle, and jutge ordinari, that they may fund their expenses from the Jews’ property in their control, as well as from those Jewish-owned items discovered by the Girona officials. Joan counseled his royal officials that, in the event that the secretaris of the aliama wished that Jews return to their homes within the call and their appeal appeared advisable, they should support the Jews’ request. The king further enjoined the officials to undertake an inventory of all stolen goods, to ensure that these items were returned, and to pursue any investigations necessary to complete the task. The king deputized Pere Canto, ´ an individual knowledgeable in the law and an advocate on behalf of the royal fisc, as an assessor to aid the royal officials in the retrieval of the property. In a separate letter, dated September 2, the king urged Pere Sabater, the procurador fiscal, to help catalog recaptured stolen goods that had been restored to their Jewish owners.21 19

20 21

ACA, Reg. 1878, fols. 151v–152r, published in part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 136, no. 211, and by Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 128. In these seven letters to the sixteen citizens, Joan first expressed his astonishment and indignation at the large-scale riots and disturbances in the city, which had been executed with temerity and with disdain for the royal patrimony. ACA, ibid., fol. 152r-v contains the text of the eight letters sent to leaders of artisan groups. ACA, ibid., fols. 154v–155r. ACA, ibid., fol 153v to the jurats and promens; fol. 154r-v to the veguer and batlle and their subordinates and to the jutge ordinari and others. The latter document mentions the secretaris of the aliama. The king declared that if the Jews wished, at a later date, to

124

“The Things As They Happened”

Girona was far from pacified. The Jews, although well guarded in the Gironella, were subject to daily intimidation. And the jurats reported to King Joan, on September 11, an additional source of urban unrest, and this time they did not point to outsiders as the initiators of the discord. The lower classes insisted on the abolition of taxes levied upon those who entered the city and threatened city officials if they refused to assent to their demand. Without this collection, the jurats retorted, Girona would be unable to meet its obligations and would be irreparably harmed. The city fathers turned to the king for advice about how to proceed. The jurats were besieged. That same day, the castlan of the Gironella, Ramon de Loret, demanded more money, this time for renovations to the castle, before he would allow additional people to take shelter within its walls.22 Jews still may have sought conversion in order to ensure their safety. On September 12, Isaach Saulis together with his wife and three children were baptized in the cathedral, and took the names Petrus Clusella, Clara, Bernardo, Juan, and Berenguer, respectively. Perhaps such incidents prompted the queen, on September 13, to thank Ramon de Loret for diligently guarding the Jews, and to instruct him not to allow any

22

recover their debts, the officials should assist them if they deemed the request reasonable. The letter to the procurador fischal is at ibid., fol. 155r. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 128–129, asserts a connection between the spate of letters sent by the king on September 2 and the embassy of one of the upper class members of the city council sent to the king in Saragossa to discuss how to return the city to a state of normalcy. According to Riera, the committee of twelve individuals – four of each estate, who were delegated by the city council, on Saturday August 12, to preserve the public order were the ones who dispatched Ramon de la Via to meet with the king. Riera understands these letters as a response to Ramon de la Via’s request that the royal court explicitly endorse Girona’s attempts to keep the peace, to protect the Jews and provide for their needs, to punish the guilty, and to return the stolen goods. In a letter to the promens, dated September 5, Joan asked that the municipal authorities attend closely to the message that he sent them through his trusted counselor and auditor, oidor, of the royal court, micer Ramon de la Via concerning the profit, utility, and good condition of the aliama: See Reg. 1961, at fol. 91v ¶2. In this document, Ramon de la Via appears as a royal official. Fol. 92v, also of September 5, is directed to the royal officials. Queen Iolant echoed most of the sentiments of the king when she wrote to the royal batlle and sots batlle of the city on September 4: ACA, Reg. 2029, fol. 180r. AMG, Correspond`encia, fol. 20r (pagination is barely legible) and summarized in Girbal, Los jud´ıos, p. 25 and Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, p. 182. The letter regarding the castlan is in AMG, ibid., at fol. 20r-v (?). Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 132, writes that at a full meeting of the city council on September 10, the taxes were lowered: AMG, Manual de Consell A 24, fol. 32r and ff. I am purposefully not conflating the social and economic tensions with the religious hatred of Jews and Judaism nor am I privileging one aspect of the unrest as the cause of the other. See Introduction, and on Girona, below, note 27.

Girona

125

Jews whether by order, trickery, or agreement, except by their own will, to leave or be taken from the Gironella. In such an eventuality, the Jews were to be safely housed within the city. Iolant also thanked the count of Empuries, that same day, for his efforts in sheltering Jews from Girona ´ and elsewhere, and kindly asked him to continue to protect the Jews, and to punish those within his jurisdiction who had harmed Jews or had intended to mistreat them.23 Girona jurats were concerned about the danger that lurked in that nobleman’s territory, and anxious that further harm to the Jews would damage their relationship to the king and queen. The municipal authorities declared to the count of Empuries, on September 18, that while they ´ desired to be good neighbors, they were obligated to guard and protect the Jews, who belonged to the royal patrimony. If the Jews would be attacked by individuals from his jurisdiction, the Girona magistrates proclaimed that they would refuse to take responsibility. The following day, the jurats urged the royal veguer to leave the city immediately and to prevent outsiders – from Empuries and other territories, from gathering ´ and marching on Girona. The officials specifically instructed him not to let these strangers approach the city, lest the Jews and other inhabitants of the city suffer damages and injuries.24 Fearful that a “great scandal” could ensue, and that they would be held accountable, the jurats, on the 18th, appeared to alter their earlier 23

24

Enrique Claudio Girbal, “Conversiones de jud´ıos en Girona y su obispado,” Revista de Girona 18 (1894), pp. 33–37, and specifically, p. 35, cites the registers of the Curia Episcopal, Litterarum quistiarum. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 130 cites only these pages yet adds that they left the Gironella voluntarily, that a Clusella was the patron who gave the family his surname, and that the vicar general permitted the family to beg for alms. See Josep M. Marqu`es, “Sis-Cents Pidolaires (1368–1540). Captius, esclaus i peregrins,” Estudis del Baix Emporda` 13 (1994), p. 149. It is futile now as it would have been impossible then to determine whether conversion in the wake of the riots was done willingly or out of fear. The queen’s letter to the castlan is in Reg. 2050, fol. 56r ¶1; that to the count of Empuries at ibid., ¶2. Riera i Sans claims, Els avalots, p. 130, that Hasdai Crescas ´ having received a letter from the Jews, authored these letters on behalf of the queen. Crescas would have been especially sensitive to Jews being dragged from the castle to be baptized: see the chapter on Barcelona. The letter to the Count of Empuries is in AMG, Correspond`encia, fol. 22r ¶2. The ´ authorities wrote that Ramon de la Via of the royal court had reminded them of this legal reality. The jurats similarly wrote to the viscounts of Rocaberti, ibid., fol. 22v ¶1, and Cabrera, fol. 22v ¶2. Girbal, Los jud´ıos, p. 25, Ch´ıa, pp. 184–185, Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 688–689, and Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 125 (where he has August 18) and 131 make reference to these letters. AMG, Manual del Consell A 24, fols. 30bis r and 30bis 1, is the jurats’ letter of September 19. It is quoted from and discussed in Riera i Sans, p. 131 where, in note 122, he locates it at fol. 29r. The letter was inserted into the Manual del Consell at fol. 29r (and dated in a much later hand to March 19, 1391).

126

“The Things As They Happened”

strategy and endeavored to make the king aware how wicked individuals within the city were also poised to riot and to pillage. This time they called attention to ecclesiastics who had unsettled the population. The magistrates averred that “persones religioses” had predicted that God would cause misfortune to descend upon the Jews, and that all the Jews would die at the point of the sword. The municipal leaders went further and identified those who would harm the Jews. They apprised a member of the royal court, that same day, how wealthy individuals and a variety of churchmen from the surrounding area – in tandem with the bad men of the city and peasants from the vegueria, vicariate, were prepared on either Friday or Saturday to rob and kill Jews. They beseeched their contact at the royal court to intercede with the king and queen, and to press the monarchs to provide them with assistance.25 Sensitive to the Jews’ precarious situation, the jurats, on Wednesday, ordered the city’s portals to be shut and placed guards at the doors in advance of the now expected arrival, the following day, of many peasants and of homens forans committed to launch an assault upon Girona. Only strangers transporting foodstuffs, the magistrates decreed, would be allowed to enter the city. According to municipal officials who, on Monday the 25th, narrated events of a tumultuous weekend to King Joan, peasants – from over thirty villages – stormed the Gironella tower, “at the hour of vespers” on Thursday, and, at a spot above the Dominican convent, discharged their crossbows at the Jews sheltered inside the fortress. Citizen guards then climbed the city walls, shot at, and injured some of the peasants. The peasants, forced to retreat, threatened to return

25

The magistrates felt impelled to declare to the veguer the connection of the city and its Jews to the king – “cuius dicti judei et civitas sunt proprium patrimonium.” The September 18 letter from the jurats to the king, mostly illegible, is in AMG, Correspond`encia, fols. 21v–22r, and variously described in Girbal, Los jud´ıos, p. 25, Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, pp. 182–183, and Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 131. The letter to their representative at court, G. Coltallor, is in AMG, ibid., fol. 22r. Riera has argued that it was the Christian sense of the impending millennium that persuaded many of the attackers to pursue the Jews and to seek their conversion. See, for example, Els avolots, pp. 115–116. On Wednesday the 20th, the king permitted the governor of Roussillon, Gelabert de Cru¨ılles, the senyor of Peratallada, to travel through his territory and provide for the safety of those Jews who had newly arrived in his territory, specifically those of the “aliama of Girona.” Joan allowed him to journey to his home town since Gelabert had already secured the safety of the Jews of Perpignan by installing them in the local castle. See ACA, Reg. 1961, fols. 116r, and again at 117v, published first in part by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 684–685 and then with some differences (vos for nos) by Riera i Sans, p. 130, who spells the nobleman’s name, as I do here, using modern Catalan orthography. See the Catalonia chapter for Perpignan.

Girona

127

on Saturday in larger numbers. They declared their intention to kill the Jews unless the latter decided to become Christian. The peasants further threatened to set fire to the country homes of the Girona inhabitants if they would be denied admission to the city.26 Other elements of Girona’s population were hostile to the authorities, but apparently for other reasons. While earlier in September, the king exhorted the artisans to protect the Jewish population, on the Thursday before the attacks on the Jews, the king confronted the heads of various organizations of Girona craftsmen: those of the silversmiths, ironworkers, and woodworkers; tailors, stone-cutters, and weavers; cobblers, carders, bookbinders, and purse-makers, about the successful agitation of the “lower estate” to cancel taxes that had been levied on the city’s inhabitants, and to replace them with tallages assessed on an individual’s wealth. The king expressed surprise, on September 21, that the lower estate, braz menor, had demanded a meeting of the municipal council to ratify this change, since such financial policies were the province of the royal authority. Joan speculated that this new policy would result in the city’s depopulation, since individuals – who lived in Girona but were technically not residents, were directed to render these imposts.27 26

27

AMG, Correspond`encia, fols. 23r-v, summarized by Girbal, Los jud´ıos, p. 26 and Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, p. 183. See also Wolff, The 1391 Pogrom, p. 15 and Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 132. Based on a source from December 3, 1392, Riera, ibid., writes that the Girona citizens fought back under the leadership of Gelabert de Cru¨ılles who had arrived from Roussillon, and reclaimed his post as royal commander of the city. Reg. 1949, fol. 32r-v, dated December 20, 1391, is a letter from the king demanding from the Girona bailiff that he imprison those guilty of the attacks on Jews, and listed the names of the individuals and their occupations – most of which identify them as craftsmen. Riera, Els avolots, published the list on pp. 155–156. See also king chapter. According to a municipal document dated February 22, 1393 and published by Girbal pp. 73–75, appendix 7, peasants from over thirty listed villages attacked the city. Ch´ıa, p. 185, note 1, and Wolff, p. 15, relying on a March 22, 1392 document from ACA, Reg. 1905, fol. 17, reports that individuals from Banyolas, and not an organized group, joined the peasants’ march. On Monday, September 25, the jurats also informed G. Coltallor to whom they had written on the 19th of the month, that they had written to the king about the precarious state of the city and the attempts of the man menor, lower class, to be exempt from taxation. See AMG, Correspond`encia, fols. 23v–24r. Joan’s letter to the craftsmen (though mistakenly listed in the document as addressed to the prohomens) is in ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 115r-v, and was first published in part by Girona y Llagostera, p. 138, no. 218. Ibid., fol. 115v ¶1 contains the royal letter to the jurats and prohomens. A similar letter was sent to the veguer, bailiff, and jutge ordinari of the city. Joan explained that the impositions were necessary so the city could remit censales and violaris – the annual payments to those who extended credit to the

128

“The Things As They Happened”

Even as the city portals remained guarded on Saturday, the jurats remained concerned about the activities of some of the city’s inhabitants. The lower classes clamored vigorously against the closure of the municipalities, which had funded the war against Castile, the renovations of the city walls, and other necessary municipal projects which the craftsmen supported. The king asked the artisans to identify their principal grievances, and to abstain from enacting policy changes. He also ordered the jurats and royal officials to convene a general council where they would read aloud his royal letters, and desist from any enactments. ACA, Reg. 1902, fol. 14r-v dated July 5, 1392 and Reg. 1903, fols. 23v–24v dated June 17, 1392 are remission documents wherein a weaver, a tailor, and a shoemaker were accused of demanding a reduction in the tax assessments; the weaver also accused of having attacked the Jews. See Wolff, The 1391 pogrom, p. 15. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 131, uses a 1393 document of the procurador fiscal to show that clergymen were among the targets of the peasants fighting for the equalization of the tax burden. Tensions had arisen already in the mid-1370s among artisan classes who demanded greater representation in a city government that was dominated by an urban oligarchy drawn from nobility who lived off rents, and from those who profited from their investment in loan instruments. Convinced of the need to broaden the base of Girona politics, King Pere, in late 1386, ventured to reform the governing bodies by including larger numbers of artisans in the list of those from whom members of the city council could be chosen. He also attempted to regulate the tax burden shouldered by the various urban constituencies. See Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 100, and ibid., Els jueus de Girona, p. 125, where reference is made in the notes to Barcelona and to Batlle Gallart, La crisis ´ social y economica, vol. 2, document 8, pp. 392–395. Riera, as Guiller´e, is extrapolating to Girona from the situation in its more populous neighbor. Christian Guiller´e, Diner, Poder i Societat a la Girona del Segle XIV (Girona, 1984), pp. 71–80 and ff. attempts to understand who comprised the three sectors of the urban population who would be drawn upon to fulfill the municipal posts. They cannot be easily or simply identified as upper, middle, and lower classes. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 100, identifies at least two groups, the rentier oligarchs and the artisans. Riera effectively admits, p. 106, that the members of the three mans cannot easily be ascertained. Guiller´e, Diner, Poder i Societat, pp. 90–100, writes of Prince Joan’s activities in Girona from late 1375 through the first three months of 1376. Prince Joan, as infant, returned in 1377, and in 1379 attempted to raise the number of urban councilors. As Pere became increasingly ill toward the end of his life, the infant extended the term of the reigning city fathers and suspended the designation of a new municipal regime that had been scheduled to take office on the first day of January 1387. As king in April 1388, and making the case for a reduction in urban tensions, King Joan nominally appointed a more broad-based governing city council, equally composed of representatives from the three designated sectors of the urban population. In the midst of the February 1389 meeting of the Corts in Monzon, ´ Joan agreed to a new municipal council regimen. After the Corts was suspended, Joan, in December, returned the city government to the status quo ante and cited city privileges and the need for urban tranquility in support of his decision. Residents of Girona were unsettled. As the king approached the main bridge into the city in May 1390, he encountered the jurats who, together with their economic allies, complained that the “poble” was stirred up against them. As Joan neared the city, a contingent of those who were disenfranchised by the recent royal decision demanded justice from the ruling city fathers. See Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 106–107 with citations of primary sources.

Girona

129

city gates, and claimed that they could not survive if people outside the city were denied entry. With the specter of invasion hanging daily over Girona, the “small people,” gent menuda, argued that it would be better if the Jews were baptized or if they would “go to the devil.” Wary of a “gran escandol,” the municipal authorities attempted to defuse the threat by diplomatic measures, and by selectively expelling some of the agitators.28 While the jurats, on Monday September 25, reported to the king about the attacks of the previous Thursday, King Joan thanked his cousin, the count of Empuries, for having guarded and defended the Jews who had ´ fled to Castello´ (d’Empuries) for protection. Joan asked his cousin to ´ continue his good work, and to punish those who intended to harm the Jews. The king further requested that the count prevent the inhabitants of his territory who, on a number of occasions, had traveled, at times with others, to the city of Girona to attack its Jews.29

28

29

Despite King Joan’s actions in 1388, he in effect preserved the rights of the regnant oligarchy. Guiller´e, Diner, Poder i Societat, pp. 121–152, writes of the talla of 1388 and accompanies his description with many tables. Joan’s entry into Girona is from his letter to Iolant, ACA, Canciller´ıa, Reg. 1959, fols. 50v–51r, reproduced in Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 214. Three weeks later while still in Girona, Joan inclined to the position of the latter group, which reflected his decision during the meeting of the parliament, but eight months later did not carry out these intentions. On Joan’s actions during these months, see the king chapter. AMG, Correspond`encia, fols. 23r-v. The writing at fol. 23v is faint, and consequently impedes a full understanding of the actions of the municipal leaders. Precise definitions of terms such as gent menuda are difficult to obtain. See above, note 27. ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 117r ¶2, published by Baer in Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 688–689, no. 435 and by Miquel Pujol i Canelles, “Els jueus de Castello´ d’Empuries” in Jornades ´ ` d’historia dels jueus a Catalunya (Girona, n.d.), p. 314. The king wrote to the officials in Manresa on September 26th, Reg. 1961, fol. 118r ¶1, about those who passed through their jurisdiction on the way to sack the kingdoms’ aljamas. Joan mentioned the Jewish community of Girona among others. According to Baer, A History, vol. 2, p. 107 and Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 132, who follow Reg. 1962, fols. 12v–13r, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 690, no. 437 (incorrectly cited there as fol. 12r-v), the king would only understand the severity of what had transpired in Girona on December 8 when he castigated Berenguer (Riera has Gelabert) de Cru¨ılles for not keeping him fully informed about the events in Girona. ´ Miquel Pujol i Canelles, La conversio´ dels jueus de Castello´ d’Empuries (Castello´ d’Empuries, 1997), pp. 65–73 asserts that the town remained unscathed by the dis´ ´ (Barcelona, 1883), p. 545 turbances. Cf. Jos´e Pella y Forgas, Historia del Ampurdan and Riera, Els avalots, p. 116. Pujol i Canelles published a document of September 28, 1391 from the Arxiu Historic [de Protocolos] de Girona, Castello, ` ´ vol. 480, notari Pere Pellicer, about a Jewess from Girona who had converted to Christianity and sued her husband, who had remained in his Judaism and had moved to Castello, ´ for the return of her dowry, as per the stipulations of their marital contract. Cf. Reg. 1850, fol. 96r

130

“The Things As They Happened”

Joan also congratulated the bishop of Girona, the following day, on his effective defense of the Jews. But the king expressed displeasure that some lawless “males persones ecclesiastiques,” not mindful of the “health of their souls” or of royal punishment, menaced those Jews who belonged to his patrimony. Evidently, there were differences in opinion among Girona churchmen about the proper attitude to be displayed toward local Jews. Further, Joan asserted, diverse individuals, ecclesiastical and lay, had removed money and jewels from the Jews and took possession of this property. The king declared that the bishop should announce, in all the churches, the penalties incurred by those who possess or know of Jewish property taken against their will. Those individuals should renounce these goods and return them to their owners.30 The Jews who were saved in the Gironella nevertheless suffered great hardship. King Joan ordered the castlan of the Gironella, the royal officials, and the municipal authorities, on Wednesday, that in order that these Jews sustain themselves and not perish, any Jew recommended by the secretaris of the aliama be allowed to move throughout the city without hindrance or restraint. If some Jews wished to travel outside the city to

30

dated December 8, which is a letter from the king to the veguer and bailiff of Girona on this suit. Jews of Besalu´ fled to Castello´ as well. In a royal letter of November 8, Reg. 1949, fols. 21v–22r, Joan expressed his displeasure to the sotsveguer, en Pere Dezroure, that those Jews whom he had penalized, corporally and financially, so that they do not leave town, had nevertheless transferred their domiciles to locales such as Castello´ d’Empuries, ´ which were under seigneurial authority. The king wanted the subvicar to have the Jews return and collect their debts, which would redound to the financial benefit of the royal patrimony. Earlier on September 20, Reg. 1879, fols. 1v-2r, the king thanked Alamando de Pulcro Podio (Alamany de Bellpuig) for protecting and preserving the local Jews. Ibid., fols. 1r and 14r are royal letters, of the same day, to the bailiff and subbailiff of the town about a petition of local Jews regarding their financial straits. These officials received the royal circular letter of the 22nd, Reg. 1949, fols. 21v–22r, about which see the chapter on the king. On September 25, the king praised them for their protection of the local Jews, Reg. 1961, fol. 117v ¶1 and referenced in Baer, Die ´ Juden, vol. 1, p. 689. Batlle Gallart, La crisis social y economica de Barcelona, vol. 1, p. 116 note 26, concluded that the Jews were fully protected there. Riera, Els avalots, p. 119, asserts that the Jews of Besalu´ imagined taking refuge in the castle of Sales. See Reg. 1906, fols. 141v–142v, dated November 14, 1393, wherein the king granted a remission to the people of the locales of Navata and Llers and another village (Vilamalla or Vilamorell?) who attacked the “callum judaycum bisulduni castrum de salis et domum de bellopodio,” in which the Jews of the call had been gathered. See the brief reference in Wolff, p. 15. ACA, Reg. 1879, fols. 11v–12r. The king argued that, according to both human and divine law, the Jews were his treasure and belonged to his patrimony. Jews who pass their lives quietly among Christians deserve to be defended and maintained by their temporal lords. On all this, see the king chapter.

Girona

131

earn their livelihood, they should be allowed to go wherever they wished as long as they left their property behind.31 The Jews who did leave the castle, if only for a little while, were attacked. King Joan was informed that peasants from the countryside, and others as well, lay in wait as Jews descended from the tower, and headed toward the Galligants River to fetch water. Jews were ambushed, taken captive, robbed, and killed. Joan, on Friday September 29, declared such violence intolerable, and ordered his officials to stop these attacks, and to launch an inquiry about those who attempted to enter the city. Officials needed to institute provisions for the Jews’ safety and to provide them with food, at the Jews’ own expense, so that the Jews would not die of hunger.32 The jurats and prohomens finally reported to the king about further intracity strife, informing Joan that members of the city’s militia had joined the battle against the Jews and, on September 21, had fired upon those who were defending the castle. Joan, in turn, continued to profess astonishment that those who were responsible for the Jews’ welfare had allowed the assault to take place. On October 4, Joan acceded to the request of the Girona officials that the lone jurat and the eight municipal councilors, who were suspended from their civic duties because of their actions during the upheavals, be reinstated to their positions so that the

31

32

Ibid., fols. 13v–14r, dated September 27. On Tuesday the 26th, ibid., fol. 12r-v. King Joan thanked the castlan of the Gironella for his protection of the Jews and expressed upset that some wicked and lawless people were “not content with the first riots.” Girona’s aliama had not been unified prior to the attacks. Cf. above, note 27, on displeasure with the regnant city government. It cannot be known, however, whether this tension within the community had any role in Jews leaving Judaism. Surely the physical attacks were sufficient to lead the Jews to this decision. The infanta Iolant, in mid-November 1386, had suspended the community’s incumbent officers. A new regime – favorable to the wealthier classes and the rabbinic elite, was announced, and a revised privilegium registered, in April of 1387, by Queen Iolant. Further amendments to the new governance structure, authorized in early July, did not lessen strains within the Jewish community. Composition of the aliama council was reformed yet again in June 1390, after much disagreement as to who were worthy electors and how the tax regime should be negotiated. See Riera i Sans, Els jueus de Girona, pp. 125–146 and Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 100–106. Iolant’s order of November 1386 practically annulled the 1341 communal ordinances. The new regime, agreed to by the queen in April 1391, was not put into effect. See, infra, the chapter on the queen. ACA, Reg. 1879, fol. 16r and published in part by Girona y Llagostera in Disposicions, p. 119 and then again in Itinerari, pp. 139–140, no. 222b. See Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 133. The Jews were attacked as they went toward the river, “vers Gallicant.” The river Galligants is a tributary of the Onyar and flows through the city near the Gironella. ` See Atles d’historia de Catalunya, p. 119.

132

“The Things As They Happened”

benefits they brought to the city could continue. Joan concurred as long as it did not prejudice any legal claims against these individuals.33 Given such frightful circumstances that showed no signs of abatement, some Jews decided to convert. On Monday September 25, Salamon ´ Bonavia, a Jewish merchant, was baptized in the cathedral together with his family. Salamon ´ became Pedro Guillermo Sunyer, his wife was christened Magdalena, and his son renamed Juan.34 In other families, the decision to leave the Jewish community was the cause of public estrangement. On Wednesday September 27, Franciscus Guillermi de Vilaricho, a Christian citizen, formally declared in the house of Arnaldi de Columbario, the presbyter of the local cathedral, and in the presence of witnesses, Bernardo de Fonte and Bernardo Guixar, citizens of Girona and tailors both, that his wife Tolrana had not been illumined by the Holy Spirit. Consequently, she did not wish to convert to Christianity nor did she wish to cohabit with him according to Church rules. Unable to petition her in person, Franciscus appointed, as his agent, Franciscum Cervera, the presbyter of Girona, to demand of his wife to live with him without blaspheming Christ or attempting to attract him to her faithless Judaism or to other mortal sin – according to the regulations of the Church regarding the marriage of a faithful Christian with an infidel. Later that afternoon, the notary Luis Carbonell recorded that Francisco Cervera directed himself to Gironella, and at the first step of the staircase which led to the tower (as attested to by two Christian citizens – the draper Petri Cerdan and the barber Jacobi Arlovin, and one local Girona Jew – Assanelli C ¸ erband, and many other Christians and Jews), Carbonell publicly asked Tolrana whether she accepted her husband’s Christianity, and wished to cohabit with him according to Church stipulations. Tolrana responded that since her husband was Christian and she a Jew, she was unwilling to live with him. Nor was she interested to convert to Christianity or to renounce Judaism in any way.35 33

34 35

ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 128r-v. Ch´ıa, Bandos y bandoleros, p. 186, note 1, reproduces the royal letter without citation; Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 132 indicates that it is from AMG, Manual de Consell A 24, fol. 39r-v. The first mention of actions taken against the jurat, Gascon de Montcada, and the councilors was on September 25: AMG, Correspond`encia, fols. 23r-v. The jurats wrote to him on October 20: AMG, ibid., fol. 25r. Girbal, Conversiones de jud´ıos, p. 35, again citing the registers of the Curia Episcopal, Litterarum quistiarum. See also Marqu´es, Sis-Cents Pidolaires, p. 149, no. 104. Archivo episcopal de Girona, Manual num. 18 (B. no. 20), fol. 5 as published in Luis ´ Batlle y Prats, “Un episodio de la persecuc´ıon jud´ıa de 1391,” Anales del Instituto de Estudios Gerundenses 3 (1948), pp. 194–197. See my article, “The ‘Identity’ of

Girona

133

Over the course of October and November, Jewish artisans and merchants together with their families came to the Cross. According to Hasdai Crescas – in his assessment of the situation on October 19, only a few Girona Jews had left Judaism for Christianity. Most of them, he asserted, had found refuge in the homes of citizens, or were sheltered in the local tower.36

36

Sephardim of Medieval Christian Iberia,” Jewish Social Studies 8 (2002), p. 136. Riera’s appreciation of the source is in Els avalots, p. 133, note 130. On Jewish law, see Elisheva Carlebach, Divided Souls. Converts from Judaism in Germany, 1500–1750 (New Haven and London, 2001), p. 25. On Church law regarding the marriage of a Christian with a Jew or other unbeliever, see, for example, Pierre J. Payer ed. and trans., Raymond of Penyafort, Summa on Marriage (Toronto, 2005), pp. 51–53. See also James A. Brundage, “Intermarriage between Christians and Jews in Medieval Canon Law,” Jewish History 3 (1988), pp. 25–40 and Walter Pakter, Medieval Canon Law and the Jews (Ebelsbach, 1988), 263–291. Pujol i Canelles, La conversio´ dels jueus, pp. 248–250, is a legal claim by a Jewish woman from Girona, see note 29 above in this chapter, who had converted to Christianity. According to the document of November 28, 1391, she attempted to reclaim her dowry from her Jewish husband who lived in Castello. ´ Since the contract was executed according to Jewish law, he argued that her conversion had annulled the document and he was therefore not liable. See infra, the chapter on Catalonia. The statement about the conversions is taken from Girbal, Conversiones de jud´ıos, pp. 35–36, citing the Curia Episcopal registers. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 133–134, mentions sixty-three converts, and in an appendix, pp. 158–159, presents a list of those who converted during the years 1391–1400. See also Marqu`es, Sis-Cents Pidolaires, pp. 145 and 149. Riera suggests that Crescas was concerned with and made reference only to rabbis and members of the aristocratic class, not to the entire Jewish population. On Crescas, see above notes 12 and 14.

6 Elsewhere in Catalonia

Even before riots erupted in Barcelona and in Girona, officials in the western Catalonian municipality of Lleida were concerned about the fate of their city. King Joan had reminded both the royal and municipal officials in Catalonia, on July 12, about the necessity to enact provisions to protect the local Jewish aliamas and, on the following day, followed up on this general admonition with a charge to Guillermo de Rajadello, the lieutenant governor of the principality, that he should execute safety measures that had been proposed for the city of Lleida, among other locales. Perhaps in an attempt to mitigate the possibilities of violence in their city, the Lleida municipal councilors, the paers, inquired of the Valencia jurats about the particulars of the riots in their city and its consequences. They had sought detailed information about the numbers of Jews who were killed and baptized, regarding the stories about the miracle of the inexhaustible chrism, and with respect to the threatened uprising of Muslims.1 The security arrangements established in Lleida became apparent toward the end of July. King Joan requested from the city’s bishop, on July 29, that the local militia – recruited from artisan groups (whom were also later called upon in Girona), be extended beyond the proposed 1

The royal letters of July 12 are in ACA, Reg. 1878, fols. 67v–68r. The July 13 missive addressed to Barcelona, Tortosa, Perpignan, Girona, Majorca, Cervera, Fraga, and Xativa ` is in ibid., fol. 68v. The correspondence between those in Lleida and Valencia – the Valencians responded on July 28, is summarized above in the chapter on the city of Valencia. Pedro Sanahuja, L´erida en sus luchas por la fe (L´erida, 1946), p. 48 dated the Lleida letter, one day earlier, to July 27. Girona officials contacted their counterparts in Banyoles and Lleida on the 31st; see AMG, Correspond`encia dels jurats, no. 7, fol. 12v.

134

Elsewhere in Catalonia

135

month of August, and prolonged for as long as the bishop and city officials deemed it necessary to protect the Lleida aliama, and to stave off any riots. That same day, the king proclaimed to the rector of the local Franciscan studium, Nicolao Serra, that the Jews were under royal protection, and called upon him to solicit the student body to assist in the guard and defense of the Jewish population. Strikingly, those solicited to protect the Jews were in some instances members of those groups who may have been perceived as threatening the very community they were ordered to safeguard.2 If the Lleida officials were not successful in prolonging the guard past the month of August, Joan had a specific recommendation for both the lieutenant governor and the paers, that indicated to any observer the close links between the Jews and the royal patrimony. The king suggested that the leaders surround the Jewish quarter with royal pennants symbolizing his sovereign protection. Joan was hopeful that this gesture would suffice to preserve the aliama and its members from scandal and popular unrest.3 Guillermo de Rajadello had explained to King Joan that, only when news of the anti-Jewish riots in Majorca and Barcelona became public knowledge, did local people in Lleida attempt to foment disturbances. Even so, Joan, on August 9, ordered his lieutenant governor to join forces with the paers and the prohomens to protect, defend, and restore the aliama, and to ensure that the Jews be closely guarded both day and night.4 Lleida paers and prohomens had also apprised the king of the local disturbances and, like Guillermo, contended defensively that news regarding the attacks on the Jews of Majorca and Barcelona had incited the people. Concerned about the growing turmoil, the city-officials requested the king either come to Lleida himself, or send an official possessed of a rigorous demeanor to protect the aliama and to quiet the unrest. Joan replied, also on August 9, that he would soon leave Saragossa, arrive in Lleida, and place everything in order. The king counseled the municipal officials, in the meantime, to utilize the talents of the finest and most renowned people of Lleida to help protect the city. 2

3 4

Reg. 1878, fol. 86v to the bishop, and fols. 86v–87r to Nicolao de Serra. On the studium ilerdense, see Buenaventura Delgado Criado, El cartulario del Colegio Universitario de Santa Mar´ıa de L´erida (1376–1564) (Barcelona, 1982). The position of rector is discussed on pp. 29–35. Students were forbidden to carry arms: ibid., p. 27. Ibid., fol. 87r-v and fols. 87v–88r. Reg. 1961, fol. 62r published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 667, no. 417, 1 and in a shorter form by Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, pp. 115–116.

136

“The Things As They Happened”

The paers and prohomens suggested two strategies to King Joan to defuse the growing tension – tactics that had been employed elsewhere in the Crown of Aragon. They wanted either to give free rein to some religioses – perhaps the Franciscans attached to the local studium, who were attempting to convert those within the call, or they wished to shelter all the Jews in the royal castle of the city, where the Jews could be more effectively guarded. Joan responded positively to the city-officials’ request to gather Jews within the fortress but ordered them to block the initiative of the clerics, arguing, and perhaps threatening as well, that if the Jews converted against their will, the repercussions of such acts would prove injurious to both the religious and social standing of the churchmen.5 Nevertheless, by August 12, the Jews and their quarter were attacked. That very Saturday, in the wake of the assault, King Joan stressed that it was necessary, to ensure that “dangerous scandals” – forced conversions in all likelihood – be avoided. He directed the nobleman Raymundo de Appilia, the lieutenant governor Rajadello, and the paers and prohomens both to conserve and restore the aliama, and to punish those guilty of the violence. The king also notified the rector of the studium Ilerdense that, as a result of the “murmuracio,” slander, which had targeted the Jews, he intended to leave for Lleida the following Wednesday and to reestablish order.6 Many Jews must have been relocated to the royal castle because when the castle was stormed – apparently on Sunday the 13th, seventy-eight Jews, by one count, were killed. Some mounted royal officials and their horses were wounded as well; other defenders were stoned. The rioters set afire the arcade of the main entrance to the castle, and its castellan was burned alive. The bodies of the murdered Jews were transferred to a horsedrawn cart and left in the plaza of the Franciscans. Most surviving Jews

5

6

Reg. 1961, fol. 62r-v published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 667–668 and in part by Girona y Llagostera in Itinerari, no. 199, pp. 130–131 and in Disposicions, pp. 115–116. Girona omitted the sentences about the religioses and the attempted conversion. See Pere Sanahuja, “La Universidad de L´erida y los franciscanos,” Archivo Ibero-Americano 7 (1947), pp. 167–242. On the Franciscans and the Jews, see Jeremy Cohen, The Friars and the Jews and Steven J. McMichael and Susan E. Myers eds., Friars and Jews in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, [The Medieval Franciscans, vol. 2] (Leiden, 2004). On the putative harm to the clerics, see infra, the king’s letter of September 5. Reg. 1961, fol. 73r ¶2, published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, no. 201(b), p. 132, was sent to the rector and collegio. While the term murmuracio might suggest that the Jews had not (yet) been physically attacked, his letters to the other officials, Reg. 1878, fol. 104v, following the template of fols. 103v–104v, directed to those of Tortosa, indicates otherwise.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

137

were baptized, and their synagogue converted into a church dedicated to Sancta Maria del Miracle. Only a few escaped.7 While the king, on that Sunday, was aware that the Jews had been transferred to the castle, he had not yet learned of the attack. Ignorant of the violence that had erupted, Joan informed Guillermo de Rajadello of his intention, “God willing without fail,” to leave Saragossa for Lleida on Wednesday morning. The king directed the lieutenant governor to have the bishop ready his palace because he intended to make it his headquarters while in town. The following day, the king, yet again, notified

7

My account is a blend of Vallseca – see the chapter on the city of Valencia (Fita y Colom´e, Historia hebrea, p. 435; Spanish translation on p. 439), who asserted that the castle was attacked; an anonymous codex in the municipal archive in Lleida, published by Jaime ˜ 16 (Madrid, 1851), see p. 247 and Villanueva, Viage literario a´ las iglesias de Espana quoted in Fita y Colom´e, p. 439, note 2, and by Pere Sanahuja, “La universidad de L´erida y los franciscanos,” Archivo Ibero-Americano 7 (1947), pp. 167–242, who cites a copy of the text from the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, Seccion ´ Manuscritos [8496], of which a photocopy, no. 230, exists in the Instituto Estudios Ilerdenses, which states that seventy-eight Jews died; and Crescas who noted the conversions and the escapees. It is unclear whether all this transpired on one day. Mascaro, ´ Biblioteca de Catalunya, Ms. 485, fol. 294v (also cited in Villanueva, Viage literario 18, p. 22 and in Fita p. 441 note 2; and, on him, see the Barcelona chapter) mentions Lleida in the list of towns where Jews were attacked, after Valencia and Barcelona, and before Tarragona, Girona, Perpignan, the cities of Majorca and other sites in the Crown of Aragon. In Vallseca’s account, Lleida is placed before Girona. Crescas similarly placed Lleida before Girona. Was the fire purposefully set in the covered portal so that no Jews could escape? Sanahuja has the word ciga, not biga (a cart), and translates it as sitja (silo). Rodrigo Pita Merc´e, L´erida jud´ıa (L´erida, 1973), pp. 50–51, does not cite sources, but seems to follow Sanahuja. He locates, within contemporary Lleida, the sites mentioned in the account. See Francesca Espanol ˜ Bertran, “El castillo real de Lleida en e´ poca medieval,” Anuario de Estudios Medievales 26 (1996), pp. 437–485. Baer, A History, vol. 2, p. 108, in accord with his approach to the history of medieval Sephardic Jews, wrote that several hundred Jews “preferr[ed] conversion to martyrdom.” See Benjamin R. Gampel, “Introduction” to the reprint edition of Yitzhak Baer’s A History of The Jews in Christian Spain, vol. 1 (The Jewish Publication Society, 1992), pp. xv–lvii. On individual converts, see below. Sanahuja argues, pp. 48–49, that not all Jews could have been killed or converted because of the restoration of the aljama less than twenty years later. Montserrat Casas Nadal, “Sobre la reorganizacion ´ de la aljama de los jud´ıos de L´erida (1400–1408),” Sefarad 52 (1992), pp. 381–391 outlines King Mart´ı’s attempts at the reconstruction of the Lleida Jewish community. According to Prim Bertran i Roig´e, “The Jewish Communities of Catalonia: Lleida and the Surrounding Area,” Jewish Catalonia (Barcelona, 2002), p. 96, who bases himself on assertions of Jaume Riera, but without citation, the Jews were attacked, on August 13, by 570 individuals, mainly peasants and artisans from the parish of La Magdalena and Sant Llorenc¸, and included outsiders from Castile, students from the Estudi General, procurers, and innkeepers. Bertran i Roig´e asserts that “most were of a low social class with an extremely poor level of education.” I could not locate the documentary source for this claim.

138

“The Things As They Happened”

Guillermo, the paers, and the prohomens that he would leave for Lleida on Wednesday morning. In a separate communication, the municipal leaders were informed that Joan would dispatch the nobleman, Ramon Dabella, to represent the king’s interests until he arrived.8 But Guillermo de Rajadello also received a private missive from the king, which Joan pointedly instructed him to keep separate from the other royal letter. In it, the king appeared to display a change of heart about one of the means that many in the Crown of Aragon had argued would best protect their Jews, both their bodies and their souls. Joan informed the deputy governor that the Lleida paers, both through written missives and personal embassies, had petitioned for royal permission to allow some religiosos [sic] to enter the fortress, and to convince the Jews to come to the Cross. While the conversions would be pleasing to him, Joan wondered whether such an effort would cause more damage to the Jews than benefit. The king therefore decided to bind the deputy governor and the paers by an oath of secrecy, and to allow them to choose two honest and upright friars to accompany them into the fortress, after dark, and to leave the castle, as well, during the night. It would be all to the good, if the Jews wished to convert voluntarily. If however the Jews did not wish to become Christians, the king commanded the deputy governor to guard and defend the Jews until he arrived. He reminded Guillermo to notify all those involved in this project that their oath of secrecy precluded informing anyone else about this mission. He directed Guillermo to keep him posted regarding the Jews’ intentions.9 When the king learned what had transpired in Lleida – at the latest by Friday the 18th, he did not communicate to local officials about his change of perspective, but rather congratulated and thanked the paers and prohomens on their diligence and conscientiousness, and asked them

8

9

ACA, Reg. 1961, fol. 71v ¶1, dated August 13, was published in part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, pp. 132–133, no. 202(a). See also ibid., fol. 72r ¶1. ACA, ibid., fol. 73v, directed to Rajadello, was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 674 (pp. 673–674), no. 420, 1; and fol. 74r was addressed to the municipal leaders. The king did not employ his usual expression about protecting the aliama of the Jews and its members. Now that they were in the fortress, Joan probably wanted to ensure that the Jewish quarter, which they had just exited, remained intact and would not be sacked. See infra, chapter on the king. The letter indicating the dispatch of Ramon Dabella is in ACA, Reg. 1878, fo. 113r ¶2. Reg. 1961, fols. 73v–74r published by Baer in Die Juden, vol. 1, 674 (pp. 673–674), no. 420, 2. Berenguer Colom delivered the letter for the deputy governor and functioned as an embassy for the paers. See below. On Joan’s change of mind, see below the chapter on the king.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

139

to maintain their customary dedication. As a result of their efforts, the king offered, “the city and its inhabitants would be preserved from all escandels and mals, and could live in tranquility and concord until we, God willing, arrive in a few days.”10 The stability of the city and the state of its royal holdings was the subject of the report that the royal counsellor, Mossen Huc de Cervello, delivered to King Joan, in early September. Queen Iolant had also taken an especial interest in Lleida, and on September 30, Joan acknowledged her request that he behave “kindly and compassionately” toward the city. Others in the kingdom were aware that the king was planning to visit Lleida. At a meeting of the Council of 100 in Barcelona, on Monday the 9th, three messengers were chosen to travel to the king, whom the Barcelona councilors knew had left Saragossa on October 2, and “was travelling to Lleida to mete out justice to those who through the riots had committed a criminal act against the king, killing and invading the castle where the Jews of the city had gathered.”11 On October 23, King Joan decided that he would enter Lleida without an escort of armed men because of the “great obedience which the bons (good men) of Lleida display toward us.” Joan arrived in the city on October 26 and remained there until November 18. Writing on the 19th from Vilaredona, Joan announced that, on November 17, he had dispensed corporal and other punishments in Lleida, and would continue to do what was demanded by God, justice, royal honor, and future prosperity.12 ∗ ∗ ∗ 10

11

12

ACA, ibid., fol. 77r is the letter to the municipal authorities and ibid., fol. 78r-v – published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 678, no. 425 and by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 133, no. 204, is the order to the Master of the military Order of Montesa. ACA, ibid., fol. 83r (addressed to Barcelona and the town of Cervera as well), dated August 25, and fol. 89r ¶2, from September 2. On that day, as well, the king referred to the aljama of Lleida as well as those of Barcelona, Majorca, and the town of Cervera, as having suffered more damage than Valencia: Vidal Beltran, ´ Valencia, pp. 59–60, who cites AMV, llm g3–5, fol. 49 bis v. On the king’s repeated declaration of his intention to travel to Lleida, see the chapter on the king. On Iolant’s intercession and her correspondence with her husband, see the king and queen chapters. Joan’s response to Barcelona on October 18 is in Reg. 1961, fol. 138v ¶1; that of October 22, at ibid., fol. 144r. Joan also responded to issues raised by Lleida Jews who had converted. See Reg. 1879, fol. 39r-v of October 16 and ibid., fol. 55v of October 21, which will be discussed in the chapter on Joan. Reg. 1961, fol. 145r is dated October 23, and was published in Girona y Llagostera, ibid., p. 142, no. 230 (a). Reg. 1962, fol. 4v, dated November 19, was published in part in Girona y Llagostera, ibid., p. 146, no. 238 (a). Joan’s stay in Lleida and his actions there will be treated infra, chapter on Joan.

140

“The Things As They Happened”

Trouble had been brewing, as well, for the Jews in the northern counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne – Rosello´ and Cerdanya – at the latest by midJuly, 1391. The Jews of Perpignan seemed especially vulnerable to violent attacks, as events of prior decades seemed to suggest. While in the spring of 1383, Lleida Jews had been accused of purchasing purloined hosts, the Jews of Perpignan were not only charged of stealing a silver custodia – possibly holding consecrated wafers, in June 1367, but also suffered from riots that followed in the wake of these allegations. Perpignan Jews and their call were attacked as well in 1370, and the violence was accompanied by the theft of Jewish-owned property.13 The worsening situation of these Catalonian Jews impelled King Joan, on July 13, to order the governor of Roussillon to guard “our aliama of the Jews of Perpignan,” and to protect them from injuries and violence. Joan directed Gilaberto de Crudilis that, if he were not in Perpignan, he should put aside his other concerns and return immediately to the city. If Gilaberto was still to be found in Perpignan, the king instructed him not

13

In November of 1391 the Jews of the town of Cervera, who were installed in the local castle, had petitioned the king to remove their guard because they were unable to afford their salaries. The king followed up on their request in a letter of November 8 and ordered the removal of the guards whose charges were immoderate: Reg. 1879, fol. 69r – not sent. Therein Joan asked the veguer and batle to declare the Jews under royal protection, and not to let the Jews exit the castle and to imprison those who would want to harm them. On the 17th, Reg. 1851, fol. 43r-v the king congratulated the bailiff for his “bona custodia” of the city’s Jews. Later that month on the 25th, Reg. 1962, fol. 8v and published by Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, pp. 119–120, the king expressed his desire to the vicar, bailiff, paers, and promens, that the Jews, who had been isolated and guarded, should return to their original homes now that the danger had ceased. They thank you, the king wrote, for the fine protection you provided them in service to us, and for keeping the disturbances from reaching them. You behaved as good people, “homens de be,” should, he said. Cf. the 1369 doc, in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 426–429, no. 293, wherein Jews’s dwellings were limited to their quarter. I have chosen to use the French spelling for Perpignan and Roussillon because of their present political status. Although most of the Cerdagne, Cerdanya in Catalan, is today in Spain, the two counties are most frequently referred to in French. On violence against the Jews of Perpignan in the late 14th century, see Philip Daileader, True Citizens: Violence, Memory, and Identity in the Medieval Community of Perpignan, 1162–1397 (Brill, 2000), pp. 138–139 and 152–153. On the host desecration accusations, see below the chapter on the king. Still of importance is Pierre Vidal, “Les Juifs de Roussillon et de Cerdagne,” Revue des e´ tudes juives 15 (1887), pp. 19–55; and 16 (1888), pp. 1–23 and 170–203, where 15 (1887), p. 54, the attack of 1370, of which we know little, is discussed. These articles by Pierre Vidal were translated into Catalan, with added notes, by Eduard Feliu, as Pere Vidal, “Els jueus dels antics comtats de Rossello´ i Cerdanya,” Calls 2 (1987), pp. 26–112. They were also reprinted together as a book: Pierre Vidal, Les Juifs des anciens comt´es de Roussillon et de Cerdagne. Pr´eface d’Eduard Feliu (Perpignan, 1992).

Elsewhere in Catalonia

141

to leave town until the tumult – which according to the king had been incited by “a few wicked people” who had emboldened others to injure and abuse the Jews, had subsided. The king warned the governor that if he did not heed these strictures, he would be held responsible for all damages that might ensue.14 Gilaberto, apparently, successfully protected the Jews during late July and early August because, on August 10 – the day the Girona call was attacked, the king thanked him for his diligence in the preservation of the Jews within his jurisdiction from the “evil people” who had threatened riot. Joan asked the governor to continue to guard the Jews and their belongings, and to punish anyone who would abuse Jews or steal their property. The muncipal leaders also came in for royal commendation as King Joan praised them for behaving as true vassals and subjects for their actions in the defense of the Jews. To his royal veguer of Cerdagne and Barida, ´ on Thursday the 10th, Joan sent thanks for protecting the Jews of the city of Puigcerda. ` 15 Despite these precautions, Perpignan Jewry was attacked. Several individuals rioted, a week later, assaulted the Jews in their homes and in their quarter, killed and injured them, and damaged their property. The following day, August 18, King Joan called upon the governor, the bailiff, and the Perpignan consols, to institute provisions that would preserve the Jews, restore them to their homes, and secure them from danger and scandal.16 By August 20, the surviving Perpignan Jews had been transferred to the royal castle, for which the king, that Sunday, thanked both the governor and the castlan of the fortress. The secretaris of the aliama and others had updated Joan on the condition of their community. The king requested that the governor and consols continue to guard the Jews, and to restore the aliama and its members. The king announced that he would send the

14 15

16

Reg. 1961, fol. 41r, and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 654, no. 408. Reg. 1878, fols. 104v–105r, is the royal letter to the governor. On August 10, the jurats of Girona informed their counterparts, the consols of Perpignan, “ab dolor de cor,” of the attack on the Jews of their city: AMG, Correspond`encia dels Jurats 1391–1392, fol. 14r. The king’s letter to the consols is in ACA, ibid., fol. 105r. Fol. 105v concerns Puigcerda. ` Ibid., fols. 126v–127v dated August 18. From the royal perspective, the perpetrators were several malicious individuals who acted without reason and were animated by a spirit of disrespect toward the royal correctional system. See the king chapter. Fita y Colom´e, Estrago de las juder´ıa catalanes, p. 435 and p. 439 note 3, following Vallseca, dates the attack to the 17th.

142

“The Things As They Happened”

necessary authorizations so that the governor, batle, and consols could rigorously punish the evildoers and agitators.17 Although the Jews had been successfully settled in the castle and security measures effectively implemented, those who attacked the Jews had made off with the Jews’ jewels, money, and movable property. On Tuesday the 22nd, Joan demanded that Gilaberto, under penalty of falling out of royal favor, investigate, find, capture, and punish those wicked people who did not respect our “tresor e regalies,” our treasure and privileges, and robbed “tot lo Call,” the entire Jewish quarter. Any debts incurred by the governor in these pursuits would be covered, the king promised, by the royal treasury. The king also ordered that all the possessions stolen from the call be located, inventoried by a public scribe, and stored in the castle, so they could be eventually returned to their rightful owners. Gilaberto was also directed to help those Jews who needed to recover their possessions in order enable them to purchase provisions.18 Two burghers, Raymon Albert and Bernat de Alanya, informed the king of their vigorous and courageous protection of the Perpignan Jews and of their property – both by day and by night – from the danger posed by those perverse people who desired to attack them, and asked Joan to help secure payment from the Jewish community. The king, on the 24th, ordered the secretaris of the aliama of the Jews to reimburse fully Raymon and Bernat. That same day, Joan summarized to the governor, the tenor of his correspondence with the communal officials, and informed him that Ramon and Bernat were to be paid through annual payments imposed upon the aliama.19 The Jewry of Puigcerda` – southwest of Perpignan in northern Cerdagne, apparently after an assault on some of its members, had likewise been installed in the castle at Ll´ıvia – situated just northwest of the town.

17

18 19

Reg. 1878, fols. 127v–128r, the royal letter to the governor, was published by Girona Llagostera in Disposicions, pp. 116–117, and in an edited version in Itinerari, p. 133, no. 205. Fols. 128v–129r is the letter to the consols; fol. 129r-v to the castlan. Joan asked the officials to keep a record of all the ordinances they enacted on the Jews’ behalf. The castle, built by the kings of Majorca, was identical in many of its architectural details to that of the city of Palma. The Crown of Aragon had reincorporated the island and its mainland holdings in 1344. On the Perpignan aljama, see, for example, Rebecca Lynn Winer, Women, Wealth, and Community in Perpignan c.1250–1300: Christians, Jews, and Enslaved Muslims in a Medieval Mediterranean Town (Aldershot, 2006), pp. 82–87. Reg. 1948, fol. 184r-v. Reg. 1850 fol. 38r ¶1 (in Latin) to the aljama officials, and ¶2 (in Catalan) to the governor, wherein the king mentions mortgaged loans called censals.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

143

On August 22, King Joan asked the officials and consols of Puigcerda` – who had notified him regarding their defense of the town’s Jews, to do all they could for the preservation of the Jews, and to charge their expenses to those who were saved. Joan also thanked Pontio des Castlar, the castellan, of the fortress, for having received the Jews, and directed him as well to provide for the Jews at the Jews’ expense.20 In the wake of the relocation of the Perpignan Jews to the local fortress, “many and diverse people” robbed much Jewish-owned property, and refused to return the stolen goods. Some of these looters alleged that the Jews owed monies from fossilized annual rentals and other obligations, and that they were therefore justified in holding on to the property. The Perpignan consols complained to the king about this state of affairs, and asked that he visit their city. The king, on the 24th, thanked the governor and the consols of Perpignan for their dedication to the safety of the aliama and announced that he would come and pacify the county, comtat, of Roussillon and Cerdagne, after he traveled to Lleida, Barcelona, and Girona. The king agreed with the officials’ misgivings, and argued that it was against reason that people could seize goods against the will of their owner, and then declare that they had acted with the authority and permission of the court.21 The Jews’ religious identity was also subject to expropriation. The Perpignan consols, apparently, did not share the king’s opinion, expressed on August 28 in a missive he sent to church officials across his lands, and those in the county of Roussillon and Cerdagne, wherein he lamented the attacks on the Jews, and quoted the Avignonese Pope Clement VI that Jews should not be forced to come to the Cross, but should choose to do so spontaneously. The king, on September 5, expressed surprise that 20

21

According to Claude Denjean, “Les conflits inter et intra communautaires en Cerdagne et en Roussillon, aux XIIIe, XIVe et XVe si`ecles,” in Michelle Ros ed., Perpignan, l’histoire des Juifs dans la ville (Perpignan, 2003), p. 132, citing Arxiu historic comarcal de la Seu d’Urgel, 1391; Archives D´epartementales des Pyr´en´ees-Orientales, 1, Bp 833, 1B 329, an armed band, from the county of Urgel, attacked the Jews of Puigcerda. ` Reg. 1961, fols. 80v–81r to the municipal officials and fol. 81r to the castla, the latter published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 679, no. 427. Reg. 1961, fols. 84v–85r is the letter to the governor and was published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 682–683, no. 431. Baer wonders whether the king’s reference to the governor’s previous communication, in which two letters from Avignon were enclosed, were papal missives regarding the Jews. Joan’s letter to the consols is at Reg. 1961, fol. 83v ¶2 and was published in abbreviated form in Itinerari, p. 135, no. 209 (a) and in Disposicions, p. 117. As the king had commanded previously, Joan wanted the governor to ensure that the items were returned to a secure location, the goods inventoried, and the thieves punished.

144

“The Things As They Happened”

the consols and promens imagined that if the Jews became Christians, the disturbances would pass. Municipal officials knew well, the king declared, that both civil and canon law did not allow for someone to be made a Christian by force, but rather that conversion had to proceed from “lur mera liberalitat.” If the Jews were brought to Christ through some arrangement, or in any way other than through “lur franca volentat,” those responsible would place themselves in peril, both religiously and socially. While Joan ordered the officials to abstain from such actions, he acknowledged the danger that many of the town’s foreigners – a probable reference to roving churchmen who sought the Jews’ conversion, presented, and the riots that they threatened to provoke. Joan ordered the consols and promens to join the governor in expelling those who did not officially live in Perpignan. Joan advised his governor Gilaberto de Crudilis, that same day, that a policy of forced conversion was not reasonable, and that Jews had to resolve to become Christian of their own free will, “lur franch arbitre.” The king ordered Gilaberto not to allow illicit threats or forcible persuasion to induce the Jews to convert. If the governor, Joan continued, was concerned that Jews were planning to leave “our senyoria and move to another senyoria,” he should effect provisions necessary to hinder their exit.22 The situation of the Jews in Perpignan appears to have stabilized toward the end of September. At that time, King Joan granted permission to Gilaberto who, as senyor of Peratallada, wished to return to his lands, and to arrange for the safety of Jews from Girona and elsewhere, who had recently arrived in the nobleman’s territory. The king, on September 22

The circular letter to all the church officials is in Reg. 1878, fol. 142r–143r. The letter to the governor is in Reg. 1961, fols. 92v–93r, that to the promens at fol. 93r. Both were published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 684, no. 432, 1 and 2, respectively. On the Joan’s stance on conversion and on various ecclesiastical opinions on the subject, and the terms they employed in this regard, see the king chapter. On September 6, the King – relying on a report from the Viscomte de Roda, praised the veguer, consols, jurats, and good men of Vilafranca de Conflent, Reg. 1961, fol. 93v ¶1, for their protection of its Jews, and asked the officials to continue to preserve them. Riera, Girona, p. 116, declared that the Jews living under the seigneurial authority of Urgell, Prades, and Empuries were protected from the riots. ACA, Reg. 1878, fol. 156r, ´ dated August 30, is a safeguard granted to an individual of Cardona, which refers in standard fashion to attacks on the Jews. Ibid., fol. 156v, dated September 5, does not specify a locale. On the role of strangers in the riots, generally, see Riera i Sans, Estrangers, pp. 577–583.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

145

20, thanked the governor for his scrupulous protection of the Perpignan Jews, expressed relief that there had been no change in their status, and ordered him to return to Perpignan once he completed his tasks.23 Work still needed to be done to ensure the preservation of local Jews. On September 21, the king again ordered the castlan of Perpignan to guard the Jews, “our treasure,” and, on September 25, directed him to repair sections of the castle, and suggested that he demand up to 300 florins from “our Jews,” who had found refuge there and had benefited from its protection. The castlan was to keep exact records of the renovations.24 Fearful of being killed, Perpignan Jews did not dare exit the castle to retrieve the property they had abandoned or to collect the debts owed to them. Consequently, the king was concerned with the ability of Perpignan Jews to meet their obligations. The Jews of Puigcerda, ` now ensconced in the castle at Ll´ıvia, were also challenged as they attempted to cover a variety of monies owed to them. The king too was mindful of the difficulties these Jews faced, and how by early December they were suffering from hunger, thirst, and other afflictions. Joan ordered the veguer of Cerdanya and of Barida, ´ and the batle, consols, and prohomens of the city of Puigcerda, ` on December 4, to return the Jews, their wives, children, and associates – together with their property, to the homes that they customarily held.25 23

24 25

Reg. 1961, fol. 116r-v (and again on fol. 117v ¶2) described and quoted briefly in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 684–685. See Riera, Els avolots, p. 130, and above, the chapter on Girona. Reg. 1879, fol. 1v, from September 21, and Reg. 1961, fol. 117r, from September 25. For example, Reg. 1849, fol. 158v, the king wrote to the governor, on September 28, that the Jews feared for their lives if they would leave the castle. In Reg. 1877, fols. 71v–72r, dated November 23, the king communicated with the governor about debts and Jews, converted and not. The next day, Reg. 1851, fol. 56r, Joan notified Gilaberto about expenses incurred by the Jewries of Perpignan and Puigcerda. ` On December 13, Reg. 1851, fol. 72v (and perhaps although undated, Reg. 1849, fol. 195r) the king again contacted Gilaberto about expenses of both Perpignan and Puigcerda` Jews and, on the same date, ACA, Cartas Reales, Caja 6, no. 611, about collecting debts owed to the Jews of Perpignan. The property of Boniach Deuslosal of Puigcerda` was the subject of much contention from the end of October through the end of the year and beyond. Two documents, dated October 27, Reg. 1879, fols. 60v–61r and fol. 62r-v, reflect the royal attempt to resolve the inheritance of Boniach. See also on this interesting case, ibid., fol. 61r-v, dated October 31; Reg. 1949, fols. 24v–25r of November 18; Reg. 1849, fol. 189r-v, from November 22; and Reg. 1850, fol. 107v–108r, written on December 29, 1391. Reg. 1850, fol. 169v, is dated April 22, 1392. See generally Claude Denjean, “Comment peut-on eˆ tre un bon converti? Des convertis en Roussillon et en Cerdagne a` la fin du

146

“The Things As They Happened”

Similarly, Joan expressed his wish that the Jews of Perpignan who had fled from “the malice and ambition of bad people,” and had to be gathered in the castle, return to live in the call as they had before. The king notified “his noble and beloved counsellor,” Gilaberto de Crudilis, that this “wild and despicable episode” was apparently over. Consequently, he instructed Gilaberto to travel to Perpignan immediately, restore the Jews to their homes, and facilitate, insofar as it was possible, the return of all items stolen from them. Practically, the king instructed the governor to announce, with the appropriate formality, that the Jews, who had vacated the call and fled to the castle and other locations, were returning to live in their quarter, and that all items seized or stolen from the Jews were to be returned within ten days. To avoid future professions of ignorance, the governor should announce that the Jews were under the king’s especial protection and care. No one would be permitted to force Jews to be baptized because the principles of the Christian faith “required pure heart and free, unforced, thinking.” “[T]he treasure of our patrimony,” Joan reiterated, was to be guarded and defended.26 ∗ ∗ ∗ Riots threatened Jewish communities at the southern tip of Catalonia, in the city – and in the vicinity, of Tortosa. In the words of King Joan – on July 19, to his royal bailiff in Tortosa and to the city administrators, procurators, some lawless people, not fearing God or the royal correction, had attempted to riot against, and harm, the Jewish population. The procurators and prohomens, as good and loyal vassals, had followed

26

XIVe si`ecle,” in Michelle Ros ed., Perpignan, l’histoire des Juifs dans la ville (Perpignan, 2003), pp. 123–130. The letter of December 4 is in Reg. 1879, fol. 94r-v. Reg. 1962, fol. 15r and published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 691–692, no. 439. On January 2, 1392, Reg. 1962, fol. 20r ¶2, the king ordered the governor to return to Perpignan and compel the Jews to return to the call. See also Reg. 1851, fols. 77v–78r dated January 4; Reg. 1850, fols. 112v–113r of the 5th; and Reg. 1962, fol. 22r ¶1 of the 7th where the king expresses concern that the Jews leaving the castle might exit his dominions. Similar sentiments are in Reg. 1980, fol. 82v dated January 12; and Reg. 1852, fol. 12r of the same day. A Perpignan Jew who converted and lived in the city is referenced in Reg. 1850, fols. 116v–117r, dated January 8 of 1392. Daileader, p. 139 cites a document of July 26, 1393, Archives Communales de Perpignan, AA 1, fols. 289v–291v, that a royal pardon granted to Perpignan inhabitants for a variety of crimes, specifically did not include the assault on the Jews. Reg. 1903, fol. 232v–233v (cited in Wolff, The 1391 Pogrom in Spain, p. 15), dated April 24, 1393, is a royal remission to the consols, good men and universitats of the town of Camprodon ´ on account of the attacks against Jews who were forced to be baptized or else they would be killed.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

147

Joan’s written orders and placed all the Jews in the city’s castle, where they would be safeguarded from injuries and harassment. The king, pleased and grateful, wanted the officials to continue to defend the Jews against an uprising of the poble, enact the necessary provisions, and harshly punish those who mistreated the aliama and its members. Officials were to provide the Jews with the necessary viandes and refrescaments.27 As in Puigcerda, ` these provisions were to be paid out of the Jews’ funds. The royal bailiff, Arnau de Torrelles, who had detailed to the king his efforts in the defense and restoration of the aliama, and had agreed to assume the considerable expenses for the security of the Jews, requested a concomitant increase in his salary. The king, on July 24, declared that he would leave his pension intact, but would take into future account the funds Arnau would have to expend to protect the Jews.28 Jews in Tortosa’s environs were also at risk, a situation that prompted the king, on August 3, to ask the lieutenant master of the castellan´ıa of Amposta to maintain and defend the Jews of Gandesa. The king requested that the master contact the commanders, comenadors, and the urban authorities, universitats, under his jurisdiction, and order them not to harass the Jews passing through the hamlets and towns and, lochs and vils, of his territory. The comenador, jurats, and good men of the town of Ulldecona – south of Tortosa, had protected its Jewry, and so the king, on August 8, ordered them to punish those who would harm the Jews.29 Even with these safeguards, Jews both in the city of Tortosa and its vicariate, vegueria, were attacked. On August 9, King Joan compared what had taken place in the city to that which had befallen the cities of Valencia, Majorca, and Barcelona, and their Jews. The Jewish quarter including its communal shelter, the “calla and hospicia,” had been attacked, Jews were killed and injured, and their money and property despoiled. The king declared, that Wednesday, to the veguer, bailiff, paers, and procurators of Tortosa, that the Jewish community and its members, were constituted under special royal protection and therefore 27 28

29

Reg. 1878, fol. 75v. Reg. 1961, fol. 50r ¶1, the letter to the royal bailiff, was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 661–662, no. 413. Reg. 1961, fol. 49v is a letter to the veguer and prohomens, and fol. 50r ¶2 is the missive to the bishop. The king, that day, thanked all these officials for the precautionary measures they had taken to protect the Jews and asked them to continue their efforts. The king also asked the veguer to announce publicly that the Jews were under royal protection. Reg. 1878, fols. 93r–94r to Amposta, and fols. 105v–106r to Ulldecona. Joan reminded the master that areas within the castellan´ıa belonged both to the king as well as to his dear companion the Queen.

148

“The Things As They Happened”

needed to be restored, preserved, and protected from scandal. Provisions had to be instituted, and those responsible for the attacks in Tortosa, as well as in its vegueria, prosecuted and punished.30 Although attempts had been made, since early July, to install Jews in the city’s castle, Tortosa Jews were apparently still living within the city. Joan felt impelled, that same Wednesday, to warn the communal officials, adelantats, that “in the event that you or some of you decide to take up residence in our local castle so to be guarded and preserved from all scandals, popular uprisings, and all other sinister occurrences,” you must follow the rules of the alcayt of the fortress and the procuradors of the city. Evidently, there were many Jews who felt uneasy about the regulations imposed upon them in the castle.31 There was good reason for the Jews’ wariness. Governmental officials were not of one mind as to what was required to stabilize the city and the Jews’ situation. A messenger from Tortosa to the royal court had apprised the king of the various strategies that had been employed. Armed with this information, King Joan, on the 17th, thanked the city’s batle for his prudent measures, compared them favorably to unwise courses of action taken by others, and charged the bailiff, procuradors, and other officials to enact good provisions for the conservation of the Jewish community and the stability of the city. In response to the batle’s query whether assets should be restored to those Jews who became Christian, the king declared that it would please him if all Jews who wished to come to the Cross would be able to retain the property that they had possessed as Jews.32 The identity of those of Tortosa who had behaved irresponsibly – displayed “avols maneres,” toward the Jews was revealed in another letter Joan directed, also on August 17, to his royal officials, the veguer, sots veguer, and batle. The king pronounced himself disturbed to learn that “paschasius juglar,” Paschasius the minstrel, identified further as the “carcerarius comunis,” warden of the city jail, had incited the people and had instigated opposition to the municipal procuratores, placing them

30

31 32

Ibid., fols. 103v–104v. A parallel document dated August 10, Reg. 1878, fols. 118v– 119r, was sent to the militi, veguer, bailiff, paers, and other officials of the town of Cervera. On August 17, ibid., fol. 119v, Joan thanked the paers and good men of the city for preserving and restoring the aliama of the Jews and promised to arrive shortly. Ibid., fol. 104v. Ibid., fols. 121v–122r refers to the embassy of Jacme de Castre. On Joan’s stance toward conversion and the disposition of the property of these neophytes, see the king chapter, and generally Paola Tartakoff, Between Christian and Jew. Conversion and Inquisition in the Crown of Aragon, 1250–1391 (Philadelphia, 2012).

Elsewhere in Catalonia

149

in mortal danger. The king called for trustworthy jurists to ensure that Paschasius and his associates be punished, and an end put to this malicious behavior. The king, the following day, also instructed the municipal procurators, as well as the royal veguer and bailiff – that for the sake of the security, tranquility, and prosperity of their town and to avoid scandals, attacks, and riots – to banish from the city limits, minstrels, buffoons, thieves, and vagrants of vile condition who had gathered in Tortosa in considerable number on account of an abundance of food in the city and had displayed arrogant and boisterous behavior. On August 19, Joan explained that he wished to avoid riots and other evils.33 Tortosa was beset by a variety of tensions. Not only had Christians assaulted Jews, but there also had been Christian attacks on other Christians. These incidents made the king “not a little irritated, and indignant, not without reason.” So when on August 20, the king thanked the royal and municipal officials for behaving as good vassals and protecting the Jewish community, he asked the local leaders, as best as they were able, to eliminate dissension “between majors and menors,” and between the “Muslims who are there.” The king requested that the municipal leaders follow up on all the recommendations he had sent through their messenger, Jacme de Castre, and in order to secure the “bon estament” of the city, to have his royal instructions read at a meeting of the entire municipal council.34 Less than ten days after the king called for an investigation of paschasius juglar, the royal officials in Tortosa convened a judicial inquiry to determine what role the jailer had played in the recent unrest. The proceedings began, on August 26, against Pasqual de la Part – identified as the “jutglar,” the minstrel, and the records disclose tensions that obtained among Jews, the local authorities, Jews who had converted to Christianity, and the Christian inhabitants of Tortosa. Simultaneously, the findings reveal how, in the wake of the riots that erupted across the lands of the Crown of Aragon, the Jews were both secured from attack and, at the same time, remained religiously vulnerable.35

33

34 35

Reg. 2025, fols. 11v–12r is dated the August 17, and Reg. 1901, fol. 61r-v the 18th. On the 19th, Reg. 1961 fol. 76v, Joan explained to an unnamed addressee that he wished by his order to avoid riots and other evils. It instructed the recipient(s) to work together with the municipal procurators. Reg. 1878, fols. 130r–131r. The dossier assembled by the investigators was published in an abridged form by Francesch Carreras y Candi, L’Aljama de juh´eus de Tortosa (Barcelona, 1928), pp. 153–158 from the Arxiu Historic Comarcal de les Terres de l’Ebre, Ajuntament ` de Tortosa, Registre 720 where the document runs 110 folios. I hope to publish the

150

“The Things As They Happened”

The royal judge appointed to oversee the proceedings determined that it was after the Jews had been gathered in the fortress that the bailiff, En Arnau Torrelles, entrusted the jutglar, warden of the public prisons by royal appointment, to guard the primary portal through which ascent was made to the castle. The jutglar was well paid by the adelantats of the aliama, and by other Jews who sheltered there. The jutglar provided the Jews with protection, even while he continued to be responsible for the custody of numerous criminals who were incarcerated within the castle jail. The judge, En Bertran de Robio, ´ further reported on August 30 that a Micer Bernat Tranxer frequently ascended to the castle during August to visit the Jews and Jewesses, “to help them with a few things.” On Sunday morning August 13, Tranxer was accompanied by some conversos – including a Gonc¸albo Tranxer, who had come to visit their wives and children who had remained Jewish. One of the converts, Pere March, knocked on the door of his wife, who was “then being a Jewess,” and directed her to get out of bed because today was going to be a bad day. Against the background of looming violence, the visitors attempted to persuade family members to become Christian. The location of the Jews in the circumscribed physical space of a castle made attempts to convert the Jews far more efficient and consequently increasingly attractive to those who wished to baptize them. When Micer Bernat and the conversos descended from the fortress, they escorted a number of people, including the wife of En Pere March, Na Caxixa, and the mother, wife, and young children of the converso Gonc¸albo Tranxer. All of whom, of their own free will according to the judge, went to the house of Bernat Tranxer to be baptized. After Na Caxixa left the castle, Caxixa’s mother and father implored Pasqual to use whatever means to prevent their daughter from becoming Christian. The adelantats of the aliama requested that the jutglar descend to Tranxer’s house and bring Caxixa back. If Pasqual, “out of his love for them,” returned Caxixa to the castle, they promised to pay him a sum of money. En Bertran de Robio´ added that some had testified that the adelantats promised Pasqual six florins. Pasqual then went to Tranxer’s home and, without telling anyone, entered the house, took Caxixa by the hand, and brought her back to

entire text with full annotation, and an extensive introduction. Carreras y Candi’s treatment of the text is on pp. 80–83 and 85. On a jongleur and the 1331 holy week riots in Girona, see Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, p. 204.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

151

the fortress. He did not solicit the permission of either Tranxer, who at the time of Pasqual’s arrival was not at home, or his wife. Once Caxixa rejoined her family, her mother, the adelantats, and other Jews paid the jutglar what he had been promised. After the afternoon meal, according to En Bertran, Pasqual lifted the guard of both the castle and of the communal prison, and, without obtaining consent from the bailiff, Arnau Torrelles, descended again from the castle. Bertran added that there were eleven or more prisoners inside the jail and drily noted that the prison was better guarded in his presence than in his absence. As Pasqual passed through the center of the city, which was filled with “common people,” the jutglar was asked why he had forcibly taken Caxixa from Tranxer’s house and had escorted her to the castle. Those gathered around Pasqual, that late Sunday afternoon, were in agreement that Caxixa should have been made a Christian. The jutglar replied that he had returned Caxixa on behalf of the municipal administrators. Pasqual’s comment, Betran contended, incited approximately 300 individuals to turn against the “procuradors of the city of Tortosa,” who, the judge pointed out, still served in that capacity. If it were not for the words of “good people” who calmed the crowd, En Bertran suggested, these people, already distrustful of the procuradors, would have risen up against the authorities. Surely the jutglar was aware, the judge asserted, that in the days leading up to that Sunday, it was common knowledge throughout the city that on Sunday all the Jews, and the regidors, officials, who supported them, would be killed, as had been done in Majorca and Barcelona. In Tortosa, as elsewhere in the Crown of Aragon, news of previous attacks, and speculation about where next the Jews would be assaulted, continued to spread. Many inhabitants of Tortosa were of the opinion that the procuradors protected the Jews more than was necessary. If it were not for the verbal and physical support of the procuradors and the other regidors, these people contended, all or most of the Jews – fearing the violence with which they were threatened, would have already become Christian. The impression conveyed by En Bertran was that Tortosa Christians were in favor of the Jews’ conversion, and perceived all governmental officials as somehow being in thrall to the Jews. Bertran de Robio´ declared that the principal cause of the uprising against the Jews, and especially against the procuradors, was the planting of a banner – decorated with a cross and a slogan – in the plac¸a de les cols. As in Valencia, the display of banners appeared to herald further unrest. But the other cause of the attacks, he opined, was the words spoken by the jutglar to the crowd. Indeed, immediately upon hearing what the jutglar

152

“The Things As They Happened”

had said, the procuradors pronounced the jutglar was a liar and seized him. Had they not acted as they did, matters would have spiraled out of control. The procuradors’ intentions were to frustrate the evil designs of the people and to preserve the Jews who are “among the treasures of the king.” In his summation, En Bertran proclaimed the jutglar, characterologically, to be a “hom aualotador,” a rioter, and an instigator of disturbances. It was as a result of such people, the court proclaimed, that violence had erupted against Jews, Muslims, and Christians in “Leyda Barchinona et Valencia et Mallorcha.” Now, the judge asserted, these cities had been destroyed and depopulated. Given the opportunity, the jutglar was capable of causing similar damage.36 Royal authority in Tortosa, represented by the bailiff and vicar, was augmented in early September by the arrival of Joan’s brother, the duke Mart´ı. While in the city on September 7, Mart´ı announced that the debts of Gonc¸alvo Trenxer [sic] – the former Saltiel Alietzer who had ascended to the castle with Micer Bernat Tranxer, on August 13 and had descended with his wife and children, all of whom had already converted, was granted a two-year moratoria on debts of up to 3,000 Barcelonan solidi. Mart´ı also released the silversmith Vidal Bonium – who now as a convert to Christianity had taken the name Marti de Luna, his brother-in-law and father-in-law from the obligation to pay the peyta and other taxes they had owed as Jews. The duke also attempted to make sure that property seized or stolen from this family be delivered to them.37 Strife continued among Tortosa Christians, between the citizens and the local nobility. Mart´ı asserted to his brother that constabulary placed between the two groups should effectively bring about an end to their hostilities. Following his brother’s advice, Joan contacted both the royal and municipal leaders in Tortosa, on September 11, to arrange for patrols that would effectively reduce outbreaks of violence among the city’s inhabitants.38 Concerns about the safety of the Jews did not abate. Now that they had been placed within “our local castle,” King Joan charged the veguer, 36

37 38

The findings of the “jutge comissari de la causa,” En Bertran de Robio, ´ are in Carreras y Candi, pp. 155–157. The court nevertheless continued to receive testimony afterwards. Many of the earlier folios of the dossier are a record of Pasqual’s interrogation. The moratorium on Trenxer’s debts is in Reg. 2093, fol. 55v, and the letter to Vidal in ibid., fols. 55v–56r. See, infra, the duke chapter. Reg. 1961, fol. 100r-v is the September 10 letter to the duke; ibid., fols. 98v–99r is dated September 11 and addressed to the municipal authorities; and ibid., fol. 99v was sent to the local vicar and bailiff.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

153

batle, paers, and procuradors of the city to be extremely diligent in their pursuit of public order, and be vigilant about “quarrels and tensions” that might develop. Joan reminded them, on September 12, that sentries had been placed at various spots within the town in order to identify anyone who had been involved in the riots against the Jewish communities of his senyoria. If recognized, the king directed, they should be immediately seized and delivered bound to a company of loyal guards who would transport them to the king for appropriate royal justice to be administered.39 Mindful of the August 13 events in which Pasqual de la Part was involved, Joan ordered the batle not to allow “some newly baptized Jews” from entering the castle where the Jews resided and, as Joan put it, “disturbing them at the instigation of others.” These visits, the king opined, would result in riots and in public agitation and would eventually lead to the permanent destruction of the aliama and its members. The king instructed that conversos could only enter the castle or the call – should the Jews return there, if they received written permission from the city procuradors. These albarans would need to be presented either to the royal bailiff, the gatekeepers of the fortress, or those of the Jewish quarter.40 At the end of September, the king announced to Tortosa officials – including the bishop of Tortosa, the capitol and canons of the Dominican order, the convent and brothers of the Franciscans and of the Augustinians, the procurators and good men of the city, the heads of the various groups of craftsmen, the bailiff, and the veguer – that he was sending his faithful counselor and vice-chancellor of the Kingdom of Valencia, Micer Domingo Mascho to the city, and asked all of them to grant him their full cooperation. On October 2, Joan explained that since the appointment of Mascho was done at the request of adelantats of the aliama, the expenses incurred by his mission would be covered by the Jewish community.41 39

40 41

Reg. 1878, fol. 166r-v. Tortosa officials were to report clearly and at length as to what they were doing daily to conserve and restore the Jews and were to communicate with the royal portero, Ramon Bofill, whom Joan sent to determine if these actions were effective. Reg. 1878, fols. 166v–167r, dated September 12 as well. Reg. 1961, fol. 124r, and fols. 125v–126r, dated September 30 to the bishop of Tortosa. In the latter document, the scribe noted that other officials including the adelantats and aliama of the Jews were sent such a letter. Fol. 126r is the letter to the orders of the predicadors, the minors, and the Augustinians. The note of October 2 to an unnamed addressee can be found at fol. 126v ¶1. Another letter, at fols. 124v–125r, was sent, on October 2, to the Tortosa bishop.

154

“The Things As They Happened”

By October 22, Domingo Mascho not only had arrived in Tortosa but also was already involved in the defense of the Jews and had reported to the king on his activities. That same Sunday, the king alerted the veguer, bailiff, procurators, and good men of Tortosa that Mascho had informed him about newly minted conversos who were stirring up the poble against their former coreligionists, and that damage and scandal could ensue. Joan instructed them to make sure that those converts who did not have wives and children, or did not live within the city, be made to leave Tortosa under penalties to be applied without mercy. Clearly, the safety of the Jews remained unsecured.42 ∗ ∗ ∗ The Jews of the city of Tarragona – north of Tortosa on the Mediterranean coast, had apprised Joan of their fears for their safety in the wake of harassment that some of them had suffered. As a result of these provocations, the Jews reported, they had been installed in the royal castle of the city. Joan assured the Jews, on July 24, that he had communicated their concerns with “our procurador, veguers, the local consols, and similarly in an affectionate vein to the archbishop” and instructed them to turn to these officials for all necessary provisions. The Jews, he guaranteed, would be safeguarded from riots, popular agitation, or harm of any kind.43 Indeed, on July 20, King Joan had notified the archbishop of Tarragona, as well as its municipal councilors, that he took a dim view of the verbal and physical abuse against the Jews of the city and the riots that had been incited against the aliama. He asked the archbishop to take the Jews, “our treasure,” under his wing and to defend them against all oppression. Joan mentioned to the prelate that he had ordered Tarragona 42 43

Ibid., fol. 144r-v to Mascho and fols. 144v–145r to the Tortosa officials. Reg. 1961, fol. 48r-v was published by Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, p. 114 and by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 660–661, no. 412 who reasonably asserts that the unnamed addressee is the Tarragona aliama. Carreras y Candi, p. 84, without citation, dates the outbreak in Tarragona to August 17, the same day as the riots in Perpignan. Mascaro, ´ Biblioteca de Catalunya, Ms. 485, fol. 294v and quoted in Villanueva, Viage literario, vol. 18, p.22 (and in Fita p. 441n) mentioned Terrachona as one of the sites where Jews were harmed. In Reg. 1949, fols. 156v– 158r, dated November 5, 1392 the king refers to attacks on Jews in the cities of Lleida, Tarragona, Tortosa, Manresa, and in the towns of Cervera and Vilafranca. See infra Joan chapter. At Reg. 1905, fol. 203v–204v, dated December 6, 1393, Joan granted a remission to the town of Cambrils, just south of Tarragona on the coast, for the popular uprising, attacks against the Jews, and terrible scandals that took place there in 1391 and makes mention of the events in the city of Tarragona as well.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

155

Jews and their aliama to relay to the archbishop their concerns and complaints, and to advise the churchman on the most profitable and expedient remedies.44 Only four days later, the king had thanked the procurators and veguer for the sensible measures that they had adopted in the Jews’ defense. Joan asked these officials to proclaim immediately that the Jews were under royal protection, and further ordered, so the Jews might sustain themselves, that Jewish men be allowed to return to their own homes. Their wives and children could remain within the royal fortress or, if they wished, return home as well. After the Jews were restored, the officials should continue their defense of the Jewish community, enact necessary provisions, and harshly punish attackers – who should be adjudged rebels against royal authority.45 These measures proved ineffective, and the aliama had become depopulated. When the king congratulated Berengario de Podio, veguer of Tarragona and its environs, on December 9, for diligently guarding Tarragona Jews, he demanded to know why the situation of the Jews had deteriorated. Joan had learned that property stolen from Jews from other locales in his senyoria had been transported to this port city and was now in the possession of the veguer and others, who had conducted an investigation into this matter. The king ordered Berengario to proceed to the royal court, accompanied by “en Ponc¸ Gerau, Manuel Davinyo, 44

45

Reg. 1961, fols. 48v–49r, published in Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, p. 113. Reg. 2054, fol. 92v, dated May 24, a letter from Iolant to Mart´ı about a legal action instituted by the archbishop against a rabbi Moses, for some works he authored against the Christian religion, was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 649–650, no. 404. Riera, Un proc´es inquisitorial, pp. 59–73 contains other relevant documentation, which provides the necessary context for this legal process. See the chapters on the queen and the duke. For more on the archbishop’s activities, see Reg. 1877, fol. 90r, dated December 12, 1391. There was an inquisition in Cervera toward the end of 1391 and the beginning of 1392 whose documentation is first noted on December 19: Reg. 1949 fol. 30v, fol. 31r, and fols. 31v–32r; and Cancelleria Real, Cartas Reales, Juan I, caixa 10, no. 1120, fol. 2r. See also Reg. 1876, fols. 63v–64r dated 12/21; Reg. 1877, fol. 101r-v dated January 4, 1392; and Reg. 1851, fol. 124v and Cartas Reales, caixa 10, no. 1120, fol. 1v dated March 22, 1392. Much of this material refers to inquisitorial activities mounted by Nicolau Eymeric against two Cervera Jews. See Assis ed., Cartas Reales, nos. 1216 and 1218, pp. 247–248. Agusti Duran 1977 [1972]), ´ i Sanpere, Llibre de Cervera (Tarrega, ´ pp. 351–353, devotes a small section to 1391 but asserts that specific data about the local events are not available. Josep Maria Llobet Portella, “Los conversos segun ´ la documentacion ´ local de Cervera (1338–1501),” Revista de la facultad de geograf´ıa e historia (Homenaje al Profesor Eloy Benito Ruano, 1989), pp. 335–350, cites Duran. ´ Reg. 1961, fol. 49r-v, was published by Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, pp. 114–115.

156

“The Things As They Happened”

Berengario de Boxades and Bernat Tallada, conversos, formerly Jews of the city so that we can be more clearly informed about these matters.”46 ∗ ∗ ∗ Duke Mart´ı’s wife, Maria de Luna, acting as his agent, procuradriu, and anxious about the Jews of the vila of Montblanc, of which her husband was the titular duke, informed the procurador general of Catalonia, and the batle, consols, and consellers of Montblanc, on July 9, that individuals had invaded the city of Seville and had attacked its Jews. Maria continued: “some lawless people residing in our senyoria in Catalunya,” not fearing God nor the punishment of herself and the duke, had without reason – and seemingly straining all credulity, verbally and physically abused “our aliames in Catalunya.” Writing from Tarrega – just north of ` Montblanc, Maria stressed that similar “scandals” should not be allowed to develop, “especially in our senyoria.” Maria declared that the aliama of Montblanc, “as others within our senyoria,” “were the treasure of our senyor and of our chamber, and were constituted under the duke’s and her special guard and protection.”47 From Valencia on July 24, the duke Mart´ı followed up on his wife’s advisory by registering his indignation with his batle general, the nobleman En Arnau de Cervello, and with the consols jurats and prohomens of the town, about the “uproar that was set within the land against the 46

47

Reg. 1962, fol. 13r ¶1 was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 690–691, no. 438. In Reg. 1849, fols. 196v–197r, dated December 14, the king writes to creditors of Tarragona Jews who live in Vilafranca del Pened`es about a moratorium in the collection of their debts. Riera, Els avalots, p. 115, asserts that on August 8 all the Jews of the town were baptized. The bailiff of Vilafranca del Pened`es appears with Barcelona and twenty other addressees receiving a letter from the king on September 22, Reg. 1949, fol. 16v, which indicates that riots broke out in their locales. See below and, infra, the king chapter. On September 26, Reg. 1961, fol. 118r ¶2 (and reprised briefly in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 689), the king thanked the veguer and batle of the city of Manresa for defending the Jews and ordered the royal authorities to arrest those who had taken part in the plunder of the aliamas of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and elsewhere. Joan also instructs them to compile an inventory of the stolen properties. Batlle Gallart, p. 116 at note 26, states that the local Jews were not harmed. Manresa also appears in the document of November 5, 1392, Reg. 1949, fols. 156v–158r (partially in Baer, ibid., p. 688 where it is listed as one of the cities, along with Lleida, Tarragona, Tortosa, and the towns of Cervera and Vilafranca (del Pened`es) in which crimes were committed by individuals in the “calla judayca.”) On Berga, see also Reg. 1879, fols. 46v–47r dated October 19. Reg. 2108, fol. 2v. The document was published in Francisco de As´ıs de Bofarull y Sans, “Documentos para escribir una monograf´ıa de la villa de Montblanch,” Memorias de la Real Academ´ıa de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 6 (1898), p. 573, quoted in part by Carreras y Candi, L’Aljama de juh´eus de Tortosa, p. 79, and cited briefly by Baer in Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 653, no. 407. See the duke chapter.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

157

Jews” and ordered them to guard and preserve “our Jews of our vila of Montblanc” – men, women, children, companyes, and property who are his “cofres e tresor,” and preserve them from all harm and scandal. Concerned about further attempts on the Jews, Mart´ı called for pursuit of those “induced by a bad spirit.”48 Those so inspired probably included the rector of Montblanc, whose actions prompted Mart´ı’s astonishment – on August 27, that the churchman had verbally incited the “poble” against the Jews. Joan reflected Mart´ı’s uneasiness regarding Montblanc when, on August 30, Joan let the prior of Catalonia and the veguer of Montblanc know that the riots against the Jews, the murder and the robbery that occurred within the royal patrimony, should not be allowed to unfold in Montblanc, “especially now that – our brother the duke – is absent from town.” Joan wanted the officials to contact Arnau de Cervello, his brother’s capita in the city, about the defense and repair of the aliama.49 Other Catalonian locales under Mart´ı’s control were unsettled as well. Although the universitat of the vila of Tarrega – the violence suffered by ` its Jews in 1348 was the worst in the area except for Girona, assured the local aliama and the Jews regarding their safety for the coming month of September, Mart´ı made clear to Mossen Berenguer de Cruylles – the local procurador general, Johan Aguilo – the veguer of the city, the batle, Bernat Pastor, as well as the consols, jurats, and prohomens, on August 28, that the officials needed to secure the local Jews, their families and households, for a full year without interruption. The universitat of Tarrega refused ` to accede to Mart´ı’s order and indeed declined to refrain from maligning the aliama and its members, or even to desist from injuring and harming them. On behalf of his brother, Joan reminded the veguer of Tarrega, ` on September 11, to comply with the duke’s order to guard and preserve the Jews, and to ensure that the universitats protected them for an entire year.50 48 49

50

Reg. 2093, fol. 69r-v. The duke’s batle general and conseller was En Jaime de Tremens. I was unable to decipher the name of the other batle. See the chapter on the duke. Ibid., fol. 29r ¶1, from Duke Mart´ı, is dated August 27 and was published by Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 224, and described in his Estrangers, p. 577, note 2. See the duke chapter. Reg. 1878, fol. 144r-v, is from the king. Reg. 2093, fol. 30r-v is the letter of the duke. Reg. 1961, fol. 163r-v, from the king, has the veguer incorrectly as Bernardo Aguilo. See, generally, Lopez de Meneses, Una consequencia, pp. 92–131 and 322–364. ´ A local notary, Pere Mas reported, Archivo de la Curia Fumada, Vic, no. 505, Pere Mas notario, (and published in Mossen Ramon Corbella i Llobet, L’aljama de juh´eus de Vich (Vic, 1984), p. 215 with a laudatory discussion of what he sees as a glorious

158

“The Things As They Happened”

Two long-time Jewish taxpayers of the aliama of Barcelona, Cresques Benvenist and Benvenist de Cortal, had taken refuge in Tarrega, and now ` wished to leave the town. On that same September 11, Joan ordered the veguer Johan Aguilo, the baiulo Bernat Pastoris, and the consuls, jurats, and good men of the town to allow the two Jews and their entire entourage to exit the vila unharmed, and to travel to any locale they wished. He also instructed them to permit Cresques and Benvenist to leave accompanied by their personal guards. If the officials refused them their protection, they had to swear that these two Jews, their household and their property would remain unmolested until they arrived safely at their next destination.51 Dramatic developments affecting the fate of Tarrega Jews may have ` already been underway when Cresques and Benvenist sought to leave town. Perhaps that was why the duke, who had arrived in Montblanc, assured the adelantats and aliama of the Jews of Tarrega, and the paers ` and good men of the vila, that he was in continual correspondence with his aide, and the town capita, En Berenguer Arnau de Cervello. Ten days later, Mart´ı, now in Balaguer, ordered an unnamed batle to transport to En Arnau “those Jews of Tarrega whom we wish to baptize to be ` Christians.” Mart´ı was engineering a mass conversion, and was concerned on September 27 with the details of the enterprise. Arnau’s responsibility was to restore the property of the Jewish men, their wives, and children to the principals, or to their heirs or to whomever the duke designated. Arnau therefore had to transport the Jews with an official inventory

51

chapter in the city’s history on pp. 161–162ff.) that on Friday August 11, 1391, four Jews and two Jewesses who were then inhabitants of Vic received holy baptism. He then went on to describe what had transpired in Barcelona, Aragon, and in the principality of Catalonia. An interesting drawing of an individual appears on the document. See Riera, Girona, p. 115 and Carreras y Candi, p. 84. The bailiff of Vic was also a recipient of the royal document of September 22; see below and Reg. 1949, fol. 16v and Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 687–688. The castle of Sent Fores, under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Vic, was the scene of some disturbances. On Friday the 21st the king acknowledged to the councilors and promens of Barcelona that he had learned that the castle of Sent Fores had been stormed. That same day, duc Mart´ı responded to the Barcelona councilors’ request for information about the state of affairs in Valencia and acknowledged as well their news that the “castell of sent fores” had been broken into by the company attached to Mossen Bernat de Cabrera, a sure reference to the sailors whom Mossen Bernat had gathered for the expedition to Sicily. Mart´ı informed the city officials that he had spoken to Mossen Bernat, who responded that he knew nothing of the event. Many times, Mossen Bernat recalled, he had demanded control of the castle from the Bishop of Vic. Reg. 1961, fol. 46v ¶2 is the letter of the king and Reg. 2093, fols. 121v–122r that of the duke. Ibid., fol. 163r. Batlle Gallart, p. 120, note 35, refers to this document.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

159

of belongings so it could be demonstrated whose property belonged to whom.52 Mart´ı extended his policy of conversion to Jews of nearby locales. “Let it be known to all,” Duke Mart´ı proclaimed, on September 25, that he wished to proceed favorably on a number of stipulations regarding the Jews of the “loch of Camerasa” – a town close to 30 kilometers northwest of Tarrega and about 10 kilometers northeast of Balaguer, ` because they had become “persuaded and illuminated by the Holy Spirit,” to turn to the Catholic faith and to receive holy baptism. The duke informed the king that the Jews would continue to live in the town and within the land of the marquisate, with their possessions for ten years, and would be allowed to retain, free and clear, their synagogue and all of its jewels – so the money that they could raise from the sale of this property would alleviate their hardships. The Jews also secured a promise from the duke that they would be able in a timely fashion – once they embraced Christianity, to collect on debts owed to them in a variety of locales, both with and without official documentation.53 Although Mart´ı had negotiated the conversion of Camarasa Jews in an attempt to secure the pacification of the region, the assaults continued. The Jews of Montblanc were to leave their town on Wednesday (perhaps October 9) to find refuge in Vallespinosa 10 kilometers to the northeast, and the batle had issued an order that no other residents that day would be allowed to exit the city. Indeed, the Jews were to be protected until they reached their destination. But to no avail. While the Jews were in transit, armed townspeople fired on them with cannons and killed them, seizing their property while the bailiff looked on. Afterwards, these same people incited many of the surrounding locales “to do bad works,” which, wrote the duke, should not be permitted to occur without punishment.54 The fate of converts also remained unassured. The Barcelona Jew, Benvenist de Cortal, who, on August 28, had been permitted, together with his family and their property, to leave the city with the necessary protection, had to successfully secure safe-passage from Mart´ı, on October 15, as Ludovicum – newly arrived at the Catholic faith. The duke intervened

52 53

54

Reg. 2079, fol. 55r-v, and the chapter on the duke. ´ Ibid., fols. 49v–50v, and published by Jaume Riera i Sans, Els poders publics i les sinagogues, segles XIII–XV (Girona, 2006), pp. 460–462, no. 274. For more on this agreement, see the chapter on the duke. Ibid., fols. 69v–70r. See the duke chapter.

160

“The Things As They Happened”

that same day from Tarrega, in an inquest against two of the newly con` verted in Montblanc, whose names as Jews were Vidal Brunell and Mestre Azday Brunell. Additionally, and perhaps connected, the duke instructed the bailiff of Montblanc to punish Arnau, Mathey, and Loys Ala[n]ya who had verbally incited the population among other unspecified crimes. A month later on November 13, the king instructed his brother to set free “our servant Maestre Azday Brunell, a Jewish physician of Muntblanch” who had informed the king that although the duke had absolved him of any wrongdoing, the batle had refused to release him.55 ∗ ∗ ∗ By mid-September so many Jewish communities of Catalonia had been attacked. On September 22, the king ordered the bailiffs of the cities of Barcelona, Tortosa, Figueres, Manresa, Lleida, Cervera, Collioure, Berga, Besalu, ´ Vilafranca del Pened`es, and Vic; the vicar of Cerdagne and the bailiff of Puigcerda; ` the bailiff of Perpignan; the vicar of the city of Tarragona; (as well as the governor of the Kingdom of Valencia; the bailiff of the cities of Valencia, Xativa, Vila-real, Morella, Castelo de Borriana, ` Alzira; and the general bailiff of the Kingdom of Valencia) to provide information about the property that the aliamas of their juherias had possessed prior to the destruction. The king listed as examples: “tributes, charitable insitutions, synagogues, thores dargent – presumably the silver casings of the Torahs or its crowns, fabrics of gold and silk, and those of jewels, butchers’ stalls, fish stands, mills, ovens, houses,” and other communal property. Joan also requested an accounting of all the property, movable and non-movable, of the Jews who died, especially of those who died without heirs, and those who committed suicide so not to be converted forcibly to Christianity. He ordered that a local judge and scribe gather this information and compile a public inventory of the property, and include the names of those who possessed or claimed the legal rights to these items. Once completed, the information should 55

Ibid., fol. 70v for the document of October 10; fol. 69v – the safe-passage, guidaticum, and fols. 68v–69r for those of October 15; and Reg. 1962, fol. 1r-v for November 13. On November 17, the procurators of Mart´ı issued an order relating to the Jews of Tarrega and Vilagrassa, ACA, Cancelleria Real, Pergaminos, Carpeta 313, no. 310. See, ` infra, the duke chapter, and p. 347. On June 19, 1392, Reg. 2108, fol. 73v, published in Bofarull y Sans, Documentos, p. 574, and quoted briefly in Carreras y Candi, p. 85, the duchess Maria wrote to Bernat de Cruilles about the Jews of Montblanc who wished to become Christian. See the chapter on the duke. On December 25, 1392, the king ordered the batle of Montblanc to make sure that the sentences pronounced against those involved in the riots be carried out: Reg. 1962, fol. 16r-v.

Elsewhere in Catalonia

161

be forwarded to Narnau Porta of the king’s treasury or to Francesch Morato “of the treasury of our dear companion the Queen.” That same day, another official of Iolant’s treasury, Andrea Denari, informed the king’s procurador general that he wished to bring accusations against all those who committed crimes against the Jewish quarters of the cities of Lleida, Tarragona, Tortosa, and Manresa, as well as the towns of Cervera and Vilafranca del Pened`es and their Jews. Denari described how Jewish quarters had been invaded, property stolen, and the Jews savagely killed. Not only were the calls of Lleida, Tarragona, and Cervera captured but so were “our castles of these cities and towns, in which the Jews had gathered after the invasion of their call.”56

56

The king’s missive is in Reg. 1949, fols. 16v, published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 687–688, no. 434, and the queen’s at fol. 156v, excerpted in Baer on p. 688.

7 The Kingdom of Aragon

During the fate-filled months of 1391 and 1392, the inland Kingdom of Aragon was vulnerable to the same unrest that bedeviled the other constituent polities of the Crown of Aragon. The first indications of turbulence within this kingdom predated the Valencia riots of July 9, 1391, and the riots against Crown of Aragon Jews eventually came to an end, in April 1392, in the kingdom’s mountainous city of Jaca. These ten months were plagued by attacks against Jews in the towns and villages in which they lived, as well as in the Aragonese countryside, where Jews often traveled to earn their livelihood. Verbal and physical attacks launched on the Jewish aljama of Huesca and its members prompted King Joan, already on July 3 of 1391, to inform the good men, hombres buenos of the city, the local royal officials, and the governor of the kingdom that he viewed the unrest and scandals gravely. The king directed the Huesca Jewish community and its leaders to repair, when necessary, to the municipal officials, apprise them of their “complaints and suspicions,” and advise them about expedient and effective remedies. After riots erupted in Valencia the following week, a royal missive to the municipal officials of Huesca, of July 12, carried unmistakable urgency. The king recalled what had transpired in the southern kingdom in the hope that Huesca officials would enact strict provisions for the restoration of its aljama, “as if we personally were there with you.”1 1

ACA, Cancelleria Real, Reg. 1849, fols. 104v–105r to the municipal justicia, jurados, and hombres buenos, and fol. 105r-v to the royal bayle, justicia and calmedina, magistrate, are both dated July 3. Reg. 1878, fol. 70r-v, is dated July 12.

162

The Kingdom of Aragon

163

The governor of the kingdom and the royal officials of many of the significant centers of Jewish population in Aragon south of the Ebro including those of Albarrac´ın, Alcaniz, ˜ Calatayud, La Almunia (de Dona ˜ Godina), Tarazona, and Teruel, all received orders from the king, on July 4, to guard local Jews from oppression and scandal, punish those guilty of harming them, and effect remedies that would prevent such incidences in the future. Municipal officials of Calatayud, Albarrac´ın, and La Almunia also received the king’s expressions of dismay, penned one day after Joan’s communicaton to the city fathers of Huesca.2 In Calatayud, the noblemen Alfonso Munyoz de Pamplona and Pero Linyan de Romea, were apparently successful in guarding the aljama and its members from individuals who were intent on harming them. Johan and Iolant, on July 13, pronounced themselves satisfied with their loyal efforts and indicated that they would order the royal and municipal officials to aid them. The following day, King Joan directed Alfonso Munyoz and Michaeli Sancti Dalgarani, the bailiff’s lieutenant, to repair the gates of the Jewish quarter so that all the Jews could, safely, gather within.3

2

3

Some general observations about the attacks of 1391 in the Kingdom of Aragon, as well as assaults of previous years can be found in Asuncion ´ Blasco Mart´ınez, “Los jud´ıos en Aragon ´ durante la baja edad media,” Destierros aragoneses I, Judios y Moriscos ´ (Zaragoza, 1988), especially pp. 42–45, and Miguel Angel Motis Dolader, Los jud´ıos en ´ en la edad media (siglos XIII-XV) (Zaragoza, 1990), 117–119. Aragon Guerson, Coping with Crises, pp. 165–166, records customary royal orders directed to officials in Huesca and Alagon ´ to protect Jews during Holy Week celebrations. On host desecration accusations in Huesca in 1377, see below the king chapter. More needs to be known about the Aragonese nobility during this time. See, en passant, Marie-Claude Gerbet, Les noblesses espagnoles au Moyen Age, XIe-XVe siecle (Paris, 1994). On the various governmental titles that obtained in the Kingdom of ˜ Aragon, see, generally, Jose Mar´ıa Font Rius, Instituciones medievales espanolas: orga´ pol´ıtica, economica, ´ nizacion y social de los reinos cristianos de la Reconquista (Madrid, 1949). Reg. 1878, fol. 54r–v to the three groups of municipal officials and ibid., fols. 54v–55r to the governor of the kingdom and the long list of authorities. On July 5, ibid., fol. 57r, the king extended his circle of correspondents to include the bishop of Tarazona and the comendador of Alcaniz. ˜ The following day, ibid., fols. 59v–60r, the comendador, jurados, and good men of the hamlets of Caspe and Maella, approximately 20 kilometers to the northwest and northeast of Alcaniz, ˜ respectively, were notified as well. Joan, on July 12, advised the bailiff, jurats, and good men of Alcaniz, ˜ as he had the leaders in Huesca. See note above. Ibid., fols. 68v–69r for July 13, and fol. 63v ¶2 for the 14th. Pero Linyan de Romea is identified as “menor de dias.” The lieutenant’s name is also spelled dalgarani, dalcarani, and dalguerani: Reg. 1849, fols. 131v–132v.

164

“The Things As They Happened”

Although the king was gratified as well with the defense and maintenance of the Jewish community of Alcaniz ˜ – as he informed its comendador mayor, military commander (of the Order of Calatrava), as well as one Blasio Ram, on July 17, and was heartened by the provisions they enacted to restore the aljama, the situation in the hinterland surrounding Alcaniz ˜ was more tenuous. Alcaniz ˜ Jews were frequently attacked in the locales of La Fresneda, Mazaleon, ´ La Ginebrosa, Cretas, and Alcorisa, and the surrounding area, and were not able to conduct their business there, and elsewhere in the royal patrimony. Joan proclaimed himself beyond displeased, to the authorities of these locales, that “our Jews of our chamber who were constituted under our special guard and protection” were the victims of incitement and scandals.4 The situation in the city of Teruel, over 100 kilometers to the southwest, appeared to parallel developments in Alcaniz ˜ and sheds light on some of the sources of rural violence against the Jews. The regidores and procurador of the aldeas – villages – surrounding the city of Teruel had demanded of the Jews a moratorium in the collection of debts the Jews had contracted with the village authorities, and with individuals who lived therein. They threatened that if the Jews would not accede to their requests, they would not let the Jews travel through the aldeas to conduct their affairs. Jewish moneylenders were in danger. Some of the villagers had indeed attempted to rob these Jews as they went about their business. King Joan, much disturbed by these actions, which bordered, in his view, on insubordination and depreciation of royal authority, demanded on July 22 that this behavior cease, and that the villages create a climate wherein Jews would be preserved from all harm.5 Despite the confidence that the king (and the queen) displayed, on July 13, in the ability of Calatayud officials to protect their Jews, by the end of the month the Jews of Calatayud had been harmed, and scandals had

4

5

Reg. 1878, fol. 73v for July 17 and fol. 81r-v for July 19. Reg. 2029, fol. 40v, dated December 7, 1388, published in Riera Sans, Los tumultos, pp. 215–216, shows that attacks against the Jews by Alcaniz ˜ residents, and their protection by local officials, caused tension between these two groups of Christians. It is also a testimony to the latent hostility between the local Jews and Christians prior to the outbreak of the riots in 1391. Carlos Laliena Corbera, “Or´ıgenes y extincion 1280– ´ de una aljama judaica: Alcaniz, ˜ 1414,” in Destierros aragoneses I, Jud´ıos y Moriscos, pp. 115–126, contains no data on 1391. Reg. 1848, fol. 149v. That same day, Queen Iolant reminded the regidores and procuradores of the villages surrounding Alcaniz, ˜ Reg. 2029, fol. 173r, to accede to his command. Iolant also saw fit on July 22, ibid., fol. 173r-v, to congratulate the juhec¸ and regidores of the city of Teruel for acting as good and loyal vassals in their continued fine defense of the Jews and in their restoration. See the queen chapter.

The Kingdom of Aragon

165

befallen them. Joan ordered the royal and local officials in the aldeas, on July 26, to protect the Jews, and asserted that the loans and other business arrangements, which the aljama and its members arranged with the people who lived in the villages, were both “valid and legal.” Similarly, on the last day of July, the king commanded that the authorities in Huesca expel from their city those who had dared to injure the Jews, and, on August 1, instructed the jurados, city councilors, and good men of the aldeas surrounding the city of Albarrac´ın to punish severely those who had harmed the aljama’s Jews.6 King Joan, in Saragossa, was reading a letter from Teruel authorities, who reported to their monarch how the Jews and their quarter were secure, when a courier arrived at court armed with messages that described a different reality. Officials who “ought to be the protectors and defenders” of the Jewish quarter had permitted riots against the Jewish quarter. While Joan and Iolant had attempted, a week earlier, to prevent harm to Teruel Jews while the Jews traveled in the countryside, it appears that Jews, within the city itself, were not safe. The king was additionally notified that the city fathers were of the opinion that the Teruel Jewish community, and one imagines its resources, should be directly linked to the city government, and not to the royal authorities. The municipal leaders cited as precedent that the king had allowed the aljama of Saragossa to be bound legally to that city’s government. Teruel authorities appear to have demanded from King Joan that he allow the Jews to be subordinate to the municipality, rather than the royal authorities. Perhaps the Teruel city fathers implied, as well, that in exchange for the authority to tax the Jews, they would take a far more active role in the Jews’ protection. King Joan, on July 29, responded first by ordering the officials not to permit the Jewish quarter to be assaulted, and summarily cancelling any agreements the Jews had made with the city and its inhabitants about the debts that they held. The king warned the Teruel officials that if any evil befell the Jewish quarter, guilt would be imputed to them, and they would pay with their heads as well as with their property. And lastly, Joan rebuked the Teruel officials for giving credence to allegations that he had tacitly approved the linkage of the Saragossa aljama to the local municipal authority. Clearly, King Joan was and would remain the Jews’ lord.7

6 7

Reg. 1878, fols. 83v–84r for Calatayud; fols. 88v–89r for Huesca; and fol. 93r for Albarrac´ın. Jurados in Aragonese is equivalent to the Catalan jurats, city magistrates. Ibid., fols. 85v–86r. Joan closed by ordering the Teruel officials to pay attention to Jayme de Besanta, the royal emissary in the city, who was charged precisely with handling these

166

“The Things As They Happened”

Riots also erupted, in mid-July, north of the Ebro in Barbastro, east of Huesca. On July 17, Joan dispatched his by now standard communication to Aragonese city officials. But in his note to En Bernat Galceran, the king apprised the nobleman that the Jews were at the service of the city and supported a portion of its tax burden. Consequently, the king was suggesting, any harm that accrued to the Jews would negatively impact Barbastro Christians. The king also advised Barbastro Jews to direct their complaints to En Bernat. Three days later, the king was still ill at ease about the situation in town, objecting to the presence of diverse criminals in the city and complaining about the resultant depreciation of royal authority.8 By the end of July, Jews in a number of Aragonese locales were granted royal protection. King Joan, on July 24, declared that he had learned of the attack on the Jews of Montalban ´ (south of Saragossa and north of Teruel), and placed the local aljama, its members and their wives, children and members of their household under royal safeguard, which meant – at times – encroaching upon noble authority. He also pronounced the royal and local officials, and the nobleman Gondisalvo de Sesse, responsible for the Jews’ preservation. On July 24, as well, Joan safeguarded Jews – and their property – who sojourned in the villages and locales of the noblewoman Yolandis Durrea and her husband, the lord Gondisalvi Gonsalez de Lusio, and threatened those who would harm the Jews or their possessions. Joan broadened his special legal oversight, on the 27th, to include

8

affairs. He also announced that he was leaving soon for Valencia and would pass through Teruel and punish those who were culpable. Ibid., fol. 100r contains the identical order but does not include the annulment of the agreements with the Jews. The same day July 29, ibid., fol. 100v, Joan essentially resent his order of the 22nd to the regidores and procurador of all the communities of the aldeas surrounding Teruel forbidding “novidades,” innovations, the grant of delays in repaying their loans to the Jews, and decrying violence against them. Here he identified the royal bailiff of the city, Johan Ximenez de Heredia, and Jayme de Besanta “of our treasury” whose orders they should obey as if they came from the king. As on the 29th as well, Reg. 2039, fol. 86v ¶2, Iolant from Saragossa referred to Joan’s letter and his concern about the novitades and the protection of “our” judaria in her missive to the jurados and good men of Teruel. The queen doubted that the officials would do anything to incur the severe punishment she and her husband would dispense and therefore referred to Jayme de Besanta with whose orders they should comply. Asuncion ´ Blasco Mart´ınez, La juder´ıa de Zaragoza en el siglo xiv (Zaragoza, 1988) and Asuncion ´ Blasco Mart´ınez, “Los Jud´ıos de Zaragoza en los siglos xiii–xiv” last accessed on July 3, 2014 at http://zaragozaturismo.dpz.es/descargas/pdf/propuestas/ Sefarad-VOL-I.pdf do not contain references to this claim by the Teruel authorities. Ibid., fol. 73r to En Bernat Galceran, and fol. 72v presumably to local officials. The royal complaint of the 20th is at fol. 89v ¶1.

The Kingdom of Aragon

167

the Jews of Barbastro and the Jews of nearby Monzon, ´ Tamarite, and Fraga.9 The stability of the Jewish communities in the eastern corner of the kingdom bordering on Navarre was also endangered. On July 8, Queen Iolant reminded the authorities “of our villas of borja and magallon” that the Jews of these locales were under monarchical protection, despite the actions of those who were inclined to riot against the Jews, injure them, and damage their property. Iolant ordered the officials to defend and preserve the Jews and their property, and to enact whatever provisions they deemed necessary.10 The unrest directed against the Jews in some locales of Castile and elsewhere caused Queen Iolant to fear that “some bad people” would attack the Jews of Tauste – situated on the Arba river only a few kilometers north of Borja and Magallon. ´ Iolant, on July 13, wanted the Tauste officials to ensure that the Jews would not be harassed and warned them that they would bear responsibility if Jews and their property were harmed. That same day, the queen ordered fourteen noblemen, all “scuderos living in the villa of Tauste,” to work with the municipal council to guarantee the Jews’ welfare.11 The effectiveness of local officials in Borja was probably of concern when, on July 16, the queen expressed confidence in the “loyalty and

9

10

11

Reg. 1900, fol. 51v–52r regarding the safeguard to the Jews of Montalban; ´ the letter to the officials is in Reg. 1850, fol. 17r-v. Reg. 1900, fols. 53r–54r is the protection for the noble lands about which see infra on Joan and the nobility; and fols. 54v–55v for Barbastro with similar letters sent to the three towns. Reg. 2029, fol. 170r ¶1. Four days later on the 12th, ibid., ¶2, Iolant repeated this communication to the justicia, bayle, jurados, and hombres buenos of Magallon. ´ On July 3, the queen had sent letters to the adelantados and aljamas of the Jews and Muslims of Borja, the adelantados and aljamas of the Jews of Magallon ´ and Tauste, and the adelantados and aljama of the Muslims of Tarazona regarding financial matters. See Reg. 2050, fol. 51v and below, the chapter on Iolant. A payment rendered by the Borja Jewish aljama, dated July 12, is in ACA, Reial Patrimonio, Maestre Racional, No. 518, fol. 1r ¶. When the Queen at the end of June ordered the royal and municipal officials in Valencia to prevent those who would harm the Jews and create scandals from allowing their presumption to remain unchecked, she also contacted officials in the Kingdom of Aragon with the same message. They included the capitan, justicia, jurados, and hombres buenos of Jaca; the jurados, justicia, and prohomens of Tauste; the juhez, batle, jurados, and prohomens of Teruel; the justicia, juhez, and jurados of Daroca; and the justicia and prohomens of Magallon. ´ These Jewish aljamas were under her personal jurisdiction and therefore took especial interest in their well-being. See Reg. 2039, fols. 79v–80r for the letter of June 28, and infra, the chapter on Iolant. Reg. 2029, fol. 170r ¶2 and fol. 171r ¶1.

168

“The Things As They Happened”

industry” of a local scudero, Migel de Sent Per, and ordered him to defend the Jews and Muslims of the town. The queen announced that the municipal officials – the justicia, jurados, and hombres buenos, would provide assistence to Migel as required.12 Some men of Alagon ´ – located on the Ebro river just southeast of Borja and Magallon, ´ agitated against Jews, which prompted Iolant, on July 13, to order Pero Perec¸ de Cella, the local justicia of the king who was in Saragossa, to leave for Alagon ´ immediately and put an end to all the incitement. The queen assured Perec¸ that she had instructed the jurados and good men of Alagon ´ to offer him all necessary support. Joan followed up, on the 21st, when he thanked the royal justicia, the municipal jurados, and the noblemen of the town for their concern and announced that he was sending Galacian de Tarba, promovedor, an official of his court and his aide, to offer “some explanatory words” – instructions as to how to quash the incipient violence.13 In light of attempts to injure the Jews and aljama of Daroca – southeast of Calatayud, Joan directed his justicia, Bernat Arlonin, on July 20, to travel to the city and its surrounding villages. What needed to be done to secure the safety of “our treasure and that of our dear companion the queen” was obvious to the king and presumably to the justicia, because Joan notified Arlonin not to expect an additional royal order. The king did dispatch instructions to a list of municipal and royal officials of the city and its villages, on the 20th, and explained to members of the nobility that he very much took to heart the safety of the Jews.14 12 13

14

Ibid., fol. 171r ¶2. Reg. 2029, fol. 170v ¶1 from the queen; and Joan, on the 21st in Reg. 1961, fol. 47r. The king addressed the justicia, baile, alcaydo, jurados, and good men, and also the noble inhabitants, of Uncastillo north of the Ebro bordering Navarre on July 10. Reg. 1878, fol. 62v indicates that such letters were also sent to Daroca and Alagon. ´ On August 16, Joan notified the justicia of Alagon ´ that two Jewish men, a Jewish woman, a boy, and their entourage had been captured and arrested leaving Tauste by some individuals. These men claimed that the Jews had wished to enter Navarre, which Iolant declared was not permissible unless a special order would be transmitted to that effect. The king ordered that the Jews be protected from harm and transported immediately accompanied by an escort to the city [sic] at the justicia’s expense so to ensure their safe arrival. See Reg. 1878, fols. 116v–117r. On September 2, ibid., fol. 175v ¶1, the king wrote to the justicia and jurados of Alagon ´ about a Jewess who had left town and had now returned and the disposition of her clothing. See, infra, the king chapter. Reg. 1878, fol. 77r to the justicia Bernat Arlonin; fols. 77v–78r to the officials of the city and the comun; fol. 78r-v to those of the aldeas of the city; and fol. 79r to the nobility. The royal court began to compose a letter to an official of the city, which mentions the archbishop of Saragossa. See Reg. 1961, fol. 54v.

The Kingdom of Aragon

169

Tarazona, close to the border with Navarre, whose royal officials, the justicia and baile, received a circular letter from the king on July 4 to protect their Jews, was beset by violence a month later. By August 4, many foreign men, identified further as “procurers and vagabonds,” who had neither legal domicile or official functions within the city, trampled through the city and wreaked havoc. Concerned about the danger and scandal that could ensue, the king instructed the officials to expel – by royal order, all men of foreign nation who lingered in the city beyond a specifically designated length of time.15 Although the order of August 4 did not specifically mention Jews as the object of the hostilities, the king, on the 8th, thanked the city’s bishop for having guarded and preserved the aljama of the Jews and its members, and asked him, his royal counselor, as well as city officials, to continue to protect the Jews and their property. The king further requested that these officials publicly proclaim that Jews from Tarazona and elsewhere within his royal patrimony could return to the city to dwell. He wanted them to assure the Jews that their persons and property would not be harmed by others from Tarazona either in the city, at its portals, or within its environs.16 Both King Joan and Queen Iolant were anxious about the emigration of Jews from Tarazona to the nearby kingdom of Navarre. Jews of Borja,

15

16

On July 21, Queen Iolant supported Joan’s directives by informing the officials of Daroca and its villages, Reg. 2039, fol. 85v ¶1, that Arlonin was being sent to the city for the defense and guard of the aljama, its members, their entourage and their properties. They must obey his directives and provide him all their support or else they would be severely punished. On Saturday July 22, Reg. 2029, fol. 173r-v, when Iolant expressed satisfaction with the fine defense of the officials effected by the officials in the southern city of Teruel, she similarly congratulated the jurados and good men of the city of Jaca located in the northern reaches of the Aragon. In separate communications, ibid., fol. 173v ¶1, she also signaled her approval to the royal bailiff of the city and to its captain, Gonc¸alvo Forcen. Forcen was officially capitan of the city and mountains of Jaca and also served as the justicia of the city: Reg. 1848, fol. 158v. Reg. 1878, fol. 139r-v and quoted in large measure by Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 580. According to Jos´e Mar´ıa Sanz Artibucilla, “Los jud´ıos de Tarazona en 1391,” Sefarad 7 (1947), pp. 63–92, Tarazona was not affected by the riots. For some interesting data ´ about the Tarazona Jewish quarter, see Maria Teresa Ainaga Andres and Miguel Angel Motis Dolader, “La juder´ıa de Tarazona. Delimitacion ´ y morfolog´ıa,” in Destierros aragoneses I, Judios y Moriscos, 1988), pp. 135–147. Motis has also written “Convulsiones finiseculares y conflictividad social: la aljama jud´ıa de Tarazona y las alteraciones de 1391,” Primer Encuentro Nacional sobre la Comarca del Moncayo. Ciencias sociales, vol. 1 (Tarazona, 1992), pp. 191–224, wherein he argues that while Tarazona was not directly affected by the riots of 1391, these events did contribute to a migratory trend toward the kingdom of Navarre, and an ensuing economic contraction in the city and its surroundings. Reg. 1878, fol. 99r. No mention was made of foreigners as the source of the disturbances.

170

“The Things As They Happened”

Magallon, ´ and Tauste – towns just to the southeast of Tarazona, secretly and without royal license, had been passing daily over the border with all of their property to settle in the neighboring kingdom. Such a migration, the queen wrote, would result in the depopulation of these aljamas and would be harmful to her. Accordingly, the queen, on August 4, directed the local and royal officials of Borja and the royal authorities in Magallon ´ and Tauste to capture any Jew or group of Jews from these aljamas who were emigrating to Navarre. Iolant ordered the officials to announce that no one, of whatever estate, from these towns would be allowed to help the Jews transport clothing, money, or jewels on their animals to the kingdom of Navarre – under penalty of the loss of their animals and all of their gear – unless they received permission from the local authorities.17 Queen Iolant informed the baile of the Borja Jewish community, on August 9, that Bernat Canalies of the treasury would soon arrive at the judaria to supervise “the defense and good future” of the aljama. She ordered the official to host Bernat and his colleagues in the Jewish quarter, and to offer him all advice and support. To the aljama of the Jews and its leaders, adelantados, Iolant declared that they heed the orders of the alcayt of the castle of Borja, as well as those of the royal official, baile, in charge of the aljama. The Jews should abide by all the necessary measures enacted to conserve and protect their community.18 What the Queen had in mind was evident when she notified five “Jews of our villa of Borja,” that she had purchased armor, at the cost of 200 florins, intended for the Jews’ defense, and that she expected immediate repayment. Iolant, that same August 9, instructed these five Jews to divide the sum amongst themselves, and to forward the money to Bernat Canalies. She also granted these Jews the authority to assess and to gather the 200 florins – at their own expense, from the aljama and its members. The bailiff of the aljama was to aid them in the collection.19 Iolant, that same day, sought to provide security for the Jews of Tauste. The queen instructed the justicia of the villa, and five of its scuderos, to separate the Jews and their wives from the rest of the population, and to place them in a more secure section of town, so to avoid “scandals and 17

18 19

Reg. 2050, fols. 52v–53r. See the chapter on Iolant. The queen was concerned about the Muslim population as well. On the kingdom of Navarre as a welcoming locale for Jews, see my brief remarks embedded in “Julio Segura Moneo: In memoriam,” Huarte de San Juan. Geograf´ıa e Historia 18 (2011), pp. 55–56. Reg. 2029 fol. 175v, ¶1 to the baile, and fol. 176r to the aljama and its officials. Judaria is equivalent to juder´ıa, the Jewish quarter. Ibid., fol. 176r-v, and published in Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 219.

The Kingdom of Aragon

171

dangers.” The queen declared that the jurados and hombres buenos of the Tauste were dedicated to the protection of the Jews and urged the royal officials, and the noblemen, to work in tandem with their municipal counterparts.20 By mid-month, Queen Iolant appeared satisfied with the guard that the royal and local Borja officials, and the nobleman Miguel de San Pedro [sic], provided the Jews, and thanked them for helping in their restoration. Still, the Jews in this corner of Aragon were subjected to threats. Around August 16, King Joan considered directing officials of Ejea – north of Tauste alongside the border with Navarre, to improve their guard of its Jews. Although he already requested provisions for their safety, an improved defense seemed necessary. The king, on August 22, ordered the authorities of Sos – further north of Ejea but similarly close to the Navarrese border, to defend its aljama of Jews in light of the riots breaking out in some of his aljamas.21 The royal and local officials of Luna, northeast of Ejea, received notification, on August 16, from the duquessa and procuradriz, Dona ˜ Maria, wife of the infant Mart´ı, that the aljamas of Jews of the cities and villas of the king had been assaulted. The duchess was displeased, specificially, that some, without reason, had spoken ill of and had acted badly against “our aljama” of Luna. Maria stressed that she and the duke did not want either danger or scandal to develop in their senyoria, and charged the officials to guard and defend the Jews, and punish those who wished to injure them. She promised that, in the event that she would discover that the officials were culpable in these matters, she would punish them in a manner that would serve as a deterrent to others intent on harming Jews. Maria sent similar communications, the same day, to the officials of the locale of Biel further north of Luna, and to the officials of the locale of Arandiga, south of the Ebro, on August 17.22 ´ Jews were being threatened, if not attacked, north of the Ebro. King Joan, on August 18, ordered the governor of Aragon to pursue legally the criminals and evil-doers who threatened Jews in the region around Aynsa, in Barbastro itself, and those who besieged the Jews of Tamarite. The king supported the governor’s measures against these individuals and 20 21

22

Ibid., fols. 176–177r. Ibid., fol. 177v ¶s 1 and 2 for Borja; Reg. 1878, fol. 117v for Ejea, which is not dated but follows other documents of August 16. A marginal note indicates that the letter was not sent. Ibid., fol. 137r-v is about Sos. ´ Reg. 2108, fols. 4v–5r. See, generally, Miguel Angel Motis Dolader, Los jud´ıos de Luna en la edad media (Ambista, 2011). Procuradriz in Aragonese is equivalent to procuradriu, agent, in Catalan.

172

“The Things As They Happened”

promised that neither he nor his subordinates would interfere with his actions. He offered the governor the necessary support to enable the Jews to be defended.23 Many steps had to be taken to ensure the Jews’ safety. Jews wanted to proceed legally against their presumed assailants, and the king, on August 14, granted them such permission. Two days later, Joan ordered both royal authorities and those of Fraga, probably in response to an actual attack, to gather both Jews and Muslims in the royal castle and to provide for their needs. The king, on August 18, acknowledged their efforts toward the defense and restoration of both the Jews and Muslims, and asked the authorities to expand their guard. But all this did not appear sufficient. The king added that if a Muslim or Jew would volunteer to be baptized, they would be able, as an incentive, to retain all their property. The king was wary to publicize his directive for fear that townspeople would seek to force other Jews, against their will, to come to the Cross.24 Jaca Jews were imperiled as well. The queen had cautioned Jaca officials at the end of June about possible attacks against its Jews and had praised them on July 22 for their effective guard of the aljama. Still, the king, on August 4, encouraged “our beloved counselor” mossen Gonc¸albo Forcen, who served as justicia of the city, and as the capitan of the city and the surrounding mountains, to declare publicly that it was forbidden to harm the Jews or their property. Joan was aware that the jurados and hombres buenos had enacted important provisions that had safeguarded the Jews from harm and danger, and endorsed their course of action as the better part of prudence.25 Apparently, the capitan and the jurados and good men of Jaca continued to provide “exceptional” protection for the aljama, since later in 23

24

25

Reg. 1961, fol. 78r, published mostly by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 677, no. 424. While Baer asserts, A History, vol. 2, p. 112, based on this document, that the Jews of Aynsa, Barbastro, as well as Tamarite were besieged, Tamarite is the only town where the Jews were mentioned as “acercados,” which also carries the connotation of being harassed. Reg. 1901, fol. 74v contains the order of August 14 and is discussed in Joaqu´ın Salleras Clario, ´ “L’Aljama de jueus de Fraga,” Tamid 6 (2006–2007), p. 163. For August 16, see Reg. 1878, fol. 116v, produced in part in ibid., p. 169; and fol. 124r-v and fol. 124v for August 18. See, below, the king chapter. Salleras Clario, ´ p. 170, asserts that the empty Jewish quarter was attacked on August 16, basing himself on Reg. 1948, fol. 181r. He is not aware of Joan’s directive regarding conversion. See my dicussion in the chapter on the king. For more on the conversion of some Fraga Jews, although without information on when these conversions took place, see the letters of Astruch Rimoch published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 359, pp. 694–696, nos. 440 and 441, and discussed in Salleras Clario, ´ p. 151, and infra, the king chapter. Reg. 1848, fol. 158v.

The Kingdom of Aragon

173

the month, on August 21, Iolant and Joan again thanked them for having demonstrated virtue and loyalty. Nevertheless, Jaca remained tense. Two days later, Joan requested that the capitan stay in the city until further notice. Similarly, on August 17, Joan instructed Lop de Gurrea, who was charged with the defense and guard of the aljama of the Jews of Huesca, not to depart from the city and to disregard orders to the contrary.26 Attacks against the Jews south of the Ebro also continued into August, persuading Joan, on August 3, to place the Jews of Alcaniz ˜ and its surrounding locales, collectas – inhabitants and sojourners alike, together with all their property, under his special protection. The king, on the 7th, thanked Blasio Ram and Roderico Lupi de Luna, who were charged with defending the Jews, and expressed gratitude to the royal and local officials, “good and loyal subjects,” and reminded them that with the will of God and their industriousness, the Jews would be saved from all sinister events.27 King Joan profusely thanked the Alcaniz ˜ comendador mayor, the following day, for his custody of the Jews, and asserted that the efforts 26

27

Reg. 2054, fol. 103r, in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 678–679, no. 426 is the letter from the queen. Reg. 1852, fols. 129v–130r is the king’s missive of the same date. The queen had heard from the king regarding the activities the capitan and the jurados, and also from the report that the Viscount of Roda, the royal counselor and chamberlain, had rendered both to her and the king. Joan mentioned in his letter that the Viscount Raymundo Alamani de Ceruilione had recently visited the area. The queen promised Jaca inhabitants that they would be appropriately rewarded by herself and her husband, and encouraged them to continue even more strenuously to protect the Jews so that the aljama and its members be preserved from all manner of harm. Joan again ordered the capitan to announce that the aljama and its members were under royal safeguard and protection. Joan’s letter of the 23rd to the capitan of Jaca is in Reg. 1961 at fol. 82r ¶1; that to Lop de Gurrea in Reg. 1878; fol. 118v. The king had received his information regarding Jaca from both the capitan and from his adviser and chamberlain, the Viscount of Perellos. ´ Miguel Angel Motis Dolader, “Aproximacion de la com´ a la evolucion ´ demografica ´ ´ Gudiol (Huesca, 1995) munidad jud´ıa de Jaca,” in Homenaje a Don Antonio Duran p. 615 and his La aljama jud´ıa de Jaca en el siglo XV (Huesca, 1998), pp. 20–21 offers an overview of the events of 1391 from the documents published by Baer. Reg. 1910, fols. 133v–144r, dated September 1, 1395 and cited fragmentarily in Baer, p. 679, is the source for his comment in A History, vol. 2, p. 112 that most of the Jewish quarter was destroyed by fire. It remains unclear when this conflagration took place. Reg. 1901, fols. 46v–47r is the statement of protection. No one was to dare to harm them and their belongings, and all the officials kingdom-wide from his brother the infant Mart´ı to the justicia, jurados, good men, consello, and universidad in Alcaniz ˜ and its collecta were enjoined to uphold, and not contravene, this order. See, infra, the chapters on the king and queen. Reg. 1878, fols. 101v–102r, is to Blasio Ram; fol. 102r-v to Roderico Lupi de Luna; and fol. 102r to the officials.

174

“The Things As They Happened”

of the comendador and the provisions, which the jurados had ordained, had prevented the lawless and foolhardy from wreaking violence upon the Jews. So that the aljama and its members “be better defended and guarded from all riots and unrest of the people,” Joan directed the commander to find a way to gather them and their property in the local castle and, “in honor of and consideration of us,” allot the Jews a specific area in the castle “where they could stay.”28 Notwithstanding his earlier commendation and instruction, King Joan, on August 11, ordered the comendador to entrust the guard of the aljama of Alcaniz ˜ to Blac¸ [sic] Ram. The comendador was off to join the king’s retinue in Catalonia, Joan explained to Ram, that same day, and therefore Blasio would remain in Alcaniz, ˜ and serve as the “ruler and defender” of the aljama. Ram would recruit the best people available for this task, and thus would earn his and his queen’s gratitude.29 Despite the arrangements, Alcaniz ˜ Jews may well have been attacked. On August 14, the king charged the Aragonese governor, the local justicia and other officials, to preserve the Jews and to restore the aljama. The king related how several creditors of the Jewish community and its members in Alcaniz ˜ and its collectas were unable to collect their debts from the Jews because of “the attacks against the Jews in many parts of our dominions.” The Jews had beseeched the monarch for a remedy since they feared, as did the king, that financial pressures could lead them to abandon the town.30 Damage inflicted upon Alcaniz ˜ Jews may have prompted the king, on August 16, to dispatch his standard missive to the royal justicia and baile of Alcaniz, ˜ in which he decried the attacks against the Jews in his dominions, called for the Jews to be protected, asked for provisions to be enacted, demanded the restoration of the aljama, warned the officials against scandals, and called for severe punishment of those who perpetrated these crimes. Responsibility for the Jews had probably not yet been transferred because, as late as August 23, Joan urged the commander to come quickly with his armed men to the royal court even though the king had not arranged payment for the commander and his retinue.31 28 29

30 31

Ibid., fols. 102v–103r and fol. 102v, respectively, both dated August 8. Reg. 1961, fol. 66v to the comendador and fols. 66v–67r to Blasio Ram. In the letter to the comendador, the king mentions that the military commander, accompanied by armed men, had come to accompany him in Catalonia. The king was collecting militia men during August; see the chapter on King Joan. Reg. 1878, fol. 120r. Cf. Iolant’s order of August 12, Reg. 2050, fol. 53v. Ibid., fols. 117v–118r on the 16th and Reg. 1961, fol. 82v dated the August 23.

The Kingdom of Aragon

175

Although, at the end of July, it appeared to the king that Teruel Jews were not being adequately protected by local officials, Queen Iolant, on August 24, expressed gratitude to city officials for having guarded and preserved the aljama of Jews and its property “from all scandals and dangers.” Mossen Francisco de Aranda, the queen’s “beloved counselor and procurador general,” who had recently been in the city while he oversaw the collections of various monies from the aljama, had probably relayed these observations to Iolant. Nevertheless, the queen opined, there was reason for concern, “especially now that many people are gathering in the city for the fair.” Without the necessary provisions for the Jews’ safety, the queen feared that those who ascended to the feria in this mountainous southern Aragonese city might harm the Jewish community. King Joan echoed the queen’s message to a broad swath of officials in Teruel and declared that the arrangement the Teruel city government, universidat, had made with Mossen Francisco regarding the guard for the aljama was agreeble to him. The king directed all these officials to provide the Jews with both arms and food, and further ordered the city fathers to capture and punish anyone who, attending the feria in the fortified market, alcacer, would attack the Jews. Those who diminished the royal coffers or attacked regalian rights should be treated as enemies.32 Iolant identified those whom she perceived as threats to the Jewish community when, that same day, she confronted the authorities in the comunidat de las aldeas – the organization of village communities within the ambit of Teruel, with information that some of their residents and inhabitants daily menaced and verbally abused the aljama and the individual Jews of Teruel, and agitated the “pueblo” to rob and kill the Jews. Iolant urged the officials, on August 24, to reason with these people, and demand that they abstain from such activities. If the villagers refused, the officials were ordered to mete out punisment so severe that it would serve as a deterrent.33 Threats to the Jews of Calatayud, who had been harassed toward the end of July, came from both within and outside of the city. While the king, on August 14, described the provisions enacted by the city’s 32

33

Reg. 2054, fol. 104v, from the queen, and Reg. 1878, fols. 137v–138r from the king. About Francisco de Aranda and his service to the queen and king, see infra, the chapters on Joan and Iolant. See Mar´ıa Teresa Ferrer i Mallol, “Un aragon´es consejero de Juan I ´ en la Edad Media 14–15 (1999) y de Mart´ın el Humano: Francisco de Aranda,” Aragon [Homenaje a la profesora Carmen Orcastegui Gros.], especially, pp. 536–537. ´ Reg. 2054, fol. 105r, and published in Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 681, no. 429.

176

“The Things As They Happened”

officials in defense of its Jews as reflecting their behavior as good and loyal vassals, Joan ordered the local authorities to ensure that “outsiders do not gain access to the city and harm the Jews.” He urged that individuals from each neighborhood be prepared to guard the Jewish community and directed that individuals loyal to the church and fortress of Santa Maria la Penya be required to pledge, under oath, their dedication to the Jews’ protection.34 While it was Joan and Iolant’s considered opinion that the Jews were not in any danger from an uproar incited by “bad people,” preventive measures had to be pursued. The king and queen instructed Felip Dordas, the batle of the city, and Pero de Linyan and Alfonso Moyoc¸ [sic], the two scuderos whom the king had charged with the protection of the Jews, that they should devote their efforts to repair and to fortify the walls of the juder´ıa. The monarchs empowered them to demolish houses that abutted these walls – if it proved necessary, and to fortify the external facades of Jewish homes located outside of the Jewish quarter. Yet, Iolant, on that same August 14, charged Pero de Linyan, described as “the alcayt of the castiello of our judaria of the city of Calatayud” to transfer his command of the castle to the clavarios, financial officials, of the city so the Jews and their property would be preserved. The monarchs may have been skeptical about the commitment of the castle’s guardians to the safety of the city’s Jews.35 Local Calatayud officials, in August, displayed a commitment to the defense of Aragonese Jews when their captured men involved in the “riots and great robberies” of “the aljamas of the Jews of the cities of Barcelona, Valencia and other places.” The king, upon hearing the news, demanded, on August 22, rigorous punishment for the two or more men who were found guilty of these crimes. Joan also charged the officials to make a public inventory of all the stolen property, and to send it immediately to the royal court by a royal portero dispatched for this purpose. The king alerted the officials that they would also need to account for their own possessions.36 34 35 36

Reg. 1878, fol. 112r. Jews apparently lived near the church. Ibid., fols. 112v–113r for the king; Reg. 2029, fol. 177r for the queen’s letter to the two noblemen, and ibid., fol. 177r-v, for her missive to Pero de Linyan. Reg. 1948, fol. 185r. The arrest of those charged with rioting against the Jews in Barcelona and Valencia did not diminish the king’s concern for the Jews’ safety in the city. On that same Thursday, Reg. 1878, fols. 134v–135r, Joan declared to three men of the de Luna family, the noblemen Anthonio and Johan Martinez, and the royal majordomo Ferdinando

The Kingdom of Aragon

177

Apparently, the city officials upon whom the king relied were to him not above suspicion. So disposed, King Joan directed municipal leaders, on August 23, to deliver the prisoners to the royal justicia of the city. That same day, the king instructed the justicia and another royal official to interrogate the two men, and “if through their confession or another way you find they were involved in the riots and looting, to hang them so that they will die.”37 In Saragossa, where the king and queen were in residence, Joan was personally involved in the safety of the local Jews and in keeping peace within the city. The king explained to the Master of the military Order of Montesa, on August 18, that he would remain in Saragossa for a few more days to stabilize the city and to ensure that “similar incidents do not unfold here.” The king likewise notified the Barcelona councilors, on August 21, that new developments in Sarragossa delayed his travel to their city. He would have left Saragossa days ago, Joan offered, on August 24, but some people attempted to provoke a disturbance. The king declared that, in advance of his departure, he would continue, daily, to administer punishments. Joan affirmed that, by the grace of God, he would leave Saragossa in such circumstances that not only the city but the entire Kingdom of Aragon would abide in peace and tranquility.38

37

38

Lopez, as well as the nobleman Luppo Ximenez Dorrea, that he held the aljama of the Jews of Calatayud close to his heart, that lawless people were attempting to harm them, that they are a royal treasure, and that they should defend these Jews from all harm. Ibid., fols. 133v–134r is the order to the municipal officials. Fol. 134r-v to the leaders of the aldeas, was edited and published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 134, no. 208(a). Reg. 1961, fol. 82r-v is the letter to the justicia and the algutzir. On September 27, Reg. 1879, fol. 13r, Joan ordered the justicia of Calatayud to investigate fully whether two Portuguese – escuderos of the infant don Dionis of Portugal whom he had in his custody, were present during the riots against the Jews in Barcelona. If Sancho Darbolancha and Martin Daranna were not involved, they should be freed immediately and their arms and personal effects returned. Joan warned his official that, in such an eventuality, he should not await further royal orders. If, however, they were connected to the unrest, the justicia should proceed against them. The royal letter of August 18 is in Reg. 1961 at fol. 78r-v and was published in large part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 133, no. 204 and in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 678, no. 425. The August 21 letter to Barcelona is at fol. 79v ¶1 and was published in part in Itinerari, p. 134, no. 206. The August 24 missive to Pero Moles and Bartholomeo Auellenede is at fol. 84v, and can be found in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 681–682, no. 430 and in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 135, no. 209b. On November 17, Reg. 1961, fol. 162r, Joan pronounced himself pleased with the tranquil state of the city: see infra, the chapter on the king. From Saragossa on August 30, Reg. 1878, fols. 147v–148r, Joan learned of the fine defense of the local Jewish community provided by the justicia, bayle, jurados, and hombres buenos of Montalban, ´ to whom, on July 24, he had granted special royal

178

“The Things As They Happened”

Royal retainers, themselves, could also pose a threat to the safety of Jews. On September 3, King Joan instructed his brother Mart´ı – whom the king expected would pass through Teruel en route to visit him in Saragossa, not to let anyone from his household or retinue incite violence or instigate complaints against the local Jews. Joan wanted Mart´ı to ensure that, when his entourage departed Teruel, the aljama and its members would be safe and secure.39 Two weeks later, Teruel Jews, who had been gathered in the fortified area to protect them from those arriving for the local feria, wished to leave the “alcoc¸ar,” and to return to the juder´ıa. In an attempt to accommodate the Jews, the king, on September 17, charged Teruel authorities to take the Jews under their protection and guard them appropriately. Still, a month later, the safety of Teruel Jews who wished to travel in the countryside remained unsecured. The king intervened, on October 2, with the officials of the city and its aldeas to protect Jamila, widow of a local Jew, Ac¸ach Ardit, who, like many other Jews in the wake of the attacks, was afraid to travel to the villages surrounding the town to collect money and goods that were owed to her.40 Rural hamlets and public roads in the vicinity of Alcaniz ˜ proved dangerous for Jews during these months. In Las Cuevas de Canart, a small ˜ town southwest of Alcaniz, riots erupted and Jews were killed. Royal ˜ officials, specifically the procurator fiscal of the curia, Berenguer Soler, and the procurator of the portero initiated proceedings against the justicia, one of the jurados, and some men of the universitat of the hamlet, accusing them of responsibility for the unrest that had raged in their locale, and for the death of Mosse Rosano, his wife Bemilam, and other Jews. Although the local portero and the bailiff of Alcaniz ˜ Jews had placed these Jews under special protection, the accused allegedly had

39 40

protection. While the safety of the Jews of Montalban ´ was good news, the king expressed no small displeasure that even after the riots and looting in Barcelona and Majorca, Jews and their aljamas remained targets of attackers. Joan mentioned that Bernat Arlonin, whom he had sent to Montalban ´ for this purpose and who had reported to him on the protection of the Jews, would continue to keep him informed. Joan ordered them to aid Arlonin as needed. See R. Sainz de la Maza, “La aljama jud´ıa de Montalban ´ ´ (1307–91),” Anuario de estudios medievales 14 (1984), pp. 345–391 and Miguel Angel ´ (siglos xiii–xv) (Saragossa, Motis Dolader, La comunidad jud´ıa y conversa de Montalban 2006), p. 36 and pp. 41–45. Reg. 1878, fol. 151r-v, published (but incorrectly cited) by Riera Sans in Los tumultos, pp. 224–225. See infra, the duke chapter. The letter of September 17 is in ibid., at fol. 174r ¶2. ACA, Cancelleria Real, Cartas Reals, Joan I, caixa 6, no. 596 and summarized in Assis ed., Cartas Reales II, p. 246, no. 1213 is the order of October 2.

The Kingdom of Aragon

179

captured the Jews, imprisoned them in a private jail, seized their property, and afterward killed them. On September 12, King Joan ordered the royal supraiunctario of Saragossa, effectively to bypass other jurisdictional authorities, and to seize both the guilty parties and ten additional members of the universitat who participated in these violent actions, and to transfer them to the custody of the judicial official, the algutzir. Joan advised the official to post royal pennants in the hamlet to leave no doubt that the area was under effective monarchic control.41 Two other Jews from Alcaniz, ˜ armed with a royal writ of safe-passage, were taken captive while traveling on a public road, and privately incarcerated. Three individuals from the town of La Ginebrosa, south of Alcaniz, ˜ were accused of the crime, and a representative of the queen’s treasury brought suit against them before the royal court. The king, on that same September 12, ordered the supraiunctario to capture these residents of the La Ginebrosa, and to deliver them to the algutzir’s prison.42 During July and August, King Joan had attempted to ensure the safety of Huesca’s Jews and accordingly had ordered his counselor Lope de Gurrea, as recently as August 17, to remain within the city. The king was still fearful, on September 16, that riots might be incited against the Aragonese aljamas, which remained unscathed, including the Jewish community of Huesca. Lope, evidently, had left the city because Joan ordered him to travel immediately to Huesca, guard its Jewish population, and punish, severely if necessary, anyone who provoked unrest. Joan instructed the aljama and its regidores to inform Lope about any attacks against them, and to suggest to him how they might be better protected. The king instructed royal officials to respond to all of Lope’s requests as they would to orders that originated from the king himself.43 41

42

43

Reg. 1949, fols. 4v-5r. The officials of La Ginebrosa had received the July 19 royal letter about the unrest in Alcaniz: ˜ see above. Samuel Fanato of Alcaniz ˜ together with his wife, children, family, and property were given safe passage on September 7 by the king, Reg. 1901, fol. 72r; by the queen on September 9, Reg. 2029, fol. 181v ¶1; and again by the king on September 26, Reg. 1901, fol. 83r. See infra, the chapters on the king and queen. Ibid., fol. 5v. Perhaps the reality reflected in this document explains the comment made by Yehoshua ha Lorki of Alcaniz ˜ in his letter to the former Shlomo ha Levi of Burgos about why he did not travel to visit his teacher: “I [would have done so] except for the fact that the attempt to travel there would lead to harm, about which it is not appropriate to put in writing.” See, inter alia, Benjamin R. Gampel, “A Letter to a Wayward Teacher: The Transformations of Sephardic Culture in Christian Iberia,” in David Biale ed., Cultures of the Jews. A New History (New York, 2002), p. 423. Reg. 1961, fols. 107v–108v, published in Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 685–687, no. 433 and more fully by Girona y Llagostera in Disposicions, pp. 120–121.

180

“The Things As They Happened”

Huesca Jews were sufficiently secure, by November 6, that the king notified Lope that the aljama, thanks to Lope’s diligence, no longer required his protection. Mindful of the expenses that the aljama had incurred in its own defense, the king asked his counselor to leave the city, and to return only when the community would request his services. Persuaded of the Jews’ safety, the king requested, on November 25, that the Jews return to their homes. Joan announced that 200 florins would cover Lope’s salary for time served and ordered his officials to have the Jews render the sum. Apparently, Lope had demanded a larger fee, but Joan declared that he took the Jews’ situation into consideration.44 When Hasdai Crescas, from Saragossa, concluded his report to Avignon Jewry on 20 Marheshvan, 5152 – October 19 of 1391, he wrote that “we here today in the cities of Aragon suffer no breach and no wailing. As a result of the Lord’s mercy, he has left us a remnant in all locales. After forceful representations and the grand dispersal of all our possessions, nothing remains to us but our bodies.”45 But the attacks against the Jews of the cities of Aragon had not ended. While in mid-September the king had felt sufficiently confident to allow the Jews of Teruel who had sheltered in the local fortress to return to their homes, the countryside had still remained unsettled. In early January 1392, two Teruel Jews were robbed and killed, and Magister Ezdra of Teruel, a father of one of the victims, complained to the royal court. King Joan, on January 10, supported Ezdra’s protest as he rebuked the comendador, justicia, and jurados of the locales of Villel and Vilestar – both hamlets just southwest of Teruel, and ordered the officials to provide a judicial remedy for Ezdra’s grievance.46

44

45 46

On the same day, Reg. 1878, fol. 170r-v, the king granted the Jews of Huesca some latitude in their repayment of debts, taking into account the unrest, which had erupted against some of the kingdom’s aljamas, and the Jews’ fear of an outbreak in their city. Reg. 1851, fol. 31r ¶1 is dated November 6; Reg. 1962, fol. 9r ¶3 is dated November 25. Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 687 who briefly summarized the letter, incorrectly dated it to September 25. It appears that the Jews of Huesca were not harmed. Some of the destroyed houses, mentioned later in the decade, may have been in ruins since the French invasion of midcentury: see Ricardo del Arco and Federico Balaguer, “La aljama judaica de Huesca,” Sefarad 9 (1949), p. 358. On Jewish indebtedness in 1393, partially as a result of payments for their own defense, see Antonio Duran ´ Gudiol, La juder´ıa de Huesca (Saragossa, 1984), p. 109, and the document from the Archivo de la Catedral de Huesca, sign. 3–882, which is partially transcribed in Ap´endice 2, pp. 155–162. See citation in the Prologue. Reg. 1850, fols. 117v–118r. I assume that the attack took place in early January. See infra, the chapter on the king.

The Kingdom of Aragon

181

Teruel Jews faced conversionary pressures as well. The aljama wanted to ensure that disputations between Jews and long-standing or recent converts, and public sermons delivered by these conversos, should only be allowed to take place in the city if such gatherings had been authorized by a representative of the municipality. The aljama feared that attempts to convert the remaining Jews would lead to a “scandal,” worse than had already occurred. On January 11, Joan, in response to a petition from the Jewish community, ordered royal and city officials to follow the guidelines suggested by the aljama, or they would incur a fine of 200 golden florins.47 The city of Teruel was in turmoil. According to King Joan, several inhabitants of the city of Teruel had harassed aljama Jews, murdered some of its members, and ignored pleas for their safety. The Jews – the king again declared, on January 17, were under his special protection. The queen, in turn, demanded that “all and each one of the Jews of the city of Teruel” identify those “who had killed, harmed, wounded, and injured you or any of you” or would inflict harm on your persons and property, and ordered the Jews, on January 18, to file a formal legal complaint against those individuals. Iolant threatened to seize the Jews’ persons and property if they claimed that their fear of the local inhabitants delayed their pursuit of legal redress.48 According to a complaint Queen Iolant issued, that same day, Teruel municipal officials had also not initiated proceedings against those who had harmed the Jews although they had received requisite royal authorization. The queen warned the leaders of the villages surrounding Teruel, also on January 18, not to allow Jews to be harmed. Should there be another attack, Iolant announced, the guilty were to be transferred to the royal judiciary, and the stolen property guarded and inventoried.49 The attacks against Jews in the Teruel countryside had disturbed the monarchs since – according to Iolant, on January 22 – the authorities and the individuals living in the villages of both high and low estate, had recklessly violated royal safeguards, and killed, robbed, assaulted and generally mistreated the Teruel Jews. Joan promised, that same day, to punish those who looked upon the Jews of Teruel when they traveled

47 48

49

Ibid., fol. 118r-v. Reg. 1900, fols. 175v–176r, is the king’s letter. The first lines of the text was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, no. 442, p. 696. Iolant’s message to the Jewish community is in Reg. 2029, fol. 194v ¶1. On her concerns, see, infra, the chapter on the queen. Ibid., fol. 194v ¶2 to the city officials; and fol. 195r to the leaders of the aldeas.

182

“The Things As They Happened”

through the aldeas “as if the said Jews do not have a lord to defend them.”50 Officials of the villages surrounding Teruel, and not the leaders of the Teruel municipality, were apparently to blame for the Jews’ fate. On behalf of himself and the queen, Joan, on February 7, congratulated the regidores and good men of the city for preserving the universitat of the aljama of the Jews even as he “marveled” at the negligence of the procurador, and regidores of the city’s neighboring villages, in allowing Jews to be harmed. The king again ordered them, and the city’s judicial officials, to punish the wrongdoers.51 The countryside south of the Ebro continued to be dangerous for Jews. Joan ordered the governor of Aragon, on January 26, to travel personally to Daroca and its aldeas and investigate what had happened, the other day, when two Jews of Daroca, “earning their living” in a local village, were set upon by some villagers who forcibly converted them to Christianity. The attackers also made the Jews transfer all their property to them. Afterwards, in another aldea, a Jew was “simply collecting his debts,” when he and his companion were stabbed to death. Not punishing

50

51

Ibid., fol. 196r-v is from the queen. Reg. 1879, fol. 125r, from the king, was published in part by Girona y Llagostera, p. 152, no. 254. Both letters do not contain addressees. The financial health of the Teruel Jews prompted the king and queen, that same day, to write individual notes to an unnamed bishop who attempted to have the Jews of Teruel grant a moratorium on debts that his men and those of the castellan´ıa of Amposta owed them: Reg. 2029, fol. 196r from the queen, and Reg. 1879, fol. 124v from the king. In parallel fashion, on the 22nd, the king and queen upbraided En Pere Casals who on account of a censal granted to him by the aljama of the Jews of Teruel, seized the debts that the Teruel Jews held in the villages surrounding south-of-the-Ebro cities of Daroca, Calatayud, and Teruel. The king asked Casals to pardon the Jews’ obligation to him and that the Jews have use of the monies owed to them because ultimately the nobleman would be able to redeem his censal if the aljama were preserved and would lose it if destroyed: Reg. 2029, fol. 196v from the queen and Reg. 1879, fol. 125r-v from the king. On all, see the chapters on the king and queen. The congratulatory letter of February 7 is at Reg. 1879, fols. 145v–146r; to the village officials in ibid., fol. 147r-v; and to the juez and alcaldes at fol. 146r. The king, on January 24, repeated the queen’s January 18 order to the Jewish community for a census of their members, exhorted them to pursue legal redress from their attackers, expressed anger to the municipal officials over the events, and asked them to help the Jews and punish the malefactors: Reg. 1852, fol. 11v ¶2. Joan also directed the procurador fiscal of the city, ibid., fol. 11r to pursue those who harmed the Jews, and, similarly, the juez, alcaldes, and other officials of the city: Reg. 1851, fol. 94r-v and Reg. 1850, fols. 128v-129r, respectively. The king also followed up with the governor and justicia of Aragon about the Jews’ complaint about their debts being seized and monies impounded because of an outstanding censal: Reg. 1852, at fol. 11v ¶1. See infra, the chapter on the king.

The Kingdom of Aragon

183

those guilty for these acts, Joan declared, encouraged others to commit graver offenses. The king instructed his governor to put all other affairs aside, gather the necessary information, and follow up with appropriate punishment. If as a result of the factional fighting in Calatayud, the governor was unable to leave for Daroca, the king advocated that he send his algutzir, or someone else in whom he had complete confidence. On March 11, Iolant observed to the justicia of the city of Calatayud that on account of the uproar provoked against “our aljama of the Jews of Calatayud and others of that kingdom,” the Jews were on the verge of final destruction.52 The Jewish quarter of Albarrac´ın, just east of Teruel, was also attacked in January, and many Jews were brutally murdered. The king, on February 5, found fault with the insufficient protections put in place by the municipal leaders. Two days later, Joan entrusted the authorities in the city to protect the Jewish quarter’s surviving inhabitants, so that which “happened to those aljamas of Cathalonya” would not occur. He also directed the city-officials to guard those who were responsible for the assault until they received further royal orders about how to proceed. On February 8, the king granted a royal official full power to negotiate agreements about civil and criminal cases arising from the January attack in Albarrac´ın and its environs, and ordered the governor and justicia of the kingdom to supply the necessary support.53 We end our story of the riots, on April 1 of 1392, when the King from Barcelona informed the capitan, justicia, and hombres buenos of the mountainous city of Jaca north of the Ebro that the preservation of the honor of the crown involved the protection and guard of the aljama of the Jews. Some “children of iniquity” had created a scandalous situation,

52

53

The king’s letter to the governor is in Reg. 1963 Fol. 23r-v and was partly published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 696–697, no. 443. On February 5, Reg. 2039, fol. 104r-v, Iolant, among other things, wrote to her officials about Christian and Muslim indebtedness to Jews among the inhabitants of the aldeas of Daroca. The March 11 letter of the queen is in Reg. 2039, fols. 109v–110r. See her decision regarding the tussles between Jews and Muslims in Daroca in 1389 in Jaume Riera, “La precedencia entre jud´ıos y moros en el reino de Aragon,” in Elena Romero ed., Juda´ısmo Hispano. ´ ˜ vol. 2 (Madrid, 2002), pp. 550–551 Estudios en memoria de Jos´e Luis Lacave Riano, and ff., and the discussion in the chapter on Iolant. Reg. 1949, fol. 49r-v, fols. 50v–51r, and fol. 51r, all dated February 5, are discussed in infra, the chapter on the king. Reg. 1963, fol. 30r ¶1, dated February 7, was published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 697, no. 444. The February 8 declaration is in Reg. 1980, fol. 109v.

184

“The Things As They Happened”

the other day, which had occasioned the deaths of two Jews. Joan ordered the officials to guard the Jews, and to punish those “wicked people filled with a diabolical spirit,” so that physical and verbal attacks against the Jews would cease.54

54

Reg. 1852, fols. 70v–71r. Joan, also that day, ibid., 71r, rebuked Fradrich Durries, a local scudero, for the death of the two Jews, which had occurred in his district and which had caused harm to the queen. Joan reproached him for not having been sufficiently watchful, and for not having punished those who harmed Jews as the aljama had requested. Fradrich should punish those responsible for the deaths so the Jews could move securely through the royal patrimony, and be able to earn a livelihood.

Epilogue

While this comprehensive survey of the riots and the attacks against the Jews of the Crown of Aragon does not provide simple answers as to the identity of – in King Joan’s words, those “children of iniquity” who perpetrated the death and destruction, it does instruct us about the variety of groups and individuals who killed and maimed Jews, and destroyed Jewish communities. In almost all the sites beset by unrest, officials pointed to outsiders who perpetrated the violence. Indeed, there may have been truth in these allegations, even as they served the apologetic needs of those who made those assertions. In the city of Valencia, where riots erupted first in the Crown of Aragon, officials asserted that the riots were instigated by a group of youths who, waving crosses, asserted that Ferrant Mart´ınez, the “archdeacon of Castile” was coming to baptize the Jews. Mart´ınez, through his activities in Seville, was apparently responsible for the outbreak of the riots in the Kingdom of Castile and could plausibly have planted the seeds for the eruption of violence in the adjacent nearby Crown of Aragon. Similarly, officials in Morvedre in the Kingdom of Valencia initially cast blame for their city’s riots on those from the city of Valencia to their south. Later on they accused individuals from Puc¸ol, a town located between their city and Valencia, and on vagrants as well. Elsewhere in the Kingdom of Valencia, those of Borriana focused on people who marched from Vila-real, although they admitted these may have been aided by some of the local inhabitants. All parties to the turmoil that bedeviled the City of Majorca agreed that “bad and lawless men,” comprising a large number of individuals who lived outside of the capital, together with 185

186

“The Things As They Happened”

many and diverse city-dwellers, invaded and seized the Jewish quarter and eventually forced out its inhabitants. “Malicious and iniquitous individuals, outsiders as well as locals” determined the fate of the Jews of Barcelona. As would be expected in a port city, “gentes marittime” sailors, fishermen, and others, joined the fray, among them fifty Castilians who had arrived in two vessels from Valencia. The little people, “gentem minutam,” who were not part of the municipal power structure, also known as the “popularis,” were among those who forced their way into the jail of the Barcelona veguer, moved toward the Casa de la Ciutat, and with the “gents dafora,” people from outside, were diverted toward the portal of the Jewish quarter. Aided by the rustics, the call was sacked, the Castell Nou besieged, the Jews forcibly driven from their safe haven, and widespread death and conversion ensued. The Girona magistrates similarly first reported about “peasants and outsiders” but soon acknowledged an additional source of urban unrest, wicked individuals within the city who were poised to riot and to pillage, including the lower classes who insisted on the abolition of various taxes. Later, the city fathers called attention to ecclesiastics and their prophecies. As the weeks passed, the municipal leaders pointed to wealthy individuals and a variety of churchmen from the surrounding area – in tandem with the bad men of the city and peasants from the vegueria, as being complicit. It was additionally alleged that the small people, the gent menuda, argued that it would be better if the Jews were baptized or they would “go to the devil.” Later, artisans were identified as complicit in the attacks. At any rate, diverse individuals, ecclesiastical and lay, had removed money and jewels from the Jews, and took possession of their property. While, in Lleida, artisan groups and students of the local Franciscan studium may have been suspected, no party to the Perpignan violence was identified beyond the general characterization of the assailants as “evil people.” Elsewhere in Catalonia, the poble was singled out in Tortosa, and later on, the city’s newly baptized Jews as those who caused disturbances that could result in riots and in public agitation. In the rural areas and urban centers of the Kingdom of Aragon, Jewish moneylenders – whether from Teruel or Daroca, businesspeople who traveled in the countryside, were variously robbed, killed, or converted. Such was the fate of urban Jews who were attacked by peasants attending city fairs in Teruel. In that city even members of a royal retinue, those of Mart´ı’s entourage, were perceived as inciters, as were people of “both high and low estate.”

Epilogue

187

Clearly, the purveyors of violence were not just outsiders. The wellattested events in the city of Valencia prove instructive. While, before the riots, members and officials of professional and craft organizations were eyed suspiciously and later, “vagabonds, strangers and people of low and poor estate” were accused of having joined the youthful instigators, eventually “tumultuous crowds” were seen as having attacked the Jews. This undifferentiated mass of people, it was slowly disclosed, was composed of noblemen, artisans, and master craftsmen, of religious mendicants, of members of military orders and even of the royal court, and of those simply labeled city dwellers. While the documentation reveals all elements of the Aragonese population as being complicit in the violence, so do the extant sources expose a wide array of motivations. There is no need to search for an overarching motivation for those “filled with a diabolical spirit.” As much as social and economic dynamics served to incite the violence in much of Castile and Aragon, religious hatred also laid the groundwork for the assaults and inspired the rioters. In Castile, where Martinez’s sermons inflamed anti-Jewish passions, to Valencia where the youths proclaimed “Die Jews Die, or Become Christians,” particular Christian ideals were trumpeted. That Jews would be killed if they refused to convert may have been a slogan fueled by the mendicants, or at least by the friar who was said to have “performed devilish deeds.” Additionally, conversion of Jews may have been financially advantageous to some municipal leaders, even if for those same reasons it was generally opposed by royal authorities. Yet those in power repeatedly used conversion as a political tool even if those promoting such religious initiatives would suffer economically from their pursuit. Clearly the consols of Perpignan, and perhaps Duke Mart´ı in Valencia and King Joan in Lleida, imagined that conversion might produce the necessary and desired tranquility. Economic motivations were always apparent in the midst of the violence. It is not hard to understand that vagabonds, strangers, and people of low and poor estate, as they were called in Valencia, would be stimulated by fantasies of pillage. Robbery and plunder was a significant motivation, or at least an important outcome of the violence. So would the possibility of destroying debt contracts, as would the heightened desires, inflamed by the raucous anarchy, to injure, to rape, and to kill. And the economic calculations, for example, of the Valencia urban nobility with whom the municipal leaders had been in a protracted political conflict would surely play a role in their support of the unrest.

188

“The Things As They Happened”

Economic factors need not relegate the anti-Jewish impulses of the attackers to a secondary status. They do not help clarify motivation, any more than religious hatred does. True, the safety of Majorca Jews was intimately bound up with the broad political and economic struggles that wracked the island, yet one of the stipulations presented by the forans to the city authorities was that Jews would have to convert to Christianity, or they would be killed. While promotion of conversion was not stimulated solely by “religious” ideals, the conversion of the entire Jewish community was presented as a rebel demand not open to discusion. The royal authorities acquiesced to this ultimatum. Religious, economic, and political hatreds, rational and irrational, all played a role in these riots and cannot easily or necessarily be disentangled. That becomes apparent in Barcelona where the “little people” assaulted the royal officials, and especially the veguer, the councilors, and the honored citizens, and burned notarial and court records. And, against the will of the veguer, some rustics were released from their debts. Still, most of Barcelona Jews were baptized in the cathedral or in other Barcelona churches, and many who refused baptism were killed by the popularis. Municipal councilors arrived at a determination that the centuries-old Jewish presence in Barcelona should be brought to an end. Their presence was inflammatory. Even as the lower classes in Girona insisted on the abolition of taxes levied upon those who entered the city, persones religioses predicted that God would cause misfortune to descend upon the Jews, and that all the Jews would die at the point of the sword. In Lleida, artisan groups and students at the local Franciscan studium may have been the driving forces behind the riots, even as in Tortosa, the uprising of the poble against the city procuradors has to be understood alongside the desire of newly baptized Jews to enter the castle where the Jews were sheltered, and pressure them to abandon their religion. It does appear that in the Kingdom of Aragon, villagers’ attacks on Jews were linked to the Jews economic activities in the countryside. While the cities attempted to renegotiate debt agreements, Teruel Jews faced conversionary pressures as well. The aljama attempted to limit disputations between Jews and long-standing or recent converts, and public sermons delivered by these conversos. Many were the motives for these assaults, and diverse were the participants. There seems to be no compelling reason to imagine that all the rioters had to share some notions in common. And that ideas – or if you will the vague formulations of ambience or zeitgeist, were the

Epilogue

189

primary fuel of the violence. While, in some locales, Jews were the primary focus of the unrest, assaults against Jewish communities or individuals were, at times, part of broader unrest against the royal family, municipal leaders, the nobility or the economically powerful, and members of the other minority religious community, the Muslims. There were attacks on others, not just Jews, but the Jewish community suffered deaths, plunder, and conversion. It might be safe to say that the conflagrations in the Crown of Aragon had its roots in the violence that rocked Castile. While the timing of the Castilian unrest might explain why the riots in the crown of Aragon broke out in 1391 and not earlier, there is insufficient documentation to explain why the violence erupted when it did in Castile. It cannot be known why some locales in either Castile or Aragon may have been spared the hostilities, yet there is ample evidence that information about the previous riots played a part in the places that witnessed an outbreak of rioting. The contagion of the violence surely brought latent, if not barely concealed, anti-Jewish sentiment to the surface, even as these riots did not spread to the other Christian Iberian kingdoms of Portugal and Navarre. Whatever the range of identities and the motivations of those who killed and harmed the Jews in the Crown of Aragon, the question remains as to why they were so successful. While there are no easy answers to this question, there are sufficient data to inform us how and why the intervention of those who had pledged to protect the Jews, specifically members of the Aragonese royal family, was less than effective. A detailed investigation of the behavior of King Joan, Queen Iolant, Duke Mart´ı, and the Duchess Maria during these ten months – against the backdrop of their biography, their personal disposition and interests, and their relationships with each other – will answer this question, and, as a result, helps to explain both the riots’ extensive scope and its protracted duration.

part ii “UNLESS THE LORD WATCHES OVER THE CITY . . . ” – PSALM 127:1

8 King Joan

When the violence – which severely damaged the Jewish communities of the Kingdom of Castile – threatened in late June 1391 to spread to the Crown of Aragon, its king, Joan I faced the greatest test to his four yearold reign. Even though Joan ascended the throne in 1387, he had wielded royal power from his earliest years. His father King Pere was determined to introduce his eldest son to the prerogatives and responsibilities of political power, and to educate him in the administration of royal justice. In 1364, King Pere ordered Joan – in the infant’s newly appointed role as lieutenant general of the Kingdom of Aragon, to direct treason proceedings against his tutor, Bernat de Cabrera. The king challenged his heir to oversee Bernat’s execution, and to deliver the chief minister’s head to him as proof that he had followed his father’s mandate.1 1

I am following Joseph Mar´ıa Roca, Johan I d’Arago´ (Barcelona, 1929), pp. 1, 5–6 whose account of the infant’s young life is drawn from archival sources. Joan’s birth in Perpignan was announced by Pere: Reg. 1138, fol. 10 as reported by Daniel Girona i Llagostera, “Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, fill del rei En Pere III. 1350–1387,” in III Congreso de ´ (Valencia, 1923), p. 177. Within weeks of his birth, on Historia de la Corona de Aragon December 27, 1350, Prince Joan had been designated the first Duke of Girona and not long afterward, the Count of Cervera. Pere created the duchy from the city of Girona and its surrounding countryside on January 21, 1351. Cf. Rafael Tasis i Marca, Pere el ´ i els seus fills (Barcelona, 1957), pp. 57 and 145 who, while citing Roca, Cerimonios asserts that Bernat de Cabrera was named curador and instructor of Joan on January 1, 1351 and took possession of the infant’s lands on February 28. Reg. 1608, fol. 13 in Girona i Llagostera, Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, pp. 219–220 is dated January 18, 1363. On February 16 of 1351, King Pere had entrusted his chief minister, Bernat de Cabrera, to take possession of the new duchy of Girona in the name of the royal heir, and to serve as his tutor and legal agent. On Prince Joan’s titles, see Jesus ´ Lalinde Abad´ıa, “Virreyes ˜ y lugartenientes medievales en la Corona de Aragon,” Cuadernos de Historia de Espana ´

193

194

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Prince Joan likewise would come to the Aragonese throne intimately aware of long-standing Aragonese royal policies toward the protection of Jews, and of the importance of the financial resources of the Jewish communities to his Crown. Yet, already as prince, he displayed his own perspective on Aragonese Jewry, specifically the challenges that Jews presented to Aragonese Christians and indeed to Christianity. Indeed, in June 1367, Prince Joan, as a self-proclaimed staunch defender of the Christian faith, became the first Aragonese official to level host desecration accusations against Jews. Concerned about the danger that the presence of Jews within the Crown of Aragon posed to the body of Christ, the prince demonstrated his judicial training in unprecedented fashion when he directed that three Barcelona Jews be dragged to their death and burned, and that the Christian who was accused of having sold them the consecrated wafers be dragged and quartered. Joan was mindful, nevertheless, not to allow random violence to erupt against the “royal treasure.” Later that same month, when the prince ordered the governor of Roussillon and Cerdagne to investigate the theft, in Perpignan, of a silver custodia – alleged to have been sold or pawned in the local Jewish quarter, and perhaps containing consecrated wafers, he simultaneously instructed the local officials to ensure that riots do not break out against this local Jewry.2

2

31–32 (1960), pp. 109–110 and pp. 120–121. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 36–38 and Roca, pp. 29–30 write about the execution of Bernat Cabrera. A study on Prince Joan and the Jews would be very useful. See, on Girona, Riera i Sans, Els jueus de Girona, pp. 116–139. There is also no adequate treatment of the Jews during the reign of Joan’s father, Pere III (IV of the kingdom of Aragon). David Romano’s “Els Jueus en Temps de Pere el Cerimonios,” Anuario de estudios medievales 24 (1989), ´ ´ pp. 113–129, now reprinted in his collected essays, De historia jud´ıa hispanica (Barcelona, 1991), pp. 455–473, is only a beginning. The financial support of the Crown’s Jewish communities was crucial to the early development of Joan’s court. Pere ordered the Jews of his dominions to contribute 12,000 Barcelonan sous annually to the Aragonese heir apparent: Tasis i Marca, Pere el ceri´ p. 145 and Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 23. monios Individual Jews tended to the prince’s health when he took sick during his first year. Joan suffered from a variety of illnesses in his youth – indeed all through his life, and Jewish physicians, such as Ramon de Reserach and Mestre Nacim, provided him with specialized treatment: Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 24 and 28, and regarding events in the summer of 1366, from p. 44. Joan had already recuperated, while in Girona, from his illness, in November and December 1352, before these Jewish doctors had the opportunity to attend to him. See Girona i Llagostera, Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, p. 194, citing ACA, Arxiu del Mestre Racional, Registre 566, fol. 63. See also Mestre Racional, Registre 568, fols. 58–59, from December 1354 in Girona y Llagostera, p. 200. In 1356, Joan took ill again and some of these same Jewish doctors as in 1354, ministered to him: Mestre Racional, Registre 570, fol. 76 in Girona y Llagostera, pp. 201–202.

King Joan

195

Desecration of the Eucharist was, to the infant’s way of thinking, an inevitable result of the physical proximity of Jewish and Christian homes in the cities and towns of the Crown of Aragon. As the prince asserted, “many and diverse scandals have happened and can develop . . . for the reason that some [Jews] . . . make their homes among Christian men and women.” Accordingly, the Aragonese heir apparent, on June 11, 1369, ordered the Jews of Cervera, who lived outside of the Jewish residential streets, to install themselves in the Jewish quarter within eight days. Christians, whose doors or windows of their houses opened on to the Jewish calls, had a month to wall over these openings, and the Jews, whose homes presumably faced Christian areas, were similarly commanded. Joan declared that the older Jewish call, located within the main fortifications of the city, would be sufficiently rebuilt and refurbished in two years time, enabling all Jews to reside in that precinct.3

3

ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1148, fol. 80, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 359, no. 254, shows that, on April 10, 1356, Pere thanked the royal physician Jucef Abenardut for his report on the health of the Queen and the duc (Joan). For more on Abenardut in 1362, identified then as the former physician of the Queen, see Girona y Llagostera, p. 211, who reproduces Mestre Racional, Registre 573, fol. 34v. It is not evident how Joan imbibed Christian anxieties about Jews as potential desecrators of the host. Joan was educated at court, learned to read and write in a number of languages, and developed literary interests that did encompass treatises on history, geography, astrological phenomena, and religion, especially miracles. At an early age, he traveled to the monasteries at Montserrat and Poblet, where he petitioned and thanked sacred images, and spent time at holy sites in meditation and in celebration. See Roca, pp. 239–245; Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 31–32, 192, and the relevant letters in Joseph Coroleu, Documents historichs catalans del sigle xiv (Barcelona, 1889). All this does not lead naturally to Joan’s assumption of a lead role in the host desecration accusations. Miri Rubin, Gentile Tales. The Narrative Assault on Late Medieval Jews (New Haven and London, 1999), pp. 109–115, discusses three such cases in the Crown of Aragon from 1367, 1377, and 1383. In the clash between royal justice, with its rules of evidence, and the imperatives of the Christian faith, the latter emerged victorious. On July 6, Joan defended, at length, his decision to sentence the three Jews and the one Christian. The prince described to his persistently inquiring father how he and his entourage had aggressively searched for the perpetrators, and how after the application of torture to a number of the accused, he was able to uncover what had transpired. No punishment was great enough to avenge attacks on the body of Christ, which – the prince confessed to his father, had not been unearthed despite an ongoing investigation. Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 399–406, no. 284, contains the July 7 letter of Joan to his father, Reg. 1708, fol. 101–103, and excerpts from a variety of related documentation. Reg. 1708, fols. 84v–85 as published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 398, no. 282, contains the information about the Perpignan affair. Reg. 1709, fol. 96v–97v, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 426–429, no. 293. The Jews of Cervera had spread beyond their original neighborhoods upon the murder of Jews and looting of their property as a consequence of the Black Death. See Lopez de ´ Meneses, Una consecuencia, especially pp. 106–115 and pp. 324–325 and 328–329.

196

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Both King Pere and Queen Elionor came to the opinion, as a result of the prince’s Jewish initiatives, that their son did not fully recognize the true worth of their Aragonese Jewries. Indeed, Joan’s mother was apprehensive that the aljamas, assigned to her son by the royal treasury, would soon become depopulated. His father suggested to the prince, on April 10, 1375, that Joan’s officials, who administered the infant’s patrimony, knew little about the conservation of royal prerogatives, or about the management of the aljamas. If these aides continued to seize property or demand money against long-established practice, King Pere warned, the Jews would emigrate to lands where they would be better treated.4 Joan did not allow his commitment to the preservation of the aljamas override his persistent suspicion of Jews as potential desecrators of the corpus Christi. When the infant and his entourage arrived in Huesca toward the end of November 1377 to reform abuses in the judicial system, they learned that Haim Andalet, a local tailor, stood accused of purchasing five consecrated hosts, which had been stolen by a Christian from a church. Joan ordered both his men and royal officials on December 1 to capture Haim Andalet and his family – who had fled Huesca and were moving about the kingdom, and have them immediately imprisoned.5 Prince Joan may have concluded that, if he wanted the body of Christ to be effectively secured, Jews would have to be taught the errors of their ways. So minded, the infant, on December 3, introduced Arnau

4

5

Reg. 1249, fol. 27, as reproduced in Joaquim Miret y Sans, “El proc´es de les hosties contra jueus d’Osca en 1377,” Anuari de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans 4 (1911–1912), p. 62, note 2. King Pere wrote that both he and the queen (she would die two days later on April 12) would be severely displeased if Joan did not cease the mistreatment of the Jewish communities. Pere admonished his son, the following year, not to make common cause with Christians and Jews who sought to undermine Jews in the king’s employ, specifically Mac¸ot Auengena and others of the Barcelona aliama. If those Jews were not treated well, Pere cautioned the infant in March 1376, “our aliamas will not survive.” Pere declared that he did not wish to hear about seizures of assets and wanted such procedures set aside. See Reg. 1251, fol. 92, in Miret y Sans, ibid., p. 63n. That same day, Joan declared that his alguazir had imprisoned a man who confessed that he had sold the hosts to Jews for a price that included three silver rings. Joan ordered that this individual be kept under guard until his claim could be verified: Reg. 1723, fol. 42, reproduced mostly in Miret y Sans, pp. 63–64n. On the trial in Huesca-Osca, see in addition to Miret y Sans, the brief remarks in Baer, A History, vol. 2, pp. 89–90 and Rubin, Gentile Tales, pp. 112–114. A selection of documents from Prince Joan that addressed issues concerning individual Jews and Jewish communities can be found in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, s.v., Juan.

King Joan

197

d’Estadella, a Christian convert from Judaism, to royal Aragonese officialdom. Joan described Arnau as learned in both testaments and eager to enlighten his former coreligionists. The prince asked that Arnau be afforded the opportunity to engage in disputations with Jewish representatives and to preach to local Jewish communities. Arnau would be aided by Dominican and Franciscan lectors, and Jews would be compelled to attend these public sessions. Once converted and thereby reformed, these erstwhile Jews would also be safeguarded from the avenging sword of Christian justice.6 Such hoped-for behavioral changes on the part of Jews were not effected in time to save two Jews, and one Christian, whom the prince and his companions – before they left Huesca, sentenced to death for their respective roles in the theft and purchase of the wafers. Disturbed by his son’s activities in that Aragonese city, King Pere protested the legal process that, to his mind, reflected more the desire for “the destruction of the aljamas rather than good Catholic justice.” Joan, who justified his participation in the Huesca procedures as he had defended his involvement, ten years earlier, in the Barcelona host-desecration case, implored his father to allow him to pursue justice, and not to let Jews or others interfere in the process. Prince Joan was indignant over his father’s insinuation that he did not keep the safety of the aljama in mind, and declared “no one in your domains protects individual or all aljamas from disturbances and riots . . . as I do.”7 6

7

Reg. 1723, fol. 42r-v, as noted by Jaume Riera i Sans, “Les llic`encies reials per predicar als jueus i als sarra´ıns (segles XIII-XIV),” Calls 2 (1987), p. 115 and note 51 on p. 130. Miret y Sans, p. 64, refers to a document of December 3 and partly transcribes it in note 1 without archival citation. See below for preaching licenses granted by Joan as king in 1389 and 1390. Already since James I of Aragon, licenses had been bestowed upon Christians to preach to the Jews and Muslims of the Crown. King Pere granted several Christian converts from Judaism permission to sermonize on behalf of their new faith: see Riera i Sans, Lles llic`encies, pp. 122–125. Reg. 1722, fol. 189, reproduced in Miret y Sans, pp. 64–65, note 2, is the prince’s justification of his activities in Huesca. On December 10 (from Zuera, on his way from Huesca to Saragossa), Joan asked the members of his council to desist in their proceedings against those accused, until he analyzed new information, provided by Ic¸ach Golluf (see Assach, son of Alatzar Golluf, infra), and they received further orders from him. Reg. 1745, fol. 22r was published in Asuncion ´ Blasco Mart´ınez, “Alatzar Golluf, regente de la tesorer´ıa de la reina de Aragon ´ y su entorno familiar (siglos XIII–XIV),” in Flocel Sabat´e and Claude Denjean eds., Cristianos y Jud´ıos en contacto en la edad media: Pol´emica, ´ conversion, dinero, y convivencia (Lleida, 2009), p. 536, and discussed by her on pp. 493–495. Upon his arrival in Saragossa, Joan reported to his father that he had consulted with an array of officials including the archbishop of Tarragona and the justicia of Aragon.

198

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Joan’s independent streak manifested itself in other of his royal pursuits. As prince of the Crown of Aragon, Joan understandably devoted much time and energy to the search for suitable consorts. Nevertheless, the Joan’s message was clear: both royal and ecclesiastical power found favor in his approach to allow those who were accused – based on testimony given by their coreligionists under torture, to present their defense. If their explanations did not satisfy the prosecution, they too would be tormented. Justice will be pursued, he assured Pere, so that God and then you will be content. See Reg. 1723, fol. 46, in Miret y Sans, p. 66, note 1. The king proposed that all Jews over the age of eight be forced to congregate in the synagogue. Pere advised Joan to set forth the case to those assembled, and to be mindful if the face of one of the Jews changed color or if their body trembled. He should then try to elicit a confession from these individuals. If this tactic proved unsuccessful, Joan should shut all the Jews in the synagogue for one day during which time they would not be allowed food or drink. If the guilty parties were not found, the Jews should be released. Otherwise, they should be punished accordingly. Miret y Sans, pp. 66–67, based on Reg. 1260, fol. 186, published at p. 67, n.1, deduced that the wise and savvy Pere was attempting to protect the Jews. While a forced reading, Pere’s strategy would be to place a definitive end to a potentially endless process. Cf. Las Siete Partidas, Book 7, Chapter 24, law 2 and the discussion in D. Carpenter, Alfonso X and the Jews: An Edition and Commentary on Siete Partidas 7.24 “De los Jud´ıos”, pp. 63–66. The Jews were to be confined to the synagogue for a “dia natural,” only during daylight hours. The prince argued, in turn, that his father’s strategy to proceed against the entire Jewish community was unjust and betrayed an unseemly rush to justice. Pere replied, as he had earlier, that those who prosecuted the case were motivated more by the desire “to destroy individual Jews and the aljama than by their zeal for justice on behalf of the Catholic faith.” The prince’s letter of December 28, Reg. 1723, fol. 48, and the king’s response of December 31, Reg. 1259, fol. 134, are in Miret y Sans, at note 3 of p. 67 and at note 2 of p. 68, respectively. Although sixty days had lapsed since he had learned of the accusations, Prince Joan agonized that “the body of the Savior our Jesus Christ is and still remains in the power of the said Jews.” He resented Pere’s implications that his advisers were venally motivated and, surrounded by his council, whose members included his brother Mart´ı and two of Pere’s advisers, Joan, on March 22, rejected renewed calls to dismiss the case. Instead, the infant mustered the accused Jews, and, on two separate occasions, tormented them. No new information was obtained, and so Joan notified the king that more torture was in the offing. On February 4 of 1378, he offered his father a rambling defense of his conduct: Reg. 1723, fol. 62, in Miret y Sans, p. 72 at note 1. The prince argued that the application of torture would “allow him to find the consecrated hosts . . . which are under control of the infidels” – a discovery that, the prince asserted, would assuredly elicit God’s grace. Pere advised his aide, the nobleman Lope de Gurrea, on February 16, that justice and not rigor should be pursued in the case, and that the rights of the accused Jews should be carefully guarded: Reg. 1262, fol. 61, in Miret y Sans, p. 76 at note 1. Pere’s reference to justice and not rigor may suggest that the king may have believed the charges or, at least, imagined that others might find these accusations compelling. The king, on January 26 of 1378, had worried aloud to Lope de Gurrea that, as a result of Joan’s reputation and his attitude toward Jews, those Jews who resided on royal lands might move to more welcoming noble and ecclesiastical territories. He hoped then that don Lope could convince the prince that the royal authority was obligated to protect the aljamas in an era of peace and prosperity, just as it was required to preserve them

King Joan

199

infant allowed personal interests to trump his obligations to the Crown when he married the 15-year old Yolande de Bar – daughter of Robert, duc de Bar, and Marie de France, in April 1380. Joan successfully resisted the choice of his father and stepmother, who wanted him to marry Pere’s granddaughter, Maria of Sicily, so the Crown could secure its control over the island.8

8

in periods of adversity, including wartime: Reg. 1262, fol. 10, in Miret y Sans, p. 70 at note 2. Joan’s decision of March 22 is in Reg. 1723, fol. 82, quoted in Miret y Sans, p. 77 at note 1. Despite the apparent rift between son and father, Joan summarily rejected reports of conflicts between the two and denied that he had professed any disloyalty to the king. The infant, in a letter to Berenguer de Relat on April 9, Reg. 1744, fol. 141, in Miret y Sans, p. 77 at note 2, disputed rumors that he had wished his father would embark upon a journey to Sicily and leave the management of the kingdom to him. See ibid., pp. 77–78. The prince fell ill, in mid-July, and letters between father and son were subsequently consumed with talk of the infant’s well-being. When Joan returned to health in August – Girona i Llagostera, Itinerari de l’Infant en Joan, pp. 450–451, reproduces an August 10, 1378 letter, Reg. 1745, fol. 144v, from the prince to his father about his own health, no more was heard from the prince about stolen Eucharists, and the royal government of the Crown of Aragon proceeded to other business. The Corts was then meeting in Barcelona, and the subject at hand was the forthcoming royal expedition to Sicily and Sardinia. In September 1383, Lleida Jews were accused of having purchased hosts that had been stolen from the church of Castello´ de Farfanya in Balaguer. Royal letters of September 7 and 12 speak about preparations for an investigation. On September 26, Pere informed the Count of Urgell that the Jews explained to him that such crimes could not occur to them, and that therefore the accusation was slanderous and served to place Aragonese Jewry in peril. The king ordered the counts to proceed slowly and scrupulously in their investigation and punish only individuals who were proven guilty. See Reg. 1281, fol. 122(v) in Miret y Sans, p. 80 at note 1, and Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 547–548, no. 546, where the dating on p. 547 is incorrect. Pere’s letter to the Aragonese aljamas on February 27, Reg. 847, fol. 187, in Baer, pp. 577–578, no. 379, should be read in this context. See also Baer, A History, vol. 2, pp. p. 91 and Rubin, pp. 114–115. Now see Guerson, Coping with Crises, pp. 161–162, where she adds further details about the disposition of the case from 1384, Reg. 1105, fol. 47r, and from 1386, Reg. 1455, fols. 17v–19r. Iolant was not Joan’s first wife. The infant’s intended marriage to Joanna de Valois, daughter of the late Philip VI of France and aunt of the reigning king Charles V – a union supported by his father and his advisers and eagerly awaited by Joan, was aborted, in 1371, when Joanna died in B´eziers en route to their nuptials in Perpignan: Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 55–61. Two years later, in April 1373, Joan married another French princess, Mata (Mateua) of Armagnac, who conceived six times, and gave birth to five premature infants, of whom only one, Joana, born in 1375 (and probably with some mental defect), survived. Mata was deferential to her in-laws, Pere and Elionor, and followed their advice about where she ought to reside and how to raise her children, and did not occupy herself with affairs of state. In 1378, Mata died. See Aurea L. Javierre Mur, Mata d’Armanyac, Duquessa de Girona (Barcelona, 1967). On Iolant, see Roca, pp. 39–121ff.; Tasis i Marca, Pere, pp. 147–151ff.; Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 52–53, 61–65ff., and 81–93ff.; T. N. Bisson, The Medieval Crown of Aragon.

200

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Joan’s bride, Yolande (hereafter Iolant), had lived her fifteen years at the court of her uncle King Charles V in Paris and had absorbed much of its culture and its values. As a result, French influence predominated at Joan’s residences: his consorts were outfitted in Parisian fashions, and French songs and dance filled his homes. Joan himself dressed elegantly and splendidly, perfuming himself from silver atomizers. He chose particular colored outfits for different holidays, black on Good Friday, red or gold at Easter. Joan dispatched his own musicians to Germany and to Flanders to be trained, and invited internationally famous musicians – French, Sicilian, and Castilian, to perform at his court. Instruments, the prince ordered from Paris. He tried his own hand at musical compositions and at times attended three concerts a day. 9 As heir apparent and later as king, Joan was enamored with the royal pastime of hunting. The chase comforted him at moments of crisis and offered him opportunities to display his royal potency. To aid him in the hunt, Joan secured greyhounds from Brittany, England, France, and Savoy, and falcons from Romania, Majorca, and Sicily. As part of his royal lifestyle, the prince and king cultivated the life of a gourmand. Despite illnesses from which he suffered periodically, Joan enjoyed a healthy appetite, once eating four partridges at a meal. His court ordered cheese and dates from Majorca, salmon, trout, and langoustines from the Pyrenees, and wine from Greece and Italy.10

9

10

A Short History (New York, 1986), pp. 121–122; and Dawn Bratsch-Prince, Violante de Bar (1365–1431) (Madrid, 2002), pp. 17–28. The chapter on the queen contains a more extensive bibliography. See documents from ACA, Maestre Racional recorded in Girona i Llagostera, Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, pp. 477–478 and ff. Prince Joan, who remembered the untimely death of his first intended, Joanna de Valois, as she traveled toward their wedding ceremony, frequently inquired about Iolant’s health and offered suggestions to ensure her safe passage. Even while Joan was awaiting Iolant’s arrival in Perpignan, King Pere pressed his son to marry Maria, who was also the niece of both Joan and the Avignonese Pope Clement VII. As a result, King Pere and Queen Sibilla did not attend the nuptials – either the ceremony or the festivities, in protest of their son’s choice. On French influence at court, and Joan’s clothing, both while prince and as king, see Roca, pp. 258–276. About musicians, see ibid., pp. 335–342 and Tasis i Marca, Pere, pp. 179–180. J.N. Hillgarth, The Spanish Kingdoms, vol. 2 (Oxford, 1978), pp. 47, 51–52, 223 and elsewhere (index, s.v. Joan) exhibits a wonderful eye for interesting details, which underscores Joan’s idiosyncratic behavior. Documents historichs catalans del sigle xiv contains a number of letters on Joan’s enthusiasms and concerns. Joan’s pursuit of hounds can be found in Roca, pp. 277–291. On hunting with falcons and other birds, see ibid., pp. 291–314. Stalking wild boars was his preferred diversion. His taste in food is detailed on pp. 251–258. Roca enthused, p. 254, that Joan “with his

King Joan

201

In his role as Iolant’s consort and defender of her rights and responsibilities, Joan embraced matters affecting individual Jews, and those involving the Crown’s Jewish communities. In the name of Iolant, Joan prohibited Jaca Christians in 1383 from periodically dancing and generally amusing themselves within the confines of the juder´ıa. Local Jewish leaders had complained to Joan that such behavior provoked unrest, and had imperiled both their persons and property.11 Despite this record of princely concern, King Pere continued to be disturbed that the infant did not appreciate the financial importance of the Jews as he did. After all, even after the Jewish community of Huesca had declared itself unable to fulfill some of its financial obligations, Joan, as governor general of the Kingdom of Aragon, had solicited subsidies and taxes from the aljama. The king intervened on behalf of the Huesca Jewish community and ordered his son, under threat of penalties, to desist from the collection of exorbitant sums from the other aljamas of the kingdom.12 Prince Joan was reprimanded by his father, yet again, in September 1385, when he charged that his son’s deputies had exceeded their officially authorized mandate and, under the guise of justice, had destroyed Jewish communities. Apparently, these comissaris had accused the Jews of lending money above and beyond the legal interest rate. Their harassment,

11

12

refined palate was a precursor of Brillat-Savarin.” Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826) famously wrote “tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you who you are.” For Joan’s health and the cures he underwent, see pp. 219–238. Like other Iberian royalty, Joan collected a variety of exotic animals for his royal zoos, which were a feature of his many palaces. Lions, leopards, camels, antelopes, and gazelles were among its residents. See ibid., pp. 328–333. On the situation in Jaca in 1383, see Reg. 1808 fol. 110r-v, dated December 4, and Maria Luisa Ledesma Rubio, “El Patrimonio Real en Aragon a fines del siglo xiv: ´ en la Edad Media II (1979), pp. Los dominios y rentas de Violante de Bar,” Aragon 153–154. The infante ordered the bailiff, his lieutenant, and the jurados to limit access to the Jewish quarter, under a penalty to be paid to the duquessa, to two or three specifically designated Christian city leaders. It is hard to divine from the report whether these actions of the Jaca Christians were instances of ritualized violence. See, generally, Nirenberg, Communities of Violence. See, infra, the queen chapter, on Iolant’s efforts on behalf of Jaca Jews in 1382 and 1383. Again, on Prince Joan and the Jews, see Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, s,v, Juan. In July 1382, the king was informed that Joan’s officials, had collected 2,000 gold florins from the aljama of Saragossa, and additional large sums from other Aragonese aljamas. The 1382 documents regarding Pere, Joan, and Huesca are in Reg. 826, fols. 124v and 125r, and have been detailed in Guerson, Coping with Crises, pp. 94–95.

202

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Pere wrote, could lead, to the depopulation of the Jewish communities, “our treasure and patrimony,” and should be strenuously avoided.13 Despite the prince’s record of ambivalence toward the Crown’s Jewries, Joan, as king, immediately displayed a greater appreciation for his Jewish minority. When Joan ascended the throne in January 1387, the new king swiftly moved to punish Fraga Muslims who, resentful of the Jews’ priority in the funeral cort`ege that had been organized to mourn Pere’s death, had attacked local Jews. Not only did the new king acknowledge receipt of the 1,000 golden-florins fine on January 23, but, five days later on the 28th, explained that since the Jews observed Old Testament law, “ob reverenciam legis Moysi,” they were to take precedence over Muslims in public processions. Joan’s directive, intended for the Jews of Fraga, could have been interpreted as applicable throughout the Crown of Aragon.14 In the wake of a 1387 Holy Week attack on the Jews of Lleida, King Joan’s court declared that anyone who harmed the Jews would be liable to prescribed penalties. In April, King Joan directed the batle of Girona to initiate legal action against the sons of four men who were accused

13

14

Pere rebuked his son on March 10, 1385, Reg. 842, fol. 171v–172r, as reported in Guerson, p. 95, about funds that he had demanded from the Jewish communities. For Pere’s criticism of September 7, see Reg. 1291, fol. 10, reported on in Miret y Sans, p. 79, note 1. The king ordered the justicia and other royal officials to dismiss the comissaris empowered by Joan to investigate Jewish loans. In 1383, Joan supported the Girona oligarchy against the background of a case in which the community leaders issued a death sentence to a Jew who had undermined their authority. The Jew avoided this punishment through baptism. See Riera i Sans, Els jueus de Girona, pp. 118–120. King Pere fell gravely ill in August of that year, and political maneuvers intensified between supporters of Joan and those allied with Pere’s fourth wife, Sibilla de Fortia. ` Charges against members of Iolant’s court surfaced, and Joan was stripped of his post as lieutenant governor of Aragon. Some of the duke’s subjects were emboldened to ignore his directives, and the collection of monies owed to him and Iolant were dramatically ´ pp. 220–221 affected. See Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 125–137, Roca, Johan I d’Arago, ff., Ledesma Rubio, p. 142, and Bratsch-Prince, Violante de Bar, p. 27. As Pere neared death, in late December 1386, Joan convalesced from his most recent illness near the French border, where he may have thought he could prevent the flight of his stepmother: Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 136–9. On Sibilla’s capture, see below, the duke chapter. King Joan and Queen Iolant arrived in Barcelona two weeks after Pere’s death. Reg. 1890, fols. 52r–53r, dated 23 January, was published partially by Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, p. 181, note 61 and then, also in part – most of the material overlapping with minor differences, by Riera, La precedencia, p. 555. Reg. 1923, fols. 15v–16r, from January 28, was published in full by Riera, ibid., p. 556. See Riera’s analysis of these texts on p. 553 and generally the entire article, pp. 549–560.

King Joan

203

of abducting the seven-year old son of Salomo´ Scaleta, concealing the Jewish child for a number of days, forcibly baptizing him, and keeping him sequestered. Although the Jewish treasurer of kingdom, Bartomeu Llunes – who had been accused by the new royal administration of treason, was quartered in plac¸a de San Jaume in Barcelona, other Jews, allied with the new king and queen, were looked upon favorably by the royal court.15 Signs of an energetic kingship notwithstanding, King Joan’s health, his concerns about the well-being of the royal family, his avid interest in hunting and dining, and his distinctive style of governance drew him away from public responsibilities. Indeed, shortly after Joan and Iolant had arrived in Barcelona, the new king fell seriously ill. And when King Joan, in his first regnal year, summoned the local Aragonese parliament to Monzon, ´ the illness and subsequent death, in early August 1388, of his four and a half year-old son Jaume detained the monarchs for months in Saragossa. Even when the king and queen finally departed the Aragonese capital on October 21, only an outbreak of plague prevented the royal couple from stopping off in Fraga to hunt wild boar.16 Joan quickly became impatient with the Corts’ lengthy discussions and threatened its members with ultimata. Almost immediately after the Aragonese monarch brought that body to order, it became clear that 15

16

The holy week violence in Lleida, Reg. 1825, fol. 96r-v, is mentioned by Guerson, pp. 166–167. On the forced baptism in Girona, see Reg. 1828, fol. 14v, as reported on by Riera, Girona, p. 112, as well as by Guerson, p. 148, where, in note 1, she quotes from the report of the bereaved father. A brief account of the punishment of Llunes and of the former royal chancellor, Berenguer Dabella, can be found in Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 145–146. Llunes, under orders of Pere III, had confiscated the property of the allies of Joan and of Iolant. See the queen chapter for Alatzar Golluf, whose appointment as “regent la tresoreria [sic] de la senyora Reyna,” dated to the first day of Joan’s reign. Golluf’s appointment incurred the wrath of the preacher Bertran Camuntada in November, 1387. See Blasco Mart´ınez, Alatzar Golluf, p. 507, who cites Sebastian ´ Puig y Puig, Episcopologio bar´ ´ (1387–1430) (Barcelona, 1920), pp. cinonense. Pedro de Luna, ultimo papa de Avin˜ on 447–448. The March and April 1387 documents regarding Benvenist de la Cavalleria and Azday Cresques [sic] are in Reg. 1815, fols. 51v–52, and Reg. 1891, fol. 106, and were published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 598, and pp. 606–607, respectively. Upon the king’s recovery from his illness, Joan, on March 18, took an oath in Barcelona to protect the special rights of Catalonia even as he received their declarations of fealty to his kingship: Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 150. Jaume was born on March 23, 1384, in Lleida, and died between August 9 and 11, 1388. Following French usage, Jaume had been called the Dalf´ı soon after Joan’s ascension to the throne. On the young prince’s life, and more broadly, the institution of the dalfinat, see Jaume Riera i Sans, “El Dalfinat de Girona (1387–1388),” Annals de l’Institut d’Estudis Gironins 29 (1987), pp. 105–128.

204

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Joan’s interests in Sardinia and in Roussillon were not congruent with the deputies’ demands – that the royal household be reorganized, and the number of curial officials and royal favorites decreased. While the king compromised with the urban deputies from Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia on an overhaul of the judicial administration, he was not disposed toward negotiations with the assembled parliamentarians. The mood in the Corts rapidly became embittered, and Joan eventually absented himself – taking time out from these difficult deliberations to hunt in the Aragonese mountains, and left Iolant to intervene with the assembled deputies. In December of 1389, the Corts was suspended, never to meet again during his reign.17 King Joan allowed actual power to pass into the hands of the upper nobility and the urban oligarchies. While King Pere, in the last year of his rule, had attempted to reform city government by introducing merchants, artisans, and others into the municipal power structure, Joan, on June 25 of 1387, returned effective power in Barcelona to its wealthy citizenry, much to the dismay of those excluded. Similarly, the new king, despite appearances to the contrary, ensured that Girona’s upper classes retained control of the municipal government.18

17

18

The Consell de Cent of Barcelona made sure to remind King Joan that the Corts – of all the Aragonese constituent political entities, which had been last summoned in 1383 and then suspended by Pere in 1385 after disorderly and stormy meetings, was technically still in session. On the Corts at Monzon, ´ brought to order by Joan on November 13, see ´ Jos´e Coroleu e´ Inglada and Jos´e Pella y Forgas, Las Cortes catalanas. Estudio jur´ıdico ˜ analitica de todas sus legislaturas, episodios y comparativo de su organizacion y resena notables, oratoria y personajes ilustres, con muchos documentos in´editos del Archivo de la corona de Aragon y el del municipio de Barcelona (Barcelona, 1876), pp. 209–214, Ricard Albert and Joan Gassiot eds., Parlaments a les corts catalanes (Barcelona, 1928), and Jos´e Angel Sesma Munoz, “Todos frente al Rey,” in Adeline Rucquoi ed., Gen´ese ˜ m´edi´evale de l’Espagne moderne. Du refus a la revolte: Les resistances (Nice, 1991), pp. 75–94. Also, see below, the chapter on the queen. Ibid., p. 151. See the chapter on Girona, and Riera, Girona, pp. 106–108; the chapter on Majorca, and Ferrer i Mallol, Conflictes populars, pp. 88–91and ff.; and the chapter ´ on Barcelona, and Batlle Gallart, La crisis social y economica de Barcelona, vol. 1, pp. 91–100. Generally, on Joan’s first years as king, see Tasis i Marca, pp. 143–193 and Bisson, pp. 122–123. Batlle Gallart, p. 151 and passim, understands Joan’s choice of allies as a result of his lack of interest in governance. Pere had left his son with a financial and political crisis by alienating much Crown land through sales and pledges. Perhaps in an effort to bolster royal power in rural areas, Joan supported the remensa peasantry in Catalonia in their organized effort starting in 1388 to be freed from their burdensome obligations owed to the Church, nobility, and even urban oligarchies, although nothing much came of the initiative during his reign. See Riera i Sans, Els jueus de Girona, pp. 125–146 on both Girona, Barcelona, and their Jews during these years.

King Joan

205

Likewise, King Joan buttressed the ruling elite of the Jewish aliamas and, following royal precedent, granted aliama leaders the authority to punish malshinim. These “slanderers,” while seen with some justification by those in power as undermining kahal, community, discipline, were often those who objected to the power of the communal oligarchy and their policies. King Joan intervened politically and economically on behalf of individual members of this ruling cadre and granted them, such as Hasdai Crescas, the necessary power to assert their authority.19 More attuned as king than as prince to the economic viability of the Jewish communities, Joan reduced the debts of some of the Crown’s aljamas, such as that of the locale of Ruesca in Aragon, and decreased their taxation responsibilities. As had his father before him, the new king granted the Jewish communities power to collect new taxes – like sisas on foodstuffs, as a means to increase their revenue. King Joan was considerate to those aljamas, like Huesca and Uncastillo, who were losing population and had difficulty fulfilling their financial obligations.20 King Joan vigorously defended the Jews of his reign when he challenged the papal inquisition in Aragon – and its inquisitor general, Nicolau Eymeric, which had claimed that its jurisdictional mandate extended to the investigation of Jews for heretical or blasphemous acts. As had other 19

20

Reg. 1843, fol. 80, dated February 25, 1390, is addressed to Hasdai Crescas regarding justice in Saragossa, and was published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 616–617, no. 391. Another royal letter, of December 5, 1390, to the veguer of Majorca, Reg. 1847, fol. 91v, is in Baer, ibid., p. 647. Ibid., from ACA, Reial Patrimonio, vol. 390, fol. 34, dated to April 1391, is about an accusation in Majorca. King Joan, Reg. 1891 fol. 106 in Baer, ibid., pp. 606–7, no. 387, granted Crescas, already on April 18, 1387, the right to pronounce a ban in specifically determined cases (and again on Febuary 17, 1388 according to Reg. 1893, fol. 117r in Baer, ibid., p. 607). In March 6 of 1387, Joan confirmed a contract that his father had negotiated with Benvenist de la Cavalleria the prior year: Reg. 1815, fol. 51v–52, in Baer, p. 598, no. 384, 2. And, lastly, the king on June 21, 1390, and again following his father, ruled regarding the election of judges in Saragossa: Reg. 1898, fol. 19v, in Baer, ibid., p. 625, no. 394. Reg. 1895, fols. 20v–21r and fol. 21v, from 1388, and discussed in Guerson, p. 80. See ibid. – without dates, from Reg. 1869, fols. 119v–120r, regarding the situation in Uncastillo. Joan authorized the Huesca aljama, on February 3, 1388, to issue a ban against those who had left the community for seigneurial lands: Guerson, p. 96, from Reg. 1830, fol. 184v. The difficulties in the collection of sisas in Huesca are discussed in Guerson, p. 97, following Reg. 1830, fol. 185r-v. On July 6, 1388, Joan upheld the aljama’s right to demand payment of the tax in the face of tension with the city, and with individual Jews, regarding its collection: Reg. 1869, fol. 74r-v. Guerson, p. 97, from Reg. 1835, fols. 191r–192r and Reg. 1894, fol. 25r-v, points out Joan’s inconsistencies in his concern about the solvency of the aljama of Huesca, when she notes that the king ordered the community in 1389 to contribute 6,000 sueldos toward the stipend awarded to a royal physician.

206

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Aragonese monarchs before him, Joan demanded that the Avignon Pope, Clement VII, recognize the preeminence of Aragonese royal authority over the Jewish and Muslim populations of the Crown of Aragon. On July 4 of 1390, Joan attempted to hold off the requests of the new Aragonese inquisitor general, Jimeno de Navasa, who had succeeded the influential Eymeric.21 Christian ideals that had propelled Joan as prince continued to motivate him as king but were now tempered by a greater appreciation of their possible impact. While King Joan, on March 20 of 1389, granted a royal license, as he had in previous years, to a Christian convert from Judaism to preach to Jews in all “cities, villages, locales, and fortresses of our dominion,” Joan revoked Juan Fernandez de Toledo’s permit just ´ three months later. The king explained to his batle and justicia of Xativa, ` on April 26, 1391, that Fernandez’ license was not intended to endanger ´ Jews. Joan clarified that Jews should have to attend such conversionary sermons only once a month, that these meetings should be held in a venue removed from the center of population, and that royal and municipal officials and ranking members of the preaching orders were required to be in attendance. Joan wanted to ensure that these religious sessions did not result in either financial or physical abuse of the Jews.22 21

22

Joan’s challenge of September 15, 1387 is in Reg. 1760, fol. 12, as published by Johannes Vincke, Zur Vorgeschichte der Spanischen Inquisition, (Bonn, 1941), pp. 128–129, no. 117b, and the documents in ibid., pp. 132–134. On the history of Inquisitorial claims on Jews and Aragonese royal objections, and Eymeric’s contribution to the debate, a recent treatment is Tartakoff, Between Christian and Jew, pp. 19–22. See Ivars Cardona, Los jurados de Valencia, pp. 68–159, especially pp. 76–78 on Prince Joan; and pp. 78– 80 on King Joan, prior to 1391. The article continues in Archivo Ibero-Americano 15 (1921), pp. 212–219. On the efforts of Pere and Joan against the papal inquisition, see, generally, Mark Meyerson, “Samuel of Granada and the Dominican Inquisitor: Jewish Magic and Jewish Heresy in Post-1391 Valencia” in Steven J. McMichael and Susan E. Meyers eds., Friars and Jews in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance [The Medieval Franciscans, vol. 2] (Leiden, 2004), pp. 161–189, especially pp. 176–177 that discusses an event in 1390 connected to Valencia. See also Narbona Vizca´ıno, El trienio negro, pp. 190–195. Reg. 1849, fol. 80v is the case regarding Jimeno de Navasa. On Jimeno de Navasa, see Riera, Un proc´es inquisitorial, p. 65. Cf. Reg. 1876, fols. 39v–40r and ff. regarding Muslims. These permits, which had been bestowed by other kings of the Crown of Aragon, including James I and Pere, and afforded opportunities to impoverished converts such as Juan Fernandez to provide financially for their family members. The license to Fernandez, ´ ´ however, contradicted an earlier general privilegium granted to the Jews, in 1383, by Pere III: Riera i Sans, Les llic`encies, pp. 139–140, from Reg. 1895, fols. 212v–213r, and discussed on pp. 125–126. Joan mitigated some of the abuse suffered by Jews who were forced to attend such theological lectures and participate in discussions with their former

King Joan

207

King Joan attempted to protect both the Jewish communities and its individual members from violence. With social and economic unrest continuing to seethe in Girona, King Joan, on January 15, 1388, ordered the officials of Girona and other locales of its collecta, to make especial efforts to guard the Jews who were being attacked by individuals from all social, economic, and political classes. Joan was troubled that those guilty of such assaults had not been punished. Three years later, on March 30, 1391, the king demanded that a man who lived outside the city be prosecuted for having mortally wounded a Girona Jew.23 King Joan was mindful, as he had been when prince, that scandalous conditions could arise if Christians moved into homes in Jewish residential districts. On May 27 of 1391, Joan supported the petition of the Jewish community of Ejea to preserve its exclusive residence within the castle of the town, a right which had been granted to them in 1208. The king ordered the Christians to sell homes that had come into their possession, when some Jews had defaulted on their contractual obligations. That same day, Joan granted the officials and Jews of the Aragonese aljama the right to impose and collect particular taxes, and an annual subsidy – to be repaid of course, for the restoration of the Jewish quarter. In recognition of the local Jewish community’s financial contributions, Joan, on June 7, pardoned the aljama of Ejea, its leaders and its members, of all civil and criminal fines incurred by a host of crimes, including that of consorting with Christian women.24

23

24

coreligionists, when, on May 11, 1390 on behalf of the aliama of Jews of Perpignan, he instructed the governor of Roussillon and Cerdagne as well as the bailiff of the city, not to compel the Jews to take along Jewish books, including the Talmud, to these sessions. See Reg. 1897, fol. 239r-v, in Riera i Sans on pp. 140–141. In September 1390, the king ordered all officials of the city of Valencia not to force the Jews to attend conversionary sermons, which in his words were intended more to extort money from the Jews rather than bring them to the Cross: Reg. 1847, fols. 22v–23r, reported on by Riera i Sans, p. 126. Joan weighed in on disputes amongst Jews and between Jews and those, formerly of their faith, who had converted to Christianity. On June 12, Reg. 1849, fol. 112r, the king communicated with the jurisperito of Tortosa about a case that his local portero had brought against a local Jew and others over the property of a former Jew who had become a “new man,” having left Judaism and embraced Christianity, and who was a relation of the royal portero. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 112. On unrest during 1390, see ibid., 109–110 and the Girona chapter. See also the letter of the king, on November 3, 1390, Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 217, in which Joan protects the Jews of Valencia. Cf. supra, the chapter on the city of Valencia. On Ejea, see Reg. 1900, fols. 24v–26r. Fol. 25r-v, on Jewish homes within the castle, was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 650–651, no. 405, 1. The king also instructed

208

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Joan’s policies toward the Jewish minority, in June and July of 1391, generally served to support the financial survival of the aljamas within his dominions, even if they occasionally undermined the economic health of individual Jews. On June 2, the king granted the request of the aljama and adelantats of the Jews of Teruel to secure a loan of 2,000 Jaca sueldos, presumably to cover communal expenses. Yet, on that same day, Joan extended to the “justitia, baiulo, and judici” of Albarrac´ın a fouryear moratorium on the repayment of usurious loans contracted with local Jews. A month later, on July 3, Joan acknowledged that Aragonese Jews brought Christians to deprivation and misery through legal loans and through credit instruments whose rates of interest superseded the prescribed limits. Even so, the king observed, grants of royal moratoria would not help since not only Jews, who resided within royal cities and villages, lent money to Christians but also those who resided on noble lands. Regardless, Joan was concerned that such lending practices could lead to “the destruction and depopulation of our cities and towns,” echoing his father King Pere’s lament to him, in March 1376, that the prince’s financial and legal mistreatment of Jews would result in the rapid disappearance of “our aljamas.”25 King Joan demonstrated responsibility for the Crown’s Jews, during these weeks, through his involvement in disputes amongst Jews themselves. On June 9, Joan instructed Samueli Levi of Montalban ´ to appear personally in the royal chancellery and to respond to civil and criminal accusations leveled at him by Fraym Coffe of Valencia. And, four days later, the king ordered the justicia of Daroca and other officials to intercede in a struggle between Astrugue, the widow of Juce Abolex, who had petitioned the king, and her in-laws Azmel and Oro Abolex regarding a house and money listed in her dowry. On July 3, the king directed

25

the royal officials of the kingdom as well as the town leaders not to have Jews swear on a rotulus – probably a scroll that contained an oath specifically demanded of Jews, but rather have a Jew take an oath on the five books of Moses at the entrance to the synagogue. See fols. 25v–26r, published by Baer, ibid., pp. 651–652, no. 405,2, and, generally, p. 1032. In a series of orders dated June 14, Reg. 1848, fols. 131v–132v, Joan directed Michaeli Sancti Dalguarani (also dalgarani and dalcarani), licentiate in Calatayud, to resolve disputes between a number of local Jews and the local city government and its counterpart in Daroca and other Aragonese locales. The permission to Teruel Jews to borrow money – in the form of a cens mort is at Reg. 1900, fol. 22r. These Jews appear again on June 6 in Reg. 1848, fol. 119r. Those of Albarrac´ın are in Reg. 1900, fol. 29v–30r. Reg. 1890, fol. 10r-v is dated July 3. Joan called for an inquiry into whether such illegal loans had been contracted. The king did not offer that widespread moratoria could drive Jews from royal lands to noble holdings within Aragon. See above, note 7, for King Pere’s comments.

King Joan

209

the protonotario of his curia to review the accusation and conviction of Sason Daniel, a Huesca Jew on charges of being a mals´ın. If the claims of his rebelliousness against aljama authorities proved to be substantiated, the king authorized that Sason be punished according to the privilegia, charters, granted the Jewish community.26 King Joan projected his royal authority both within the boundaries of his kingdom as well as amongst his Iberian neighbors. From midJune, King Joan actively involved himself in planning his and Iolant’s coronation that, after four years, was now set for October 29 of 1391. Communications regarding the ceremony were sent to the kings of Castile and Navarre, members of the nobility, and a variety of Joan’s subordinates, including a treasury official and the royal silversmith. On July 3, the king asked the jurats and good men of the municipality of Valencia for their help in the retrieval of a queenly head ornament from a mossen Johan Gasco. Joan notified the municipal leaders that he had dispatched Pere de Besanta – a member of his royal council and protonotario of the queen, to secure the “xapell,” which had been in Gasco’s possession ever since his eviction from the castle of Planes, south of the city.27 Joan enlisted the assistance of a variety of royal officials, within and without his dominions, to procure items – from well-trained hunting 26

27

The charges leveled by Fraym Coffe are found in Reg. 1848, fols. 122v–123r. The king on June 9 also ordered the appearance of the notary of Torre la Carre (contemporary Torrelacarcel) – a hamlet within the orbit of Teruel, to answer to criminal charges ´ brought by the same Coffe: see ibid., fol. 123r. See Meyerson, Jews in an Iberian Frontier Kingdom, pp. 169–170, on the Coffe family, and on individual members scattered throughout the book. Astrugue Abolex and her family appear in Reg. 1848, fol. 126r. Reg. 1980, fol. 11r is the case of Sason Daniel. Ibid., fols. 10v–11r, is an accusation – directed by the Muslim community of Huesca – against three Muslims of being mals´ın(es) and destroyers of the aljama which punishment was imprisonment and forfeiture of property. An analysis of the protocols of both these accusations would enlarge our understanding of the mals´ın, and the communal perceptions of both Jews and Muslims of this crime. On June 2, King Joan intervened in a legal dispute between Jacob Fac¸an of Morvedre and the local aliama that was to be decided by two Christians, who were charged to take Jewish law into consideration: Reg. 1848, fol. 112r. Fac¸an was a leader of the Jewish community and this case possessed a long history. See Meyerson, A Jewish Renaissance, pp. 158–161ff.; Meyerson, Jews in an Iberian Frontier Kingdom, pp. 264–265; and the documents in Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, pp. 423–426, nos. 164–166. On other cases of King Joan’s involvement in cases among Jews, see Guerson, Coping with Crises, p. 109 and pp. 115–116. Reg. 1961, fol. 25r-v and, inter alia, ibid., fols. 22r–24r, 29r-v and 31r-v. The jurats of Valencia wrote to their representative at the royal court regarding the “xapellat”

210

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

animals to luxury goods, that underscored his regal status. Duke Mart´ı was directed a number of times during June and early July to assist in the delivery of precious textiles. During these weeks, the king acquired “very fine preserves” from Alexandria, and gold and silk fabrics from “daltra mar.” The Aragonese king was in contact with the king of Castile on June 16 (the riots in Seville had broken out earlier in the month) and with don Pedro Tenorio, the archbishop of Toledo, who was effectively the ruler of the adjacent kingdom, on June 22 (attacks against the Jews in Toledo had recently erupted) to supply a variety of hunting dogs.28 ∗ ∗ ∗ Joan’s distinctive conduct of royal affairs – which both as prince and as king demonstrated both fealty to older monarchic policies as well as his idiosyncratic personality and style of governance, was on display, during the riotous months of 1391 and 1392, as he confronted the attacks on Jewish life and property. When Prince Joan boldly declared, in late 1377, that no one was as committed as he to the protection of the Jews and their communities, he must have assumed that effective security measures could be deployed to shield this “royal treasure.” In his brief years as king, Joan had proved sensitive to the Jews’ defense needs. King Joan had successfully safeguarded Jews from actual violence by turning to those with whom he had forged political alliances: royal officials, urban oligarchies, and the Jewish ruling classes. Despite his commitment to the preservation of the Jews, the king and his advisers were slow to realize that the Castilian anti-Jewish violence could also threaten the stability of their dominions. The magnitude of the bloodshed wrought in Andalusia and elsewhere was beyond the experience, or memory, of any royal official. Hostility toward the Aragonese Jewish communities occasionally had erupted into open attacks against Jews, especially in the wake of the Black Death, but what had occurred in the neighboring kingdom was unprecedented.29

28

29

on August 5: AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 37v. See Bonifacio Palacios Mart´ın, La ´ de los Reyes de Aragon ´ 1204–1410 (Valencia, 1975), pp. 270–271. Coronacion Ibid., 16r ¶1, from June 11, about the preserves and at fol. 35v, dated July 3, regarding the fabrics. The letter to the king of Castile is at ibid., fol. 21r-v, and to the archbishop of Toledo at fols. 24v–25r. The duke appears as a recipient of royal missives, inter alia, at fols. 10r and 11r. The surrounding folios in Reg. 1961 are replete with such requests. See Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, on distinctions between functional and cataclysmic violence. Guerson, Coping with Crises, pp. 27–35, discusses the violence in Aragon both before and after the Black Death. Royal officials may have reasoned that the weakness of Castilian royal authority – the neighboring kingdom had suffered from the death of its king in 1390 and was ruled by an underage 11-year-old monarch and his regency council – was the prime cause for

King Joan

211

Reports of verbal and physical attacks on the Crown’s Jews compelled King Joan and his advisers to recognize the seriousness of this looming peril. On June 27, the king alerted his senior royal officials – the governors and bailiffs general of his constituent kingdoms, the royal officials of the larger urban centers in Valencia and Catalonia, and their municipal leaders, to the danger posed to the Jews of their jurisdictions. Lawless individuals, who feared neither God nor the royal criminal justice system, were agitating against the Jews and “attempting to create scandals.” Mindful that a royal presence was critical to the safety of the Jews – “our treasure and of our chamber, and constituted under our special guard and protection,” the king apprised the magistrates of the City of Majorca that, in his absence, they were responsible for the welfare of the local Jews.30 King Joan was probably confident that any impending violence in the Kingdom of Valencia would be successfully contained. His brother Mart´ı, the governor general of his dominions and the titled Duke of Montblanc, had recently installed himself in the capital city to arrange his forthcoming expedition to Sicily. When Joan informed the Valencia municipal leaders about the date of his coronation, on July 3, a concerned king also cautioned his brother about the dangers that threatened the Jews of that city and of the entire southern kingdom. Acting as king exactly as had his father – whose behavior in 1377, Joan, as heir apparent, had bitterly denounced, the king encouraged the Jewish communities to contact the royal government to help ensure their safety. On July 3, 4, and 5, Joan turned his attention to the Kingdom of Aragon and ordered the protection of the local Jews: in Huesca; in Alcaniz, Calatayud, and Teruel; and in Tarazona and other locales, ˜ respectively. The Jews themselves, “our treasure,” were to apprise him of any new developments, and profer advice on how he could best serve his own royal interests and that of their own communities.31

30

31

the abrupt descent into violence. After all, even Joan’s request for hunting dogs had to be sent both to King Enrique and to Archbishop Tenorio. ACA, Cancelleria Real, Reg. 1878, fol. 49r-v and fol. 50r-v, quoted in large measure by Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 116–117. These royal letters were sent to the governors and bailiffs general of all of his constituent kingdoms; to the royal officials of important urban centers – Valencia, Xativa, the City of Majorca, Barcelona, Lleida, Girona, Perpignan, ` Cervera, and Tortosa, which contained significant numbers of Jews; and to the municipal authorities of these cities. [Roth, 1391 in Aragon, ´ p. 49 claims incorrectly that the document is no longer extant.] Riera asserts that Crescas was behind the royal letters soliciting the aliama’s input in their defense and claims that “scandols” refers specifically to forced baptisms. See Part I, the relevant chapters.

212

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

When Joan learned that some Aragonese Jews had been taken captive in Castile, the king was obliged to contend with the actual effects of the upheaval in the adjacent kingdom. But his political options were limited. The king acted more as petitioner than as monarch when he inquired of Pedro Fernandez de Fr´ıas, the bishop of Osma, about the fate of the ´ Saragossa Jewish courtier and tax-collector, Samuel Benvenist, who while in Castile on business, “por algunos negocios,” and fearing the bollicios, disturbances, “that at present had newly begun to break out now in the kingdom against the Jews,” “did not dare” return home. Instead, Benvenist took shelter in “your castle of Cabrejas.” The king explained to the bishop, on July 3, that since he wanted this Castilian-born Jew restored to his senyoria, the “reverent padre en cristo” should provide Samuel with the necessary safeguard and expenses until Benvenist would arrive in the Kingdom of Aragon. Joan urged the prelate to behave in ways expected from “your paternitat,” and to ensure that Benvenist would not be harmed.32 Joan interceded, that same July 3, with the bishop of Osma on behalf of other Aragonese Jews who were trapped on the wrong side of the Castilian border. While the king demanded the speedy return of “a Jew Gehuda” – vassal of Joan’s chamberlain and counselor, the Viscount of Roda, who had been robbed while in the bishop’s territory, Joan also urged the knight, Ferdinando Albarez, who had saved Gehuda from those who had wished to rob and kill him, to aid in the return of Gehuda unharmed.33 Faced with the specter of impending violence, King Joan understandably turned to his political allies – the upper nobility and the urban oligarchies, whom he imagined could best contain the encroaching menace. The king was confident that the presence of individuals who would act decisively and inflict severe punishment on the putative rioters, and who 32

33

Reg. 1878, fol. 53v. The castle of Cabrejas is located in Cabrejas del Pinar west of Soria and northeast of Burgo de Osma. See Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, s.v. Samuel Benvenist. Ibid., p. 486 (attached to no. 329) summarizes Reg. 1678, fol. 84 of March 19, 1370, wherein the infant Joan granted a guidaticum to the Castilian Jew, Samuel Benvenist, so he could settle in Aragon. Ibid., no. 2, dated April 21, 1380, Reg. 935, fol. 158v, is a letter from King Pere regarding Samuel Benvenist and his family who had settled in Saragossa. Many Jews had earlier been inadvertently caught up in the Castilian-Aragonese war, which necessitated pleas for their repatriation. See, inter alia, Baer, ibid., p. 387, no. 271 of July 27, 1364; pp. 391–393, no. 276, dated March 20, 1367; and pp. 431–433, no. 297, of January 10, 1370. See also now Guerson, Coping with Crises, pp. 41–42. The chapter on Iolant, infra, tells of the queen’s letters to the bishop of Osma and to the prelate of Toledo. Reg. 1876, fol. 44v ¶2 and fols. 44v–45r, respectively.

King Joan

213

would adopt prophylactic measures aimed at the reduction of hostilities, would prove sufficient to quell the rising unrest. But it was not so simple. These officials still had to be reminded, after the riots in Valencia had erupted, of the importance of defending their Jewish population. Even royal authorities did not intuit the enormity of what had just transpired. The day after the attacks in Valencia, Joan and his royal bureaucracy were still sending cautionary epistles similar to those sent the week before to town officials in Alagon ´ and Uncastillo, and to Daroca municipal leaders and the local nobility. On July 10, as well, the king apprised the Girona bishop of the danger facing the local aliama and instructed him to guard and defend the Jews.34 By the evening of Wednesday July 12, King Joan feared that what had occurred in Valencia was liable to be repeated throughout his dominions, but he continued to believe that, if certain measures were enacted, both the safety of his Jews and the stability of his cities and villages would be assured. In circular letters he addressed to royal and municipal officials in Barcelona, the City of Majorca, and to authorities in other cities in Catalonia and in the Kingdom of Valencia, the king praised the duke “and his great effort,” and asserted that, had it not been for Mart´ı’s presence in Valencia, “much more [substantial and irreparable damage] would have unfolded.” What the duke needed to do was clear: “[W]e therefore wrote in other letters to our dear brother the duke that, with supreme diligence, he should inflict punishment for this act . . . so that the malicious and culpable be penalized in a manner which would [also] serve as an example to others.” The king advised his subordinates that “we strongly doubt that some of the lawless through their audacity and temerity will want to try to attempt something similar . . . ,” and therefore reiterated that local aliamas be restored through the application of provisions in which “we are confident,” and that the local authorities had been accustomed to enact.35 King Joan projected an image of a monarch in control of a volatile situation. He continued to monitor Valencia closely. On Thursday the 13th, the king pressed the duke to punish the guilty parties publicly. The people need to understand, Joan declared, that temerity and lawlessness would not be tolerated. That same Thursday, the king communicated his

34

35

Now that the narrative about the king is entering those months in which the riots occurred, I will cite only those documents that have not been explicated at length in Part I. Reg. 1878, fols. 67v–68r. Cf. fol. 70r-v, that same day, to officials in Huesca and Alcaniz. ˜

214

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

strong disapproval about what had transpired in Valencia to the jurados and prohomens of the city, to the governor of the Kingdom of Valencia, and to the jurisperito of the city of Valencia, and ordered them to assist the duke in his punishment of the culpable.36 Convinced that the duke’s presence in Valencia was crucial to that city’s stability, Joan warned the governor of Roussillon, that same day, not to leave Perpignan, where violence was brewing against the Jews, if he did not want to be held personally responsible for any unrest. The king also bolstered the efforts of those guarding the Jewish community in Calatayud and ensured that they were being paid. On Friday, he instructed that the gates of the city’s Jewish quarter be repaired, in the event that the Jews needed to gather behind these barriers.37 Only four days after he had praised his brother’s behavior, cracks began to appear in the royal strategy of containment. In an abrupt reversal, King Joan reproved Mart´ı for ineffectual behavior. Had you rigorously administered justice, admonished the king, and had you been more mindful of the seriousness of the crime and had been careful not to devalue our system of correction, you would have, during the riots against the Jews, either run through with a lance or hanged 300–400 people. Had you done as we expected of you, the king continued, you would have incited such terror that Monday’s attacks on the Muslims, and the continued despoliation and destruction of the Jewish quarter would have been prevented. Fearful that the rioters would be pardoned of their crimes, the king stripped the duke and the Valencia royal officials of any authority to grant absolution.38

36

37 38

The king’s letter to the duke is in ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1878, fol. 66v and was published in Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 331, no. 8; to the jurados, and a parallel document to the governor of the Kingdom of Valencia, in fols. 66v–67r, and Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 331–332, no. 9; and to the jurisperito of Valencia in fol. 67v and Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 332, no. 10. Part I, the chapters entitled “Elsewhere in Catalonia” and “The Kingdom of Aragon.” The royal letter to the duke of July 16 is from ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1961, fols. 41v– 42v and was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 655–656, no. 409. The king closed by asking his brother to return all the robbed goods including silver and jewels to Miquel de Piera, the batle of the aliama, and encouraged him to inventory the items as the judicial system required. Reg. 1961, fols. 40v–41r is a royal letter of the same date to the governor of Valencia and many of his officials that informed them that the royal council determined that none of the “several wretched individuals” who took part in the riots against the aliamas of Jews and Muslims” could be pardoned in any way. Joan also renounced those who would behave to the contrary.

King Joan

215

Despite serious misgivings about Mart´ı’s effectiveness, Joan was obliged, on July 16, to assert confidence in his brother to the Morvedre authorities. Writing from his court in Saragossa, the king advised the local officials that if they needed royal help, they should communicate with Mart´ı, who was stationed nearby. But, in a letter to the Morvedre aliama, the following day, Joan declared that if the duke did not proceed against the attackers, he would immediately travel to their town and punish the assailants so severely that no one would harbor doubts whether such activities would be tolerated.39 The king had to tread lightly when it came to the treatment of his brother. Not only was Mart´ı the highest ranking royal official at the epicenter of the riots, but King Joan was eager for the success of Duke Mart´ı’s voyage to Sicily. The assembly of the expeditionary flotilla, whose goal was to reduce that island to obedience, had been in the planning stages for close to ten years and had brought the duke and, in his wake, a variety of nautical recruits to the capital city of the Kingdom of Valencia. That same July 16 that Joan rebuked his brother for his ineffectual handling of the Valencia riots, the king responded favorably to Mart´ı’s request for additional monies, the expenses of the voyage already being considerable. Joan was quite forthcoming, referring to his dear brother’s deep-seated loyalty to the Crown and his affectionate service both in good times and in bad. The king granted his brother license to raise funds through the selling of holdings, which Mart´ı had in feud from him, and sympathetically acknowledged the length of time that would be required to conclude these sales.40 King Joan’s strategy or tactics to contain the unrest was to trust in, and to demand from, royal and local officials that they quell the uprising, and to proclaim that he would not countenance any depreciation of royal authority. Yet only a week after the riots, Joan realized that he could not take the support of his allies for granted, and that even his most trusted of advisers, his brother Mart´ı, either could not or would not do what was necessary to protect the Jews. The Saragossa-bound king was left to declare that, if his officials could not effectively establish royal authority, he himself would ride to the affected areas and impose law and order. 39 40

Part I, the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia. Reg. 1961, fols. 51v–53r. For Joan’s letter to Mart´ı, on July 11, about the expenses attached to the voyage, see ibid., fols. 39v–40r; for the correspondence, dated May 25, see fol. 7r and the chapter on the duke. On Aragonese policy toward Sicily during these years, see generally and briefly, Hillgarth, Spanish Kingdoms, vol. 2, pp. 227–229 and Bisson, The Medieval Crown of Aragon, pp. 123–124.

216

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

With the dawning realization that the attacks against the Jews were not simply acts of the undisciplined and the insubordinate, the king was compelled to develop a comprehensive plan to end the disturbances. Two plans of action emerged within the first few days of the riots that appeared to protect the Jews from physical harm. The Jews could be saved through conversion: already on the evening of July 9, priests had been dispatched to the Valencia juheria to effect conversions even as Jews, on their own, streamed to churches to be baptized. Or they could be protected by removing them to fortified areas, as when, in the wake of the attacks in Valencia, the alcayt of the castle in Morvedre hurried back from the capital and had gathered the local Jews within his fortress.41 King Joan preferred that the Jews remain in their faith and physically removed to a secure locale. So disposed, the king expressed gratitude to the Morvedre authorities, on July 17, who safeguarded Jews by installing them in the local castle. On the previous day, Joan protested to his brother Mart´ı, to the contrary, that forcing Valencia Jews – who had hidden in the houses of local Christians, to convert was “neither meritorious or legal.”42 When Mart´ı and the Valencia city officials already, on the first day of the riots, had written of the Jews’ conversion as a fulfillment of Christian ideals, they probably expected to find the sympathetic ear of their brother 41

42

King Joan only slowly came to grips with the nature of the forces – groups or individuals, which were arrayed against the Jews. In late June, when Joan alerted a variety of officials in the Crown of Aragon about lurking dangers to the Jewish population, he and his royal bureaucracy summarily characterized those who threatened the Jews as lawless people, desaffrenats, and as impious individuals who feared neither divine justice nor royal punishment. With these characterizations, the king and his royal bureaucracy had not departed from a long-standing royal perspective regarding those who refused to recognize monarchical authority. On July 3, Joan, concerned about the effects of the incessant attacks against Castilian Jews, continued to describe the inciters as desaffrenats to his brother Mart´ı and similarly as desaffrenados both to the governor of the Kingdom of Aragon and to the municipal and royal authorities in the city of Huesca. After the riots began, Joan still described the instigators as “a few wicked people” in a letter to the governor of Roussillon and Cerdagne. Similarly, the king explained the Valencia riots to his brother, on July 16, as the work of “certain malicious and rebellious individuals.” Three days later, he designated them as “wicked individuals” to Morvedre officials, and lawless to the Master of Montesa who was charged with protecting the Jews of Sant Mateu. But that same day, when the king praised royal and local officials in the city of Tortosa for having defended Jews from the lawless, he advised them to be vigilant that an uprising of the “poble” does not cause their charges harm. Not wicked or lawless individuals, the king wrote, but much more broadly, the people. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia for San Mateu, and the chapter on the rest of Catalonia for Tortosa. See the chapters on the city of Valencia, and the city of Barcelona, respectively.

King Joan

217

and lord. The jurats opined, that July 9 that the conversion pointed to a “disposicio divinal” and, on July 14 declared to their delegates at the royal court that the marvels beheld were manifestations of “a divine mystery.” Miracles that had been “seen, proven and tested,” and recorded by four notaries, could have reasonably been assumed to persuade a king who, as prince, was devoted to protect the corpus Christi – in Barcelona, Perpignan, and Huesca, from the depredations of Jews.43 King Joan’s recognition that his stance against the forced conversion of Jews was fundamentally misunderstood was doubtlessly underscored when he attempted to free Samuel Benvenist from the shielding embrace of the bishop of Osma. Pedro Fernandez de Fr´ıas had claimed to be unsure ´ whether Benvenist was in his castle at Cabrejas, but that if Samuel were to be found there, he would be returned to Saragossa immediately. The cleric went on to say, though, that the king of Aragon should not be displeased if Samuel decided to become Christian. In response, the king declared, on July 16, that baptism should be undergone voluntarily and willingly, “de voler acordado,” and that the sacrament not be administered in any other way.44 Despite a heightened awareness of what was at stake for the Crown in the suppression of the riots, a more accurate apprehension of the limits of epistolary leadership, and a clearer sense of what might be required to put down the unrest, King Joan did not abandon his court at Saragossa. The king did not proceed to the Kingdom of Valencia, as the duke had suggested on July 21, and as he himself had promised the aliama of Morvedre on the July 17. Given the immobility of the court, letter writing

43 44

See the chapter on the city of Valencia. Reg. 1878, fol. 71r. Joan retorted that Samuel was, without doubt, in the bishop’s castle and that Benvenist should have been allowed to return to Saragossa. Joan added that if the bishop wished to effect Samuel’s homecoming, he could simply release the Saragossan Jew to the courier, Jayme Sala, who conveyed this latest royal missive. See the relevant pages in the chapter on the queen. That same July 16, the king explained to his “very dear and very beloved cousin,” the king of Castile that his royal counterpart’s “orders and intercessions” would be essential to bring about Samuel’s release to Joan’s royal portero. Joan detailed the history of the case, and the messages that he had exchanged with the bishop of Osma, and promised Enrique that should a similar incident develop in his dominions, he would reciprocate in kind. King Joan closed with the hope that the holy trinity would continue to protect his royal cousin: ibid., fol. 71r-v. Joan also called upon the archbishop of Toledo and upon the Master of Santiago, Tenorio’s chief rival, to intervene on Samuel’s behalf. Check Alexandra Guerson, “Seeking Remission: Jewish Conversion in the Crown of Aragon, c.1378–1391,” Jewish History 24 (2010), pp. 33–52 for references to Samuel’s son Isaac who converted.

218

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

was the king’s principal medium in the containment of the unrest and the prevention of its spread throughout the kingdom. Joan and his entourage remained in Saragossa and delegated from there.45 When Barcelona officials later that month reported on their successful defense of the Jews, they requested that he travel to their city as soon as his schedule would permit. Joan lauded them for their resistance, praised them for their loyalty and obedience, but declined their petition. Instead, on July 26, the king declared that he planned to travel to Valencia after August 15, and the festival of St. Mary, when he would punish those who attacked Valencia’s Jewish quarter, and had shown contempt for the royal judicial system. King Joan offered two reasons for his decision to wait three weeks before he would leave Saragossa. He was mindful of the extreme heat in Valencia during these days, and he needed to determine whether his brother the duke had proceeded against the guilty as he had ordered.46 Even as attacks against Jews spread throughout his kingdoms, King Joan’s interest in hunting and in the pursuit of good food remained undiminished. Strikingly, the king was concerned that his decision to contain the unrest through personal intervention would prevent the timely possession of hunting birds that he had requested. As King Joan explained to his chief falconer, Francesch Bertrandi, on July 26: “since we have decided to travel to Valencia on account of the avolot perpetrated against the Jews of the city of Valencia, we wish and order you that when you know that the falcons are disposed to travel, to make a straight path toward where we will be.” Joan pressed Bertrand about the readiness of the falcons – including a “falco grifaut” called “the king,” lo rey, and assured him that the falconers’ salaries would be remitted.47 As King Joan waited in Saragossa in the waning days of July for the weather in his southern kingdom to moderate and for his brother to administer the necessary punishments, he adopted a number of 45 46 47

Part I, the chapters on the city and Kingdom of Valencia. Reg. 1961, fols. 50v–51v authored by Bernat Metge, the secretary of Joan I, and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 662–664, no. 414. See the chapter on Barcelona. Reg. 1961, fol. 53r. On July 20, he asked an unspecified “honrat pare en crist,” presumably the archbishop of Urgell, to supply him with some fine cheese from the valley of Andorra, and requested an unnamed veguer to procure some exceptional cheeses and to deliver them to an official of the royal pantry who had been dispatched to him for that reason: ibid., fol. 45v ¶s 1 and 2. Two days later, Joan directed another ecclesiastic, here the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Veruela, to give Salvador Daguas, Joan’s royal emissary, two of the four siguesos, hunting dogs, which the albat had in his possession: ibid., fol. 49r ¶1.

King Joan

219

approaches to quell the violence that continued to erupt. In the absence of his royal presence, the king suggested that physical symbols of monarchic power might suffice to keep the peace. Accordingly, Joan advised the lieutenant governor of Catalonia and the paers of Lleida, on July 29, that if the officials would not extend the service of the militia, which had been engaged to guard the aliama, they should surround the Jewish quarter with royal pennants signifying the protection of the Crown. The king also presumed the efficacy of a royal threat when, on that same day, he warned the municipal officials in Teruel, that if they permitted the local Jews to be attacked, he would stop off in their city on his way south to Valencia, and discipline those responsible, a trip that, by that date, was still more than two weeks in the offing.48 Angered that his brother had not contravened an edict – issued by an official of the bishop of Valencia, which had forbade anyone to help Jews, King Joan, on August 1, reversed his decision of six days earlier and declared that he would leave for Valencia, on August 10, to punish the guilty parties. In a style somewhat reminiscent of his father’s reprimands to him as prince, King Joan lectured the Duke of Montblanc about the importance of the Jews and, generally, about the stability of the kingdom. Echoing the letter his father had sent him on behalf of his mother Elionor in 1375 – who had expressed concern about the effect of the depopulation of the aljamas on the royal treasury, King Joan admonished Mart´ı a full three weeks after the outbreak in Valencia, declaiming that the duke would not want the Jewish community, “highly profitable to the treasury of the queen, our dear companion,” to be lost to the royal patrimony.49 Mindful that even his brother, the governor general of Aragon, upon whom he relied to dispense justice, did not share his protective attitudes 48

49

See Part I, the chapter on Catalonia, regarding Lleida; and the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon to the officials of Teruel. On July 24 and July 27, respectively, he extended his special legal protection to the Jews of Montalban, ´ Barbastro, and their surroundings. On July 31, King Joan counseled the jurados and good men of Huesca to expel those who would attack its Jews; and on August 4, ordered Tarazona officials to banish all foreigners who were wreaking havoc in the city. On all, see the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Cf. Joan placing a royal coat of arms on Valencia gates in 1390: Danvila, Clausura ´ y delimitacion, ´ p. 154. See the chapter on the city of Valencia. Separately, the Aragonese king, Reg. 1878, fol. 89v and published in Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 344, no. 34, and queen, Reg. 2054, fol. 100r-v in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 665, no. 415, wrote to the Avignon Pope on Sunday July 30 imploring him not to issue any proclamations about the riots or to grant any favors to those implicated in the disturbances until he would be privy to their understanding of these developments. They informed the pontiff that they had relayed a

220

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

toward the Jewish community, Joan placed the Jews of Alcaniz ˜ under his personal protection and, on August 3, pointedly declared that no one – neither his brother nor the officials of the town – should dare to harm them. Aware that the security of the Crown depended on him, the king, on August 6, apprised the governor of the kingdom of Majorca that he would travel to Valencia and personally mete out punishment to those “who had the great audacity” to attempt the destruction of the Jewish aljama of that kingdom’s chief city.50 News from the island quickly complicated King Joan’s travel plans. On Wednesday August 9, the king learned of the August 2 assault on the Jewish call of the City of Majorca. Probably on that same August 9, King Joan received the letter from the municipal officials of Barcelona, which alerted him to the violence that had erupted in their city the previous Saturday. While Joan, that Wednesday, continued to proclaim his impending visit to Valencia to the jurats and good men of the city, he also, on August 9, announced to Guillermo de Rajadello, the lieutenant governor of Catalonia, that as a result of the riots that had spread to Majorca and Barcelona, and that now threatened the city of Lleida, he intended to travel to the governor’s domain. The following day, he notified the Valencia city fathers, and many others as well, that events in Barcelona would prevent him from leaving for their city at the intended time. Accordingly, the king apprised the councilors and good men of Barcelona, on August 11, that within a few days, he would travel directly to their city for a short visit.51 Amid the broadening unrest, King Joan appeared to proffer the same advice and to propose similar policies to those that he had developed over the course of July. On August 7, the king again suggested to the governor of Valencia to secure the local Jews in the Morvedre fortress and, on the following day, encouraged the military commander, comendador mayor, of Alcaniz ˜ to allocate a section of the local castle for the Jews and their

50

51

full report on the events at Valencia to the papal envoy Iohannem de Verbons and that he would transmit this information to the Holy Father. See on Alcaniz, ˜ the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. While Joan, on July 17, congratulated the royal and municipal officials in Alcaniz ˜ for their helpful provisions in keeping the Jews safe, he was forced, two days later, to object to the incitement that prevented town Jews from conducting business in the surrounding locales. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. The king’s letter to the royal governor of Majorca, on August 6, is in ACA, Cancelleria, Reg. 1878, fol. 97, published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del Rei, p. 130, no. 198, and again in Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, pp. 118–119. See the chapter on Majorca; on Barcelona; on Catalonia for Lleida; and the chapter on the city of Valencia.

King Joan

221

property. On August 9, Joan approved the security arrangements the Lleida city fathers had advanced. He agreed that the Jews be assembled and installed in the royal castle, and maintained his earlier stance against forced baptism by denying the petition of local religioses to enter the call and convert the Jews. Similarly, he urged Tortosa Jews, that Wednesday, to ascend to the castle in the face of attacks against them, despite the Jews’ misgivings about the alcayt, castellan, of the fortress.52 But the growing disturbances led King Joan to doubt whether his plan to protect Jews through the promotion of their transfer to a secure locale was effective, and whether his staunch opposition to official encouragement of baptism was a wise policy. Even before Joan had learned of the August 13 attack on the fortress in Lleida, and despite his clearly articulated position against the baptism of the Jews as a prophylactic strategy, the king, in a private letter to Guillermo de Rajadello, offered the lieutenant governor the option to dispatch – secretly and at night, honorable religiosos to the fortress where the Jews resided, and to persuade them to be baptized. In consonance with his postion against forced baptism, the king added that if the Jews refused the blandishments of Christian salvation, they were to be guarded and protected. Burdened with an image of himself as a zealous defender of the Christian faith, King Joan had struggled mightily against the presumptions of a variety of authorities, including the Valencia city fathers, the Castilian bishop of Osma, and even his brother the duke Mart´ı, that he would find the conversion of Jews to be a satisfactory resolution to the riots. So perceived, the king, not surprisingly, demanded an oath of secrecy from all those involved in this conversionary project. Although Joan had cautioned Lleida officials, on August 9, against forced baptism, the king clearly began to entertain the notion that the conversion of the Jews might be an effective way to contain the unrest. At the same time, the royal policy against involuntary baptism, which King Joan had repeatedly affirmed since the outbreak of the riots in Valencia, was restated to a variety of officials. On August 12, King Joan instructed the local bishop of Barcelona to protect the Jews, and to prevent them from being baptized against their will. On the 16th, he instructed the provost of the cathedral to make sure that Hasdai Crescas’ family not be constrained to embrace Christianity. Further, Joan requested that his niece, the Queen of Sicily, who was protecting Jews in her Barcelona 52

See the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia for Morvedre; the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon for Alcaniz; ˜ and the chapter on Catalonia for Lleida and Tortosa, respectively.

222

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

home, not allow her charges to be coerced to come to the Cross. The following day, the king pronounced to a broad group of Girona leaders – Girona had erupted in riot on August 10, that Jews not be involuntarily baptized since the administration of the sacrament, in such a fashion, would fail to transform the individual into a proper Christian.53 Other signs began to emerge that King Joan appreciated the potential of a conversionary solution to the riots. Joan instructed royal and municipal officials in Fraga, on August 18, to extend their watch over local Muslims and Jews – the king had ordered them on the 16th to place members of both groups and their property in the royal castle and to provide them with provisions. But Joan added, in a departure from his by now standard directive, if any Muslim or Jew “de son franch arbitre e no per forc¸a” wished to come to the Cross, it would give him pleasure. And if they did choose to be baptized, their property was to be preserved and delivered into their possession as Christians. King Joan’s decision about the putative convert’s property, while in line with legislation promulgated by previous kings of the Crown of Aragon,

53

Reg. 1961, fols. 73v–74r published by Baer in Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 674 (pp. 673–4), no. 420, 2. See the chapter on Barcelona; and the chapter on Girona. The king wrote to the Perpignan consols, on August 28, that their attempted forced conversion of Jews imperiled them “envers deu e lo mon,” in their relationship both to God and to society. See, above, the chapter on Catalonia. Clement VI, in his bull, dated July 5, 1348, argued against compulsory baptisms. See E. D´eprez and G. Mollat, Clement VI. Lettres closes, patentes et curiales int´eressant les pays autres que la France publi´ees ou analys´ees d’apr`es les registres du Vatican 1 (Paris, 1960), pp. 225–226, no. 1683 and Shlomo Simonsohn, The Apostolic See and the Jews. Documents: 492-1404 (Toronto, 1988), p. 396, no. 372. Edward A. Synan, The Popes and the Jews in the Middle Ages (New York, 1965), p. 133, translates part of this text. See also Alfonso X in Las Siete Partidas (7:24:6) in Dwayne E. Carpenter, Alfonso X and the Jews: An Edition of and Commentary on “Siete partidas” 7.24 “De los Jud´ıos.” (Berkeley, California, 1986), pp. 79–81. David J. Viera, “Sant Vicent Ferrer, Francesc Eiximenis i el pogrom de 1391,” in Karl I. Kobbervig, Arseni Pacheco, and Iosep Massot i Muntaner eds., Actes del sis`e Col.loqui d’Estudis Catalans a Nord-am`erica. Vancouver, 1990 (Barcelona, 1992), pp. 243–254, imagines the Franciscan Eiximenis’ perspectives on the riots and the possibilities of forced conversion. He asserts that this learned and well-connected author was in Xativa ` during its riots. On Eiximenis, read Robert E. Lerner, The Feast of Saint Abraham. Medieval Millenarians and the Jews (Philadelphia, 2001), pp. 101–110, and specifically p. 109. Jaume Riera i Sans and Jaume Torro´ Torrent’s fine collection of texts, Francesc Eiximenis i la casa reial. Diplomatari 1373–1409 (Girona, 2011) does not add to our knowledge about Eiximenis and compulsory baptisms. Still, his definitive conclusions, p. x, including that Eiximenis was not a confessor to members of the royal family, are important.

King Joan

223

was at odds with the economic self-interest of the royal government to preserve the Jewish communities, and indeed the practices of some of its monarchs. Consequently, King Joan was not disposed to make his stance public. Just as he had demanded confidentiality from Guillermo de Rajadello regarding conversionary efforts in Lleida, Joan instructed the Fraga officials not to divulge whether some Muslims and Jews had decided to become Christian. The king was fearful that upon hearing of these changes in faith, riots would break out in their town, presumably to force those Jews who had refused the offers of baptism. King Joan remained wary of establishing a precedent for conversion as a strategy for containment of the unrest.54 Despite King Joan’s reservations about the efficacy of his policy to secure the Jews physically, Joan continued to order local authorities in Calatayud, as he did on the 14th, to repair the walls of the juderia and to reinforce the facades of Jewish homes located outside the Jewish quarter. On August 20, three days after the Jews of Perpignan were attacked, the king expressed gratitude that the surviving Jews had been transferred to the royal castle. Two days later, Joan communicated his gratefulness to Puigcerda` officials who had relocated their Jews to the castle at Ll´ıvia.55 As the riots spread across the Crown of Aragon, Joan renewed his determination to visit his beleaguered cities. For three days in succession, on August 10, 11, and 12, the king announced that he would depart Saragossa for Barcelona after the August 15 festival of Santa Maria de Agosto. He also made military and other preparations for his leave. On August 10, Joan instructed the Master of the Order of the Knights of Montesa, together with fifteen to twenty armored soldiers, to decamp immediately for the royal court at Saragossa. On August 13, although the king did not yet know of that day’s assault in Lleida, Joan directed both the city magistrates and his lieutenant governor in Catalonia to

54

55

On Aragonese policy, see Paola Tartakoff, “Christian Kings and Jewish Conversion in the Medieval Crown of Aragon,” Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies 3 (2011), pp. 27–39. Reg. 1878, fol. 116v, ¶s 1 and 2, dated August 16, pertain to the situation in Lleida. Joan instructed the officials to erect the necessary fortifications to protect the Jews. On August 18, ibid., fol. 124r-v and fol. 124v, Joan confirmed knowledge of the regulations that the Fraga officials had enacted for the defense and restoration of both aliamas. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon for Calatayud; the chapter on Catalonia for Perpignan and Puigcerda. `

224

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

have the local bishop’s palace readied for his arrival because he intended to make it his headquarters. The king promised the Lleida officials and Guillermo de Rajadello, that same Sunday, how, on Wednesday morning, he would stop off in that city on his way to Barcelona. The royal travel plans appeared to be firm.56 But the king did not leave Saragossa on Wednesday August 16, the day after the festival of St. Mary. Joan notified the Master of Montesa, two days later, that circumstances in Saragossa, similar to developments in Barcelona and elsewhere, prevented his departure. Even so, the magistro should be ready, when ordered, to leave – together with those fifteen to twenty “bacinets,” for Vilafranca del Pened`es, southeast of Barcelona. The king promised Fraga officials, on August 18, that he would depart from Saragossa, “God willing,” the following Monday and, on August 20, informed the governor of Roussillon and Cerdagne, and Perpignan officials, that he would leave Saragossa for Catalonia, in a few days and dispense frightful punishments to those who attacked the Jews two days earlier. On August 21, and again on the 23rd, he promised Girona municipal officials that he would leave Saragossa without delay and, while traveling through Catalonia, would administer punishment and stabilize their city.57 Throughout the month of August, King Joan vacillated over the date of his departure. On August 23, Joan declared August 28 as his departure date to officials in Girona. The following day, the king even went so far as to inform the governor of Majorca that, after he would visit Barcelona and Valencia, he would travel to Majorca and punish the rioters on the island. He explained in another missive on the 24th that his own efforts at the suppression of unrest in Saragossa had prevented him from leaving days earlier. When he finished executing sentences in the capital city, he boasted, not only Saragossa but the entire Kingdom of Aragon would be under control. The following day, Joan responded to the Count of Urgell, whom he had dispatched to Barcelona to keep the peace, that he would leave Saragossa in a few days and discipline those who rioted and

56

57

See the chapter on the city of Valencia for August 10; and the chapter on the city of Barcelona for August 11 and 12. Ibid. treats the August 10 order about the soldiers; the chapter on Catalonia discusses Lleida. See the chapters on Catalonia and the Kingdom of Aragon dated August 18; that on Catalonia for the document dated August 20; and the chapter on Girona. On Fraga, see note 15 above.

King Joan

225

caused the popular uprisings. Also on the 25th, “the king of Aragon” informed his “dear friend,” the mariscal of France, that “we will soon leave here because of the uproar that was directed in our kingdoms and lands against the Jews and go directly to Barcelona.”58 King Joan hesitated for too long. By the time Joan may have indeed intended to travel to Barcelona, its city fathers had changed their mind about his upcoming visit. They had urged the king to travel to their city already from the end of July and had been annoyed when Joan had remained in Saragossa even after riots had erupted in their city. But on August 21 and 22, they made clear that they no longer sought his royal presence.59 Joan understood that while his court was immobile, neither the Jews nor their attackers were. The king, on August 4, worried aloud to Tarragona officials that those of “stranea nacion” might travel across the borders of his kingdom to harm the Jews, even as the nearness of the border with Navarre might prove tempting to Aragonese Jews seeking personal safety. Similarly, Joan tried to ensure, on August 24, that Majorca Jewish merchants did not use the proximity of their holdings on the North African coast to shift their domiciles south to “barbaria.”60 Despite this awareness, Joan resisted leaving Saragossa, but rather relied on emissaries to enforce the peace and to administer the necessary justice. On August 12, the king, together with the queen, ordered their respective treasurers to allot funds to punish those who, induced by an evil spirit and undaunted by the prospect of royal punishment, rioted against the Jewish quarters of their dominions. They also directed Juliano Garrius and Berenguerio de Cortilio to recover whatever monies they expended from Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Eight days later, Joan instructed these same two officials to collect fines from those who were involved in the destruction of the Jewish communities and its members “in the cities of Barcelona, Valencia, Majorca, Lleida, Gerona and Xativa and whichever other of our cities, villages and locales. . . . ” Royal justice appeared to

58

59

60

See the chapter on Majorca; and that on the Kingdom of Aragon about events in Saragossa. Reg. 1961, fols. 82v–83r, was directed to the Count of Urgell, and ibid., fol. 86r to the mariscal. The Barcelona officials, at end of July, had urged the king to come; and on August 10 and the days following: See the chapter on Barcelona. On August 12, ibid., Queen Iolant assured the Barcelonans that Joan was coming. See there the letters of August 21 and August 22. See the chapters on the Kingdom of Aragon, and the chapter on Majorca.

226

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

be as concerned during these days with the financial repercussions of its administration as with its deterrent capacity.61 Whatever strategic calculations, or particular characterological disposition, may have prevented King Joan from following through on his oft-repeated declarations to depart imminently from Saragossa, Joan’s anxiety about his queen and her well-being patently trumped his concerns about the safety of the Jews. Iolant, who had not carried a number of her pregnancies to term, was in her seventh month of pregnancy toward the end of August, and was bearing, perhaps, the heir to the Crown of Aragon. Iolant had given birth to Jaume in March 1384, but he had died in September 1388. Likewise she delivered Ferran Mateu in March 1389, but he died in October of that year.62 Joan did not allow his policy of sheltering Jews in the castles of his kingdom to override his pregnant queen’s welfare and the future of his royal lineage. When King Joan, on August 25, informed the Count of Urgell about his travel plans, the king instructed his cousin “to have the castle at Balaguer emptied for our companion, the queen, as we have already told you in other letters.” Indeed three days earlier, on August 22, Joan had asked the Count “to prepare the castle of Balaguer where she could stay and make all the Jews exit who are now there.” Joan imagined that Iolant would be discomfited by the presence of refugee Jews from Lleida and Barcelona in the fortress – located midway between Saragossa and Barcelona and just northeast of Lleida.63 Iolant was not only well along in her pregnancy but, by the end of August, had also taken ill. On August 26, the king alerted maestre Nadal, a Lleida physician, and two other medical doctors from the royal court, 61

62

63

Reg. 1961, fols. 149v–150r, on the 12th, and Reg. 1980, fols. 87v–88v, dated August 20. Reg. 1948, Fol. 182v, from August 19, contains an order by Joan to the governors, veguer, batles, including those who guarded the roads in Catalonia, to arrest those who “invaded, scattered, and completely destroyed and exterminated” the Jewish communities of Valencia, Majorca, Barcelona, Lleida, Girona, and other sites, and insure that they not take the “jewels, money, silver” and other stolen items out of his lands. This document was published in Mateu Rodrigo Lizondo and Jaume Riera i Sans ´ Textos en llengua eds., Col·leccio´ documental de la Cancelleria de la Corona d’Arago. catalana (1291–1420), vol. 2 (Val`encia, 2013), pp. 830–831, no. 763. On Iolant’s pregnancies, see, inter alia, Roca, pp. 126–140, and, infra, the queen chapter. In August 1381, Iolant gave birth to a daughter, Violant, who grew into adulthood. Perhaps the unsettled situation in Saragossa was yet another reason for the king to seek safety and repose for Iolant. The letter of August 22 was published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 134, no. 207 from Reg. 1961, fol. 80r. The royal missive of the 25th is in ibid., at fols. 82v–83r.

King Joan

227

to the “malaltia de nostra cara companyona la Reyna.” Joan asked them to come immediately to her bedside because “there is great peril in delay.” Joan reported, the following day, that, “thank God,” the queen’s condition had ameliorated and Iolant was out of danger, and advised the doctors to remain at home. If they had already taken to the road, the king added, they should turn around because their assistance was not required.64 The volatility of the queen’s health, and of Joan’s reaction to her illness, was apparent the afternoon of the next day (the king specified the time in his letter: four hours before sunset) when he urged the same doctors to continue on to court because the queen’s condition was not getting better, indeed was worsening, and that she was running a high fever. Her deteriorating condition was dangerous to her and, Joan added, to the fetus. He requested the doctors on August 28 to travel day and night, nonstop, because again, “sia gran perill en la triga.” By the following Tuesday September 3, the king declared to the three physicians that despite his previous letters, the queen’s health had improved and she was not at risk: “it would please us that you remain where you are presently.” The medical crisis appeared to have passed.65 King Joan surely was frustrated over his inability to suppress the unrest or to ensure the future of his royal line with the production of a male heir to the throne. Hunting may have loomed large for Joan as a means whereby he could demonstrate kingly triumph and effectively project his monarchical authority. During August and early September, while the riots continued and as his beloved Iolant took ill, King Joan continued to expend much effort to secure fine animals to accompany him in the chase. On August 13, the king directed his attention to neighboring Navarre. Joan offered his camel, Almogeri, to “my very dear and very beloved brother,” his relative King Carlos III, and asked to have a Breton galgo, greyhound, named Duran, and its male pup, which belonged to the Count 64

65

The letter of the 26th was sent to Magistro Natali Embrini as well to Raymundo Querolli and Gullermo Coltellery. The latter also treated Mata in 1378; see Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 77. See index, s.v. Colteller, for many references. The orthography of these names changes in each of the letters. Roca, p. 133, cites Reg. 1959, fol. 188r, dated April 27, wherein Joan mentions Iolant’s pregnancy, and Reg. 1961, fol. 2v, from May 6, when Joan inquired after Iolant’s health and that of the prenyat. Reg. 1961, fol. 85r ¶2, dated August 26 and ibid., fol. 85v, dated August 27. See, infra, the chapter on the queen. Reg. 1961, fol. 86r-v, dated August 28. There are other letters in Joan’s correspondence, with his queen especially, when the king specifies the hour. The letter of September 3 is in ibid., at fol. 90r ¶2.

228

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

of Foix, delivered in turn. On the 24th, the king thanked the Master of Roda for the galgo pups that he had sent. They had performed wonderfully on Christmas, Joan reported, when he and his entourage had successfully hunted and killed fifty-five to sixty puerchos, most of which, the king added, were of considerable size.66 On the same August 25 that Joan requested that the Count of Urgell remove refugee Jews from the Balaguer castle, he contacted officials of the Aragonese counties of Daroca and Calatayud and placed orders for two galgos, who were young and displayed an aptitude for pursuit, explaining that “we take great pleasure in hunting for hare and are in need for good whippets or greyhounds.” It would be satisfactory, the king declared, if one of these dogs was trained as a defender.67 The king of the Crown of Aragon knew that, if he wanted to acquire the animals he desired, persistence was necessary. Toward the end of July, Joan had explained to his chief falconer Francesch Bertrandi not to deliver, among other birds, the falcon named “lo rey” to his court in Saragossa, since he would be traveling to Valencia on account of the avolot. On September 1, the king was still in Saragossa and, as his complaint to Bertrand of that day indicates, “lo rey,” the bird, was not.68 But if the king wanted his mandates to be implemented and not dismissed, it was essential that the king execute his own commitments in a timely fashion. Even, on September 5, after Barcelona municipal officials reneged on their original invitation to the king and instead urged him not to leave Saragossa, Joan responded that he had not yet settled on the date 66

67

68

Reg. 1961, fol. 71r-v, of August 13, and ibid., fol. 84r ¶1, of the 24th. Joan invited the magistro to join him and his friends in the hunt, the next time he found himself in his kingdom, when they would take great pleasure in the pursuit of wild pig. The king requested that the master keep him posted as his travel plans materialized. I was incorrect regarding the addressee in my “‘Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ’: Joan of Aragon and his Jews, June-October 1391,” New Perspectives on Jewish-Christian Relations. In Honor of David Berger, p. 79. Reg. 1961, fol. 83v ¶1, is dated August 25. I translated lebrero as whippet. One of the hunting dogs, Joan wrote, could be suited to empaxar or deffender. Joan asked one of his retainers, three days later, for speedy delivery of a specific type of bloodhound – “sabuesos lebres de bretanya” about which he had just received notice. Joan was still keen on Duran and its male offspring; he also instructed mossen Yuany to have these Breton hunting dogs delivered: ibid., fol. 86v. Ibid., fols. 88v–89r, to Francesch Bertrand. Joan was in touch that first day of September with mossen Yuany as well, asking for a variety of hunting dogs with specific attributes, among them three “cans baschos” and three “cans de franc¸a,” the most young and strong available. Joan did not depend on Yuany for delivery; he sent Anthon de Darocha of his hunting ministry, “of our monteria,” to him, directly, to gather all these hounds: ibid., fol. 89r ¶1. Another request for a galgo, dated September 1, is at fol. 88v ¶2.

King Joan

229

of his departure because of his wife’s serious illness – she was convalescing nicely, thank God, and on account of other matters concerning royal honor and the welfare of his kingdoms.69 Consistency in policy was also crucial if King Joan wanted his subjects to comply with his oft-stated rejection of the Jews’ conversion as a viable option to contain the unrest. Despite Joan’s request for secrecy from officials in Lleida and Fraga to whom he had acknowledged, in midAugust, that the conversion of local Jews might be effective in fending off further riots, news of the contingency of royal policies surely reached those in Barcelona. The Barcelona officials, who were irritated that royal pronouncements seemed to suggest that the Jews be permitted to leave Barcelona for safer locales in the Crown of Aragon, sought instead to have the remaining local Jews receive religious instruction in Christianity. If they continued to remain steadfast in their faith, the municipal leaders offered, then these Jews would be allowed to leave the city.70 The king also had to contend with the Perpignan consols, who claimed that the royal governor of Roussillon and Cerdagne sought to have the local Jews embrace the Christian faith. The king cautioned the consuls, that same September 5, not to imagine that local turbulence could be avoided through the Jews’ conversion and insisted to his governor, Gilaberto de Crudilis, that Jews could not be forced to embrace Christianity. Joan advised the consols to expel foreigners – who might prove to be potential agitators, from their town, and instructed the governor to prevent the Jews from leaving the royal domain.71 ∗ ∗ ∗ With the royal court rooted in Saragossa, and King Joan seeking to contain the disturbances through the dispatch of letters, both the principles that animated royal policy and the extent of the reach of royal power remained unclear to all parties involved in the riots, including at times to the officials pledged to keep the disturbances in check. From early 69 70

71

Reg. 1961, fol. 92r, partially transcribed by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, pp. 136–137, no. 212. The Barcelonans were upset at the king’s declaration that some Jews who actively sought to leave the city and travel to other Jewish aliamas should be delivered into the hands of a royal official whom they trusted, and who would diligently defend them. The Barcelonans wished to retain their Jewish population as Christians. See supra, the chatper on the city. Joan also refers to Yolande[sic]’s illness in a letter of September 4 to an unnamed “honrat pare en crist” (Reg. 1961, fol. 91v ¶1) and also on September 5 to the Count of Urgell (ibid., fol. 92r-v). See the chapter on Catalonia.

230

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

September, when the king declared yet again that he would not leave the principal city of Aragon, until October 2, when Joan finally took to the road, the turbulence, which had beset the Crown of Aragon for nearly three months since the eruption of the Valencia riots, entered a transitional phase. Some locales, in which violence had not erupted, remained unstable, others – in the aftermath of rioting, continued to teeter on the precipice of unrest, and in other areas, the post-riots reality was beginning to emerge. King Joan, mindful of the lingering turmoil in the city of Girona, persisted, during the last two weeks of September, in the assertion that the Jews and their property be protected, that provisions be provided to those Jews who had sought refuge, and that their forced conversion not be pursued. The king also attempted to blunt conversionary pressures in Tortosa, where efforts to compel Jews to come to the Cross had been in evidence even before the riots of August 9. Likewise in Tarrega, where ` bringing Jews to the baptismal font appeared an attractive strategy in a town beset by tensions. In Aragon, King Joan attempted to ensure that the Jews of Teruel were not subject to violence either in their hometown or when traveling in its environs on business, and that Jews were similarly safe in Alcaniz, ˜ and free from attacks in Huesca.72 72

See the chapter on Girona. Acknowledging perhaps some of the economic causes of the riots and recognizing, of course, that the local aliama was among Queen Iolant’s financial holdings, King Joan sought to ensure that class unrest did not result in changes to the tax structure, which would have endangered royal receipts. The king, by the end of September, possessed more details about the identity of those who attacked the Jews and stole their property. Joan’s awareness of class involvement in disturbances in Valencia is evidenced in letters of September 17 and 18, Reg. 1961, fol. 107v, and ibid., fol. 110r-v and fol. 110v, respectively. Reg. 1949, fol. 8v ¶2, dated September 23, refers to individuals who participated in the attack on the Barcelona call, the murder and robbery, including the seizure of the new castle. On September 27, Reg. 1879, fol. 13r, Joan directed the justicia of Calatayud to investigate whether the Portuguese noblemen Sanco Darbolancha and Martin Daranna, escuderos of the “infant Dionis of Portugal,” whom the official had in custody had been present at the riots against the Jews in Barcelona. If these individuals were involved in the avolot, justice should be pursued. If they were found not to have participated, the king ordered that they be freed immediately and their arms and other property returned. The king, who may have written his letter in response to an inquiry from the Portuguese infant, does not appear to have trusted the officials to return the property of the Portuguese accused, if they were found innocent of the charges. See Riera i Sans, Estrangers, pp. 581–582. See the chapter on Catalonia for Tortosa; and for Tarrega. The chapter on the ` Kingdom of Aragon discusses Teruel, and Alcaniz ˜ and Huesca. See also, infra, the chapter on the duke, where the complex relationship between King Joan and his brother will be explored, specifically with regard to the treatment of the Jews during, and in the aftermath of, the riots.

King Joan

231

King Joan confronted the challenges of a post-riot society when he was compelled to manage, from afar, the consequences of the attacks that had ravaged the city and the Kingdom of Valencia. The king strove to reestablish public order: to ensure the punishment of those who instigated the hostilities, as well as those who dared to challenge monarchical authority. Joan also attempted to mitigate the financial fallout suffered by the royal treasury as a result of the assaults. Morvedre, in whose fortress the Jews of the capital city found refuge in the wake of the riots, was still troubled by continual unrest, and the king offered suggestions to curb the incipient violence.73 It surely became apparent to King Joan that a significant royal presence was required in Valencia, as it became increasingly obvious both to those in the city and to the king himself that, despite Joan’s promises, the monarch would not be visiting the kingdom immediately. Probably in recognition of these realities, and following Queen Iolant’s lead of earlier in the month, King Joan announced to the jurats and good men of the capital city, on September 27, that “for the preservation of our prerogatives, dret, which we possess in the juheria and the property of the aliama of the Jews” of Valencia, “we are sending to you our faithful counseller and 73

When, on September 15, Joan announced that all the Jews of his Crown were under his special protection, he specifically ordered his brother the duke Mart´ı and all the officials of the Kingdom of Valencia to safeguard its Jews: Reg. 1901, fol. 81r-v, published (with some small errors of transcription) in Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, pp. 351–352, no. 51. King Joan reminded the lieutenant of the Morvedre justicia and other Valencia officials, on September 18, that they should personally aid the aliama and its members in their collection of debts owed by Christians and Muslims: Reg. 1878, fols. 171v– 172r, and published by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 352, no. 52. The effect of the Jews’ lowered receipts on the royal treasury was apparent the next day, ibid., fol. 173v, in Hinojosa Montalvo, no. 53, when the king, on behalf of the Morvedre aliama, requested leniency for its inability to render an annual August payment of 1,000 sueldos on their censals. The Jewish community claimed that they were burdened by the expenses they had incurred to guard their persons and to defend their property. See also Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 49–50, and generally the documents on pp. 351–353, and Meyerson, A Jewish Renaissance, p. 28. On September 16, Reg. 1961, fols. 108v–109v, King Joan directed the local justicia of Morvedre to expel from the city limits those of “male vite,” and others who attempted to incite the populace and promote scandalous activities. In Joan’s absence, many individuals claimed to speak in his name. The king expressed his displeasure to the Valencia municipal authorities, on the 18th – ibid., fol. 110r-v and fol. 110v, about the behavior of those who alleged that they acted with royal consent, and ordered two of his royal officials to gather information secretly against those individuals so punishment could be administered. Joan ordered the governor, on the 20th, ibid., fol. 111r-v, to have guards loyal to him drag from the capital city those who were denounced, arrested, and imprisoned for inciting “escandells e perills” there, and to intern them at a site of the governor’s choice, and then to dispense justice.

232

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

vice-chancellor of our Kingdom of Valencia, Domingo Mascho, doctor in laws” with sufficient authority to administer the juheria and oversee the property of the aliama and its members.74 Much needed to be done in the wake of the wholesale collapse of this most important aliama of King Joan’s southern Iberian kingdom, and a trusted and capable royal official had to be charged with functional oversight of the Jewish community. Mascho’s responsibilities also encompassed the fate of those Jews who found themselves in Morvedre. On October 1, Joan ordered the local officials, members of the local nobility, and other worthies to pay heed to the utterances of Micer Domingo Mascho regarding the defense and guard of “the Jews who are there in Morvedre and of the others who arrived there.”75 King Joan concluded, over the course of September, that while the aftereffects of the riots and unrest in his Iberian kingdoms required royal intervention, new attacks against the Jews were unlikely to materialize. On September 21, Joan clearly expressed this assessment to the castlan at Perpignan: while the widespread riots had brought the Jews to seek safety in his fortress, such disturbances were now infrequent, “que ara no ha molt.” When the king, on the 27th, directed the officials of Maella 74

75

Reg. 1961, fols. 122v–123r, is from September 27. The king explained his dispatch of Mascho to the capital city as a result of the “great displeasure of the unexpected event that unfolded in the juheria of the city of Valencia,” and for the purpose of the restoration of the juheria, and for the preservation of the property of the aliama and its members. Joan requested that the municipal leaders aid Micer Domingo in his efforts and attend to his requests. That same day, ibid., fol. 123r, was published by Hinojosa Montalvo, pp. 352–353, no. 54, as a royal letter to the “jurados.” Cf. Reg. 1949, fols. 10v–11r. Iolant sent Domingo Mascho to Valencia on September 11: See, above, the chapter on the city of Valencia. King Joan’s official declaration regarding Mascho’s appointment, Reg. 1949, fol. 9r-v, spelled out the reasons for this extraordinary measure. Most of the Jews of the Valencia aliama, noted the king, had abandoned the blindness of Jewish superstition in the wake of the recent assault, and had been reborn in the liquid of holy baptism. Others who had not converted to the Catholic faith, removed themselves from the city, which left no one to govern the aliama. Mascho’s presence in Valencia was necessary to carry out the responsibilities of the community and to enforce its ordinances. Mascho was charged with the recovery of all movable and immovable property pertaining to the aliama, its synagogues and charitable institutions, was empowered to issue receipts, grant absolutions, and instructed to work with secular and ecclesiastical officials. In a separate instrument, the king granted Mascho the authority to call meetings of the aliama whenever he wished in order to effect the restoration and repair of the community. In another declaration, that same day, Joan annulled all the arrangements that Valencia officials had made regarding property owned by the Jewish community and its members. See also ibid., fol. 10r-v and fol. 10r. Reg. 1961, fol. 125v is the October 1 order regarding Morvedre.

King Joan

233

and Calaceite in eastern Aragon to ensure that no harm come to Salamon Alfanell and his sons, he explained these Tortosa Jews’ decision to collect money and to contract new business as a reflection that the riots and unrest had diminished, “que ara no ha muyto.”76 Persuaded that the kingdoms-wide unrest was subsiding, King Joan determined that it was timely to assess the harm suffered by the royal patrimony as a result of the riots. Joan reminded the bailiffs of many cities in Valencia and Catalonia, including those in Roussillon and Cerdagne, that “you know that we want to have clear information about the property, rights, and revenues that the aliama of the juheria . . . possessed . . . before the destruction that was unlawfully effected against our will.” Joan demanded an inventory of all the property of the Jews who had died, including of those who had taken their own lives to avoid conversion.77 King Joan understood that the royal government had been unsuccessful at protecting its Jews. He acknowledged to his chamberlain, on September 14, that many of the Jews who had been “domiciled” in the cities, villages, fortresses, and hamlets under the protection of the monarchs, doubted the effectiveness of his royal oversight and had relocated themselves and their property to cities, villages, and locales under noble and ecclesiastical control, and even to other kingdoms. The transfer of their allegiance, Joan pronounced to Ferdinando Garceys de Januis, had caused no small amount of damage. The king charged his chamberlain to discover the whereabouts of these Jews and Jewesses, to return them and their property to the royal dominions, and to apply appropriate penalties. The king also ordered the governor and other Kingdom of Aragon officials to aid in the restoration of these Jews and their property.78 While September found the king stationary in Saragossa, Joan, as he had during the previous month, continued to announce his departure from that Aragonese city, and to prepare militarily for his upcoming travels throughout his kingdoms. On September 5, when he declared to Barcelona officials that he would not be leaving Saragossa because of the health of his queen, the king informed the Count of Prades that he would soon travel directly to Catalonia. On the 15th, the king promised to leave

76

77 78

Reg. 1879, fol. 1v and fols. 22v–23r, respectively, where the king also attributed the security of the area to his intention to punish severely the instigators of, and participators in, the disturbances. Ibid., fol. 16v. See also the chapters on the Kingdom of Valencia and on Catalonia. Reg. 1949, fol. 6r.

234

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

shortly to travel through Catalonia and specified, that same day, that he would visit Lleida and other royal towns.79 In a September 25 letter to his queen, Joan specifically referred to Monday October 2, as the date of his departure. And, on Friday the 29th, he informed the royal and municipal officials in Girona, a city still in the throes of unrest, that, God willing, he was leaving Saragossa without fail that coming Monday. He would be traveling to Lleida, Barcelona, and afterwards to their city and put all those cities in good order.80 Yet, when King Joan finally left Saragossa, he did not travel on a direct path to a violence-ravaged city such as Lleida or Barcelona as he

79

80

Reg. 1961, fol. 93v ¶2, is the letter to the Count of Prades and is discussed at the end of the chapter on Barcelona. On September 13. Joan informed the governor (presumably) of Catalonia that he had much to do before his departure, and ordered him to come to Saragossa: ibid., fol. 101v ¶1. His letters of the 15th are in ibid., fol. 102v ¶3 and fol. 103r, published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 137, no. 216(a) and (b), and were written to the prohomens, most likely, of Barcelona. King Joan was more specific about his plans on September 17: “Know,” he wrote, “that we at present are leaving Saragossa to travel to Lleida and Barcelona and we will be there in a few days, God willing.” Reg. 1961, fols. 106v–107r, to an unknown addressee, was partly published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 138, no. 217 (b). See also fol. 107r. Joan explained, on September 17, to an inhabitant of Valencia that “before” he visits his correspondent’s city, “we have to go to Lleida and Barcelona to pacify those [cities]. And immediately, God willing, we will be there without fail:” ibid., fol. 107r-v, and fully reproduced in Girona y Llagostera, ibid., pp. 137–8, no. 217 (a). On September 18, Joan explained to the Master of the military Order of Montesa, ibid., fol. 109v, that, although he had asked him repeatedly (August 10 and 18) to be ready to travel toward him in Catalonia with an armed company, he should continue to work with “other prelates, wealthy men and nobility” of that kingdom, presumably Valencia, and promulgate the provisions which he the king would find both honorable and beneficial until he would arrive – from Lleida and Barcelona, in that southern kingdom. Even more particulars were arranged. Joan chose the “loch dalmenar situated near the city of leyda” to serve as the military staging ground for his eventual entry into Lleida. On September 11, Joan ordered various noblemen to proceed to Almenar – about 30 kilometers north of Lleida, accompanied by a group of their lancers. Mossen Huc de Cervilione was asked to arrive with his unit of eighteen on October 5, and to be responsible for their salaries. On September 21, Joan informed Mossen Francesch Daranda, counselor to both him and his queen, who did not receive the earlier notice but rather had been instructed to provide his “gent darmes” by October 1, that he would be delayed for a variety of reasons, and would arrive in Almenar on the 15th. Similarly, the nobleman Ramon de Apilia, who had been one of the recipients of the September 11 order, was now instructed to appear in Almenar with his ten lancers on October 15 and, as before, to assume payments for these men. See Reg. 1961, fols. 100v–101r, fol. 114r ¶2, and fol. 114r-v, respectively. Ibid., fol. 116v, and Reg. 1879, fol. 16r, respectively.

King Joan

235

had promised numerous times. King Joan’s deep affection for his queen, his concerns about her pregnancy, and his love of the hunt, deflected him from his goal to pacify the lands of his Crown. Although it was close to three full months since the riots had erupted in the Crown of Aragon, Joan would detour to the castle at Balaguer to be with Iolant. Joan’s consort had already departed Saragossa in mid-September, and was traveling toward Balaguer by water. Separated from his “very dear companion,” the king corresponded continually with her, adding to his letters as the day unfolded. Joan wrote to Iolant in small bursts often prefaced with his customary heading “molt cara companyona,” which strongly suggests that these passages closely reflected the king’s actual thoughts at particular moments, and were less a reflection of the interests of his court or the style of his scribes.81 King Joan had many concerns, which he wished to share with Queen Iolant. Even as Joan was happy to read that Iolant was healthy and traveling comfortably, Joan reported to his queen on the details of his constitution. He declared, on Tuesday the 17th, that he was well, “merce de deu,” and in good physical condition. While he had suffered on Saturday from indigestion (about which his royal chamberlains had already 81

See Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 218–219, wherein he discusses the level of engagement of the royals in the writing of letters sent out under their names. On September 15, for example, Joan acknowledged receipt of two of her communications, as well as her gift of six pairs of partridges. Joan thereupon informed the queen that he had dispatched the messengers of Barcelona and Lleida with responses to inquiries from these cities’ leaders, copies of which he attached to his missives. It would be reasonable to assume that the subject of these letters was the state of affairs in these two riot-afflicted cities. Joan then appended a postscript, in which he informed Iolant that Robinet, the falconer of the Count of Foix, had appeared at court with a falcon named Muntada. The king went on. Robinet had also brought with him a “lebrer de bretanya tot blanch” who had not yet reached his second birthday, and who was the son of Duran, a pup of whose bloodline Joan had been keen to possess since mid-August. The king reported to his queen that he was keeping the completely white animal so he could be a companion to d’Amis, another of his hunting dogs. For more on the queen’s departure from Saragossa, and her journey to Balaguer, see infra, the chapter on the queen. Her entourage would leave the boat, on which they sailed down the Ebro, and would resume traveling by water to Balaguer along the Segre River. On September 13, Joan alerted Fraga officials to provide short packsaddles for the children in Iolant’s entourage for the part of the journey that had to be made on land. Apparently, those in Fraga had not attended to the requests of the officials traveling with the royal party: Reg. 1900, fol. 118r. Joan’s letter to Iolant is in Reg. 1961, fol. 103r-v, and that to Mossen Yuany, at ibid., fol. 102r. The king brought the addendum to his dear companion to a close with a promise that he would forward a letter, which Yuany had addressed to her, which had arrived in Saragossa.

236

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

alerted Iolant), and had little appetite, he had returned on Sunday to table, as he was accustomed.82 When Joan announced to Iolant, on September 25, that he intended to leave Saragossa “without any delay” the following Monday October 2, he declared that he would be traveling straight to Balaguer. His queen’s well-being seemed to be of the utmost importance. While King Joan was apprehensive about the fate of the Jews of his Crown, on September 25 the king turned his focus to those refugee Jews who had been sheltered within the fortress, and about whom he had ordered, a month earlier, that they be removed prior to the queen’s arrival. The king described these Jews as “diverse persons who were present at the robbery of the aliamas of Barcelona and Lleida” and urged Iolant to speak to the Count of Urgell and inform him “that neither we nor you should allow such people to be maintained or supported where we will soon be personally.”83 As the day of Joan’s departure loomed, the king kept Queen Iolant serially apprised of his many involvements. His missive of September 26 is instructive as to the priorities that Joan held dear. First and foremost, he made sure to indicate that as of eleven hours after midday, at which time the letter was posted, he was hale and hearty and that three hours earlier, eight hours after midday, he had received her letter, dated the 23rd, in which the queen had communicated to him her well-being. Among the variety of subjects the king mentioned in his dispatch was his desire for her guidance on the still tense situation in Lleida, the challenges he faced in the acquisition and training of hunting animals, and his acknowledgment that Lluis de Bellviure, the instigator of the Majorca riots, had still not been delivered to the royal court by Francesc Sa Garriga, the island’s governor. Joan promised Iolant that he would decide neither on punishment nor on the requisite provisions regarding the “fet de leyda until we are there with

82

83

Ibid., fol. 105v ¶2. On that Sunday, at eleven hours in the night he had received her letter written on the 15th – the same day – from the “monestir de rada,” the Cistercian monastery at Rueda right outside Sastago, that she was “ben trobada en la barcha ab ´ lo prenyat.” On the 17th, Joan also sent the falconer, Robinet, back to the Count of Foix with information about the latter’s house and possessions, presumably, in Castelbo´ because the letter, at ibid., fols. 105v–106r, was also sent to the Viscount of Castellbo. ´ Montferrer i Castellbo´ is located in the comarca of alt Urgell just south of Andorra. Ibid., fols. 116v, dated September 25, was published in part in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, no. 219, p. 138. Girona did not reproduce the section of the letter about the presence in Balaguer of those “who were present” in the sacking of the cities, and that they be removed while the royal couple live in the fortress: “aytals persones deje acomiadar e foragitar de Balaguer mentre nos a vos hi siam.” See, below, the chapters on the city and Kingdom of Valencia.

King Joan

237

you and decide what would redound to our honor and profit” for “we esteem highly the council that you provide. . . . ” The king requested in a postscript that Iolant have boars and wolves rounded up so he could hunt while he stayed at Balaguer.84 Sometimes it appeared that the king was challenged to distinguish among his many interests. While the king sought the queen’s counsel on the Lleida state of affairs – the night before Iolant had arrived in Balaguer, she had held a meeting with some Lleida officials who discussed with her the unrest in their town and Joan’s forthcoming visit to their city, Joan did not seem compelled to rush to her side and listen to her advice. When King Joan informed Queen Iolant, on September 28, that he planned to leave on October 2 and would be with her in Balaguer the following Sunday (October 8), he mentioned that he might arrive on Monday because he had learned that there was great boar-hunting on the road, and was determined to spend “just one day” in the chase. When we are together, Joan promised, “we will speak at length about the issues contained in your letter.” In that same letter, Joan again expressed his concern about Iolant’s living arrangements. Her comfort was crucial. In the event that Iolant remained annoyed with her Jewish-refugee neighbors living within the castle, the king suggested that the queen might move to Almenar, the site where Joan had directed groups of lancers to assemble. Almenar – about 20 kilometers to the west of Balaguer, the king continued, would be more convenient for him since it was closer to Lleida, and because it featured good pig hunting. Iolant only needed to write to him of her intentions and he would make the necessary preparations.85 84

85

Reg. 1961, fols. 118v–119r, small sections of which are in Girona y Llagostera, p. 138, no. 220. Among the personages, who appear in this letter, are the vice-chancellor Domingo Mascho, the Count of Foix (whose predecessor had died recently), and Mossen Yuany, the purveyor of hunting animals. On September 26, Joan wrote, as well, to Don Alfonso Perec de Godoy, of the castle at Tarifa in Castile, and demanded to know whether the falcons he had requested had been sent: ibid., fol. 119r-v. Reg. 1961, fols. 119v–120r, was reproduced mostly by Girona y Llagostera, pp. 138– 139, no. 221. This letter is cited, in large measure, by Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 200. See also Roca, p. 286. The king then launched into a detailed account how the greyhound, which Mossen Yuany had sent to her, had arrived with its feet mangled from the road and the heat. Each time it lay down in her chamber in the company of d’Amis, another lebrer, the condition of its feet improved. Today, Joan continued, he had decided that her greyhound and d’Amis would chase a hare to see which hound could run further. Joan described how the female fox and the greyhounds pursued the rabbit, how Iolant’s lebrer captured the hare, and that the hounds killed the rabbit. As a result of the hunt, blood vessels in her

238

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Joan’s competing priorities were again in evidence on the final day of September, as he reassured Iolant that when he left on Monday “toward those parts,” she would be content in the manner in which he would dispense justice to the inhabitants of Lleida. In the last days before his departure, Joan settled a number of outstanding issues. On Monday October 2, itself, Joan announced the transfer of ownership of the aljamas of Jews and Muslims of Saragossa, as well as its civil and criminal jurisdiction, to his dear consort Queen Iolant. That same day, in advance of his journey, Joan tried to secure “un buen galgo,” about which he had received information.86 Joan finally left Saragossa on October 2nd, almost three months after the riots – which the king had unequivocally condemned, had begun, and about which he had expended much energy ensuring that his subordinates took with the utmost seriousness. While on the road, the king conducted royal business, and ruled on matters of import to individual Jews and Jewish communities. Affairs of the chase, of course, were ardently pursued. From the “villa de la naia” on October 3, the king placed two orders for hunting dogs who specialized in wild-boar, one for the two best “canes de traylla” – hounds with leashes attached to them, and the other for two alanos – a type of bulldog, one male and handsome and the other female and pretty.87

86

87

greyhound’s legs burst and it was therefore not in shape to be forwarded to her. He would take the hound along only if it healed before they left. Otherwise, he assured his queen, he would purchase a donkey to transport it. In a postscript, Joan announced that, on Friday, the bishop of Zamora and another nobleman, messengers from the king of Castile, were to call upon him. He did not think that this visit would cause him to alter his plans. On Friday the 29th, Reg. 1961, fol. 122r-v published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 139, no. 222 (a), and cited briefly by Tasis i Marca, ibid., Joan I (after the usual health inquiries) informed Iolant that the Castilian embassy would now arrive on Saturday but that their tardy appearance would not alter his scheduled departure. He renewed his call for Iolant to move to Almenar with its fine accommodations and good wild boar and wolf hunting. She could travel there on October 6 or 7 since by then he would already be there. If she agreed to his suggestion, Joan asked that she let him know immediately. Joan’s letter to Iolant is at Reg. 1961, fol. 123v, and was published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 140, no. 223. This document is briefly cited in Tasis i Marca, pp. 200–201, in Tasis i Marca, Pere, p. 185, and in Claire Ponsich, “De la parole d’apaisement au reproche. Un glissement rh´etorique du conseil ou l’engagement politique d’une reine d’Aragon?” Cahiers d’´etudes hispaniques m´edi´evales 31 (2008), pp. 89–90. See above, the chapter on Catalonia, and below, the chapter on the queen. Reg. 1849, fols. 167v–168r, is the declaration to all Crown officials of the transfer of the Saragossan aljamas to the queen; see the chapter on Iolant. The request for the hunting dog is from Reg. 1961, fol. 125r. Joan also granted a variety of permissions to individual Saragossa Jews before he left: see supra in this chapter. Ibid., fol. 127v ¶s 2 and 3.

King Joan

239

Once King Joan left Saragossa for Lleida via Balaguer and his queen, he seemed to project a heightened urgency regarding the Crown of Aragonwide unrest. On October 4 from the town of Sarinena, the king counseled ˜ Girona municipal officials about the containment of unrest in their city and encouraged them to kill or imprison the attackers should they return. With an eye to the prevention of future turmoil, Joan permitted them to reinstate councilors whose behavior during the disturbances had led to their dismissal.88 As Joan traveled northeastward from Saragossa, he became increasingly occupied with the unsettled situation in Lleida. Likewise, Queen Iolant, who after she had passed through Lleida, en route to Balaguer, had also evinced great interest in that Catalonian city. On October 5, the king ordered a variety of royal officials to appear before him without delay. Without the presence of these senior advisers, Joan averred, the situation could not be resolved. When Joan had arrived in Castellfollit, letters regarding Lleida from the Queen already awaited him. From Monzon, ´ later that day, King Joan again asked Raymundo Alamani, and the others, to come as quickly as possible for, as the king wrote at the end of August regarding Iolant’s illness, “there is great danger in delay.”89 Despite his explicit and repeated requests, King Joan was nonetheless anxious that his counselors may not have appreciated his sense of urgency. On Friday the 6th from the town of Tamarite de Litera, Joan again reminded the Viscount of Roda and Juliano Garrius, the queen’s treasurer, that he was in need of their advice about the “afers de Leyda” and other matters. He announced that “tomorrow Saturday we intend to dine in the locale of Balaguer.”90 When Joan arrived in Balaguer on October 7 – he would stay there until the 24th, he found Iolant in residence, but not his advisers, without whom the king had declared he could not proceed. And so, the next day, the

88 89

90

Ibid., fol. 128r-v is discussed fully in the chapter on Girona. Ibid., fol. 128v is the letter from the “loch de castell follit.” This locale should be identified with Castelflorite, east of Sarinena ˜ and west of Monzon. ´ Fol. 129r ¶1 is from Monzon. ´ On Francesch Daranda, see Ferrer i Mallol, Un aragon´es consejero, pp. 531–562, especially pp. 531–537, who cites Manuel Esteban, “Biograf´ıa del Venerable D. Fran´ cisco Fernandez P´erez de Aranda,” III Congreso de Historia de la Corona de Aragon ´ (Valencia, 1923), pp. 415–438. Ibid., fol. 129v, partially published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 134, no. 224. King Joan relayed the expected guest list of advisers to the viscounts and mentioned that Pere de Berga had already met with him in Tamarite.

240

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

king again urged Raymundo Alamani de Cervilioni and Juliano Garrius to come as quickly as they could – he reminded them that he had already sent them three such letters, because of the “affers de leyda.” Joan was not sanguine about a quick response to his repeated exhortations. The king repeated his invitation the following day to Alamani and Garrius, and this time outlined the dire consequences of their tardiness. On the 12th, he wrote similarly to the others.91 Regardless of his subjects’ lack of alacrity in attending to his royal requests, and despite the king’s patent ineffectiveness in having his counselors take his messages seriously, Joan continued to rely on his officials to stem the unrest in Lleida. The king advised city officials, on October 13, that when his “noble and beloved counselor and chamberlain,” Raymundo Alamani de Cervilioni, would speak on his behalf regarding the “profit and utility of the city of Leyda,” his words should be accorded the same status as if the king had expressed them himself. Apparently, Alamani had been in Lleida all this time but had not corresponded with his king. On October 16, Joan congratulated Alamani – in his role as 91

Ibid., fol. 130r ¶1, and published in part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 141, no. 225, is dated October 8. The king ordered them to bring Francesch Daranda and Esperandeu Cardona, individuals with whom the king had wanted to consult for days. King Joan also announced that he had also received important news while in transit from Saragossa, and again in Balaguer the previous night, when messengers from (Cagliari) Sardinia arrived and reported that the island kingdom was in great peril. Joan also did not want to make decisions about Sardinia (perhaps the “other matters” of the previous day) without his advisers so they should make every effort to come because “there is great peril in delay.” That same day, Joan thanked the Valencia municipal authorities for their dedication to the restoration of Sardinia to the Crown and announced that he would soon arrive in their city, at which time he would consult with them about the crisis on the island: ibid., fol. 130r ¶2. Ibid., fol. 130v ¶2 is dated October 9, and fol. 131r ¶s 1, 2 and 3, are dated the 12th. In the meantime, Joan turned to other royal business including matters regarding his Jewish population. On the 10th, he involved himself in conflicts in Monzon ´ between individual Jews and the local aljama (perhaps he was alerted to the conflict as he passed through their city on the way to Balaguer), and continued to intervene in Saragossa, as well, between the Alatzar family and the community. Joan also, through his jurisperito, extended royal license to Mosse, Isach, and Salamon Alatzar, their families and entourage, to move anywhere they deemed best within the kingdom. All lugares, castiellas, or judarias were ordered to treat them favorably and grant them freedom of movement. Regarding Monzon, ´ see Reg. 1879, fol. 34r-v and fol. 48r-v; on Saragossa, see ibid., fol. 35r. On October 18th, Joan addressed the complaint of the Jews of Tamarite de Litera who did not wish to pay specific taxes together with the Jewish community of Monzon: ´ ibid., fols. 48v–49r. Joan had just traveled through Tamarite as well. The grant to the Alatzar family to travel at will, “do a ellos millor visto sera,” is in ibid., fol. 34v, where the phrase “dentro nostra senyoria e en quales quiere otros Regnos” was crossed out.

King Joan

241

governor of Catalonia, on the decisions he had made and ordered the official to keep him apprised of his accomplishments.92 The governor compensated for his lapse in communication by updating King Joan through a series of letters. The king responded, on the 16th, how greatly pleased he was to learn that En Bernat Gralla, the lieutenant of the royal batle, as well as three other individuals, had been imprisoned. Although the paers of the city complained about these detentions, Joan ordered Raymundo Alamani to continue his work and declared that justice should be equally applied to notables and commoners. Even upon his arrival in the city, Joan announced, the governor’s orders would remain in effect.93 While in Balaguer, King Joan managed the aftereffects of the riots and ensured that violence would not reoccur throughout Crown lands. The king instructed the royal veguer of Barcelona, on the 14th, not to release from his prison any individuals – three craftsmen were mentioned by name, involved in the robbery of the call and in the murder of its Jews, until he would arrive in the city and severely punish the guilty. On the following day, Joan instructed Bonafonat de San Feliu – bailiff of Morvedre and alcayt of the local fortress, to refuse to attend to the order of his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Montblanc, who had asked Bonafonat to leave his post. The Jews had complained to Joan about the duchess’ request, and the king in turn wrote to his “very dear sister” that he had ordered Bonafonat to remain and guard the Jews. He apprised the Jews of his intervention.94

92

93

94

Reg. 1961, fol. 132v ¶1, is dated, October 13, and Reg. 1961, fol. 133r-v, is from the 16th. The king added that he would send on to him Esperandeu Cardona who was scheduled to arrive in Balaguer the next day and dine with the king. Ibid., fol. 136r. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 201, places Raymundo Alamani in Barcelona, but that location does not accord with the appearance of the term paers in the letter or with the mention of En Bernat Gralla who served in Lleida. Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 582, refers to Gralla as being complicit with a Castilian in the attacks on the Jews. The king announced, on the 16th, that the royal court decided on a petition that a local converso, Petri ca torra, brought in an attempt to recover property that had been taken from his house, during the attack on the “Callo Judarie” of the city and in the assault on its fortress. Some of these goods had been held in pawn. See Reg. 1879, fol. 39r-v. Reg. 1961, fol. 132v ¶1 on Lleida and ¶2 on Barcelona. A parallel document to the one sent to Lleida was sent to Majorca: fol. 135r ¶2. Joan’s letter to Bonefosnat [sic] is in ibid., fol. 134r ¶1 and was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 689, no. 436, and simply noted by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 353. The letter to Maria de Luna, who had asked Bonafonat to secure royal permission, is at ibid., ¶2, and to the secretaries of the Morvedre aliama, at fol. 134r-v. See infra, the chapter on the duke.

242

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Even with so much on the royal mind, including negotiations between warring factions in Majorca – which took place against the background of continued violence against the Jews and persistent unrest on the island, Joan still found time that Monday October 16, to instruct the procurator of Fraga, Simon Clauilla, to immediately deliver to Balaguer two “lebres of Bretayna,” which he had requested the previous May. Joan also asked Clauilla to transport a few farmed cervos. Recognizing, that same day, the abundance of shorebirds along the Segre riverbank and in Balaguer itself, Joan demanded of his chief falconer Francesch Bertrandi to have falcons and falconers sent to him. Joan would not countenance the excuse that the falconers did not wish to accompany Bertrandi. On the 17th, Joan contacted mossen Yuany for two lebres and asked him to send on a falcon as well.95 Remarkably, King Joan moved easily between the procurement of hunting animals and close observation of the unfolding state of affairs in Lleida. That same Tuesday the 17th, Joan stressed to his governor of Catalonia, that it was imperative, on account of “some affers concerning our honor,” for him, together with Francesch Daranda, Nesperandeu Cardona, Pere de Berga, and Bernat Metge, to arrive in Balaguer by dinnertime on Thursday. Do not delay, the king commanded.96 Joan was quite pleased, the following day, that the governor of Catalonia had informed him that he would be effecting an execution in Lleida on Thursday morning. The king ordered Alamani that, immediately after he carried out the sentence, the governor should leave the city, enabling him to arrive in Balaguer by midday and thereby allowing Joan to resolve quickly a number of pressing issues. Joan felt obligated to reply to those who were to query him that evening. Joan requested that since he planned to leave Balaguer on Friday, the governor, at the very least, should bring along one of those “wise men” for whom he had asked. Joan also notified the governor that while the queen would be leaving Balaguer as well, she would travel to Vilafranca to await the king’s eventual arrival. In closing, Joan thanked the governor for the three partridges he had sent and encouraged Alamani to continue to hunt for more birds

95

96

See the chapter on Majorca, based on Reg. 1961, fols. 135v–136r, and the parallel document on fol. 136v ¶2. Also relevant is fol. 135r ¶2. The royal order to Simon Clauilla is in ibid., fol. 136v ¶1; to Bertrandi on fol. 137r ¶1; and to mossen Yuany at ¶2. Joan recognized the presence of agrons and grats, herons and probably egrets, in the ribera. Ibid., fols. 137v–138r.

King Joan

243

and forward them to him. As for the boar, Joan requested that Raymundo hold on to the animal, until he arrived in Lleida.97 While in Balaguer, messengers from Barcelona arrived carrying the request of their municipal leaders that he treat mercifully those who were responsible for the riots in Lleida, as well as those who were involved in the attacks against the Jews. Joan retorted that while he wished to resemble his royal predecessors who, at all times, were inclined to administer merciful justice, their punishment would be grave given “the great enormity of the crimes committed.” God would thereby be served and the stability of the city ensured.98 Despite his spirited assertion of royal intent, King Joan appeared incapable of effectively coordinating his schedule with his closest advisers and seemed either unable or unwilling to hold himself to declared timetables. By Thursday, Raymundo Alamani had not arrived in Balaguer, and the king had altered his schedule. King Joan informed the governor of Catalonia that he no longer intended to leave for Lleida on Friday, and that a display of arms, which had been scheduled for Sunday at vespers in Almenar, would now be staged in Balaguer at the same date and time. Joan ordered Alamani not to leave Lleida before Sunday, and to join him in Balaguer, without fail, at the dinner hour.99 The king equally found it a challenge to ensure that royal officials followed formulated guidelines on how to manage the consequences of the riots. When King Joan, that Sunday, thanked Domingo Mascho, vicechancellor of the Kingdom of Valencia, for his diligent defense of Tortosa Jews, he also instructed him not to follow Kingdom of Valencia officials 97

98

99

Reg. 1961, fol. 138r, published in part by Girona y Llagostera, p. 142, no. 229. The king noted that the governor’s letter was delivered “in the morning before mass.” The destination of the Queen, identified as Tarragona, was crossed out and Vilafrancha inserted between the lines. The king acknowledged the Barcelona petition both on Wednesday and again on Sunday. It was one of the issues that Joan wished to discuss with Alamani. Ibid., fol. 138v ¶1 is from October 19; see, supra, the chapter on Catalonia. On Sunday, the 22nd, ibid., fol. 144r, the king promised to take into account the Barcelona request, and that of the Lleida paers. Ibid., ¶2, fol. 139r ¶2. Joan informed the bailiff of Almenar and the veguer of Lleida of the change of venue: ibid., fol. 139r-v. When commitments to the king were not honored, the king waxed irate. On the eve of his departure for Lleida, Joan demanded that his chief falconer, Francesch Bertrandi, and the other royal falconers bring the birds he had ordered as soon as possible. The king would not countenance any excuse. See ibid., fol. 143r ¶1. Joan cautioned Francesch that he should not expect another order, since he had already received a number of them. He added that the royal falconer would not be free of his obligation until he arrived at court.

244

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

who, against royal orders, had pardoned some individuals who had been involved in that kingdom’s riots. Joan ordered the governor of Valencia not to decide anything about the “newly made converts who were Jews” for a few days until, the king promised, he would arrive in Valencia. In the meantime, Joan instructed the governor to follow the directions of Domingo Mascho.100 With the king’ departure from Saragossa on October 2, and with his imminent relocation to Lleida, rumors began to circulate about attacks against Jews and even of invasions of the Crown of Aragon. On Friday, the king had to fend off an oft-repeated concern expressed by the promens of the city of Valencia that the Muslims of Granada were threatening to march on the Kingdom of Valencia. Before Joan left Balaguer on Tuesday, the king’s court informed Gilaberto de Crudilis, governor of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne, that a letter sent to him in the name of an official of the royal patrimony, which had reported on riots against the Jews of Saragossa and their community, and that had requested his aid, was fabricated.101 Still in Balaguer, on Monday October 23, King Joan announced to the governor of Catalonia that, God willing, he expected to leave Balaguer the following morning. He intended to sleep in Corbins that evening, to hunt wild boar on Thursday, and to return there to stay overnight. He informed his governor that while he would be eating dinner on Friday in Lleida, “we made an agreement to enter there without armed men because of the great obedience that the bons of the city of Leyda display toward us.” The king charged Alamani to be vigilant, yet to continue with his customary tasks. Joan added, in a postscript, that since the royal physicians had 100

101

Ibid., fol. 144r-v, to Domingo Mascho, and fol. 144v, to the governor of Valencia. Domingo Mascho, from Tortosa, had informed the king that conversos in that city were agitating against the Jews. Joan directed the local officials to force those converts – who did not possess family within the city, to leave. See the chapter on Catalonia. Ibid., fol. 142r ¶2, to the municipal authorities, presumably of Valencia, about the Granada Muslims. Reg. 1949, fol. 27r-v, dated October 24 from Balaguer, concerned Saragossan Jewry. For fears of Muslim invasion, see, above, the chapter on the city of Valencia. On Saturday, Joan responded strongly to news that “companyas stranyas” were about to infiltrate Aragon and harm the kingdom and its inhabitants. The king directed the capitan, jurados, and good men of the city of Jaca to guard well the ports of entry into the kingdom. Joan ordered the Jaca officials to inform all the inhabitants of the impending danger, to safeguard livestock, and to gather provisions. Secure fortified areas should provide foodstuffs and other necessities for defense. Joan promised that, very quickly, he would dispatch 400–500 lancers into their territory to fight against these companyas should they set foot in the kingdom: Reg. 1961, fol. 142r ¶1.

King Joan

245

declared it unhealthful for him to reside in Lleida’s episcopal palace, Raymundo should prepare the royal castle for his arrival, which included having doors repaired and curtains hung on the windows.102 At long last, more than three and a half months after the riots had erupted in Valencia and eventually grew to encompass all the constituent Iberian kingdoms in the Crown of Aragon, King Joan set foot in a city that had been wracked by civil unrest, and by attacks against the Jews. Joan arrived in Lleida on October 26 (apparently he did not return to sleep in Corbins after his wild boar outing), and remained there until November 18. Perhaps with the unrest on the wane and execution of justice underway, Joan was sanguine about his own safety and politically secure that his royal power was sufficient to place Lleida, or any other city, in bon estament.103 ∗ ∗ ∗ With King Joan’s entrance into Lleida and his considered opinion that the summer unrest, which had plagued the Crown, was decidedly in the past, the king turned his energies toward the stabilization of his dominions and the viability of the remaining Jewish communities. His focused agenda notwithstanding, King Joan would still find that the officials upon whom he continued to rely were not always of the same mind as he was and that his orders did not produce the desired effects. Even in Lleida, Joan would seemingly prove unable to prioritize his competing interests with any success. His eagerness to produce an heir understandably haunted him, while his unflagging enthusiasm for the hunt drew him away from his public responsibilities. It is reasonable to imagine that much of the time that King Joan spent in this Catalonian city was occupied with its pacification, but it is not until November 15, three days before the king would leave the city, that

102

103

Reg. 1961, fol. 145r, published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 142, no. 230 (a) with a starred note. Although the 23rd was Monday, Joan referred to Wednesday as the following day. Perhaps this was a scribal error. Joan declared that he would eat dinner “aqui,” which I assume is Lleida, though the antecedent could be Corbins. The last word of the quotation I have translated as “us,” following Girona’s reading of nos. When King Joan found himself in Corbins, only 2 kilometers distance from Lleida, on October 25, he arranged for payment for tombs to be sculpted for his father “lo Rey en per de bona memoria.” He also made reference to his own burial monument, and for his own children who had died, mentioning by name the infant “don ferrando” and the “Dalphi,” whose sepulcher should be “pus bella e pus sumptuousa que les altres.” The king requested to be shown a model before the work was begun: Reg. 1961, fol. 149r ¶1 See Riera i Sans, El Dalfinat, p. 117. See Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 201.

246

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

his correspondence reveals what the king may have been doing in order to stabilize the municipality. All information that the king wished to have transmitted within the city surely was communicated through other means.104 While King Joan was installed in Lleida, he maintained his interest in the chase. The king remained frustrated that his falconers had still not arrived with the royal hunting birds. One bird “had been found” in the vicariate of Cervera and, on the last day of October, Joan asked the local veguer to send along the falcon with the messenger who had delivered the royal letter to him. No matter how many times Joan had demanded both falcons and falconers from his royal falconer Francesch Bertrandi – as he had most recently from Balaguer on October 16, and pronounced that he would not suffer any excuses, neither men nor fowl had appeared at court. Royal orders delivered by messenger from his new residence continued to prove ineffective. On November 1, the king warned Bertrandi that if 104

Correspondingly, now that Joan was separated from his “molt cara companyona,” the king again began to write to Iolant. Understandably, the king and queen did not exchange letters with each other when they were both in residence in Balaguer. After customary references to their mutual health and that of their unborn child, Joan remarked, on October 28, that he was engaged in a lively correspondence with his subjects. He had received letters from his dear brother, the Duke of Montblanc, from the governor of Sardinia, from the jurats of Valencia, and from the batle general of the Kingdom of Valencia. Joan attached copies of these letters to his note to Iolant, as well as a copy of his responses to the Valencia officials, “so that you know the news that is arriving each day:” Reg. 1961, fol. 146v ¶2. Perhaps the Valencia matter, Reg. 1849, fol. 170r-v, addressed to Rogerio de Montechateno, civil justice of the city, was a reference to the petition of the nobleman, Ramonet de Villanova, who held an annual cens of 6,000 Barcelonan sueldos from the charitable endowment of the Valencia aliama, upon which the king favorably passed. Probably, it concerned the pacification of the island of Sardinia, about which the king wrote to his brother again on the next day, Reg. 1961 at fol. 148r. (On November 10, the king communicated to Domingo Mascho about the petition of Ramonet de Villanova: Reg. 1851, fol. 39r-v.) Joan, in his letters to Iolant, made casual and undetailed references to matters of state and issues of domestic import. A letter of November 3, ibid., at ¶1, mentioned that the great creditor En Luquino Escarampo would be paying him a visit. Joan reported on November 8, Reg. 1877, fol. 53r, that late in the evening, “en hora baxa,” of November 7, he had received two letters from his dear companion, with comforting health updates, as well as a vial of perfume, delivered by a female servant, which, Joan declared, brought him pleasure and aided in his well-being. The king mentioned a letter, which both he and Iolant had received from the pope, thanked Iolant for the response which she had crafted, and sent her a copy of his letter to the Blessed Father, which included a reference to the attacks on the Jews of his kingdom, Reg. 1877, fol. 53r-v, wherein luquinum de scarampis is mentioned as well. On outstanding issues with the papacy, see below the chapter on Iolant.

King Joan

247

he and his associates did not deliver the birds by the 20th of the month – the day he was scheduled to depart for Barcelona, neither he nor the other handlers would receive their salary. Francesch’s neglect in following royal orders, Joan declared, was reprehensible.105 Joan, in Lleida, may have perceived himself as having greater principled authority regarding the punishment of those who had been involved in the kingdoms-wide violence. While the king had already lost confidence in his brother only a week after the riots in Valencia and had, in early August, not trusted Mart´ı with the safety of the Jews of Alcaniz, ˜ he was now even more confounded by the actions of the Duke of Montblanc. On November 2, Joan professed astonishment that his brother had released from the Cervera prison, a man accused of taking part in the riots against the local Jews and in the plunder of their property. So distrustful was Joan of his brother that he demanded that the duke submit to the royal will regarding “the affairs of Sicily.” Joan regretted that he could only hope that the infant would avoid actions that would diminish or imperil the public domain. Yet, on November 5, Joan responded affirmatively to two of his brother’s requests regarding his Sicilian expedition. The king promised to grant the city of Barcelona license to lend him money, and to write on the duke’s behalf to the royal shipyard in the city. Despite his frustration with Mart´ı, the Duke of Montblanc was a crucial ally in furthering the Crown’s interests.106 King Joan’s presence in the city of Lleida may have encouraged nearby Jewish communities to take advantage of their proximity to the king and advance their particular concerns. Leaders of the Fraga aliama complained that “some of the Jews who were baptized a half-year before to the Christian faith,” had refused to contribute to the expenses that they had obligated themselves as Jews for the guard and defense of the

105

106

Reg. 1961, fol. 150r ¶1, is dated October 31. Ibid., ¶2, dated November 1, was published in Girona y Llagostera, p. 144, no. 231. On November 10 Joan explained to his “muy caro y muy amado hermano,” the king of Navarre, ibid., fol. 159r, that when he was in Balaguer, he did receive that king’s requests for a pair of “falcons of la Ribera.” Joan was not immediately able to comply because the Navarrese messenger had left for Barcelona. Now he was able to report that the falcons had recently ceased to molt but had still not been trimmed. Once the fiestas de nadal will conclude, Joan assured his royal counterpart, the falcons would be well groomed. He would then send along one of his falconers who will transport two of the finest falcons to the Navarrese king. On December 25, Reg. 1962, fol. 16r ¶1, Joan wrote to the Navarrese king about lebrers. Reg. 1877, fol. 44v, is dated 2 November. The letter of November 5 is at Reg. 1961, fol. 151r ¶2. On all, see below the chapter on the duke.

248

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Jewish community. Consequently, the aliama was burdened by debt. On November 9, the king notified the royal bailiff and procurators of Fraga that he had granted the aliama’s request that two Jews of the community be chosen to certify the value of the property that these converts possessed “before they were reborn in baptism,” and to compel them to pay the taxes from their sequestered property.107 Long-standing concerns about the unrest in Majorca, Barcelona, and Valencia continued to occupy the royal agenda. Word had arrived from Majorca that armed Genoese galleys threatened the island. Joan contacted the governor, the municipal sindich, and the castlans of the island’s various fortresses, on November 5 and 6, in an attempt to ensure Majorca’s security. The king ended his list of directives to the governor with an order not to let anyone who had participated in the avolots or who gave aid or counsel to the rioters to leave the island.108 While the king was pleased to learn from Barcelona municipal officials that their city was in good condition, Joan encouraged them, on November 6, to continue their policies and, if possible, to improve conditions. The king promised that after he stabilized Lleida, he would leave for Barcelona. On the 12th, Joan ordered the veguer of Barcelona and Valencia to collect, and immediately convey, particulars about an En Ramon Vives of Cerdanyola del Vall`es, who had broken into the Jewish quarter, rioted, and robbed the Jews. After Vives had entered the prison (presumably of the veguer) and helped release its inmates, he had continued to resist the authority of the royal officials.109 107

108 109

Reg. 1879, fols. 70v–71r. Intriguingly, the conversion of some Fraga Jews may have taken place prior to the riots. Later, when unrest spread across the Crown of Aragon, these converts did not want to contribute to their erstwhile community’s defense. On November 3, Reg. 1851, fol. 29r, the king had informed the same city officials that he had lifted the judicial seizure, executed by the adelantats and procurators of the local aliama, on some property in Fraga which had been held by Simon Gasen of the town of Alcarras, ` and who had newly converted to the Catholic faith. On the 11th, Reg. 1879, fol. 71r, the king instructed Fraga officials at the request of the clavarios and juratos of the aliama that, for the sake of the conservation and restoration of the community, only particular officials be allowed to collect the debts owed. The king, the previous day, had confirmed the sale by the aliama of an annual cens of 166 sueldos to Simon Caldera of Lleida: Reg. 1901, fol. 102r. The series of documents are in Reg. 1961, fols. 154r-156v. The reference to the riots is at fol. 156r. Ibid., fols. 156v–157r is from 6 November. The letter of the 12th, is in Reg. 1949, fol. 20v ¶2. On September 23, ibid., fol. 8v ¶2, Joan repeated a long-standing request for information about Vives and Bernardus Tries of Cerdanyola and about Anthonius Juliani, a Barcelona citizen who were then in custody of the algutzir. Joan claimed that they had taken part in the assault on the Jewish call, the murder of Jews, and the

King Joan

249

King Joan similarly instructed the governor of the Kingdom of Valencia to gather information about a Valencia mariner, Anthoni Pedro, who was involved in the attack against the fortress of Cullera and in its surrender, and was also accused of robbing Valencia Jews, among other crimes. The king promised, on November 10, that when he would arrive in Valencia, he would immediately proceed against Anthoni, and all the other guilty parties, and administer the necessary justice. The previous day, Joan informed the veguer that he was aware that the royal official had apprehended men who were involved in the robbery of the Valencia Jewish quarter and now had the stolen goods in his possession. The king directed him to inventory the seized items and transfer them to En Nicolau Morato, the royal official with whom all such goods were to be deposited.110 Even as the king monitored the status of the Crown’s Jews while in Lleida, Catalonian Jews continued to be physically and financially endangered. Joan was sympathetic to the request of Cervera Jews who, impoverished by a multitude of expenses, wished to be relieved of the obligation to render the exorbitant sums demanded by those who guarded them in the local castle. On November 8, Joan was about to ask the local royal officials to maintain their defense of the Jews and to proclaim, yet again, that the Jews were under royal protection. The king also wanted the officials to ensure that their charges not be allowed, at present, to exit the fortress. If anyone would decide to harm the Jews, Joan ordered that they be immediately imprisoned. The king promised that either he or the governor would arrive in Cervera in a few days and administer the necessary justice. For some reason, this letter was not sent.111 The king was determined that his Jews do not exit royal lands. Accordingly, he encouraged local royal officials in Besalu, ´ on November 8, to enforce their distraint of the possessions of those Jews who disregarded threatened penalties, left town, and transferred their domiciles to Castello´ d’Empuries, and to other villages and locales under control of ´

110

111

robbery of their property. They were also involved in the attack on the new castle and the release of the prisoners. Reg. 1877 fol. 57v ¶1 is dated November 10, and Reg. 1879, fol. 67v ¶2, November 9. Local Jews had probably taken refuge in the fortress at Cullera and the negotiation over the castle’s surrender probably involved the conversion of the Jews. See, supra, the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia. On November 6, King Joan expressed confidence in one of the aides to Domingo Mascho, the vice-chancellor of Valencia, who aided Mascho on issues relating to the “judaria” of the city: Reg. 1961, fol. 157v. Reg. 1879, fol. 69r.

250

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

the local nobility. Besalu´ officials sought to have the Jews return and had attempted to sequester all debts owed to them. The Jews, in turn, had utilized a variety of financial transactions to circumvent the seizure of their assets.112 While the king from Lleida attended to the security of his patrimony, Iolant moved from Balaguer to Vilafranca del Pened`es in anticipation of giving birth. King Joan was apparently thinking about his departure from Lleida as well when he reminded his “molt cara companyona,” on Monday morning November 13, to transport a variety of hunting dogs the following Saturday to El Pla de Santa Maria that was “near her loch de Cabra.” The king explained that he wanted to run and hunt in the nearby Figuerola mountain, located one league from Sentes Creus. He suggested to his “dear companion” that she think ahead to that day when he would be traveling toward her.113 Although hunting was never far from the royal consciousness, rumors regarding the birth of an heir were allowed to intrude on this pursuit. When Joan returned that Monday from the chase, he consulted with Iolant about the succession to the Tarazona episcopate, after which he interjected, “we want you to know that we went hunting today and when we were riding we were told, my dear companion, that you delivered and had a boy and it had spread throughout the city but we did not give it 112

113

Reg. 1949, fols. 21v–22r. See the Girona chapter. King Joan was also involved during these days in financial matters affecting the Jews of the Kingdom of Aragon: in Biel – Reg. 1900, fol. 128r, dated 4 November; in Monzon ´ – Reg. 1877, fols. 57r ¶1, 59r and 60v, all from November 10; and in Barbastro – fol. 1851, fol. 42v, dated November 17. Meanwhile, King Joan had other business to transact with Catalonian officials. On November 5, the king directed En Bernat Serra, the batle general of the principality of Catalonia, to purchase gold cloth, worth 1,000 golden Aragonese florins, for the upcoming “festa de nadal.” Joan was also in contact with the Cervera veguer about other matters aside from the safety of the Jews. Although at the end of October, Joan had asked the royal official to deliver a falcon to the king’s messenger, the falcon had yet to be handed over. If the bird could be clearly identified, the king wrote on November 6, the veguer had to return the falcon. See Reg. 1961, fol. 152v, and ibid., fol. 157r ¶1, respectively. Reg. 1962, fol. 1r ¶1, and mostly reproduced in Girona y Llagostera, p. 144, no. 232 (a). Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 115, without citing sources, claims that all the Jews of Vilafranca del Pened`es had been baptized on August 8. The royal letter contained a response to Iolant’s missive about the succession to the episcopate at Tarazona. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 201–202, incorrectly dates this letter to November 12. See infra, chapter on Iolant. Joan wrote to the Pope that same day, November 13: ibid., Fol. 1r ¶2. The hounds are described as sabuessos, alans, and llebrers. Cabra del Camp is 3 kilometers north of El Pla de Santa Maria, and Figuerola del Camp, also called la Cogulla, is located one league southeast from Sentes Creus.

King Joan

251

much credence knowing that we would have received your news before anyone else.” Whatever the case, he concluded, God should watch out for you at all times.114 Later, King Joan learned from Bernat Metge, the queen’s secretary that Iolant had not given birth to a son, but rather to a daughter. It may well have been in response to this addition to the royal family, that Joan declared to Iolant, on Thursday the 16th, that he would depart Lleida on Saturday and could arrive in Vilafranca at the earliest by suppertime on Monday. Joan asked the mother of their new daughter, named Antonia, to have prepared, for his arrival, a variety of foods including peacocks, partridges, and sausages, as well as melted cheese with pears. On Friday, he again promised his queen that he would sup with her Monday evening. Joan averred: “we do not care about hunting or anything else,” and would leave immediately after he heard mass the following morning.115 Perhaps the birth of Antonia spurred King Joan to accelerate or bring to a conclusion his activities in Lleida. On Wednesday November 15, the king relieved “many of the Jewish people – ex nacione Judayca – in Lleida newly converted to the Christian faith, men as well as women” of a variety of financial obligations to which the aliama of the Jews of the city were legally bound. These new Christians – whether they lived in Lleida or had withdrawn from the city, wholly destitute and miserable as a result of the attacks on their persons and property, were granted a one-year moratorium from all criminal prosecution and on all their 114

115

Reg. 1962, fol. 1v–2r, reproduced in part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, no. 232 (b) and a large section – much of which I translated, is quoted by Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 202. On November 15, Joan informed his brother that he would leave in a few days for Vilafranca: Reg. 1961, fol. 160r ¶2, and published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 145, no. 234. The letter of Thursday the 16th is in Reg. 1962, fol. 2v, and was published in Coroleu, Documents historichs, pp. 122–123, and Girona y Llagostera, ibid., p. 145, no. 235 (a), and quoted in part by Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 202. Melted cheese with pears is my translation of “formatge fonedor ab peres.” The king was true to his word. At nine hours after midday on Saturday, Joan assured his wife from Vinaxa (Vinaixa) that he had departed from Lleida, was traveling well, and was in fine spirits. Joan spelled out his itinerary: he would eat supper and stay overnight in Vinaxa; travel the next day, dine in Cabra, and sup and sleep in Vila Redona (Vila-Rodona); and on Monday dine in C ¸ a Bisbal (La Bisbal del Pened`es) and sleep with her in Vilafranca. He did not set aside any time for the chase as he had originally planned. Ibid., fol. 3r, partly reproduced by Girona y Llagostera, p. 146, no. 236, is dated Friday the 17th and ibid., fol. 3v, in Girona y Llagostera, ibid., no. 237, was dated Saturday. Tasis i Marca, pp. 202–203 colorfully describes the king’s travel from Lleida to Vilafranca.

252

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

financial indebtedness. On Friday the 17th, King Joan ordered Mart´ı – whom he had excoriated two weeks earlier for his release of a Cervera rioter, to grant immunity to all who may have been involved in the attack against the Jews of Lleida and in its associated crimes, except for thirtyfive individuals whom the king listed by name. As King Joan departed from Lleida, he probably imagined that he had left behind a city that had been successfully stabilized.116 As King Joan came to the end of his stay in Lleida, he congratulated the veguer of Valencia and Barcelona on the decisions that the royal official had made about “those who were found culpable of the riots, unrest, deaths and robberies . . . which were perpetrated against the Jews of Barcelona.” Joan promised, on November 15, that when he arrived in that city in a few days, he would administer justice appropriate to the enormity of the crimes. Two days later, upon learning that the city of Saragossa was in a tranquil state, Joan relayed his happiness to the governor of Aragon and, consequently, granted him permission to travel about the Kingdom of Aragon and apply appropriate punishment so that “our presence is not necessary there.”117 While King Joan had learned much from his first foray into a city wracked by the Crown-wide riots, his effectiveness in the restoration of the royal patrimony, and indeed of its Jewish communities, foundered on the actual limits of Aragonese royal power and his own characterological idiosyncrasies. Joan attempted to build upon his presumed success in Lleida when, from Vila-rodona on November 19, he proclaimed that he did not waver in the pursuit of justice and contended that vices untreatable by medicine were curable by the sword. In response to the inquiries of 116

117

Reg. 1900, fols. 106v–107r, is dated November 15, and from which Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 675, briefly quoted. The following day, November 16 (possibly the 17th), Reg. 1849, fol. 184r-v, the royal treasury responded to a legal request from a Lleida notary about a cens mort to which the aliama of the Jews had been obligated, and regarding the current responsibility of the conversos. The guidaticum of the 17th is at Reg. 1901, fol. 110r-v to which Wolff, p. 15, note 33, made reference. On the 18th, the royal curia managed the aftereffects of the situation in Lleida; see ACA, Cartas Reales, Caja 6, nos. 605 and 606. For the ultimate financial disposition of the fines levied on the city of Lleida for the losses the king incurred, see Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 225 who cites Reg. 2016, fols. 1r-4v and fols. 6v–13v of the second pagination. The king ordered the veguer to proceed against all the guilty parties of whatever political, social, or economic class, and to imprison and guard them well: Reg. 1961, fol. 160v. In ibid., fol. 162r, dated the 17th, Joan expressed his confidence in the governor and marked him worthy of being royally thanked. On that same day, Reg. 1879, fol. 82r-v, the king approved of arrangements made in the island of Majorca, which involved the local aliama.

King Joan

253

the Barcelona municipal councilors, whose messengers had implored the king to treat the inhabitants of Lleida mercifully, Joan declared that in all things he had served God, the honor of the monarchy, and the “bon stament de la cosa publica.” The king thereby notified Barcelona officials that he would use his experiences in Lleida as a guide when he would confront the larger and more daunting task of the pacification of their city. The king also looked beyond their great Mediterranean port city. Joan ordered Barcelona leaders to dispatch a small boat to Mallorca and to inform the island governor and its council of the punishments – corporal and otherwise, that had been administered the past Friday in Lleida. The Barcelona city fathers were also charged to report to the islanders on the king’s timely travel through the unsettled countryside, and of his firm dedication to do that which God, justice, royal honor, and its future prosperity demanded. The king declared that his policies would help suppress “the malignity of foolish people,” and that the hearts of these unfortunates would be filled with fear and trembling.118 King Joan’s decisiveness in the exercise of his monarchic power did not eclipse his dedication to the hunt or his passion for fine dining and beautiful music. Joan informed his queen, on that November 19, that he had arrived in Vilaredona only to eat and sleep, and that he had run seven greyhounds in Pla la Cabra earlier in the day. Tomorrow, he declared, he would eat lunch at l’Arboc and enter Vilafranca del Pened`es in time to sup and to lie with her. He requested that she prepare andolles sausages and medallions of lamb (a change in or addition to the menu from the previous Thursday) to celebrate his arrival. He further asked that Pifet and Setsans, minstrels who served the Queen’s court, greet him as his royal entourage turned off the road to travel toward her. In closing, Joan briefly notified Iolant that he had appointed one Barget as head of security on Mart´ı’s expedition to Sicily: “what pleases us is what pleases you”; and cast doubt on her information regarding the activities of the Count of Armagnac, whose marauding forces had troubled Joan while he was stationed in Lleida.119 118

119

Reg. 1962, fol. 4v–5r, published in part by Girona y Llagostera, p. 146, no. 238 (a). See the chapter on Catalonia. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 202–203, imagines the royal entourage as it traveled from Lleida to Vilafranca. Reg. 1962, fol. 5r ¶1, was partly reproduced in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, no. 238 (b). Tasis i Marca, p. 203, briefly cites the letters of November 16 and 19. Reg. 1962, fol. 5r ¶2, dated the 20th at midnight, is a letter from the king to Raymundo Alamani, in which Joan wrote that he sent on to him a letter he had just received from the queen and asked him to execute the queen’s wishes.

254

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

King Joan arrived late in the day November 20 at Vilafranca del Pened`es, where his wife and newborn daughter awaited him, and where he would remain until December 14. Just as Balaguer served as a staging ground for his entrance into Lleida, Vilafranca del Pened`es became the site where he planned his arrival in Barcelona. Already on Monday November 21, King Joan announced to the veguer and batle of Barcelona that he would leave shortly for their city and ordered them to pursue criminal charges against those accused of the invasion and robbery of Catalonian aliamas. Ever the gourmand, King Joan that same day directed the royal treasurer to send on the filets of pork tenderloin, which he needed immediately.120 The king learned from his Lleida involvement that his directives to the Barcelona royal officials had to be made explicit. Accordingly, Joan emphatically charged the Barcelona veguer, on November 22, not to allow any prisoner in his power to be removed from prison or to be delivered to a guarantor without signed royal permission. The king also instructed the official not to place any prisoners in the city’s preso comuna but rather to house them in the Castell Nou or in another locale where they would be well guarded.121 King Joan continued to pay attention to the unsettled situation in Majorca even as he exercised close oversight of the state of affairs in Barcelona. Joan supported the decision of the Majorca municipal leaders not to pursue a reform initiative dedicated to resolve tensions on the island and advised the promens and others located in Bellver castle about the restoration of the fortress. He assured them that after he left Vilafranca to travel to Barcelona, he would journey to Majorca and see to its tranquility. Joan also warned the governor Francesc Sa Garriga that the agreement signed by the jurats and consell, in the wake of the riots, would result in “the substantial depreciation of our royal dignity.” The 120 121

Reg. 1949, fol. 27r, and Reg. 1961, fol. 163r ¶2, respectively. Reg. 1961, fol. 163 ¶1. The king also informed a Micer Guillem Pere Perbuc¸ot that within a few days, God willing, he intended to arrive in the city of Barcelona. He wanted Perbuc¸ot together with a Micer Guillem de la Vila Torta to help the veguer continue with the criminal proceedings, against those who were accused of the “avolot robaria e morts” perpetrated against the Jews of Barcelona. He ordered him to put all other matters aside, and not to leave the city of Barcelona: ibid., fol. 164v ¶2, published in part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 147, no. 240 (b). After the king sent his missive to the veguer, he probably received the official’s response to his previous letters to which the king replied, ibid., fol. 165r ¶1, that he had written to Perbuc¸ot and that the veguer should make sure that Micer Guillem did not leave Barcelona. Again, Joan promised that he would arrive in the city shortly.

King Joan

255

king promised him on November 22 as well that he would travel shortly to Majorca.122 Committed to the administration of justice in Barcelona, he could not have been satisfied with the results. Even as King Joan ordered the veguer on November 26 to proceed against an individual accused of the avalot and robaments of the juheria, the king received information from both 122

All the letters are in Reg. 1961: to the promens at fol. 163r-v, and published in part in Girona y Llagostera, pp. 146–147, no. 240 (a) – wherein he also instructed them regarding matters pertaining to Mart´ı’s expedition to Sicily; to those in Bellver at fols. 163v–164r; to the governor at fol. 164r with an additional letter warning of “scandell o perill” at fol. 164r-v; and to the duke, at fol. 164v and partly in Girona y Llagostera, p. 147, no. 240 (b), informing him that he had written to the governor. Even as he addressed the aftereffects of the riots, King Joan, while in Vilafranca, saw to other concerns of his Jewish communities. On November 22, he directed members of his royal court, who appear to have remained behind in Lleida, to take into consideration a request for financial relief by a wife of an individual who participated in the attack on the royal castle and whose property was subsequently sequestered; and on the 24th, about a judicial remedy for a number of conversos, who could not fulfill their financial obligations. The king also waded into financial conflicts between Saragossan Jewish taxpayers and “judios foranos,” and urged that they take advantage of the good counsel of “Adzay Cresques judio” to come quickly to a resolution of mutual benefit. See Reg. 1849, fol. 188r; Reg. 1850, fol. 84r-v; and Reg. 1879, fol. 82v, respectively. Concerns about the payment for the guard of the aliama, and questions whether one person alone should shoulder that financial responsibility, were addressed by the king in a letter dated December 3 to the leaders of the Jewish community: ibid., fols. 88v–89r. During these first days in Vilafranca, Joan instructed the bailiffs of Cervera, on November 23, and Huesca, on November 25, to collect monies from their Jewish communities for the guard of their aljamas. See Reg. 1877, fol. 69r-v, and ibid., fol. 75r-v, on Cervera and Huesca, respectively. On Huesca, see the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. On November 25, as well, the king directed the promens of Cervera – now that the time had passed when the Jews had needed to be separated and guarded, that he wanted “each one of them to return to their houses just like before.” The king thanked the officials for their defense of the Jews, and for keeping them far from “escandol.” See Reg. 1962, fol. 8v, which was published by Girona y Llagostera, Disposicions, pp. 119–120. On November 28, Joan issued a safe passage, guidaticum, to a converso, the former Struch Levi of the City of Majorca, and relieved him of his financial obligations. As a result of the attack on the aliama and the attendant looting of Jewish property, Levi had lost his possessions and was unable to make good on his debts. See Reg. 1879, fol. 86r-v. Joan referenced the riots and unrest to explain why he did not tackle certain oustanding issues such as the disposition of the “vicaria of Tamarit,” as result of which the “officio divinal” had ceased to be celebrated in town. See Reg. 1850, fols. 83r-v; fol. 83v; and fol. 84r. Joan issued a guidaticum on December 13, Reg. 1901, fols. 133v–134r, to the new Christians, the Barcelonans Bernardo de Casasage and his wife. While Bernardo had persisted in ebrayca lege, he was called Issach Bisbal.

256

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

the Barcelona veguer and the municipal leaders, on the 30th, that another individual had escaped from prison. More troubling was that the veguer expressed doubt that others, who had been detained and were under his brother Mart´ı’s control, were adequately secured. Notwithstanding Joan’s preference of the Castell Nou to the city jail, the king now ordered the city fathers and the royal official to transfer all those in the “power of our dear brother” to the municipal preso communa. The king informed the city leaders that he had ordered Mart´ı to secure his prisoners and notified him that only the jailer would be allowed to release them. Joan commanded that those detained under municipal control be well guarded and that justice be appropriately administered. The king counseled the veguer that others, aside from the jailer, should watch over the large number of prisoners.123 The king realized, on November 30, that senior royal officials personally had to supervise the local authorities. So persuaded, Joan notified his Barcelona correspondents that the governor of Catalonia would arrive in short order and that he himself would follow. The king ordered the Barcelona veguer, on December 2, to prepare for the arrival of a royal deputation and advised him to heed instructions of an emissary sent to handle the arrangements. In anticipation of his own journey, Joan asked the city’s bailiff, on December 3, to drain the marshes in the Prat so he could hunt outside the city, as he had been accustomed to do.124 From Vilafranca, the king became actively involved in the application of justice. King Joan negotiated with the bishop of Barcelona regarding the fate of those ecclesiastics who had been involved in the riots against the local Jews. The king informed the governor of Catalonia of the contents of the agreement on December 5 and charged the governor, now stationed in Barcelona, to share its stipulations with the royal counselors and to send back a sealed response of their assessment of the provisions. The 123

124

Reg. 1877, fol. 75v¶1, is dated 26 November. Joan’s letter to the Barcelona prohomens is in Reg. 1961, fol. 165v, and to the veguer in ibid., at fols. 165v–166r. See, below, the chapter on the duke. Joan charged the veguer to house the “richs homens e cavallers” in the Jewish quarter of Barcelona. Following the attacks, the call, in all likelihood, had adequate housing available to lodge these distinguished visitors (just as the Castell Nou could serve as a prison ever since the assault on the fortress, and the murder of many Jews who had sheltered there). Joan instructed the official to have the appointed apartments swept, and directed him to provide a place for these notables to deposit their clothing and other essentials. See, ibid., fol. 167r ¶2. Ibid., fol. 169r ¶2, is dated December 3, and was published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 148, no. 241. Cf. Batlle Gallart, La crisis, p. 123.

King Joan

257

following day, Joan ordered the governor to refrain from proceeding against G. Mori, a retainer in the household of the duchess of Burgundy, who had been imprisoned on account of his participation in the attack on and robbery of the Jews. Since both the duke and duchess had lobbied vigorously on Mori’s behalf, Joan asked Mossen Raymundo to refrain from any judgment on Mori’s fate until he arrived in the city.125 The post-riot era in the city and Kingdom of Valencia had commenced earlier than anywhere else in the Crown of Aragon, and King Joan – while he made ready for his foray into Barcelona, encouraged the Valencia batle and municipal officials to aid Domingo Mascho, the vice-chancellor of the kingdom, who had been charged with the oversight of all the attendant problems resulting from the violence. In response to letters the king received from Mascho, Joan, on December 2, thanked the Valencia promens for their help; cautioned the governor not to let conversos and their creditors come to an understanding until he, the king, was better informed; and requested that the “Jews of the aliama of Valencia” send one of their own to the royal court who could speak about their rights and the events surrounding the riots so that “the repair of the aliama” be expedited. Joan informed Mascho that he would not grant him the necessary authority to make arrangements regarding the restoration until he was briefed on the positions of the contending parties, and to that end had solicited an expert to present the Jewish perspective. The king instructed Mascho, in the meantime, to fashion a limited agreement.126 Those Valencia Jews who had sheltered in Morvedre petitioned the king for financial help, and Joan in turn directed Mascho, on December 4, to advance them 100 florins from their own charitable funds and communal property, which they promptly were to repay. Joan updated Bonafonat, the Morvedre bailiff, about his decision and declared that

125

126

Reg. 1963, fol. 3r ¶1 is dated 5 December. The negotiation may well have taken place in Vilafranca. Reg. 1962, fol. 12r ¶2 is from December 6. Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 582 and n. 28, identifies Guillem Mauri from Burgundy, on the basis of Reg. 1884, fol. 34r-v and Reg. 1882, fol. 195r-v, and writes that he was originally sentenced to death. The duke was an uncle to King Joan. All the documents are in Reg. 1961. The letters to Domingo Mascho are at fol. 167v ¶2 and fol. 168v ¶2; to the batle and others at fol. 167v ¶1; to the governor at fol. 168r ¶1; to the municipal authorities at fol. 168r ¶3; and to the Jews at fol. 168v ¶1. Fol. 168r ¶2 does not contain an addressee. King Joan would personally arrive in Valencia in November 1392. See Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 168. On December 3, Joan shared with the bishop of Lleida the agreement that was to put an end to the “fet de leyda,” which he proclaimed would be signed by the king and queen. See ibid., fol. 168v ¶3. and fol. 169r ¶1.

258

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

he would soon conclude with the “fets de cathalunya” and then travel toward Barcelona, where he would punish as needed. Joan ordered him and the other officials to continue their efforts to preserve the Jews and to ensure that further scandals were avoided.127 During these weeks in Vilafranca, King Joan was mindful of riots against his Jews that had occurred far from Iberian shores. Already in early October, the king had expressed concern about unrest in the island kingdom of Sardinia and was aware of attacks on the local Jewries. On December 5, he thanked Mossen Johan de Muntbuy, the governor of the kingdom and other royal officials for having defended the Jews of Caller (Cagliari) and Alguer (Alghero). He pronounced these Jews under his protection and ordered that their persons and property not be harmed. Three days later, the king ordered Mossen Johan to dispatch immediately to the royal court an individual who was seriously involved in the riots and looting and who had been seized and imprisoned. The king declared that he would administer the requisite justice.128 Prior to his departure from Vilafranca, King Joan informed Alamani of his itinerary and explained how it was “necessary prior to our arrival that some sentences be executed.” The governor, nevertheless, was to leave the punishment of the incarcerated elevated classes, “de alguns qui grosses sien,” until Joan entered Barcelona. At that time, the king would consult with him and with members of the royal council. Joan, on Monday December 11, also wanted Raymundo Alamani to order Johan dez Vall, the royal chamberlain, to appear in court on Wednesday at vespers, so he could transport the royal standard, which would be raised aloft, presumably, when the king would enter the city.129 127

128

129

The letter to Domingo Mascho is in Reg. 1879, fol. 92v ¶2, and was published by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 353, no. 57. The king reminded him to follow the regulations regarding the juheria of Valencia, about which he had already informed him. The missive to Bonafonat de San Feliu is at ibid., fol. 93r ¶1, and was published by Hinojosa Montalvo on p. 354, no. 58. The letter to the Jews is at ibid., fol. 93r ¶2, and published by Hinojosa Montalvo, ibid., no. 59. The king assured the Valencia refugees that he would not pass on an agreement until he received their input. On December 5, ibid., fol. 93v ¶1, Joan advised Bonafonat to intervene with a Morvedre Jew to act considerately toward a Christian couple who owed him a large sum. Reg. 1879, fols. 94v–95r, dated December 5, and Reg. 1962, fol. 14v ¶2, dated December 8. See also the royal letter to Berenguer de Cruilles about the riots in Girona, Reg. 1962, fols. 12v–13r dated December 8, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 690, no. 437; and to the veguer of Tarragona regarding the Jews of his city in ibid., fol. 13r ¶1, published in Baer, pp. 690–691, no. 438. Reg. 1963, fol. 7r ¶2, and published in part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 148, no. 242. The king wrote that he would leave Vilafranca del Pened`es on

King Joan

259

On Wednesday December 13, Joan updated Mossen Raymundo on his itinerary – he would leave tomorrow the 14th from Vilafranca, sup and stay overnight in Pobla de l’Hospital de Cervello, ´ travel to Sant Boi de Llobregat on Friday, and arrive in Barcelona on Saturday. Joan explained that these short trips, “aquestes petites jornades,” would afford Raymundo Alamani sufficient time to dispense swift justice. The governor’s success would determine the date of the king’s arrival. If Mossen Raymundo could mete out punishment on Friday, then the king would enter Barcelona at dinnertime on Saturday. If however justice would be administered on Saturday afternoon, the king would delay his entrance until after dinner.130 Joan arrived in l’Hospital de Cervello´ on Thursday the 14th and during dinner received Alamani’s letter detailing the executions that the governor had effected the day before. King Joan, greatly pleased, ordered the governor to proceed with other cases. Joan notified Mossen Raymundo that he would (as planned) eat supper and sleep at Sent Boy, and that he intended to arrive in Barcelona for dinner on Saturday. He ordered Alamani, accompanied by all the armed men stationed in Barcelona, to meet him at Sent Boy or at la Mac¸anera on Saturday morning. Joan asked his governor to counsel him on the advisability of his plan.131

130

131

Thursday and arrive after dinner in Barcelona on either Friday or Saturday. Among the two sections that Girona did not transcribe, was the king’s reference to justice for the “grosses.” See Batlle Gallart, La crisis, vol. 1, p. 123, on the entrance of the king, where she writes, note 47 ad loc., that Girona published the least interesting part of the document. Mascaro, ´ Biblioteca de Catalunya, Ms. 485, fol. 294r, describes the governor’s arrival in Barcelona. The royal pennant had been carried into Barcelona when the governor had arrived on December 6. On December 12, Joan wrote to Francesc Eiximenis regarding prophecies about the Crown of Aragon and made reference to Maestre Crexques (Cresques de Vivers) who was a royal astrologer. See Reg. 1963, fol. 17v, and published by Antoni Rubio y Lluch, Documents per l’historia de la cultura catalana mig-eval, vol. 1 (Barcelona, 1908), pp. 372–373, no. 418. See also Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 570. Reg. 1962, fol. 13r-v, reproduced in the main in Girona y Llagostera, pp. 148–149, no. 243, and a significant portion quoted by Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 203. Batlle Gallart, La crisis, writes that Sunday was the alternate time of arrival. Here Mossen Ramon is identified in the dirigitur as the nobleman Raymundo Alamani de Ceruilione. Ibid., fol. 14r ¶2, and in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 149, no. 244. See also Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 203. On the 16th, Joan wrote from Sant Boi de Llobregat (Sancti Baudilii de Lupricato), Reg. 1879, fol. 110r-v (Girona y Llagostera, p. 148 cites the incorrect Register number in King Joan’s December calendar), to Iehuda Golluf (son of Alatzar Golluf – see the queen chapter) of Saragossa regarding debts and taxes. I cannot locate or identify La Mac¸anera. Mossen Raymundo’s military retinue and the details of the punishment he administered on December 13th is in Mascaro, ´ ibid., fol. 294r, and is discussed by Batlle Gallart, La crisis, on p. 123 and n. 146. Mossen

260

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

King Joan entered Barcelona on Saturday December 16 and six days later (he had stayed in Lleida for over three weeks), returned to Vilafranca and to his Queen Iolant. On Friday December 22, the day of his departure from Barcelona, the king sentenced twelve people to death, of whom eleven had been involved in the riots and in the robbery of the call and one, who was a Genoese corsair. Ten were hanged and two quartered, and their bodies displayed in public places around the city.132 While it is not evident that the king took time out from his judicial duties in Barcelona to hunt in the marshes of the Prat, he did visit his infant daughter Antonia who was being nursed in that port city. He also continued to engage in the aftereffects of the riots. On December 16, the king ordered the aliama officials of Girona to complete payment on the guard of the Jewish community, and directed local royal officials to transfer the Jews from the “Castro de Gerundella” to the “Callum Judaycum” of the city, and to secure them in their dwellings. Joan demanded from the Girona bailiff, on the 20th, that he imprison, without delay, those guilty in the attacks against the Jews. The king appended a list of their names and occupations.133

132

133

Raymundo had entered Barcelona on December 6 accompanied by 200 bacinetos whose weapons were concealed and not displayed. The municipal diary for December 16 and 22 can be found in Schwartz y Luna and Carreras i Candi eds., Manual de Novells Ardits, vol. 1, p. 23. Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 149, nos. 245 and 246, cites them, the latter only briefly. The details of the royal punishment are in the diary and in the account of the jurist and ecclesiastic Guillem Mascaro, ´ fol. 294r-v, but there is no record of the names and specific crimes of the accused in these sources. See also Batlle Gallart, ibid. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 203–204, imagines that Joan did hunt because of his prior intention. He also reports that the king informed the queen of Antonia’s brief illness ` and reassured her the next day that she was recuperating. Regarding Girona, Reg. 1851, fols. 65v–66r and fol. 66r, are dated December 16, and Reg. 1949, fol. 32r-v, is from the 20th. See Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 136–137 (where he also discusses the contemporaneous situation in Barcelona), and the list of names published on pp. 155–156. The king turned his attention to the situation in Barbastro on December 22: Reg. 1851, fols. 67v–68r. Joan struggled with Nicolau Eymeric and the Aragonese Inquisition over the appropriate jurisdiction of a case involving two Cervera Jews, the physician Magister and Biona Sutlam, who had been imprisoned by the local subbailiff. See Reg. 1949, fols. 30v, 31r, 31v–32r, and ACA, Cartas Reales Caja 10 No. 1120, fol. 2r (synopsis published by Assis ed., Cartas Reales II, pp. 247–248, no. 1216), all dated December 19; and Reg. 1876, fols. 63v–64r, dated the 21st. Joan addressed the bailiff of Cervera again on January 4 of 1392, Reg. 1877, fol. 101r-v, and on March 22, Reg. 1851, fol. 124v, and Cartas Reales, ibid., fol. 1v (synopsis in Assis, p. 248, no. 1218). The involvement of Aragonese inquisitorial officials and specifically Nicolau Eymeric in post-1391 affairs is a desideratum. See above, p. 25, and Narbona Vizca´ıno, El trienio negro, pp. 190–195.

King Joan

261

On Christmas Day, the consequences of the riots in Barcelona were back on the royal agenda in Vilafranca. Joan ordered the deacon of the city of Montblanc to seize a priest of “estranya nacio” by the name of Johan Malleo who was present at the avalot, riots, in Barcelona and had stolen a number of items, some of which found their way to La Selva del Camp just south of Montblanc. The accused, Joan instructed, should be sent under guard to the nearby archbishop of Tarragona to be imprisoned. The king warned the dega and the archbishop that, if through their negligence the man escaped, they would be brought to account. Although King Joan had just returned from Barcelona where he had twelve people put to death, he was unsure that the Montblanc deacon would attend to his command. Critically aware of the limits of monarchic power, Joan informed the town batle that same day that the riots and looting were an offense to “our royal majesty” and instructed him that if the local churchman would not comply immediately with his order, he himself should apprehend Johan and detain him until the royal algutzir would arrive.134 King Joan was determined not to tarry in Vilafranca. Joan declared on December 29 that he planned to depart on Wednesday January 3 and to enter Barcelona the following day. On December 30, the king charged Alamani to join him on Thursday afternoon in Barcelona surrounded by “all the armed men just like the other day,” presumably a reference to his December 16 entrance into the city. Despite Joan’s active involvement in the execution of justice in both Lleida and then Barcelona, Joan’s interest in and pursuit of the chase threatened to derail his royal resolve. An angry king communicated to both Mossen Ramon and his treasurer, Juliano Garrius, on December 29, how distressed he was that Garrius had dispatched the royal hunters to Vilafranca without having paid them. Joan was especially aggrieved since Alamani had informed him that the treasurer was in possession of tores dargent (lit. silver Torahs, probably silver casings for Torah scrolls), against which he could have borrowed money to settle the salary of the monteros. Joan warned that, while he intended to leave the next Wednesday for Barcelona, he would now not depart until the payments were remitted. Garrius had better settle with the monteros, Joan cautioned 134

Reg. 1962 fol. 16r ¶2, to the dega, and ibid., fol. 16r-v, to the batle. The king also promised to send a fiscal to prosecute the priest. This case is not referenced in Riera i Sans, Estrangers. The king also intervened on the 29th between Barcelona new Christians, Reg. 1851, fol. 79r, and between the Barcelona aliama and some of its members, both Jews and Christians on December 30, Reg. 1850, fols. 110v–111r.

262

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

his treasurer, if he wanted to advance the royal departure and distance himself from royal displeasure. It was extremely important for the king to travel to Barcelona, Joan proclaimed but, if he did not, “it would not be our fault but yours.”135 Accompanied by his queen, Joan departed Vilafranca a day earlier than planned and arrived in Barcelona on January 4 in time for the noonday meal. Joan had been concerned that too rapid travel might place an undue burden on Iolant’s health. Regardless, he asked her for assurances on Wednesday that she would arrive soon after him the next day. The king and queen slept apart on the 2nd and 3rd, she in Sant Sadurn´ı d’Anoia and Martorell and he in Sant Climent de Llobregat and Sent Boy. The queen, as had been arranged, arrived on Thursday after dinner.136 ∗ ∗ ∗ As the king’s court remained ensconced in Barcelona during early 1392, attacks against Jews spread within the Kingdom of Aragon: to Teruel, Daroca, and Albarrac´ın. Despite the royal punishments meted out to the inhabitants of Lleida and Barcelona, Joan was obligated to pronounce to the comendador, justicia, and jurados of Villel and Vilestar – hamlets just southwest of Teruel, that Magister Ezdra, whose son was one of two Teruel Jews who had been killed and robbed, was correct in his assertion in a complaint to the royal court that the Jews were under royal 135

136

Reg. 1962, fol. 16v, dated December 29, was published by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 149, no. 247, and mostly in Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 204, with modernized orthography. We can only speculate whether the tores dargent came into the treasurer’s hands as part of the booty secured from those who sacked the Jewish quarters of the kingdom or as part of payment by a distressed aliama needing to cover taxes owed to the royal government. On December 30, King Joan arranged for twelve pack animals and eight riding animals for his trip to and extended stay in Barcelona. Joan again informed Mossen Raymundo, on January 1, of the details of his and Iolant’s departure for Barcelona, and how they expected to arrive at different times on Thursday. He acknowledged how greatly pleased he was to have received two jewels, “pretty and quite acceptable,” that were a gift from the governor of Catalonia for the New Year. See ibid., fol. 17r, and in Girona y Llagostera, ibid., p. 149, no. 248. The January 1 letter is in ibid., at fol. 19v, and was published by Girona y Llagostera, ibid., p. 151 no. 249. Another update to his governor of Catalonia, dated January 2, is at fol. 20r ¶2, and in ibid., no. 250 (a). Fol. 20v, published in ibid., no. 251, is the king’s letter on the 3rd to Iolant from Sent Boy. The Manual de Novells Ardits, p. 24 (cited from the manuscript in Girona y Llagostera, p. 151, no. 252), has the royal couple arriving dimecres, Wednesday, January 10, he before dinner, she afterward. Both the date and day of week appears in error. On all above, see Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 205.

King Joan

263

protection. The king reminded the village officials, on January 10, that the Jews were “thesauris et regalie nostri.”137 The king again was compelled to declare, on January 17, that the Jews of Teruel were under his special protection. Several inhabitants “of the city of Teruel, seized by an evil spirit in the wake of an unexpected scandal,” had shamefully mistreated the Jews of its aljama, disregarded the declarations of defense of the Jews by both himself and the queen, and had not been afraid even to murder. Five days later, Joan promised to punish those who trampled upon royal safeguards and looked upon these Teruel Jews, who traveled through the aldeas, “as if the said Jews do not have a lord to defend them.” The disobedience of his subjects, declared the king on January 22, made him “not a little upset.”138 With the royal court now rooted in Barcelona, as it had been earlier in Saragossa, the limits of royal power were made abundantly clear, yet again, both to the king and his subjects. King Joan understood that if he chose to remain stationary, he had to rely upon the goodwill of local officials. As a result, the king, on behalf of himself and the queen, congratulated the regidores and good men of Teruel, on February 7, for having preserved the universitat of the aljama of the Jews from all harm, and “marveled” at the negligence of the procurador and regidores of the city and villages of Teruel in allowing the Jews to be mistreated. He again ordered them and the city’s judicial officials to punish the wrongdoers.139 As the king had done months earlier when seated in Saragossa, Joan delegated senior royal officials to the areas newly affected by the growing 137

138

139

Reg. 1850, fols. 117v–118r. On the following day, the king acceded to the request of the Teruel aljama and ordered city officials only to allow disputations – between Jews and long-standing or recent converts, or public sermons – delivered by these conversos, if they had been authorized by a representative of the municipality: ibid., fol. 118r-v. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Reg. 1900, fols. 175v–176r is dated January 17. The first six lines of the text, the rest following standard form for a royal safeguard, was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, no. 442, p. 696. Reg. 1879, fol. 125r from the king and dated January 22, is without an addressee. It was published in part by Girona y Llagostera, p. 152, no. 254. The king (and the queen), also on January 22, protested to an unnamed bishop about his demand that the Teruel Jews grant a moratorium on their debts. See Reg. 1879, fol. 124v. The king (and queen), on the same day, upbraided a censalista who seized the debts that the Jews of Teruel held in the surrounding area. They claimed that such acts encouraged attacks on the Jews’ property. See Reg. 1879, fol. 125r-v. On all this, see supra, the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon and below, the chapter on Iolant. Reg. 1879, fols. 145v–146r to the municipal regidores (cf. Reg. 1949, fol. 50r of either February 6 or 11 to the universitat, hombres buenos); to the village officials in ibid., fol. 147r-v; and to the juez and alcaldes at fol. 146r.

264

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

unrest. King Joan directed the governor of Aragon, on January 26, to travel to Daroca and its aldeas and to investigate what had happened the other day when two Jews of Daroca were in a local village earning their living, “por ganar hi de su vida,” when they were set upon, “avolotados,” by some villagers who “fizieron su poder de fazer se cristianos,” who forcibly converted them to Christianity. The attackers also made the Jews transfer all their property to them. Afterwards in another aldea, a Jew was simply collecting his debts, “simplement demandava sus deudos,” when he and his companion were stabbed to death. If these acts went unpunished, Joan declared, others would be encouraged to commit graver offenses. While the king instructed his governor to put all other affairs aside, gather the necessary information, and follow up with the appropriate punishment “as you know we have done . . . in those places where similar crimes were committed,” the king himself realized that it was not an easy matter to dispense with all other matters and attend to the emergency at hand. Joan allowed to the governor that, if because of the factional fighting in Calatayud he was not able to leave the city, he should send his algutzir or someone else in whom he had complete confidence.140 From his court in Barcelona, the king managed the consequences of the earlier 1391 upheavals. The safety of the Jews and the conversos, their departure from royal lands, the status of debts owed to them and 140

Reg. 1963 Fol. 23r-v, partly published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 696–697, no. 443. On January 16, Reg. 1879, fol. 121r, the king (and queen, see infra) had released those noblemen and their companies who had been entrusted with the protection of the Jewish community in Calatayud from their post in the Jewish quarter, and enjoined them to be prepared to be called back into service if the situation demanded. The Jews of Albarrac´ın, just east of Teruel, were also attacked in January. King Joan ordered, on February 7, that the surviving Jews be well guarded in their quarter so nothing will occur “as it happened to those aliamas of Cathalonya:” Reg. 1963, fol. 30r ¶1 and published in Baer, p. 697, no. 444. See, above, the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. While the king attended to the Aragonese riots, the king notified the batles and prohomens in Sent Andreu de Palomar and other nearby birch-forested areas that he had decided to hunt for porch. The king warned the officials on January 20, not to flush out the prey or have them killed by their own animals during the pursuit: Reg. 1963 fol. 18r ¶2, edited in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, pp. 151–152, no. 253. As with the containment of the unrest, the king sought recourse from allies to help ensure his success. On January 29, the king, perpetually on the lookout for good watch and hunting dogs, sought six fine galgos and two “siguesos de trayella” (sic) from “our dear cousin, the king of Castile:” ibid., fols. 23v–24r.

King Joan

265

sums that they were obligated to others, the ability of the aliamas and the erstwhile members of these Jewish communities to render their taxes and fulfill their financial responsibilities, the disposition of the goods stolen during the riots, and the punishment of those involved in the violence – all attracted royal attention. Some consequences of the earlier attacks were unanticipated. On January 18, the king brought to the notice of his veguer in Barcelona that the local Jewish aliama had permanently contributed to the upkeep of the lions and leopards in the royal zoo. With the destruction of the Jewish community, the animals were endangered.141 Understandably, King Joan was disconsolate when he learned on January 22 from the alcalde, hombres buenos, and municipal councilors of Albarrac´ın – east of Teruel, that the Jews of the city were attacked, and consequently strongly rebuked these officials for the scanty provisions and deficient protections which they had provided the Jews and the Jewish quarter. As a result of their neglect, great and enormous crimes had been committed by some children of perdition, “fillos de perdicion.” The 141

Regarding, Catalonia, generally, see Reg. 1980, fol. 78v–79r, dated January 11; ibid., fols. 80v–82r, dated January 13, to Berenguer de Cortilles, the Saragossan merchant and one of Joan’s creditors, about the communal property of the Jews; ibid., fols. 98r– 99r of the 27th; ibid., fols. 101v–102v and fols. 103r–104r dated January 27 as well; ibid., fols. 106v–108r of February 2; and fol. 104r-v of 8 January. Reg. 1949, fol. 46r-v of January 23 discusses the seizure of the property of those Perpignan Jews, who left for France, in order to enable royal officials to resolve outstanding debts. See also ibid., fol. 51v of February 8, and fol. 54r of February 15. Cf. ibid., fol. 54v for the situation in Besalu. ´ The aftereffects of the invasion of the Barcelona call can be seen in Reg. 1949, fol. 69r, dated March 5, and Reg. 1901, fol. 180r-v of the 15th. The Jews of Fraga, among them Astruch Rimoch, and the conversos of Lleida appear in Reg. 1949, fols. 66v–67r, dated March 8. On Rimoch, see the two letters published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 359, pp. 694–696, nos. 440 and 441; Baer, A History, vol. 2, pp. 131–132 and pp. 218–219ff. as Franciscus de Sant Jordi; and Frank Talmage, “The Francesc de Sant Jordi-Solomon Bonafed Letters” in Isadore Twersky ed., Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature (Cambridge, MA, 1979), pp. 337–364. Among the issues emanating from the city and Kingdom of Valencia, see Reg. 1963, fol. 31r and fol. 31v of January 30; ibid., fol. 55r ¶1 of March 1; ibid., fol. 58r ¶1 of the 21st; ibid., fol. 66r of March 27; Reg. 1949, fol. 80v of 2 April; May 27 in Reg. 1962, fol. 72r-v; and ibid., fol. 72v ¶1, dated May 28. For Majorca on February 9, see Reg. 1879, fols. 152v–153r; for February 18, see Reg. 1963, fol. 46r-v; for a series of seven documents dated March 1, see Reg. 1963, fol. 41v ¶1 and ¶2, fol. 42r-v, fols. 42v–43v, fol. 44r-v, fols. 44v–45r and fol. 45r-v; March 2nd in ibid., fol. 45v; and ibid., fol. 46v–47r, perhaps to be dated to March 4. Reg. 1877, fols. 129v–130r is dated March 20, as is Reg. 1963, fols. 70v–71r. Reg. 1877, fol. 135r-v is from April 8; Reg. 1962, fol. 63r is dated May 11. Reg. 1963, fols. 17v–18r concerns the royal zoo in Barcelona. See Nirenberg, Neighboring Faiths, p. 77, on the symbolism of Jews caring for the royal lions.

266

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Jewish quarter had been invaded and destroyed, and many Jews and Jewesses cruelly killed and injured. Since such attacks on royal power could not be countenanced, the king announced on February 5 that, until he could intervene himself, Johan Ferrandez Durries, the alcayde of the fortress of the city, would proceed against the malefactors and punish them.142 Despite his reprimand of the municipal officials and his awareness that his strategy of reliance on local authorities, and indeed on royal representatives, had a history of limited success, King Joan turned again to the same jurados, alcaldes, and good men of the city, on February 7, to ensure that the surviving Jews be well guarded in their quarter, so that nothing will occur “as it happened to those aliamas of Cathalonya.” The king also ordered these officials to guard the individuals responsible for the assault whom they had captured, until they would receive further royal orders about the justice to be administered. Joan ordered the governor and justicia of the kingdom, the following day, to supply all necessary support to the official whom he had granted power to negotiate agreements about civil and criminal cases, arising from the January attacks in Albarrac´ın and its environs.143 King Joan’s behavior remains enigmatic. Not only was the specter of renewed rioting unimaginable to King Joan, who during September of the previous year had concluded that the Crown-wide unrest had come to an end, new strategies to contain the resurgent violence were apparently inconceivable as well, to either him or his court. Once the disturbances of early 1392 had passed, King Joan may still have believed that the disorders that plagued his kingdoms were no longer a threat. In a summarizing mode, the king reflected to the Master of Roda, on February 15, that having punished all those who instigated the riots and violence against some of the aljamas of his senyoria, and having continued to discipline such individuals daily, he had placed his kingdom “with the help of our lord god” in “buen estamiento.”144 142 143

144

Reg. 1949: fol. 49r-v; fols. 50v–51r, and fol. 51r. Reg. 1963, fol. 30r ¶1 and published in Baer, vol. 1, p. 697, no. 444 is from February 7. The February 8 declaration on behalf of Pedro de Viego is in Reg. 1980, fol. 109v. Reg. 1949, fol. 80r ¶2 is a March 28 letter from the king to the aljama in Albarrac´ın about outstanding penalties that remained uncollected. Reg. 1963, fol. 33v in which “El Rey darago” wrote to his “dear friend,” the Master of Roda, the king also pronounced himself well counseled by his advisers. This comment may well have been written to deflect the master’s offer of help regarding matters of mutual concern. See Reg. 1877, fol. 115r-v, dated March 10, among others documents, in which Joan seems to view or present the attacks on the Jews as a matter of past history.

King Joan

267

Whether these observations reflected the king’s personal assessment, the scandalous murder of two Jaca Jews by some “sons of iniquity” toward the end of March indicated that these comments were at best optimistic. In the wake of the attack, Joan declared on April 1 that the local officals had demonstrated fealty to the Crown through their protection of the local Jewish community, and their punishment of those who had harmed Jews. Conversely, the king rebuked a local nobleman for allowing the murder in his ward and demanded that he punish those involved so Jews could travel through royal lands and earn their living.145 Threats against Jews lingered. On April 3, King Joan cautioned both the royal and municipal officials of the city of Tortosa as well as the alcayt of the castle – where some increasingly impoverished Jews were still domiciled, about the looming specter of Holy Week violence. Joan had learned of plans to attack the Jews on Good Friday and to pelt their houses with stones. While the danger of Holy Week violence may have been an indication of the annual ritualized hostility that had obtained over much of the fourteenth century in the Crown of Aragon, the king could not afford to be casual about this menace in the wake of the murder and robbery that had occurred over the last ten months within his dominions. Although Joan pointed out (as he had on September 21 of the previous year to the castlan at Perpignan and similarly, later that month, to the officials of Maella and Calaceite in Aragon) that the riots were now infrequent, he reported that the Jews were sufficiently distressed that their protection was warranted.146 Nor was Joan indifferent to the fate of an imprisoned priest who, his correspondents informed the king, was the prime mover of “the riots and destruction of our aljamas of the Jews.” On April 30, King Joan instructed the archbishop of Saragossa, who had detained the priest, that his captive be well guarded and not be allowed to escape. And the king added, somewhat obliquely, that if the priest died, perhaps when he was visited in prison by the archbishop, “we will hold you blameless.” King Joan was more blunt with the jurados of Saragossa when he acknowledged their promise to send on to him the imprisoned individual – specifically identifying the nephew of Ferrant Martinez, the archdeacon of Ecija, the priest who had been the principal instigator of the riots 145 146

Reg. 1852, fols. 70v–71r and 71r is dated April 1. For more, see the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Reg. 1876, fol. 100r-v to the veguer, sotsveguer, batle, procuradors, and prohomens of the city; and fols. 100v–101r to En Arnau Torrella, batle and alcayt. In 1392, “divendres sant,” fell on April 12. On Holy Week violence, see Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, pp. 200–230.

268

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

in Seville, either by land or by water. The king stated clearly, on May 4, that people such as the “nieto daquell arcidiano de Castiella,” did not deserve to live. So disposed, the king blusteringly declared that if Ferrant Martinez, the archdeacon himself, visited Saragossa – and as he added that day to the Saragossan merino, “continued his madness,” the arcidiano should be seized and dispatched to Joan, or publicly thrown into the river.147 Amid Joan’s concerns about the renewed riots and the aftermath of the past turmoil, his new daughter Antonia, whose gestation generated much anxiety during 1391, took ill and was in need of medical attention. From Sant Vicenc¸ dels Horts on April 19, King Joan informed Mossen Ramon that “our dear daughter the infanta dona Anthonia had a fever last night” and asked his governor of Catalonia to have her visited by the physicians, Ramon Querol and Bernat Oriol. The king’s concern about Antonia shared space in a missive with Joan’s request from Alamani to be informed posthaste if he received any news from Sicily and “other parts.” In a postscript, Joan added “our monteros have not been able to find porch today.”148

147

148

The April 30 letter to the archbishop is at Reg. 1962, fol. 38r-v. On May 4, Joan wrote to the jurados of Saragossa, ibid., fol. 40r ¶2; to the justicia, ibid., fol. 40v ¶1; and to the merino, ibid., fol. 40v ¶2. Ferrant Mart´ınez was called the archdeacon of Castile; see, supra, the chapter on the city of Valencia. Baer in Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 699–701, no. 446, 1–4, respectively, published these letters, almost in full. Netanyahu, The Origins of the Inquisition, pp. 161–162, argues, based on these texts, that Martinez’ nephew, charged by his uncle, led the pogroms in the Kingdom of Aragon. Reg. 1963, fols. 76v–77r, from April 23, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 698–699, no. 445, on the protection of Jews in Saragossa. See also, in note, a Hebrew letter from Shlomo de Piera, which Baer dates to the end of 1391 to early 1392. Reg. 1962, fols. 64v–65r, dated May 18, is Joan’s thanks that the Jews of Saragossa did not suffer from the avolots that broke out elsewhere. Only days before, King Joan had yet another reminder, if he needed one, that the royal capability to influence his own officials, and their ability in turn to control their subjects could not be taken for granted. On April 8, the king wrote to his sister-in-law, Maria de Luna, – whose husband Mart´ı had already left on his expedition to Sicily, that the Duke of Montblanc’s order to the batle of his titular town to release the physician, Azday Brunell, from prison was being ignored. According to the king, the Jewish doctor continued to be harassed. The imprisonment of Azday Brunell, about which there is no indication that it was connected to the riots of the previous year, is in Reg. 1877, fol. 133v. Reg. 1877, fol. 140r-v, published in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 157, no. 262(a). See above on Ramon Querol and in the queen chapter on Bernat Oriol. Among many references in these days to hunting, see Reg. 1962, fol. 34r-v, dated April 17, published in part by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, pp. 156–157 and ibid., fol. 140v ¶2, dated April 19, and in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, no. 262(b).

King Joan

269

Joan informed his queen on April 30 that Antonia was well, thank God, and added that, the evening before, he had not only seen their daughter but had also spent some time with her. The next night he devoted more time with Antonia, and on May 1, he let his molt cara companyona know that he expected a similar schedule the coming evening. Clearly, there was reason for concern. Yet, three days later on May 4, the king briefly mentioned to Iolant that Antonia was well. But their daughter, in her short life so far, had been frequently ill and on the last day of May of 1392 in Barcelona, she died. On June 1, from Montcada i Reixac, King Joan wrote to his “molt car fill” – his future son-in-law, the Count of Foix, to whom his daughter Joana, from Mata of Armagnac, would be married the following day, that he had been informed the previous evening by the Viscount of Roda and by Raymundo Alamani that our daughter the “infanta, dona Anthonia,” “es passada de aquesta vida.”149 With the death of Antonia and indeed even from her birth, the quest for a male heir to ascend to the throne of the Crown of Aragon remained ongoing as did many other domestic and foreign policy initiatives. The need to pacify the kingdom – now that the violence against the Jews finally seemed to have abated, persisted. But just as competing concerns, during the months that the unrest was at its peak, diverted the king from the protection of the Jews, so too did other needs take precedence after the riots had come to an end. In the northern reaches of his Crown, in Roussillon, many Perpignan Jews, who were afraid to return to their homes in the wake of the violence, chose rather to remain within the royal castle. Although granting the Jews sanctuary in the royal fortresses that dotted Crown lands became a crucial element in the royal strategy to protect them, King Joan, on July 9, announced to the local castella that he and Queen Iolant planned to arrive at the castle, on the eve of August 15 and the festival of St. Mary, perhaps to escape another outbreak of the plague. Reminiscent of Joan’s orders, at the end of the previous August, to the Count of Urgell to ready 149

Reg. 1962, fol. 37v–38r, is dated April 30; ibid., fols. 38v–39r, is from May 1; and ibid., fol. 45v is dated May 4. The June 1 letter that mentions her death is in ibid., fol. ´ 74v ¶3, and was published in full by Francisco de As´ıs de Bofarull y Sans, Generacion de Juan I de Aragon. Ap´endice documentado a´ los condes de Barcelona vindicados por ´ D. Prospero de Bofarull. Memoria le´ıda en la Real Academia de Buenas Letras en la ´ celebrada el d´ıa 23 de marzo de 1896 (Barcelona, 1896), p. 68, no. 67 and then sesion in Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 156, no. 276. See Roca, p. 134 and Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 217. See, infra, the chapter on the queen. In a letter to the archbishop of Saragossa, on June 7, Reg. 1963, fol. 110r-v, the king briefly mentions the health (good) of himself, his queen, and the infantas.

270

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

the castle of Balaguer for the pregnant Queen’s arrival by turning out the Jews who had fled there from the riots in Lleida and Barcelona, the king instructed the Perpignan official to sweep all filth from the castle grounds and to have the Jews exit the castle and return to their homes within the city. King Joan promised that the Jews would be protected. But clearly not at the expense of the health and comfort of the king and his queen.150

150

Reg. 1963, fol. 116v ¶1 to the castella, and ¶2 to the batlle of the city. On August 15, the king was in the monastery at Pedralbes and not in Perpignan: see Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari, p. 170. See also Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 223. On April 11, 1394, Jews were still living in the castle: Reg. 1906, fol. 222v in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 693.

9 Queen Iolant

Long before the riots against the Jews erupted in the city of Valencia, Queen Iolant had established herself as a skillful manager of the Aragonese royal dominions, and of its Jewish population. Born (as Yolande) in 1365 to Robert, duc de Bar, and Marie de France, and raised at the Parisian court of her maternal uncle, King Charles V, Iolant understood the urgency of wielding royal authority effectively. Growing up in a land beset by wars, both internal – marauding bands of mercenary soldiers, e´ corcheurs, who extorted monies – and external, and suffering from an economic downturn and episodes of the plague, Iolant learned, early on, the importance of, and connection between, social stability and royal finances. Despite the economic burdens weighing upon his kingdom, Iolant’s uncle Charles patronized a sumptuous material and intellectual court.1 1

On Charles V, Franc¸oise Autrand, Charles V le Sage (Paris, 1994) relies on the monumental work of Roland Delachenal, Histoire de Charles V, 5 vols., (Paris, 1909–1931). Claire Richter Sherman, Imaging Aristotle: Verbal and Visual Representation in FourteenthCentury France (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1995), illuminates one aspect of the vibrant cultural life sponsored by Charles’ court. On contemporary perceptions of kingship and its proper role within society, see Jeanine Quillet, Charles V le Roi Lettr´e. Essai sur la pens´ee politique d’un r`egne (Paris, 1984). See also her “Community, Counsel, and Representation,” in J. H. Burns ed., The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought, ca. 350-ca. 1450 (Cambridge and New York, 1991), pp. 520–572. Of importance is Raymond Cazelles, Soci´et´e politique: Noblesse et couronne sous Jean le Bon et Charles V (Geneva, 1982). On perceptions of women that reigned at Charles’ court, see Claire Sherman’s “The Queen in Charles V’s Coronation Book: Jeanne de Bourbon and the ‘Ordo ad reginam benedicendam,’” Viator 8 (1977), pp. 255–298; Claire Sherman, “Taking a Second Look: Observations on the Iconography of a French Queen: Jeanne de Bourbon (1338–1378),”

271

272

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

The decade following Charles’ ascension to the throne in 1364 proved to be a high-water mark for 14th century French Jewry. In the France of the future Queen Iolant’s childhood, the Jews – who had been welcomed back into the royal domains in 1359 by Charles’ father, Jean II, were charged to pursue the role of moneylenders. King Charles understood, as would his niece years later, the importance of Jewish residence to the health of the royal treasury, and apprehended the need to defend his Jews from incursions against their faith and community. Charles did not compel the Jews to attend conversionary sermons nor did he oblige them to have their legal matters decided by royal courts.2 Iolant entered the historical record when King Charles, in a secret embassy, offered her as a marriage partner to the Aragonese Prince Joan. Joan, whose first wife had died in 1378, had learned from his emissaries that Iolant was an attractive young woman, and by April of 1379 had provisionally accepted the offer. On October 19, an agreement was reached with the French king and signed in his presence.3

2

3

in Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard eds., Feminism and Art History: Questioning the Litany (New York, 1982), pp. 101–117; and C´ecile Quentel-Touche, “Charles V’s Visual Definition of the Queen’s Virtues,” in Karen Green and Constant Mews eds., Virtue Ethics for Women 1250–1500 (Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London, and New York, 2011), pp. 53–80. Regarding the county of Bar, in an earlier period, see Georges Poull, La maison souverain et ducale de Bar (Nancy, 1994) and Marcel Grosdidier de Matons, Le Comt´e de Bar des Origines au Trait´e de Bruges (Vers 950–1301) (Bar le Duc, 1922). Robert, who married Charles’ sister and was Yolande’s father, was the first Duke, rather than Count, of Bar. Poull, La maison, pp. 362–363, discusses the future Queen Iolant. Yolande’s date of birth does not appear to have been recorded. The Jews of 14th century royal France are chronicled in Roger Kohn, Les juifs de la France du Nord dans la seconde moiti´e du XIVe si`ecle (Louvain and Paris, 1988). Charles VI, the successor of Charles V, decided in 1394 not to renew the Jews’ privileges, effectively expelling them from his kingdom. On Jews in Bar, see Georges Weill, “Les Juifs dans le Barrois et la Meuse du moyen age a nos jours” Revue des e´ tudes juives 125 (1966), pp. 287–299, and the summary comments of William Chester Jordan, The French Monarchy and the Jews (Philadelphia, 1989), pp. 248–251 and the related notes. While Yolande rested in Dijon and later again further south in Avignon, where she paid her respects to a variety of church officials including the Catalonian bishops of Tortosa and Vic, Pere offered Charles his support of the Avignonese papacy of Clement VII, if the French king would agree to cancel the matrimonial contracts between himself and Yolande. He also offered to free Charles from the 30,000-franc dowry that was to accompany the new bride. For the negotiations surrounding the marriage of Joan and Iolant, and for an account of the first two years of their marriage, see, conveniently, Bratsch-Prince, Violante de ´ pp. 99–131 and passim; Tasis i Marca, Pere, Bar, pp. 19–26. Cf. Roca, Johan I d’Arago, pp. 151–161; and Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 79–100.

Queen Iolant

273

The French bride met her prince for the first time, on the evening of April 29, 1380, the day before their wedding in Perpignan. After the nuptials and eight days of festivities, Iolant, as the new Duchess of Girona, and accompanied by Prince Joan and Duke Mart´ı, traveled to Girona to greet her subjects. Iolant and Joan remained there for the rest of May, and then set out for Barcelona to meet her new in-laws, King Pere and Queen Sibilla. Although they had not attended the wedding celebrations in protest of their son’s choice of wife and future queen, Iolant nevertheless was impressed by the warm greeting tendered to them by Pere and Sibilla, and the wonderful reception accorded to the young couple by the Barcelonans. Happily, the ducessa reported to her own mother, she “was loved by her husband and all the people; blessed be the name of God.”4 Iolant had good reason to feel blessed. On August 11, 1381, Iolant gave birth in that Mediterranean city to a girl whom they named Yolant. Iolant remained in Barcelona, which fortunately had escaped the latest wave of the plague, until September, when the newly expanded family traveled to Valencia to meet again with the Aragonese king and queen. While en route in Tarragona, Joan was instructed by his father, Pere, to quash a revolt by the Count of Empuries. Iolant and their new daughter ´ remained behind. Iolant did not want Joan to stay away; the duke and duchess missed each other very much.5 As Iolant and her considerable train traveled on to Valencia, without Joan, she discovered that all the people did not love her. Indeed, she was completely rebuffed in towns controlled by the Master of Montesa. Her elaborate needs – by Aragonese standards – were more than some of her subjects were willing to bear. Iolant wanted Joan to castigate those who had treated her ill and hoped that their punishment would serve as an example to others. When in late April 1382, the duchess finally entered Valencia, she was properly welcomed.6 4

5

6

See documents, dated April 29 and 30, and early May, from ACA, Maestre Racional, Reg. 441, reproduced in Girona i Llagostera, Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, pp. 477–478, nos. 467 and 469, respectively. ACA, Cancelleria Real, Reg. 1821, fol. 15r records Iolant’s reactions and was published by Bratsch-Prince, Violante de Bar, pp. 58–60 and, again, in Dawn Bratsch-Prince, “The Politics of Self-Representation in the Letters of Violant de Bar (1365–1431),” Medieval Encounters 12 (2006), pp. 20–21. Yolant’s birth is in Girona i Llagostera, Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, p. 501, no. 515, from Maestre Racional, Reg. 441, dated Sunday, August 11. Ibid., the relevant months and days, records Joan’s itinerary. Girona i Llagostera, Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, p. 519, no. 550, dated April 28, 1382, is from AMV, Manual de Consells A-17, fol. 276.

274

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Iolant quickly gained a measure of the Iberian kingdoms, which comprised the Crown of Aragon, and especially of those sites that constituted her share of the Aragonese royal patrimony and whose payments were integral to the daily function of her court. As part of the negotiations between Joan and the king of France, Iolant had been offered an annual stipend of 10,000 golden florins to be taken from the rents of, among other sites, Manresa, Cervera, and Berga, and the Jewish aljama of the Aragonese city of Calatayud. A few months after the wedding, Iolant received from Joan the income that had pertained to his first wife Mata, which encompassed a wide variety of payments, such as those tendered by the aljamas of Saragossa, Huesca, and Jaca in Aragon, and Lleida, Girona, and Perpignan in Catalonia. Additionally, in October 1380, jurisdiction was granted to her over many funds that included income from the aljamas of Jews and Muslims of Tarazona and Jaca.7 The duchess did not let any time lapse before she asserted her authority over her new possessions. Iolant intervened with the jurados and prohombres of the city of Jaca on June 19 of 1382 in support of a local Jew, David Abembron, who wished to be awarded the position of royal agent, corredor in the city and its terminals. Apparently, Abembron had lobbied Iolant’s court through her familiares and domesticos, those favorites, functionaries, courtesans, and advisers who populated her entourage. The duchess asserted that David was an “hombre afeado,” a loyal man, who had suffered a decline in his fortunes and had a wife and children to feed. She vouched for his ability to negotiate the public and private business demanded of this position in charge of the municipal brokerage.8 7

8

Ledesma Rubio, El Patrimonio Real, pp. 137–140 on Iolant’s first years as duchess of Girona, and on her growing holdings. See the map on p. 169. In June 1382, the royal chancellery dispatched a series of letters to a range of officials within the kingdom informing them of their responsibility to obey the duchess of Girona and her designated agents. Her husband, Joan was to supervise the administration of these funds and protect her interests. See the additional important information provided by Riera i Sans, Els jueus de Girona, pp. 121–124. ACA, Cancelleria Real, Reg. 1822, fol. 5r, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 521– 522, no. 345. Iolant’s relationship with the Jews, from her days as duchess of Girona until her death in 1431, remains to be explored. Recently, scholars have stressed the variety of roles played and the kinds of language employed by Iolant as duchess and later as queen so that her “queenship” (reginalidad, reginalit´e . . . ) be personally and publicly successful. See, among others, Nuria Silleras ´ Fernandez, “Queenship en la corona de Aragon ´ ´ en la baja edad media: Estudio y prop´ uesta terminologica,” La Coronica 32 (2003), pp. 119–133; Bratsch-Prince (see above ´

Queen Iolant

275

Iolant again involved herself in Jaca affairs that same June 19 on behalf of Sento Avengoyos, a Jew who had connections to David Abembron. Avengoyos had been unsuccessful in his attempt to override a standing municipal statute, which prohibited the export of wheat and other grains from the city. Iolant interceded with the jurados, and explained that through the sale of the grain, Avengoyos hoped to repay a debt he owed the duquessa. Iolant informed the local aljama of her intervention.9 The duchess, protective of the Jewish communities that formed part of her royal domain, was angry with local leaders who did not effectively safeguard these aljamas. When Iolant learned, on July 12, that some Jews of Jaca had died as a result of severe abuse, she protested to the municipal leaders. The duquessa professed shock that, despite apparent tensions in the city, no warnings had been sounded, nor were any attempts mounted afterward to repair the damage. Their tolerance of such acts, she stated unequivocally to the city fathers, depreciated royal authority. Iolant declared that the aljama of Jaca was now under her jurisdiction – something the Jaca officials certainly knew, and pronounced that it was her responsibility to protect it. The justicia, jurados, and hombres buenos of the city should therefore guard both the Jews and their personal and communal property, Iolant counseled, and ensure that neither were harmed nor damaged. You will be doing us a great service if you comply, she asserted, and a disservice, should you behave to the contrary.10 Iolant had surely learned from her former compatriots about the dangers of urban unrest, its effect on the Jewish population, and the important role of authorities in its suppression. In the wake of the death of Charles V in 1380 and the ascension of 12-year-old Charles VI to the throne of France in 1380, a period of instability ensued. Riots erupted in Paris and other cities, as well as in the countryside, and were finally quelled in 1383. The two outbreaks in Paris involved attacks on the Jews. During the second outburst that began on March 1 of 1382, Jews were

9

10

note 3); Ponsich, De la parole, pp. 81–117; and, generally, the articles in Theresa Earenfight ed., Queenship and Political Power in Medieval and Early Modern Spain (Aldershot, Hampshire, and Burlington, Vermont, 2005). Reg. 1822, fol. 10r, as published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 522–523, no. 346. Her letter to the Jaca aljama, on fol. 90v, is reported by Baer, ibid., p. 523. Baer identifies a number of instances wherein Iolant intervened in cases involving Avengoyos, including when he was accused in 1382 of murdering his wife. Avengoyos agreed to pay a 300 florin settlement. Iolant criticized the aljama’s adelantados for a lack of impartiality in matters involving the family. Reg. 1822, fol. 9v, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 523–524, no. 347.

276

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

killed and robbed and the gages of moneylenders were pillaged. Some Jews, protected by royal authorities, were able to avoid both death and baptism.11 In the aftermath of the death and destruction in Jaca, Iolant strove to ensure the preservation of the Jewish community of Jaca and its wealth. The “infantissa” protested, on February 2 of 1383, to the bailiff of the Jews, and to other Jaca officials, that the remaining Jews were being harassed by an investigation into both the community and its individual members. Unless these probes ceased, Iolant cautioned, the Jewish community itself would perish. So that the aljama, “which was our treasure,” did not continue to suffer, Iolant ordered these officials to ensure that the customary laws of the Aragonese – which included a ban on torture, were followed. That same day, the duchess declared that Jewish women – even those who had not been designated as heirs, could inherit property in the absence of living male relatives.12 Iolant’s concern for the financial well-being of her Jewish communities prompted her to advocate on behalf of Jews within the royal Aragonese goverment. The duchess and her court found that the most effective strategy to advance their interests was to petition Prince Joan, or simply to evoke his name and titles, in their correspondence with others. Iolant reminded the Vezcomte de Rocaberti, Joan’s counselor and chamberlain, that the duke had commanded him – at her request, to release Abraham Mercadell, a “Jew . . . of the collecta of our aliama of the Jews of Girona,” whom either the nobleman or his officials had taken prisoner. The viscount should immediately obey the duke’s order, the duchess warned, in August 1383, or he would suffer the consequences of his action.13 11

12

13

L´eon Mirot, Les insurrections urbaines au d´ebut du r`egne de Charles VI (1380–1383). Leurs causes, leurs cons´equences (Paris, 1905). Mirot sees the first revolt as carried out by the nobility and city-dwellers, the second as “exclusively popular.” Harry A. Miskimin, “The Last Act of Charles V: The Background of the Revolts of 1382,” Speculum 38 (1963), pp. 443–442 explores Charles’ taxation policies against the economic and political backdrop of 14th century France. Specifically on Jews, see Roger Kohn, “Les insurrections urbaines du d´ebut du r`egne de Charles VI et les juifs,” Revue des ´ Etudes Juives 136 (1977), pp. 517–523 According to Kohn, p. 522, religious hostility was not present when the riots first erupted in France – in contrast to the Iberian riots stimulated by Ferrant Martinez, but appeared later as they developed. Reg. 1822, fol. 27r-v, mostly published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 524, and ibid., fols. 27v–28r in Baer, p. 532, no. 352. See also, on Jaca, ibid., fol. 11r and fol. 12v, dated July 19 and July 26, 1382, respectively, which are also excerpted in Baer, p. 524. Reg. 1822, fol. 41r, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 546–547, no. 360 is Iolant’s intervention on behalf of Abraham Mercadell. See Ledesma Rubio, El Patrimonio Real, pp. 141–142 and Bratsch-Prince, The Politics of Self-Representation, pp. 5–6 and ff. and

Queen Iolant

277

Crucial to the duquessa’s financial health were the taxes she collected from her aljamas. In January 1384, Iolant inquired of a ducal official regarding payments owed by the Jewish community of Jaca. The duchess, the following month, gave the leaders and financial managers of the Jaca aljama a deadline of two weeks to render their taxes. In case the leaders of this beleaguered community were not able to surmount an internal Jewish debate over how to assess these payments, she instructed them to contact their coreligionist, Alatzar Golluf, procurator general in the Kingdom of Aragon, and responsible for, among other collections, the imposts rendered by the Jaca aljama.14 When some Cervera Jews wished to establish a house of worship outside the city walls, Iolant interceded with the bishop of Vic, who as the head of the local diocese, possessed the authority to grant the necessary license. The duquessa reminded the prelate that King Pere, and her husband, Prince Joan, had assigned her, as countess of Cervera, the rendas of that city in Catalonia, and especially of its aliama. She explained that the Jewish homes of the community were widely dispersed throughout the city, both inside and outside its walls. Jews who dwelled beyond the fortifications, anxious about their security given present dangers, wished to establish their own synagogue close to their residences. The duchess offered the bishop a solution. Cervera Jews possessed a communal house that could easily be transformed into a synagogue, as had been done recently by the Jews of nearby Tarrega. For Iolant, in March 1384, the ` reasons for her intervention were clear: “to avoid danger to the aliama, and for our own interest.”15 Royal officials did not simply yield to Iolant’s claims of authority over the Cervera Jewish community. The duquessa was obliged to rebuke the

14

15

her appropriately revisionist understanding of Iolant’s assertiveness. From Almunia de Sant Joan, on December 14, Iolant ordered Petrus de Fortunay, soldier and castlan, to repay Azday Crescas [sic], the distinguished Jewish leader of the Jewish community of Saragossa, 2,000 gold florins which he had owed him for over a year: Reg. 1822, fol. 49r, mentioned in Baer, p. 607. The Jews were able to gain access to her court, on matters relating to personal and communal issues, through their contacts in Iolant’s entourage. In the opinion of Iolant’s detractors, the duchess’ excessively large retinue drained the finances of the royal patrimony. Indeed, in summer of 1383, the presence of her favorites upset the estates who gathered for the opening of the Corts. See Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 106– 108 and ff. Reg. 1822, fol. 54r, to Johan Pintano, janitori domini ducis, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 556, and fol. 55r, to the Jewish communal leaders, published by Baer, pp. 555–556, no. 364. See below on Alatzar Golluf. Ibid., fols. 59v-60r in Baer, pp. 560–561, no. 368.

278

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

representative, portant veus, of the governor of Catalonia, in September of that year, for having acted at variance with the privileges that she and the duke had granted to the Jews of Cervera. The duchess explained to the governor’s lieutenant that the aliama was theirs, and that they possessed full civil and criminal jurisdiction over its members. Both she and her husband had received money from the Jews in return for the grant of their privileges, and the Jews had willingly come to their assistance on a number of occasions.16 Iolant, correspondingly, responded to requests from other royal officials about Jews’ concerns as when, in September 1385, the duchess intervened on behalf of Bonedomine Adret of Barcelona, who sued to receive her share of her dead sister’s estate, as stipulated in her “cac¸ubba,” marriage contract. Adret’s husband, Bonnin, was a member of the duke’s entourage. Iolant charged the office of the bailiff of Girona – where the deceased sister and her husband lived, to ensure that the claims of Bonedomine and Bonnin were satisfied.17 While Iolant worked closely with politically powerful and economically influential Jews, such as Alatzar Golluf of Saragossa, the duchess and her advisers understood the necessity to moderate the power of these elites. They appreciated that a framework of law and fairness was fundamental to the financial integrity of the duchess’ holdings. In January 1384, Iolant directed the leaders of the aljama of Jaca to attend to the complaints of two impoverished brothers, Abraham and Samuel del Nieto. They had argued that the powerful Juda Avingoyos [sic] was pressuring them to relinquish their house in the Jewish quarter, which Juda’s home abutted. Avengoyos’ pursuit of a lengthy court case against these brothers had caused financial hardships, which they were unable to bear.18 Accusations of slander and of delation within Jewish communities were a way of settling dissent and were often reflections of struggles for power. Iolant weighed in on these internal matters, in protection of her interests. In April and May of 1386 she instructed the adelantados of the aljama of Tarazona that the accusations of being a malsin and mac¸or leveled by Sento C¸aprut against Abraam de Apiaria (Piera) had to proceed according to royal privileges, Jewish law, and the customary Aragonese privileges – foros. Sento C¸aprut had a long history of contentious behavior and legal 16 17 18

Ibid., fols. 64v published in Baer, pp. 561–562, no. 369. For more details, see ibid., fol. 88r, published in Baer, p. 576, no. 377. Baer, pp. 614–616 has the beginnings of a biography of Alatzar Golluf. Also see infra, Reg. 1822, fol. 53v, published in Baer, pp. 557–558, no. 365, and dated January 21 of 1384. See now Blasco Mart´ınez, Alatzar Golluf, pp. 481–580, especially pp. 495–503.

Queen Iolant

279

entanglements. Later that year, Iolant ordered the officials of the Girona aliama to prosecute a case of malshinut according to Jewish law and communal privilegia, although the Jew charged with slander had been absolved by a city official.19 Given her expenses at court, the duquessa was intent to help Jews flourish and thereby to maximize her revenue collection. In September 1385, Iolant demanded that the royal subvicar, sotsveguer of Girona, within his jurisdiction, aid the Jews in their collection of outstanding debts. The official surely understood, she wrote with astonishment, that if debts owed to the Jews were not repaid, the Jewish community would not be able to render its taxes and other obligations.20 The duchess’ need to defray her expenditures led her to grant a variety of economic privileges to wealthy Girona Jews in exchange for additional funds. Unsatisfied by her receipts, the duquessa, on November 15, 1386, froze the power of the Jewish communal authority and suspended most aliama officials. The following day, Iolant appointed interim managers of the aliama, effectively placing power in the hands of Iolant and her aides. The new ruling cohort, announced on December 22, was composed only of members of the wealthiest classes, and was approved by the duchess.21 In a promising indication of the projection and consolidation of her royal power, Iolant, on March 23, 1384, gave birth to a boy, Jaume. The production of an heir who could occupy the Crown of Aragon was a most significant achievement for Iolant and for Joan – who did not possess a male child from his first marriage to Mata. The infanta and infant named the child el Dalf´ı, after the designation dauphin, which had been conferred upon Iolant’s uncle, the French king Charles V, while he was prince.22 19

20 21

22

The first case of malshinut is in ibid., fol. 105v, with a related document to be found on fol. 106r. The second case is in ibid., at fol. 116r, and was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 603–604, no. 386. See, supra, the chapter on the king, for Prince Joan’s stance on such accusations. Reg. 1822, fol. 87r, published in Baer, pp. 575–576, no. 376, is from September 19, 1385. Reg. 1815, fols. 51v–52r, dated November 15, and published in Baer, pp. 605–606, no. 386, was effected at the request of two Barcelona Jews who acted with the king’s approval. Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 100, discusses this document, as well as that of the following day, Reg. 1820, fol. 43v. Reg. 2044, fols. 2r-9r, from December 22 of that year, is discussed in Riera i Sans ibid., and some of its details can be found on pp. 149–151. See now Riera i Sans, Els jueus de Girona, pp. 125–135, and pp. 135–141 and ff. on Alatzar Golluf. Riera i Sans, El Dalfinat, pp. 105–128. The title was bestowed upon Charles following royal France’s acquisition of the Dauphin´e, east of the Rhone ˆ river.

280

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

The health of her children, and of her entire family, remained uppermost in Iolant’s mind, and incidences of the plague throughout Aragon put them and all inhabitants of the kingdom at risk. Consequently, Iolant and Joan frequently changed their residence, just as the Corts, which had assembled at Monzon ´ in 1383, left that Aragonese city and resumed their deliberations in Tamarite de Litera and later Fraga. The duchess and duke of Girona, together with their children, spent Christmas 1384 in the royal palace in Perpignan, surrounded by entertainment. Iolant made sure that the future heir of the Crown of Aragon was well outfitted.23 Even at the risk of alienating her father-in-law, the king, and disappointing her husband, the infanta did not quickly return from Perpignan to meet Pere who had requested a visit from her and Joan. Instead of traveling by water, Iolant made the slower journey by land, a route that she thought safer for her children. In February 1385, the duchess arrived in Banyoles, where she remained until May. The infant left his wife to aid his father in the suppression of the ongoing rebellion by the Count of Empuries, but kept in contact with her by letter. Iolant, Joan, and the ´ children moved on, mid-year, to Vic where el Dalf´ı took sick, frightening his parents and requiring the attendance of the royal surgeon.24 In early May, the infanta spontaneously aborted a preterm baby. Iolant attributed the death of her child to the actions of the future King Carlos III of Navarre, who had made her dance with him when he had visited. Her son, she informed her “very dear cousin” and Navarrese heir apparent, would have carried the same name as her correspondent.25 The health of Iolant’s family continued to absorb the duchess’ attention, as it did others within the kingdom. As her husband struggled to maintain both the integrity of the northern borders of Catalonia against rebellious nobility, and of his princely authority against those who wished to undermine him domestically, he too fell seriously ill. Upon hearing of his son’s grave condition, King Pere ordered the Girona jurats that, in the 23

24 25

´ pp. 131–132; and Ponsich, Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 109–110; Roca, Johan I d’Arago, De la parole, pp. 87–88. While the recent literature on Iolant has significantly recast the future queen’s historiographical image through description of her “queenship,” it remains important that Iolant’s material aesthetic not be ignored out of concern that focus on this aspect of her queenship might diminish a reader’s appreciation of her as a consequential ruler. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 111 and 115. See the relevant letters in Girona i Llagostera, Itinerari de l’Infant, pp. 564–572. Reg. 1818, fol. 75v published by Bratsch-Prince, Violante de Bar, p. 66, Texto 8 pre` viously published by Jos´e Coroleu, Documents historichs catalans, p. 348. On Iolant’s many pregnancies, see Bratsch-Prince, p. 25.

Queen Iolant

281

event of the demise of his heir apparent, they should wrest Jaume from Iolant’s control.26 When King Pere himself, during Christmas-time, 1386, arrived at death’s door, Joan recuperated from his most recent illness, while the duke’s younger brother Mart´ı traveled to Barcelona to be with his father. Neither Iolant nor Joan were in attendance when Pere died on Saturday January 5, 1387, nor when he was buried on Thursday, the 10th. The new monarchs finally entered Barcelona two weeks later, on January 19.27 Immediately upon their arrival, Iolant’s husband took sick yet again. Iolant, now queen, described to the royal ambassadors in Avignon the extremely poor physical condition of the new king. His power of speech had abandoned him; his extremities had become chilled; and he had so suddenly lost his grip on life that he received last rites. After these ministrations, the queen reported, the king’s health improved markedly, but after a few days, his pulse became enfeebled, his extremities cooled yet again, and he appeared to be dead. Two weeks later, his wife described a king who, although lying in bed, ate and slept well, spoke clearly, and exuded vigor. Although by mid-June the king was on the mend and by August was able to walk by himself, Joan’s illness remained of abiding concern. As a couple and individually, Queen Iolant and King Joan resorted to doctors, and also to the adepts of the spiritual world, in search for healing remedies. Iolant foreswore the wearing of pearls, precious stones, and brocaded vestments as a personal sacrifice on the altar of Joan’s health.28 With the ascension of Prince Joan to the throne, the property and income of the now imprisoned Sibilla de Fortia` was transferred to Queen Iolant. Among these new properties were monies rendered by the Aragonese Jewish aljamas of Teruel, Berga, and Daroca. Royal directives regarding the transferral of these revenues were forwarded to Alatzar Golluf, who had worked for both Duchess Iolant and Duke Joan, and was now appointed “regent la tresoreria de la senyora reyna.” Golluf, in turn, designated Francesch Daranda of the queen’s curia to carry out these orders. Sibilla’s allies, the royal chancellor, Berenguer Dabella, and the royal treasurer, Bartomeu Llunes, were put to death, on April 29, 26 27 28

Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 136–137. Tasis i Marca, pp. 137–139. ´ p. 392. See Bratsch-Prince, Violante Tasis i Marca, pp. 144–146; Roca, Johan I d’Arago, de Bar, p. 29, and Reg. 2053, fol. 7v, dated April 27, 1387, and reproduced on p. 68 as Texto 10.

282

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

in the plac¸a de San Jaume of Barcelona. Llunes, a Jew, was accused of having administered the property that Pere had confiscated from Iolant as part of his royal initiative against her courtesans, whose loyalty to the Crown he had questioned.29 Since Joan’s weakened physical condition prevented the king from traveling, the new queen and king occupied themselves in Barcelona with their respective and united courts. The royal couple spent much of their days in the hunt – and in the acquisition of trained hounds and falcons, and in pursuit of other entertainments. At the same time, Queen Iolant and her councilors involved themselves with affairs of state, as when the queen, most diplomatically, on April 10 of 1388, refused the request of her cousin, King Charles VI of France, for two armed galleys as per their kingdoms’ political alliance, which had been announced on April 21 of the previous year.30 On May 16, accompanied by Mart´ı, Iolant and Joan entered Saragossa for their planned coronation. There they busied themselves with their usual entertainments; for Iolant, that meant hunting, music, and poetry. But their coronation was postponed, and another outburst of the plague prevented them from departing as planned for the parliament in Monzon, ´ which Joan had called to assemble on July 20.31 The health of their children, which would continuously shadow the royal couple, kept the king and queen in Saragossa. Iolant summoned the physician Ramon Querol at the end of June to treat the ill four and a half year-old Jaume. Despite a variety of ministrations, el Dalf´ı died in early September.32 While Queen Iolant valiantly attempted to assure the future of her royal line, she defended her actual monarchical authority from being undermined at the Corts assembled in Monzon. ´ Aware that attacks on both her and the king were in the offing, she dispatched her representative 29

30

31

32

Ledesma Rubio, pp. 143–145, and p. 157, and the appendix on pp. 166–168. See the letter of Iolant to Joan of June 16, 1385, Reg. 1818, fol. 66r-v, and cited in Ponsich, De la parole, p. 86. On Francesch Daranda, see Ferrer i Mallol, Un aragon´es consejero, pp. 531–562. Iolant’s letter to Charles is in Reg. 2056, fol. 101r, and was published by Jaume Riera i Sans, Pierre de Craon a Catalunya: un cas de extradicio´ (Barcelona, 1976), pp. 6–8. See also Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 145, and Bratsch-Prince, pp. 28–29. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 147–148; 154–155. Iolant and Joan had directed Saragossan municipal officials to refurbish the aljafer´ıa and its gardens for their planned coronation, and after much indecision, decided on a date – close to the festival of pasqua, for the ceremony. Tasis i Marca, p. 156.

Queen Iolant

283

Hug d’Anglesola, on September 22, to alert the Counts of Urgell and Cardona, leaders of the nobility, to the forthcoming assault on royal “domestichs e officials.” The royal couple headed to Monzon ´ at the end of October, determined to confront this challenge, which included accusations against their esteemed confidant and royal secretary, Bernat Metge, physician and man of letters. Perhaps from her earliest days as Duchess of Girona and probably even earlier, Iolant was on a trajectory of greater political involvement and sophistication. Joan’s illnesses, immediately after their ascension to the throne, most likely forced Iolant and her court to apprehend that, if the kingdom and her interests were to survive intact, she needed to become more personally involved in public political maneuvers. When Joan absented himself from the deliberations at the Corts, Iolant addressed the assembly and spoke of her desire to end the discord and arrive at an agreement. As for the deputies’ demand that the judiciary be reformed, a settlement was reached whereby the king and two members of each estate elected by the Corts would choose the canciller in charge of the royal judicial system. The more delicate matter of the members of the royal household did not admit of a straightforward solution.33 Nor was the matter of a male heir to Joan and Iolant easily realized. Iolant, pregnant yet again, gave birth in the castle at Monzon, ´ on March 18 of 1389, to a boy who was named Ferran Mateu. The child died on October 16 of that year and was interred in the Franciscan monastery of Saragossa. Plans for trips and hunting excursions were put on hold.34 33

34

See the chapter on the king, and, generally, Bisson, The Medieval Crown of Aragon, pp. 122–123; Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 156–169; Tasis i Marca, Pere, pp. 174– 175; Bratsch-Prince, The Politics of Self-Representation, pp. 4–5; and Bratsch-Prince, Violant de Bar, pp. 29–32. On Iolant’s courtesans, see Claire Ponsich, “L’honneur de la vicomtesse d’Illa i de Canet et d’une noble dame valencienne, deux favorites de ´ la duchesse de G´erone, puis de la reine d’Aragon,” Etudes Roussillonnaises, Revue d’Histoire et d’Arch´eologie M´editerran´eennes, 20 (2003), pp. 75–87, and Marina Mitja, ` “Proc´es contra els consellers, dom`estics i curials de Joan I, entre ells Bernat Metge,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 17 (1957–1958), pp. 375– 417. Riera i Sans, Pierre de Craon, paints a very sober picture of her later political machinations. While in Monzon, ´ Iolant continued to assume a diplomatic role in external affairs, writing to the governor of Sardinia on August 17 of 1389, Reg. 2038, fol. 31v-32r, reported on by Ponsich, De la parole, p. 86 at note 15, and p. 88 at note 21. Roca, p. 133, Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 170 and 171, and, most importantly, Riera i Sans, El Dalfinat, pp. 117–123. The child was eventually buried next to his other siblings in the monastery at Poblet. The Muslims and Jews of Daroca competed and fought with each other in seeking precedence over the other in the official celebrations of the birth of Ferran Mateu. On

284

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

The Corts at Monzon ´ was suspended, on November 30, and the royal couple left that Aragonese city the following day. Iolant was intermittently ill over the course of the following year. Toward the end of 1390, and in the absence of the king, Iolant, despite lingering illnesses, held negotiations – probably about their mutual frontier, with the king of Navarre.35 Queen Iolant, as was her practice when duchess of Girona, intervened in the affairs of her Jewish communities on both large and small matters. In April 1390, the queen granted local Daroca Jews the right to sell their communal oven to Christians, provided Jews be allowed to bake there “secundum techanam” – according to the stipulations indicated in the takkanot, the local Jewish ordinances. And in June of that year, Iolant acknowledged the financial ineffectiveness of her earlier attempt to entrust the Girona aliama into the hands of the wealthiest classes and expanded the number of aliama councilors, which she appointed from a broader representation of the community. The following April of 1391, the queen confirmed these changes.36

35

36

May 7, Reg. 1819, fol. 141r, the queen ordered Bernat Canalies to open an investigation into the violence. On July 8, the leaders of both communities were ordered to appear at Iolant’s court: Reg. 1818, fols. 136r–137r to the Jews, and fol. 137r-v to the Muslims. See Riera, La precedencia, p. 552; Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, pp. 180–181; and note 77 to p. 120 in Riera i Sans, El Dalfinat, p. 120. See, supra, the chapter on the king. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 173–193. Ruminations about the possible topics which Iolant discussed with Carlos III of Navarre are on pp. 188–190. Their mutual border was an important topic in 1388: see ibid., p. 155. Reg. 2041, fol. 5r, published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 624, no. 393 is about Daroca. On Girona, see Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 104–106 and the documents cited therein including Reg. 2041, fol. 37v–40r published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 627– 633, no. 395. On January 10, 1387, the same day that the infanta Iolant ascended to the queenship, penalties of excommunication had been announced in the synagogue of Girona for those who would try to circumvent the new aliama regime that had been declared at the end of the previous year. Alatzar Golluf was charged by the queen with making modifications to this system of governance, which according to Riera, Girona, p. 101, served only to buttress plutocratic control, with rabbinic support, of the Jewish community. Threats of financial punishment and physical aggression, were coupled with attempts to denounce dissidents as malshinim; see Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 101–102, and supra, in this chapter. See also idem, Els jueus de Girona, pp. 142–146. Cf. the situation regarding the officials in Calatayud, which Iolant addressed on April 12: Reg. 2029, fol. 172v, ¶2. In March of 1391, Iolant ordered the aljama of the Jews of Teruel to arrange for members of each class to join together, assess their tax obligations to her, and fulfill them. By the end of the month the situation appears to have been resolved. See Reg. 2041, fol. 23r and published by Baer, pp. 648–649, no. 403. In 1389, Queen Iolant had granted a variety of aliamas, including Girona, the right to sell censals. See Guerson, Coping with Crises, p. 68.

Queen Iolant

285

When the queen’s treasurer, Alatzar Golluf of Saragossa, died in August 1389, his sons Assach and Samuel converted to Christianity and took the names Johan and Pere Sanchez de Calatayud. As a result of Assach’s conversion, he secured his rights to his father’s estate, thereby occasioning a legal battle between himself and Alatzar’s wife Mira, who remained in the Jewish faith. In May 1390, Iolant and Joan separately ordered Azday Cresques, who had been designated an arbiter in this dispute, not to proceed with a compromise unless he received permission from the queen.37 Queen Iolant continued to rely on trusted Jews as her advisers, among them Azday Cresques [sic in Catalan royal correspondence; hereafter Hasdai Crescas]. Crescas was a wealthy merchant as well as a learned rabbinic scholar and philosopher. He descended from an old Barcelona trading and rabbinic family and already in the 1360s was an official of the Barcelona Jewish community. Crescas was amongst the notables briefly imprisoned by Pere in the wake of the host desecration accusation of 1367 but later served the king, who recognized him as an expert in Jewish law. In 1389, he left his hometown of Barcelona to assume the senior rabbinic position of the Saragossan aljama.38 Queen Iolant – recognizing Crescas as a person of discernment as well as knowledgeable and experienced in Jewish law, granted him the power, in September 1390, to supersede all aljama officials in cases of malshinut, 37

38

On the conversion of Assach Golluf, and the inheritance of his parent’s estate, see Tartakoff, Christian Kings and Jewish Conversion, pp. 34–35. On Alatzar, see Blasco Mart´ınez, Alatzar Golluf, pp. 508–517 and ff. Ram Ben-Shalom in his “The Courtier as the ‘Scepter of Judah’: The Letters and Panegyrics to Courtiers of Yomtov ben Hana, Scribe of the Jewish Community of Montalban,” [Hebrew] in E. Yassif, H. Yishau, and ´ U. Kfir eds., Ot Letova: Essays in Honor of Professor Tova Rosen (Beersheba, 2012), p. 197, published a letter of condolence sent to Don Yosef Almali on the death of Golluf, his brother-in-law. Iolant’s letter is in Reg. 2054, at fol. 4r, and was noted, on p. 612, by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, wherein Joan’s letter, at fol. 3v, was published as no. 390/2. An October 25 agreement between the queen’s treasury and two of Alatzar’s sons who remained Jewish is in Reg. 2041, fol. 17r and was reported on by Baer, ibid., pp. 610 and 612. See also Baer, A History, vol. 2, pp. 92–93 on Golluf and the legal quarrel, and Rubio pp. 157–158 at note 82 for another datum on Golluf and the queen’s treasury. Baer, A History, vol. 2, pp. 70 and 84–85. Harvey, Rabbi Hasdai Crescas [Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 2010), focuses mainly on Crescas’ intellectual contributions. On Hasdai’s early years, see pp. 15–21. See also Ram Ben-Shalom, “Hasdai Crescas: Portrait of a Leader at a Time of Crisis,” in Jonathan Ray ed., The Jew in Medieval Iberia, 1100-1500 (Boston, 2012), pp. 309-351. A full treatment of Crescas’ life – which takes into account the extensive archival documentation of his activities at court, awaits the dedicated biographer.

286

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

and to absolve or impose penalties, including sentences of capital punishment, upon the accused. The queen asserted that Crescas’ appointment would not prejudice the existing privileges of the aljamas and their leaders to continue to prosecute and judge such cases, but Crescas presumably could intervene as he saw fit. While Iolant declared that her familiares and domesticos lobbied for Hasdai’s selection, Crescas was well-known at court and was trusted to represent the Crown’s interests in the Jewish aljamas.39 The queen relied heavily on Hasdai Crescas regarding matters affecting individual Jews and Jewish communities. Crescas was called upon twice, on June 21, 1391, as an expert in Jewish law to adjudicate quarrels, which had erupted in Saragossa: the first between a father and daughter, and the second, among Jews who were members of the local burial confraternity. Two days later, Iolant informed the bailiff of Teruel that she had asked Hasdai Crescas to intervene in a case between a Jew and the local aljama.40 39

40

Reg. 2041, fol. 10v, and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 633–634, no. 396. The current royal regimen regarding the prosecution of malshinim was directed by King Pere III in 1383 – based on earlier privileges of 1346, to a number of aljamas, and was to be valid for at least five years. See Jaume Riera, “Penjar pels peus,” in Flocel Sabat´e and Claude Denjean eds., Cristianos y Jud´ıos en contacto en la edad media, pp. 619–620. On June 26, the Queen declared, as had her royal predecessors, that since it was permissible for Jews to have more than one wife, Davi Caro, a Jewish cobbler from Toledo – who wished to move to Saragossa and whose wife refused to live with him there or come to any agreement with him, was permitted to marry another woman. See Reg. 2041, fol. 48r, published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 653, no. 406. In 1393, Crescas himself received royal dispensation to marry a second wife: see Reg. 1906, fol. 125r, published in Baer, pp. 711–712, no. 452, with a short discussion. Reg. 2029, fols. 167v–168r and fol. 168r-v, are dated June 21. Fol. 169r is dated the 23rd. See also fol. 167r-v of June 20. (On Teruel, see ibid., fol. 164v, dated June 3, and fol. 165r, from June 9.) Iolant was also dependent on other Jews in her management of the aljamas. On June 15, Iolant ordered Benvenist de la Cavalleria of Saragossa, who had served Pere III starting in the late 1370s, to collect the sum of 1,800 golden florins from the aljama of Calatayud, after an agreement was concluded with the community about outstanding fines for illicit activities: Reg. 2029, fol. 172v, ¶1. See also, on Benvenist, Baer, A History, vol. 2, pp. 58–59, and Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, s.v., Benvenist. Earlier in January 1391, the queen freed the medical surgeon Junec¸ Trigo of Saragossa and his family from onerous tax obligations toward the aljama in gratitude for his service and devotion to her, her family and entourage, and to his native city at large. He was not to shoulder his previous obligation to pay off the aljama’s indebtedness. See Reg. 2041, fols. 47v–48r, published by Baer, pp. 643–644, no. 400, and discussed in Baer, A History, vol. 2, p. 57. Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, cites a February 8 document, from Reg. 1848, fol. 41r, wherein Trigo was shielded from handing over his surgical

Queen Iolant

287

Iolant was acutely aware that latent religious antagonism toward Jews within the Crown of Aragon possessed the potential to erupt and harm her Jewish communities. The queen instructed Mart´ı, on May 24 of 1391, not to conclude a trial in Barcelona, which had been initiated by a Jewish convert to Christianity and then in 1389 pursued by the archbishop of Tarragona against some books of Rabbi Mosse. According to the accusation, this work – presumably the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides, contained “some errors to the detriment of the Christian faith.” Iolant explained to her brother-in-law that if the trial would be brought to a conclusion in Barcelona, it would produce a “gran escandol en la aliama nostra” because the local people, who were greatly nauseated by them, would be even more revolted. Stop such ill-fated misadventures, she begged Mart´ı, and ensure that the trial does not terminate in Barcelona or in any other place “where there is an aliama of Jews which is ours.”41 When news reached the royal court, at the end of June, about the physical and verbal harassment endured by the Jews of Valencia, Barcelona, and Girona, Queen Iolant, alert to the potential dangers faced by the Crown’s Jews, knew what needed to be done. On June 28, the Queen ordered the royal officials of the locales wherein the Jewish communities were her own personal prerogative and under the full jurisdiction of her royal chamber, to prevent any disturbances and to take all measures necessary to stop the escandels. Iolant indicated to her subordinates – one day after the king had cautioned the governors, bailiffs general, royal officials of important urban centers, and local municipal authorities about the perils facing their Jewish population, that the leaders of the Jewish communities would inform them what would be needed to preserve and guard their aliamas.42

41

42

bag to Saragossan officials. For more on Trigo under Pere III, see Baer, pp. 571–572, no. 374. Reg. 2054, fol. 92v, published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 649–650, no. 404, and discussed in Baer, A History, vol. 2, p. 94. For a full treatment of this episode, see Riera, Un proc´es inquisitorial, pp. 59–73, which also contains the relevant documentation. Reg. 2039, fols. 79v–80r – cited and quoted by Riera i Sans, Els avalots, pp. 117–118, was sent to the justicia of Valencia and to the governor of the kingdom; to the jurats of the city and the batle of the juheria; to the consellers, veguer, and batle of Barcelona; to the jurats, veguer, and batle of Girona; to the capitan, justicia, jurados, and hombres buenos of Jaca; to the jurats, justicia, and prohomens of the Tauste; to Mart´ı; to the juhez of the city of Teruel, and to the batle, jurats, and prohomens of the city; to the justicia, juhez, and jurados of Daroca; and to the justicia, jurats, and promens of Magallon ´ regarding their aljamas and its members which “we have and possess with full jurisdiction by our treasury.” See Part I, the relevant chapters.

288

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

In Iolant’s experience as duchess and as queen, the most effective strategy to suppress such presumptuous behavior and to eliminate the resultant threat to her revenues, was to work closely with the local leaders and with the Jewish aljamas. As Iolant monitored the situation, her court continued to attend to its financial oversight of the Jews and their communities. On July 3, the Queen notified the aljamas of Jews and Muslims from Tarazona and Borja, and the aljamas of Jews from Magallon ´ and Tauste, that she had appointed Bernat Canalies of her treasury – to be in charge of collecting funds from these communities, “as a result of the necessity to support the great expenditures of our casa.” These aljamas were to give full faith and credence to the statements of said Bernat and to fulfill his commands.43 When riots swept the neighboring Kingdom of Castile, Queen Iolant directly intervened with Castilian officials to protect one of her Jewish courtiers, who had been trapped on the other side of the border. Iolant, strategically, on July 1, first ordered Samuel Benvenist, who apparently was on a business trip to his native kingdom, to appear immediately before her and address urgent matters. Then, that same day, Iolant informed those in charge of export taxes – the alcaldes and guardas de las saquas – of Castile that she had charged Samuel Benvenist, “our Jew of Saragossa,” to present himself with all due haste before her court and ordered these officials to grant Benvenist safe passage – just as she had accorded protection to the vassals and subjects of her dear nephew, the king of Castile. The queen explained that since these matters were close to her heart, she would reward her correspondents appropriately. Iolant sent similar letters to officials of the nearby city of Soria and the alcayde of the castle at Cabrejas.44 Queen Iolant persisted. On July 7, Iolant reminded the bishop of Osma, Pedro Fernandez de Fr´ıas, how she had already sent him a letter, on July ´ 3, regarding her Jew of Saragossa who remained “in your power.” The Aragonese Queen expressed surprise that the prelate “did not care to respond nor to send the Jew,” especially since, Iolant continued, “it seems certain to us that said Samuel is lodged in your castle at Cabrejas.” She demanded that the bishop, as soon as possible, return Benvenist, together with his property and entourage.45 43

44 45

Reg. 2050, fol. 51v. Similarly on July 7, Iolant explained to the secretaris of the aliama of Barcelona that “because of the necessities of our house,” they should heed the decisions of two individuals of her treasury: Reg. 2054, fol. 98r, ¶1. Reg. 2039, fol. 80r and v. See relevant pages in the chapter on the king. Reg. 2039, fol. 81v, ¶2. See the chapter on the king.

Queen Iolant

289

At last, Fernandez responded, explaining that while he had been unable ´ to visit his castles on account of the riots, he would travel soon to Cabrejas. If he found the situation as she described and, the churchman added, if Benvenist wished to become Christian, he would bring him to the Cross – an act, he suggested, which would surely please the Queen. In any case, the bishop averred, he would do as Iolant wished.46 The bishop’s response prompted additional missives from both the Aragonese Queen and King. The queen, as did the king on July 16, expressly doubted Pedro Fernandez de Fr´ıas’ professed ignorance that ´ Benvenist was lodged in his castle at Cabrejas, and his contention that he was unable to visit. Unlike Joan, Iolant fully challenged the bishop’s surprising claim that Samuel’s conversion would please her. While the queen proffered the theological commonplace that she would be immensely pleased if all the infidels of the world turned to the Christian faith, she added, significantly, that such conversion was meritorious only if the act was done as per an individual’s free will and pure volition, “de su franco arbitrio e mera volundat.” Conversion, Iolant declared pointedly, should not be effected as a result of violence, pressure, or force, “no pas con violencia, impression, ne con fuerc¸a.” Her theological bluntness, she explained condescendingly to the bishop, was a result of her awareness that to express herself otherwise would be ineffective. If Fernandez truly wished to please her, he should ´ deliver Samuel, safe and secure, with his property and entourage, into the hands of Jayme Sala, her royal portero, who was being dispatched to Cabrejas on this precise mission. Iolant offered, in conclusion, that if after Samuel was freed from “servitut e presion,” he still wished, piously and voluntarily, to receive holy baptism, she would be greatly pleased. In such an eventuality, she would persuade Benvenist, after he returned to her court, to follow through on his intentions.47 The safety of “our own Jew,” Samuel Benvenist, was of paramount importance to Queen Iolant, who probably urged King Joan to champion, alongside her, the case of this Saragossan Jewish courtier. Immediately after the royal couple wrote to the bishop of Osma, Iolant pressed the case, as did the king, with both the archbishop of Toledo and the king of Castile. In these letters, Iolant was careful to avoid theological

46 47

We know only of the bishop’s letter, both to her and the king, from Iolant’s response. Reg. 2039, fol. 84r-v, and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 659, no. 411, 1. Cf. Joan’s letter of the 16th, Reg. 1878, fol. 71r, discussed in the chapter on the king.

290

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

pronouncements. She limited herself to the safety of a trusted subject, his companions, and their possessions. “Any discerning individual can see,” Queen Iolant began, that the bishop had acted deceptively and was attempting to delay his transfer of Samuel. Iolant briefed her distinguished correspondents on the two letters she had written to the bishop, and on the churchman’s response. She explained how Benvenist, on his way back from Castile to “our kingdom,” had learned about the riots in Soria, and “[a]nxious to find shelter,” had sought refuge in the bishop’s castle at Cabrejas. There, he had “encountered the opposite,” and was entrapped. The queen pronounced the bishop’s behavior inappropriate for a “man of the world,” much less a prelate, and requested that the king and archbishop urge Pedro Fernandez to deliver Benvenist and his company to Jayme Sala. ´ Iolant offered to help them, in turn, with anything they might need on her side of their border.48 Soria was located just west of the Castilian frontier with the Kingdom of Aragon, and by Saturday, July 8 – one day before the riots in Valencia, Queen Iolant and her court had reason to fear for the safety of her Jews who resided on the Aragonese side of the border. Having learned that those disdainful of royal discipline were disposed to riot, and to incite attacks upon Jews of Borja and Magallon, ´ the queen reminded municipal and royal officials that the Jews of these locales and their property were under the especial protection of both herself and the king. Iolant charged them to do whatever necessary to protect the Jews. That same day, apprised of how some had mistreated “our aljama of Jews of Teruel and its members” and had even attempted to injure the Jews – resulting in great prejudice to our royal revenues, the queen proclaimed that the Jews – and their property, were to be preserved from any violence directed at them.49 Despite her public professions of apprehension regarding the safety of the Jewish communities, Queen Iolant was not directly informed about the large-scale riots that broke out the following day in the city of Valencia. Iolant implicitly expressed her irritation to her “very dear brother,” duc Mart´ı, when she explained, three days later, that she had learned 48

49

Reg. 2039, fols. 84v–85r, and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 660, no. 411, 2. Cf. Joan’s letter, Reg. 1878, fol. 71r-v and discussed in the chapter on the king. We do not know how this issue was resolved. Guerson, Seeking Remission, pp. 33–52, writes of Samuel’s son Isaac who converted. Reg. 2029, fol. 170r, ¶1 on Borja and Magallon. ´ See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Reg. 2039, fol. 82r-v (and fol. 82r) concerns Teruel.

Queen Iolant

291

about the “desaventurat escandol” through letters that he had sent “my husband and lord,” and also through missives that local Valencians had delivered to the king. Deeply disturbed by “the damage caused to our court,” the queen explicitly reminded Mart´ı “the said aliama is ours.” Iolant did not allow herself to become distracted by this blatant oversight. Mindful of an opportunity to press her concerns and simultaneously aware that the duke was unable to stop the unrest, she implored her brother-in-law, “as affectionately as we can,” to preserve those remaining from the aliama from all “injuries, violence, and agitation.” Queen Iolant called upon Mart´ı to punish severely all those implicated so that anyone planning similar attacks would be terrified to act. While it was his duty to dispense justice, and to uphold the honor of the king, the queen also assured Mart´ı that he would afford her much pleasure by following her instructions. Queenly demands also warranted his consideration.50 Informed in all likelihood, even before he received Iolant’s letter, that his failure to communicate with his sister-in-law was a tactical blunder, Mart´ı asserted to his “most exalted and powerful queen and dear sister,” that same July 12, that while he had only notified his brother about the attack against the local Muslims on Monday, he had written both to her and the king about the Sunday riots. The duke reassured his queen that her assets were secure. Although only 200 Jews remained to become Christian, all the neophytes, after their change of faith, returned to their homes in the juheria. Nevertheless, Mart´ı advised the queen to designate Francesch Daranda, or another trusted adviser, to look after her own interests.51 Queen Iolant was engaged, almost daily, from the outbreak of the Valencia riots up through the end of August, with the safety of her Jewish communities, and occasionally, with their financial status. She articulated her leadership for the most part, as did her husband, through the dispatch of letters. To judge by Mart´ı’s responses, these communications were effective. The duke of Montblanc wrote multiple times, on July 16, to his sister-in-law about the riots in “your juheria” of Valencia, and detailed both the punishments he administered, and his attempts to recover the stolen goods. Even so, Mart´ı reiterated that she assign one of her councilors to the city.52

50 51 52

Reg. 2054, fol. 98v, ¶1. On Iolant’s indirection, see above note 8. Reg. 2093, fol. 117r, ¶1. Reg. 2093, fol. 93r, ¶s 1 and 2 (which continues to ¶4). See, above, the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia and, below, the chapter on the duke. When the duke, on July 18,

292

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Local Valencia leaders, who, like the duke, were mindful that the Jewish aliama belonged to the queen’s treasury, received separate admonitory letters from both the king and queen, before they profusely apologized to Iolant for not having written to her after the Jewish quarter had been sacked. They wished to serve her, they reassured their queen on July 17, and would obey her commands.53 Aware already before the Valencia riots that she would not necessarily be alerted even when her own property was under siege, Queen Iolant was careful to include references to her husband, King Joan, as when, on July 8, she had confronted the potential of serious unrest in Borja and Magallon. ´ On July 12, Iolant again reminded local Magallon ´ officials that its Jews were under the special protection of both herself and the king. Similarly, she felt impelled, the following day, to make clear to royal officials in Alagon ´ that agitation against “our Jews” would redound to the disservice of both her and the king. As it happens, the queen explained, she was obliged to the king to counsel the officials. When, that same July 13, Iolant recognized the good works of the officials and nobility in Tauste in the service of both queen and king, she warned them that, if they behaved otherwise, it would cause harm both to her and to Joan.54 The recognition by Queen Iolant, early on in her reign, that she would be most effective if she enlisted Joan’s support to advance her particular queenly interests, did not prevent the queen from relying on her own authority, as when, on July 16, she ordered a local Borja nobleman to defend the Jews and the Muslims. Iolant, the next day, praised the efforts of the royal and municipal officials in Barcelona who quashed the recent unrest directed against the Jews of their city. Nevertheless, Iolant understood that she needed to work in tandem with the king if, for example, Samuel Benvenist was to be returned to their dominions.55 When it came to the safety of the Jews of Daroca, Iolant and Joan labored side by side. On July 20, the king ordered his local justicia to travel to the city and its surrounding rural settlements, and protect “our treasure

53 54 55

wrote to Joan about riots in various locales in the Kingdom of Valencia, he sent a letter to the queen, that same day, about the state of her holdings in the kingdom: see chapter on the duke. Mart´ı, on the 22nd, asked Francesch Daranda to intercede with the queen, so that she would not perceive him as negligent: see chapter on the city of Valencia. AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 25r, published in full by Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 336, no. 17. See chapter on the city of Valencia. Reg. 2029, fol. 170r, ¶2 on Magallon; ´ fol. 170v, ¶1 on Alagon; ´ fol. 170v, ¶2 on Tahust; fol. 171r, ¶1 to the escuderos. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Ibid., Fol. 171r, ¶2 was directed to the scudero, Migel de Sent Per. The July 17 letter to the Barcelonans is in Reg. 2039, fol. 85r.

Queen Iolant

293

and that of our dear companion the queen.” Queen Iolant followed up, the next day, with an announcement to Daroca officials that she was sending her trusted subject Bernat Arbuiy to protect “our aljama of the Jews and its members, its property and companya.” The queen ordered the juhez, jurados, procuradores, cesineros, and other officials of the city and its neighboring aldeas to aid Arbuiy each time he requested assistance or they would incur a penalty of 1,000 golden florins.56 The security of the Jewish community of Teruel, and their financial viability, prompted Iolant to reissue a mandate from “the lord king, our very dear master,” who had instructed the regidores and procuradores of the villages surrounding the city to desist from threatening the Jews with physical harm, if the Jews did not acquiesce to their demand that they delay collection on their debts. The queen, for her part, urged these officials, on July 22, to behave as good vassals and follow the king’s directive or, she warned, they would suffer grave consequences. Having received news from Teruel Jews, that same day, how they had been well defended, Iolant declared the city officials to be loyal vassals of King Joan. Later, on July 29, Iolant referred – at the beginning of a letter to the municipal officials, to a lengthy missive that the King had written to them about “some new developments . . . against the judaria in Theruel for which, in great measure, you were to blame.” Iolant warned the officials that “if they persist in their negligence, which we do not expect of you,” both she and the king would punish them.57 Iolant and Joan worked alongside each other, in Saragossa, to pacify the lands of the Crown. On July 30 they separately – in almost identical language, petitioned the Avignonese Pope not to issue any proclamations, which would support either the riots or the rioters. The queen, that same day, ordered both royal letters be delivered to the pontiff.58 56 57

58

Reg. 2039 fol. 85v, ¶1 is the queen’s letter. For the king, see Reg. 1878, fol. 77r, fols. 77v–78r, fol. 78r-v and fol. 79r. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Reg. 2029 fol. 173r, to the village officials; ibid., fol. 173r-v, to those of the city. Cf. ibid., fol. 173v, ¶2, regarding the Muslims of Cocentayna, dated July 22. Also, that same day, the queen congratulated the Jaca municipal leaders and its royal bailiff for their defense of the Jews: ibid., fol. 173r-v and fol. 173v, ¶1. Reg. 2039 fol. 86v, ¶2 is dated July 29. In Reg. 2029, fols. 174v-175r, dated July 28, Iolant wrote to Bione del Maestre, a Teruel Jew, on behalf of Leoni Abenardut about a loan – formalized in a Hebrew document, which Abenardut had contracted with Ac¸aquo de Quatorze in 1389. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Cf. the queen’s letter, written by Bernat Metge, Reg. 2054, fol. 100r-v and published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 665, no. 415, and the king’s communication, penned by Bernardo de Jonquerio, Reg. 1878, fol. 89v and published in Hinojosa Montalvo, p. 344, no. 34. See, above, the chapter on the king. The queen ordered Baudet de Sazo,

294

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

By the beginning of August, Queen Iolant sought to counteract the effects resulting from the first weeks of unrest. Iolant’s directive, dated August 4 to Borja elders and to the leaders of the Jews and Muslims, which ordered them to contribute to the renovation and filling of the reservoir serving the local castle, “as they have been accustomed in olden times,” should not be viewed as an indication that her queenly anxieties about the safety of the Jews in the western Aragonese towns had been resolved, and that she was returning to her customary role of management of those Jewish (and Muslim) communities that was part of her financial portfolio. Other queenly instructions issued that same day belied this vision of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders going about their timehonored practice of jointly filling a cistern from local irrigation canals. For on August 4, as well, the Aragonese Queen confronted the alcayt of Borja and the bayles of the three towns of Borja, Magallon, ´ and Tauste with the intelligence she had received that Jews of all three municipalities had been emigrating daily to the kingdom of Navarre. The depopulation of these aljamas, Iolant declared, would greatly prejudice her financial well-being. The queen wanted town residents to cease to help Jews move out of the kingdom and ordered the officials instead to seize the putative emigrants and all of their property. Iolant’s order to replenish the cisterns should more appropriately be viewed within the context of her desire to preserve her Jewish communities located near the border with Navarre. When the queen explained why she was concerned about the castle’s water supply by making reference to “reasons which at present we are careful not to express,” she may well have intended to protect her Jews by having them move to the castle and to provide an alternative to their emigration from the kingdom. The Queen may have additionally viewed the fortress as a site to detain Jews who had attempted to flee Aragon. In any event, a source of water was essential.59

59

Reg. 2054, fol. 100v, to deliver these two letters. (Baer, ibid., has Daudet.) See the chapter on the city of Valencia. On other issues between Iolant and the papacy during her reign, see Ponsich, La parole, p. 112. From July 23 through 25 and, on July 27, there are no queenly letters relating to the Jews. Nor do there seem to be, on those days, any other letters dispatched by Iolant (see Registers 2029 and 2039). Reg. 2050, fol. 52v. Iolant may also have envisaged the castle to serve as a refuge for the Muslims. Reg. 2050 fols. 52v–53r is Iolant’s order to the bailiffs of the three towns, which is discussed in the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Even before the riots, Iolant was concerned about Jews moving their domiciles from particular Aragonese towns. See Reg. 2029, fol. 163v ¶2, dated June 3, 1391, regarding Alcaniz. ˜

Queen Iolant

295

Whether through attack or through migration, Iolant’s Jewish communities in western Aragon were in danger of disappearing, and the queen was determined to reverse this trend through the dispatch of Bernat Canalies, of her treasury, to the city of Borja. In so doing, Iolant followed her pattern of sending loyal advisers – Jayme de Besanta to Teruel on July 8, and Bernat Arbuiy to Daroca on July 21 – to areas threatened with rioting. The queen ordered the Jews to obey his instructions – Canalies had the power to issue fines, she reminded them, as well as those of the alcayt of the castle and the royal bailiff of the aljama, all of whose goal was to protect their community. She directed the royal bailiff to quarter Canalies and his entourage in the Jewish quarter, and to help him secure the Jewish population.60 Iolant was not simply issuing a call that these Jews be protected. She had a plan. That same August 4, the queen informed five Jews of Borja how she had purchased weaponry for the Jews’ defense, and that they were to shoulder the 200-florin cost equally. Canalies would collect the sum – by force if necessary, and penalize them if they failed to comply. Iolant also authorized these five Jews to solicit the 200 florins – at their own expense, from the aljama and its members. The queen instructed the bailiff of the aljama to aid these Jews in their collection.61 Iolant continued to rely on the kingdom-wide strategy to move vulnerable Jews to more secure locales. In order to guard against scandals and dangers to local Jews, Iolant directed the justicia and five noblemen, scuderos, of nearby Tauste, on August 9, to separate the Jews, their wives children from the rest of the population, and transfer them and their property to a secure spot in the town, where they would defend them by every means possible. We are certain, the queen assured her correspondents, that the jurados and hombres buenos, as good and loyal vassals, were determined to protect the Jews and would work together with them.62 If Iolant may have been hopeful toward the end of July that, through appropriate vigilance, the wave of riots could recede, and that she could turn her attention to preservation and reconstruction, she realized by early August that the storm that had battered the Jews and consequently 60

61 62

Reg. 2029 fol. 175v, ¶1 to the bailiff, and fol. 176v, to the adelantados and aljama of the Jews. Again, see the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Ibid., fol. 175v, ¶2, was directed to the Muslims, although it erroneously states “judios” in the first line. Bernat was sent to conserve both communities. Ibid., fol. 176r-v, as published in Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 219. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Ibid., fols. 176v–177r.

296

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

undermined both her financial health and political power, had on the contrary intensified. Ironically, Iolant intended, on Tuesday August 8, to alert Bernat de Cabrera and the municipal councilors of Barcelona to the danger those nautical conscripts, whom Bernat had assembled for Mart´ı’s Sicilian expedition, posed to her Jewish quarter. She was poised to remind them that the sailors had initiated the Valencia riots against the Jews. While she planned to offer gratitude in advance to Bernat for his important service to the Crown, the queen also threatened to hold him responsible should anything disastrous develop. The queen was about to remark pointedly how she would not tolerate any great damage and disservice done to her. Both letters were never sent. Queen Iolant was informed, later that day, that the Jews of Barcelona had been attacked three days earlier on August 5. Not only could she not prevent these riots, she had not been informed of them in a timely fashion.63 The limits of royal power were surely painfully obvious to the queen and king, when they were belatedly apprised of the outbreak of riots in Barcelona. Yet when the Jewish quarter in Girona was attacked, on Thursday August 10, Girona officials sent the bad news to Iolant and Joan on the evening of the assault. Still, the developments of the previous Friday – the return of peasants and outsiders who had been removed from the city, and then their final expulsion, were only relayed to the monarchs on Sunday the 13th. On that date, the Girona officials reported on municipal initiatives to recover stolen items, requested help in the restoration of Jews to their homes, and announced that, according to their reckoning, the bodies of forty Jews had been recovered.64 It was left to the monarchs to respond to that which had already taken place. King Joan posted missives, four days later, to municipal, royal, and ecclesiastical officials, while Queen Iolant waited, an additional day, to Friday August 18, to dispatch her raft of letters. The queen, like the king, expressed anger at the attacks, praised those who had sheltered the Jews in Christian homes (Iolant had not yet received the letter, sent that day by the municipal officials, which reported that most Jews, for their safety, had already been transferred to the Gironella), 63

64

Reg. 2039, fol. 89r, to Bernat de Cabrera – published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 665– ´ 666, no. 416, and by Batlle Gallart, La crisis social y economica de Barcelona, vol. 1 pp. 397–398, document no. 11. Fol. 89r-v was directed to the councilors. Both letters were not sent, “non fuit expedita.” See the Barcelona chapter. The king also learned about the riots on August 8: see the chapter on the king. The letters of August 10 and 13 are discussed in the chapter on Girona. Girona Jews counted as dead all who had died by whatever means.

Queen Iolant

297

charged officials to protect these Jews until the king arrived, and argued that forced baptism could not transform an individual. The queen – as she had regarding Samuel Benvenist, objected forcefully to involuntary conversions. Iolant labeled the continued pressure to convert Jews lawless behavior – “maneres desordenades,” and demanded proceedings against those who, by acting in such an undisciplined fashion, diminished the royal patrimony. Iolant declared that the Jews were to be preserved in their own law. In a letter to the bishop of Girona, Iolant inveighed against those who threatened death to the Jews if they would not come to the Cross. Iolant called upon the bishop to baptize only those who requested the sacrament.65 While King Joan on August 12 ordered ecclesiastical officials in Barcelona not to baptize forcibly those Jews who had taken refuge with them, but rather just to preserve them physically, Queen Iolant specifically requested, that same Saturday, that the family of Hasdai Crescas – her adviser residing alongside her in Saragossa, as well as other Jews, be protected and not coerced to embrace Christianity. Perhaps at Iolant’s request, Joan petitioned the provost of the cathedral on August 16 – whom the queen had contacted four days earlier, to protect the son and grandchildren of Hasdai Crescas, who were sheltered in the churchman’s home, and not to let them be baptized against their will. That Wednesday, Iolant interceded as well with local officials about the son and companya of Hasdai Crescas and again, on the 18th, alerted a Barcelona nobleman to respond to an inquiry he would soon receive from Crescas regarding the safety of his family. The queen also apprised the Barcelona prohomens that she had asked the king to travel immediately to the city, and charged them to reinstate law and order.66 There was much for the queen to juggle. Iolant actively had to inform herself about the burgeoning unrest in the major cities of the Crown, monitor threats to her financial security, and exercise effective oversight of royal officials – including her beloved husband, King Joan, to ensure that her interests were safeguarded. As the riots progressed, Iolant depended on Joan as the royal couple sought to stabilize an increasingly volatile situation. They attempted, proactively, to safeguard the Jews and their belongings in areas where attacks had not occurred. On August 14, Iolant

65

66

See the chapter on Girona, and the relevant pages in the king chapter, where the king’s arguments against forced baptism differ somewhat. According to Jaume Riera, Els avalots, pp. 125–126, Crescas was the author of Iolant’s missives. See the Barcelona chapter, and the notes thereto.

298

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

and Joan separately made sure that the walls surrounding the Jewish quarter of Calatayud were repaired, and the Jews defended. Iolant also alerted the alcayt of the castle of “our Jewish quarter of Calatayud” to be prepared to receive both the Jews and their property, which would be referred to him by the clavarios of the Jewish quarter.67 Amid the turmoil, Iolant praised her subjects’ constructive behavior. On August 17, the queen sent separate letters to the justicia, jurados, and hombres buenos of Borja for having defended the Jews – so the aljama had informed the queen, and having restored them to their homes. She joined with the king on August 21 in extolling the capitan, jurados, and hombres buenos of the city of Jaca for their demonstration of loyalty and civic virtue, manifested in their careful surveillance and defense of the aljama. To the governor of Valencia on the 23rd, Iolant commended the Christian citizens of the city of Valencia, and the governor himself, for having sheltered Jews in their homes. And, on the same day, she wrote separately to a variety of Girona officials praising them as loyal vassals for having installed the Jews in the Gironella tower. She promised to ask the king to repay them for their service.68 Queen Iolant, as did King Joan, relied upon her counselor, general procurator, and tax collector Francesch Daranda to mitigate the effects of the riots, especially its financial repercussions. Already on July 12, in the wake of the Valencia upheavals, Mart´ı had advised her to send Daranda or another of her confidants to look out for her interests. A month later, on August 18, the queen thanked Daranda for his dedication to her and to the king. Yet, his absence from the royal court was detrimental, as terrible news arrived daily from “our aljames” which were in danger of utter destruction and ruin. No more significant service, he could render, declared the queen, than to return, quickly and safely, to Saragossa. Queen Iolant thanked her counselor, on August 24, for having transmitted information about the diligence displayed by the hombres buenos of Teruel in their guard of the local Jewish aljama.69 67 68

69

Reg. 2029, fol. 177r and fol. 177r-v. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Reg. 2029 fol. 177v, ¶s 1 and 2 and the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon on Borja; Reg. 2054 fol. 103r (published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 678–679, no. 426), – where the phrase “naturaleza e leyaldat” appears, and the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon and the notes thereto on Jaca; Reg. 2054, fols. 103v-104r on Valencia; and Reg. 2029, fol. 179r ¶1 and the chapter on Girona. The duke’s letter of July 12 was described above. Documents of August 12 involving Francesch Daranda and the debts of the Jewish community of Teruel are in Reg. 2054, fols. 101v–102r, and fol. 102r ¶2, both published in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 670– 671, no. 419, 1 and 2. Ibid., fol. 103r, ¶1, is dated the 18th, and was published by Baer,

Queen Iolant

299

Although the riots continued through mid-August, without indication that they were about to subside, very few letters regarding the unsettled situation in the Crown of Aragon and the riots against the Jews were sent by Queen Iolant and her court from August 24 through early September. The reason was simple. Queen, who was pregnant, and who had probably entered her seventh month in August, had fallen ill. Already, on the 22nd, the king arranged with the Count of Urgell to have Iolant stay in Balaguer while he remained in Saragossa. Joan may have felt that his queen needed a respite from pressing matters of state and from the unsettled conditions that surrounded them in Saragossa.70 While on August 26, Joan had summoned three physicians to the bedside of his feverish queen, Joan declared to these doctors on August 27 that her condition had improved, and that she was out of danger. The queen’s health, precarious as it was, was apparently subject to sudden change. The following day, Joan urged the same doctors to continue on to court because the state of the queen, and that of her fetus – perhaps the heir to his Crown, were deteriorating. By September 3, the king announced to the physicians that Queen Iolant had improved and was no longer at risk.71 As soon as Queen Iolant was restored to health, she returned to those matters which had occupied her attention prior to her illness. Indeed, on September 4, one day after Joan relayed the good news to her doctors,

70

71

ibid., 3. The August 24 letter is in ibid., at fol. 104v. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon. Another letter on the same subject, dated August 28, is at ibid., fol. 105r-v, and was referenced by Baer, p. 671. On August 26, Reg. 2050, fol. 54v, Iolant referred to the Jews of Teruel and on August 28 and 29, there are a number of missives sent by the king and queen together. Reg. 1961, fols. 86v–87r, and Reg. 2054, fol. 105r-v, are both dated the 28th and call attention to debts owed to the monarchs by Teruel Jews. Reg. 2054, fols. 106r-v, ibid., fols. 106v–107r and Reg. 1878, fols. 145v–146r, from the 29th, refer to monies owed by the Jewries of the Kingdom of Aragon, and of the role of Jacme de Besanta, and others of the royal treasury, in their collection. It is not clear if Iolant and her court, a few days earlier, had registered their approval of these letters. Roca, p. 133, citing Reg. 1959, fol. 188r, dated April 27, wherein Joan mentions Iolant’s pregnancy in a letter to his queen. In Reg. 1961, fol. 2v, dated May 6, Joan inquired after Iolant’s health and that of the prenyat. On the king’s letter to the Count of Urgell, see Reg. 1961, fols. 80v, and fully reproduced in Girona y Llagostera no. 208, p. 134, and discussed supra in the king chapter. On Iolant’s pregnancies, miscarriages, births of children, and early deaths, see Roca, pp. 126–140 and Tasis i Marca, Pere, pp. 158–159. Bratsch-Prince, p. 25, conveniently lists her known pregnancies and the children she carried to term. See the chapter on the king.

300

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Iolant broke her epistolary silence regarding the Jews, when she informed the bailiff and sub-bailiff of the city of Girona that she had learned how some Jews had been installed in the private homes of Christians, and others in the Gironella tower. Following the king’s letters, of September 2, to a variety of Girona notables, and in anticipation of another royal missive the following day, Iolant ordered the municipal leaders to be mindful to protect the Jews from attack; to provide them with food; to restore their stolen property; to allow the Jews to return home to the call – if it seemed reasonable to the city fathers, and agreeable to the aliama’s administrators, the secretaris; and to carefully guard them in their original habitations. Iolant, mirroring the king’s directives, charged the municipal authorities to punish appropriately those who disobeyed royal orders.72 Queen Iolant’s concern with the safety of Jewish communities, and of individual Jews and their families, continued apace. Only her illness appears to have been able to deflect her from this responsibility. The queen ordered the alcayt, justicia, jurados, and bayle of Borja, on September 7, to take, under their protection, the brothers Izdra, Mosse, and Salamo Alatzar, as well as their families and household. These Alatzar family members, residents of Saragossa, had become involved in a dispute with their local aljama over outstanding indebtedness. Iolant directed the Borja officials to treat these Jews well and to allow them to reside in any local castle or in the Jewish quarter, depending on which location they judged to be more secure. The Alatzars – with their property, were to be permitted to leave the fortress or the Jewish quarter at any time, and to travel wherever they wished.73 Iolant wanted the Alatzars to be safe and secure and, in a time of unsettled conditions in the Aragonese countryside, to remain within the

72

73

Reg. 2029, fol. 180r. See the Girona chapter and the notes thereto. In Joan’s letter of September 2, Reg. 1878, fol. 53v, the king mentioned Iolant’s illness. See the chapter on the king for other instances when the king mentioned Iolant’s poor health, at times as an explanation for his decision to delay his departure from Saragossa. Reg. 2029, fols. 180v–181r. On September 12, Iolant wrote to Aragonese royal officials and to Saragossan leaders, on Mosse Alatzar’s behalf, Reg. 2029, fol. 184r-v, about lawsuits filed against him by the Jewish community. The same day, the queen made sure, ibid., fols. 184v–185r that the jurisperitos of the city were aware of the pending case against the Alatzar brothers. On September 9, Reg. 2029, fols. 181v, Iolant extended her protection to Samuel Fanato of Alcaniz ˜ together with his wife, children, extended family, and their property. Joan had already granted them, Reg. 1901, fol. 72r, an official safeguard two days earlier on September 7.

Queen Iolant

301

kingdom. The queen, that same September 7, directed all her subordinates within the Kingdom of Aragon to be prepared to receive the entire Alatzar contingent in any castle or Jewish quarter, where they might be better protected. Iolant instructed that they be allowed to leave and travel anywhere they wished within the “dominions of our very dear husband the lord king.” On September 13, the queen ordered the lieutenant of the alcayde and bayle of Borja, Narcis de Sant Marcal, to aid Alatzar or his agent in the collection of a 232 and a half florin debt, which Rabi Mosse Abenabez of Saragossa owed him, from property, which Abenabez possessed in Borja. Clearly the Alatzars would not be leaving Borja immediately.74 Queen Iolant’s concerns for the Jews’ security came at a price. Iolant was not satisfied with the contributions that Borja Jews were obligated to advance to the royal treasury for the protection of their community. Iolant reflected, on September 12, to the officials and aljama of the Jews of Borja “how our other aljamas of Jews have aided the king and me to maintain and arm militia men dedicated to your defense and to theirs.” Iolant demanded that they support this initiative and charged the same Narcis de Sent Marcal to aid the treasury official, Pere Cortada, to collect the sums from the local aljama. Apparently, all the other aljamas had already rendered their sums.75 74

75

Reg. 2029, fol. 181r ¶2, dated September 7, and fol. 185r-v, from the 13th. Reg. 2029 fol. 183r, to be dated about September 13, reflects a suit between two Jewish parties from Daroca, which prompted a directive by Iolant to the bailiff of the local aljama of Jews. Ibid., fols. 183v–184r, fol. 185v, and fol. 186v dated September 11 and 13, are queenly missives to various jurisperiti of Saragossa about financial disagreements between Jews and Christians, and amongst Jews themselves. On September 12, the queen joined the king in helping another Jew of Saragossa, Azday Crescas [sic], when they ordered Juliano Garrius and Berenguerio de Cortilio, two treasury officials, to resolve the 300 golden florins owed to Crescas as a result of his activities on behalf of the monarchs. See Reg. 2054, fol. 107r (from which a couple of lines are excerpted in Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 673), and the parallel document in Reg. 1878, at fol. 164r. Reg. 2050 fol. 55r, ¶s 1 and 2. Monetary collections had to proceed smoothly even as, or especially because, the situation of the Jews was in disarray. The Queen, on September 9, intervened in support of the complaint by Salamonis Abendahuet (on him, see Guerson, Coping with Crises, pp. 50–51) and others of their coreligionists who were freed from taxation, and against their fellow Jews of Calatayud. On September 12, the Queen ordered the portario of the king, Martino Ximenec¸ de Borja, to aid Benvenist de la Cavalleria to gather taxes from the aljamas of the large Aragonese cities of Calatayud and Teruel. That same day, Iolant also sent a letter to officials of the king and their lieutenants to follow up on monies owed by the aljama of Jews of Calatayud. See Reg. 2029, fol. 182r-v; fol. 183v; and fol. 187r ¶2, respectively.

302

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Queen Iolant’s attention to the condition of her Jews spanned a geographically wide arc from the small western communities of Borja in Aragon to the southern city of Valencia, where she now attempted to forestall the total ruin of the first Jewish community affected by the riots. On September 11, the Queen announced that Domingo Mascho, royal counselor and vice-chancellor of the king, would serve as her procurator in that southern capital, and as the administrator of its Jewish quarter. Iolant, who had been greatly displeased not only by what had occurred in the juheria but also by the subsequent attempts at the restoration of the public and private property located in the Jewish quarter, hoped that Mascho would help in the repair and conservation of the aliama. King Joan followed her lead more than two weeks later and granted Mascho jurisdiction over the juheria, and over the property of the aliama and its members.76 The unstable situation of Girona Jews occupied the queen’s attention two days later. Fearful of attempts to convert the Jews who had sought safety in the Gironella tower, the Queen, on September 13, sought to ensure that the castla did not allow any of the Jews to be removed from the castle. If these sheltered Jews wished to leave on their own volition, the castla was to make certain that they were securely relocated. Iolant also supported the efforts of her cousin, the count of Empuries, to shelter ´ Girona Jews and to punish anyone within his jurisdiction who harmed them.77 The health of Queen Iolant and the state of her pregnancy were the most important issues facing the Crown in mid-September. Ten days after the king announced the queen’s recovery from her late August illness, Iolant – for the first time since the riots began, left Saragossa and headed toward Balaguer, whose castle was recommended by the king to his sick wife at the end of August. The Queen traveled down the Ebro river (as it moved southeast through Pina de Ebro, Sastago, and Caspe, ´ and turned northwest to Mequinenza where she disembarked), and then toward her fortress destination on the Segre, because she found it easier in her advanced stage of pregnancy to journey by water. Almost daily, Iolant sent letters to her husband assuring him of her well-being. The king

76

77

Reg. 2050 fol. 56v, fols. 56v–57r, and fol. 57r. See the king chapter, for Joan’s appointment of Domingo Mascho as administrator of the juheria, and overseer of the property of the aliama and its members. See also supra, the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia. Ibid., fol. 56r, ¶s 1 and 2. See the chapter on Girona.

Queen Iolant

303

communicated frequently with her, and on the 17th, expressed pleasure that her nautical travels agreed with her condition.78 Joan and Iolant had not been apart for these many days since the riots had erupted in early July, and affairs of state, aside from royal health updates and other personal matters of mutual interest, were included in their correspondence. None of the queen’s dispatches written during her trip has survived, perhaps because of the transient nature of her court. But the missives of the king, who remained in Saragossa, have. Joan’s epistle of September 15 was taken up with, among other items, descriptions of hunting animals and expressions of gratitude to his queen for the six pairs of partridges Iolant had sent on to him. He also made reference to letters he had conveyed to messengers from Barcelona and Lleida and promised the queen that he would immediately send her copies of these communications. On September 20, Joan responded to a remark of Iolant’s about the Count of Empuries, and her inquiry about punishment ´ that had been administered. Iolant may have been drawing attention to one of her last acts before departing Saragossa, in which she supported her cousin’s acceptance of refugee Jews from Girona and called for appropriate penalties to be imposed upon those involved in the assault on the Girona community.79 During Iolant’s absence from Saragossa, the royal court still issued orders in both the king and queen’s name. The royal couple, on September 19, reminded their respective treasurers about the August 12 royal directive that had allotted funds – which the Jewish community provided, for the prosecution and punishment of those who “impulsively assaulted our property and royal possessions.” But, a note sent by the king the following day provided a poignant reminder – if such were needed, where

78

79

Queen Iolant left Saragossa either that Wednesday, September 13, or Thursday the 14th. The queen wrote two of the letters in Pina (de Ebro), which the king received on September 14. The king was meticulous in his references to Iolant’s location when he responded to her letters. On September 15, Joan received a letter which she wrote from Sastago. Iolant wrote a letter on the 15th from the Monasterio de Rueda, right ´ outside Sastago, which the king received on the 17th: Reg. 1961, fol. 105v ¶2, wherein ´ he wrote happily “com vots sots ben trobada en la barcha ab lo prenyat.” The queen penned her husband a missive, on September 17 from Caspe and on the 19th from Mequinenza. The king responded to both on September 20: he wrote again, ibid., fol. 113r-v, about her comfort traveling by boat. Earlier, ibid., fol. 103r-v, he reflected that she was comfortable “en lo anar per aygua.” When Iolant was pregnant in her years as a duchess, she had traveled by water as well. See above. See note above and the chapter on the king.

304

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Iolant’s priorities had to have lain at this time. The king, on the 20th, wrote to his secretary about “Dalfi, our dear son,” who had died in 1388, and whose body had been brought to burial at the Franciscan monastery in Saragossa.80 From the time Queen Iolant left Saragossa through mid-November when she gave birth to Antonia, and for weeks afterwards, Iolant’s involvement in the daily business of the Crown and correspondingly with the state of its Jews, diminished considerably. Yet, Iolant’s removal to Balaguer from Saragossa lays bare how much the queen had involved herself in crucial issues facing the Crown. While the royal couple lived in Saragossa, their conversations, understandably, were not a matter of public record. But when Iolant was in Balaguer and the king in Saragossa, their letters to each other were, at times, extensive, and reveal their joint efforts at governance. Now that they had to write to each other with greater frequency, Iolant’s behind-the-scenes queenship was more clearly exposed, and it is possible to assess the nature and extent of her influence. Unaccompanied by Joan and en route to Balaguer, there were opportunities for local individuals, and communal leaders, to have the queen’s ear, and to press her to intercede with the king on their behalf. When Iolant arrived, on Thursday September 21, to dine and sleep in Bel-loc d’Urgell, just northeast of Lleida, some of the paers and promens of Lleida came to pay their respects and to ask her to intervene – naturally, it was the responsibility of women, they said – with the king on behalf “of those who had erred,” and to request that they be treated kindly and compassionately. As Iolant explained to King Joan, on Friday, from Balaguer, this delegation had been authorized by the municipal leadership to negotiate with her about his visit to the city to punish those who had rioted against the Jews. Apparently, the Lleida delegation overnighted with the queen in Bel-loc and accompanied her to the Balaguer castle, which Iolant assured Joan she entered in good health and spirits. After Iolant acknowledged, with pleasure, her receipt of Joan’s letters apprising her of his good health, the queen assured her husband that she was aware of the situation in Lleida, and requested that the king – as

80

Reg. 1961, fol. 113v. The occasion of this order was the distribution of these funds to aid in the punishment of those who rioted against the Jews in the town of Alguer in the island kingdom of Sardinia. An article on this to-date unknown attack on the Jews is forthcoming. Joan’s letter of the 20th is in ibid., at fol. 113r.

Queen Iolant

305

soon as he could, in the manner he wished, and with his entourage of choice – enter Lleida and dispense justice. Queen Iolant cautioned her husband that, while a royal visit was most desirable, he had to ensure that his visit would be a success. The paers had “secretly” informed the queen of their intention to dispatch an embassy, which would entreat the king to visit the city without delay. Iolant detailed for Joan the choreographed entrance and reception, which had been meticulously drawn up by the municipal leaders. When the king would be but one league outside of the city, the citizens, accompanied by the promens and paers, would come out to greet him and humbly beg forgiveness for having grievously and presumptuously wronged their royal authority. After this formal apology, most of the city’s “infants” would leave Lleida on foot and cry out for mercy. Then the women of Lleida would come near, armed with similar supplications. Lastly, the bishop and his procession would approach. Iolant explained that the king would not attend to these specific entreaties but rather would enter the city and dispense justice, “as you wished,” to four or five men who had already been imprisoned by the paers. They would be identified as the principal rioters against the Jews, and as those who had set fire to the bridges of the royal castle. Queen Iolant surely understood that the paers and promens did not wish to be punished for any transgressions nor subjected to a criminal investigation. And that stern justice be applied only to those whom they had already set apart. The queen asserted that it was better that the king was informed of the Lleida proposals and asked him to forward his reactions to her. The queen, although in an advanced state of pregnancy and recuperating from serious illness, pursued and played a critical function in advising King Joan how to manage the aftermath of the riots, and the subjects of the kingdom were aware of her pivotal role. Iolant, in this Friday letter, written in stages over the course of two days, informed the king, as well, that Lois [sic] de Bellviure, who stood accused of fomenting the riots on the island of Majorca, had contacted her. He claimed not to know anything about the island unrest, which had led to charges of insurrection leveled against him. Iolant’s unofficial portfolio was broad. Iolant also mentioned to Joan that his brother, Mart´ı, would be arriving for dinner on September 23 to discuss the expedition to Sicily. The queen closed her lengthy missive by informing the king that she would be sending him a formal letter

306

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

of intercession on behalf of the inhabitants of Lleida and repeated her request that he respond to her, “because you do not want to initiate anything here without my knowledge.”81 Iolant, from the Balaguer castle, asserted her indispensability in decisions regarding Lleida affairs. Leaving Saragossa and the royal court not only allowed the queen’s subjects greater opportunities to influence her thinking but also afforded the queen access to important information, and therefore an opening to shape royal policy. While her demeanor remained respectful and deferential, she positioned herself in her communications as a trusted adviser to the Crown. Even as Iolant assured Joan that she was cognizant of the particulars of the situation in Lleida, she encouraged the king to leave Saragossa for Lleida, and perhaps to accept this elaborately programmed contrition. In her informal yet respectful tone, Iolant maintained that it was time to close the chapter regarding the attacks on the Crown’s Jews and the associated rebellion against royal authority. She expressed this position again on September 25, when she reported to Joan on her meeting with Mart´ı. After offering her standard health-related pleasantries, Queen Iolant recounted, in a rambling style that may have reflected the actual conversation she had with the duke, how some within the kingdom had requested that Mart´ı remain within peninsular Crown lands to mete out punishments for the avalots, which had wracked “some of your Regnes and terres.” Iolant argued that if Mart´ı would accede to this demand, he would incur the great loss of all that he had already invested in his Sicilian expedition. In her estimation, Mart´ı’s departure would not prove harmful, and he should be allowed to proceed with the voyage. When the subject was her pregnancy, Iolant was both assertive of her needs and insecure as to the king’s devotion. Maestre Bernat Oriol had informed her that she was about to enter her eighth month. It was very important, the physician counseled, that the queen travel to where she would give birth and ensure that all items necessary for her delivery were available. Knowing first-hand the vagaries of the kingly calendar, Iolant asked Joan to confirm precisely when he planned to arrive in Balaguer. She directed her husband, in the eventuality that he would not be able to come in a timely fashion, to advise her at once on his choice of location for the delivery of their child. Since she could not leave Balaguer presently – probably because of her weak condition, Iolant asked Joan 81

Reg. 2054, fol. 108v–109v. Iolant’s formal letter of intercession and request for clemency, dated September 22, is at fol. 109v.

Queen Iolant

307

to dispatch immediately, to Barcelona, someone who would assemble all that she needed for her childbirth. Strikingly, in closing, Iolant hoped out loud that her king had not forgotten her.82 Queen Iolant shared her living quarters with the Jewish refugees, who had taken shelter in the castle at Balaguer. Neither she nor her host, the Count of Urgell, had attempted to evacuate them. The king, thinking ahead to his pending departure for Balaguer, urged Iolant, on September 25, to explain to the count that “ . . . neither we nor you should allow such people to be maintained or supported where we will soon be [situated] personally.” Joan suggested, three days later, that, in the event that Iolant was aggravated living in the castle, she move to Almenar, which boasted a fine home, was closer to Lleida, and afforded fine hunting of wolves and wild boar. Whether Joan correctly imagined Iolant’s discomfort, or was simply lobbying for a location more convenient for his own needs is unclear.83 Iolant’s assertiveness, evident in her comments on the matters relating to Lleida, struck a sympathetic note with Joan. The king promised Iolant, on September 26, that he would not decide on the “fet de Leyda” until he would arrive in Balaguer. Then they would jointly decide – he highly esteemed her counsel, what would bring the “most honor and profit to us.” The king wrote, two days later, that he was looking forward to talk with her about crown business, when he would arrive, on October 8, at the castle. On September 30, Joan promised Iolant that he would deal “kindly and compassionately” with the inhabitants of Lleida, and that she would be satisfied with the justice he would administer to those who had rioted against the Jews.84 82

83 84

Reg. 2054, fols. 110r-111r. Bratsch-Prince, pp. 64–65, Texto 7, publishes the parts of the letter concerned with their mutual health and Iolant’s plans for giving birth. She incorrectly cites fol. 101, as does Roca, p. 134, both perhaps following Coroleu, p. 354. No one has yet written with any sophistication about Joan and Iolant’s relationship. In her missive, Iolant reported how she had assured the Count of Urgell, in whose lands Balaguer was located, that Joan would remit even larger payments to cover additional employment costs that the count had incurred, presumably in hosting her and her retinue. In a letter that same day to her cousin Carlos III, the king of Navarre, Iolant reflected on how seriously ill she was in Saragossa but how she was now convalescing, and sporting a good disposition. Her illness left her very weak, Iolant wrote, by way of explaining why she had not written to him, and resolved some outstanding issues. Reg. 2054, fol. 111r-v. Reg. 1961, fol. 116v and fols. 119v–120r, and the chapter on the king. Reg. 1961, fols. 118v–119r, fols. 119v–120r, and fol. 123v ¶1, respectively. See the chapter on the king. Joan referred to the queen’s letters about Lleida, ibid., fol. 128v, in

308

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Despite Iolant’s intervention in the “fets de la ciutat de leyda,” the queen very nearly vanished from the public record, during the month of October and the first half of November, on matters pertaining to Jews. In mid-October, the decision was made that Iolant would travel to Vilafranca de Pened`es, just west of Barcelona, where she would give birth. The Queen left Balaguer by October 26 and was in Les Borges Blanques, southeast of Lleida, where she ordered the jurisperito of Saragossa to proceed against both the bailiff and the Jewish and Muslim officials of the city of Teruel. Perhaps she was following up on her financial concerns of early October regarding these populations.85 Iolant maintained her correspondence with Joan while he was headquartered in Lleida. Although her communications to him did not survive, his letters to her from these days indicate that the king responded both to her personal and to her governance questions. On October 28, after the usual health inquiries, Joan informed the queen of letters he had received from his brother Mart´ı, and from the governor of Sardinia, and transcribed for her missives, which he had sent to the jurats of Valencia and to the governor of the kingdom, “so that you know the news that is arriving each day.”86 From the birth of Antonia in mid-November up through the second week of January 1392, when attacks against Jews were reported from the Kingdom of Aragon, Iolant’s interest in the Jewish communities of her dominion was at best occasional, her activities limited to a few days of letter-writing. Perhaps, Iolant was recuperating from childbirth or she was continuing a trend, observable toward the end of her pregnancy in early October, of waning involvement in the Jews’ well-being. The few interventions, which the queen effected during these weeks, were related to her Jewish communities of Girona and Valencia, the same two

85

86

his October 6 order to Ramon Alamani de Cervilioni: the chapter on the king. Also see Ponsich, pp. 89–90, and her references ad loc. Reg. 2029, fol. 189r, ¶1. An October 11 letter, addressed to the adelantados of the aljama of Jews of Teruel, is at Reg. 2054, fol. 121v. The inscription appears to be in error since the substance of the missive is related to the debts of the local aljama of the Muslims. Indeed, on October 14, Iolant sent two missives about the Muslims of Teruel. See Reg. 2029, fol. 186r and fol. 186r-v. I do not know when Iolant left Balaguer, or how she traveled to Vilafranca de Pened`es. Reg. 1961, fol. 138r, is a letter from the king to the governor of Catalonia, in which he mentions that both he and the queen would be leaving Balaguer separately, and that the queen would be traveling to Vilafranca to give birth. He would ultimately join her there. Reg. 1961, fol. 146v ¶2. The series of letters that Joan dispatched to Iolant through November 19 when he had already departed from Lleida reflect the queen’s involvement in matters of state: the chapter on the king. See Ponsich, La parole, pp. 93 and 97.

Queen Iolant

309

populations that had concerned her immediately prior to her departure from Saragossa. Only a few days after Antonia’s arrival, the Queen ordered local Girona officials not to allow the debts owed to the Jews to be seized. If the Jews could not collect their debts, the Queen reasoned to her subordinates, on November 18, they would not be able to survive, and the ruin of the Jewish community would be inevitable. The officials were instructed to support the Jews, not to allow them to be badly treated, and to await the king’s imminent arrival in their city.87 Iolant reminded the Valencia municipal authorities, two weeks later, that the Valencia vice-chancellor Domingo Mascho – whom she had dispatched almost three weeks earlier to aid in the repair and restoration of the Valencia aliama, was still committed to his task. She thanked the Valencians for their help and requested their continued cooperation to bring closure to the troubles that had beset the Jewish quarter. Yet the queen rejected Micer Domingo‘s repeated requests for the necessary authority, that same day, December 2, which would allow him to come to resolve outstanding issues resulting from “los fets de la juheria.” Iolant declared that, until she was better apprised of the local situation, she would not consent to his petition. The queen demanded that two experts, well-informed about what had transpired in Valencia, be sent immediately to her: a converso who would represent those Jews who had become Christians, and an individual knowledgeable about the “drets de los juheus,” the rights of the Jews. After she interviewed these two individuals, she would respond to the arrangement about which Mascho had written.88 Queen Iolant responded to the appeals of newly baptized Jews, such as the petition of Constancia de Rexacho, who claimed to have suffered financial harm as a result of her conversion. Constancia’s former husband, 87

88

When Iolant arrived in the town where she planned to give birth, she would not have found any openly professing Jews; all the Jewish inhabitants of Vilafranca had been baptized on August 8. See the Catalonia chapter, where Riera i Sans, Els avalots, p. 115 is cited as proof of the Jews’ conversion. On the birth of Antonia, see the king chapter. Bratsch-Prince, Violant de Bar, p. 25, ` does not include her in the list of children but does so in her “A Queen’s Task: Violant de Bar and the Experience of Royal Motherhood in Fourteenth-Century Aragon,” La ´ coronica 27 (1998), p. 25. On her birth and death, see Roca, pp. 133–134. Reg. 2029, fol. 188v ¶1 is the November 18 letter to an unlisted addressee in Girona. See Riera, Girona, p. 145. Reg. 2050, fol. 59r, ¶1 to the jurats and prohomens. The queen also admonished members of the “casta militbus” to desist from their involvement in the aftereffects of the “fets de la juheria,” regarding which Domingo Mascho had been appointed: ibid., ¶2. Ibid., fol. 59v ¶1 is Iolant’s letter to Mascho.

310

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Ic¸aq Roven, had refused to accede to Constancia’s request that he also come to the Cross, and swore in the “calle judaico” of Castello´ d’Empuries ´ that he would never remit the dowry due to his former wife, or the monies she was contracted to receive as a result of their marriage. Iolant followed up on King Joan’s earlier efforts in this matter and ordered the bailiff of Girona and his lieutenant to summon Ic¸aq to court and obtain satisfaction for Constancia. The queen directed, on December 15, that Constancia, in order to feed herself, should be able to draw funds from this property in the interim.89 Iolant interceded with the bailiff of Girona, yet again that same day, on behalf of the neophyte Guillem Benet de Rexach, whose name while attached to the “perfidia judaica,” had been Vidal Iona. The erstwhile Vidal had traveled to the royal court of Saragossa on behalf of two wealthy Jews, Mosse and Davi Falco, who had been accused of a crime. Apparently, Vidal converted while at court and was unable to retrieve the monies owed to him for these efforts from Bellshom Falco and his mother Regina.90 Queen Iolant remained in Vilafranca del Pened`es, when, on December 14, King Joan left town for Barcelona, with Antonia and her nursemaid in tow. Joan reported to the queen on Antonia’s health, and the time that he spent with their daughter. Once, the king reassured Iolant that Antonia had recuperated from her skin rash and was in better spirits. Joan left their newborn in Barcelona and rejoined Iolant in Vilafranca on December 22. Both queen and king, separately and at their own pace, departed for Barcelona on January 2. The queen arrived two days later.91

89

90

91

Reg. 2029, fol. 192v–193r. See also, from November 28, Arxiu Historic de la Ciutat ` de Girona, Castello, ´ vol. 480, notari Pere Pellicer, published in Pujol i Canelles, La conversio´ dels jueus, pp. 248–251 and incorrectly dated to September. This event is worthy of analysis. The surname of the procurator of the document was also Rexacho. Perhaps the family lived in Girona prior to the riots. Joan’s effort of December 8 is in Reg. 1850, fol. 96r. He left Vilafranca del Pened`es for Barcelona on December 14, and Iolant sent her letter the following day. Reg. 2029, fol. 193r. See also Reg. 2029, fol. 163r, dated June 1 of 1391; and fol. 174v ¶1, dated July 7. Guillem took the surname Rexacho upon baptism, as did Constancia. On the Falco family in Girona, see Silvia Planas, “Conviv`encia, perviv`encia, superviv`encia: Apunts per a la historia de les dones converses de Girona,” ` in Sabat´e and Denjean eds., Cristianos y jud´ıos en contacto en la edad media, pp. 455–458. See the chapter on the king. The day before Joan and Antonia left, Iolant presented a gift ` to the wet-nurse, the wife of the Barcelona merchant, En Bernat Presso: ´ Roca, p. 134, without citation. On January 3, Iolant informed Joan that she was tired by the journey and had decided to stay overnight at Martorell. The king responded by urging her to reach Barcelona by Thursday, although by then he would already have arrived. The king

Queen Iolant

311

While in Barcelona during the first few months of 1392, Iolant episodically turned her attention to the Jews, particularly to the communities of the Kingdom of Aragon. The queen addressed Jewish and Christian officials in Calatayud, on January 8, about unresolved damages to the Jews – and therefore both to her and the king, which had resulted from the previous year’s unrest. Iolant advised the royal bailiff, and separately instructed the governor of the kingdom how to proceed with claims Calatayud Jews had made regarding injuries to their persons and property. When local Jews, out of fear, did not leave their quarter or assemble outside the city, Christians had harvested the grapes in the Jewish vineyards. The queen also directed the aljama and clavarios of Calatayud to follow the instructions of the royal bailiff and of Pero Cortada, the treasury agent, and encouraged the Jews to inform these officials about expedient legal remedies to resolve their grievances.92 Although Queen Iolant recommended royal officials as the appropriate address for the Jews’ complaints and suggestions, the queen had reason to be concerned that these deputies did not follow explicit royal directives. Iolant rebuked Johan Garces de Janouas, that same January 8, for having enacted regulations prejudicial to “the Jews of the Almunia who belong to the collecta of our aljama of Jews of Calatayud.” Although the king had commissioned Garces, Iolant asserted that he had dared to harm the Jews and had not informed the monarchs of his actions. The queen reminded Garces how the king had ordered him to annul his decrees and had demanded that he return matters to the status quo ante. Iolant pronounced that Jews would no longer remain under his jurisdiction, and that his punishment would deter others who dared overstep their legal boundaries.93 Queen Iolant was confident, as was King Joan, that the Aragonese riots were a thing of the past. Pere de Linyan and Alfonso Munyoz de Pamplona, two scuderos living in Calatayud, had inquired whether they needed to renew their royal mandate – issued, on July 13, 1391, after a riot in that Aragonese city – to protect the aljama and its Jews. Although the king and queen discovered that the scuderos and their entourage had diligently guarded the Jews, Iolant and Joan declared that there was no need to continue the vigilance, “since the said tumult is passed from our

92

93

and queen slept apart on Wednesday night, and Iolant reached Barcelona, as Joan had hoped, after dinner the next day: the chapter on the king. Reg. 2050, fol. 62v ¶1, to the bailiff; fol. 62v ¶2 to the governor; and fol. 63r ¶1 to the Jewish community. Petro Cortada was instructed by Iolant, on January 13, regarding receipts for royal taxes paid by the Jewish community: see ibid., fols. 63v–64r. Ibid., fol. 63r ¶2.

312

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

lands.” If the local Jewish leaders would request their presence, or if the scuderos themselves deemed it necessary – even if the Jewish officials and the royal procurador thought otherwise, the king and queen affirmed on January 16 that the scuderos would not require the publication of another royal commission.94 When Queen Iolant and King Joan learned in January that two Teruel Jews had been murdered, the monarchs apparently collaborated with each other. A day after the king proclaimed, on January 17, that the local Jews were under his protection, the queen ordered Teruel Jews to identify those who had killed or injured members of their community, and had damaged their property. The Queen encouraged the Jews to initiate legal claims against their attackers.95 Iolant expressed her astonishment that the juez, alcaldes, and other officials of Teruel had ignored the royal authority of her dear husband the king, and had not proceeded against those who had stabbed several Jews to death, had wounded others, and had plundered their property. The queen exhorted the officers to pursue and punish the malefactors, and threatened them if they impeded the judicial process. She then addressed the cesineros, jurados, councilors, and good men of the aldeas in the environs of Teruel and, after detailing the attacks on Jews and their property, ordered village officials not to allow Jews to be harmed. If such assaults reoccurred, Queen Iolant proclaimed, they should capture the perpetrators, transfer them to the judicial authorities, and inventory and guard the stolen property.96 Iolant and Joan, in a concerted attempt to put an end to the renewed violence and impose their royal authority on Teruel and its villages, issued similar orders to a variety of local personages. The queen, as did the king, reproved one “reverent padre en cristo” for having requested moratoria on the repayment of debts owed to the Jews. The Jews were burdened by their remittances for the salary of the armed militia members and other oppressive imposts, Iolant explained, and if their debt collection suffered,

94

95 96

Reg. 2039, fols. 100v-101r, where Iolant claimed that “el dito bullicio en la nuestra senyoria sea passado,” and Reg. 1879, fol. 121r. Cf., generally, the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon, and the chapter on the king. On January 17, Reg. 2029, fol. 195v, Iolant continued her oversight of the affairs of Calatayud Jews and instructed the bailiff to take into account the conerns of Francesch Daranda regarding a case, which had been processed on March 18, 1390. Reg. 2029, fol. 194v ¶1 to the Jews of Teruel in Catalan, and ¶2 to the municipal officials in Latin. See the chapter on the king. Reg. 2029, fol. 195r, dated as well on January 18.

Queen Iolant

313

the Jews would be unable to pay their taxes to the royal treasury, which was hers by assignment. Iolant enlightened the churchman that “we have sustained great damage . . . by the destruction of the . . . aljamas.”97 Queen Iolant was acutely aware, by the end of January 1392, of the continued perilous state of the Jews in the Kingdom of Aragon, and the ineffectiveness of the monarchy in their defense. In a queenly missive of January 22, intended in all likelihood to the leaders of the villages surrounding Teruel, Iolant informed these officials – echoing the king’s most unambiguous language he had used since the riots had begun six months earlier, how displeased she was when she learned how the universidades, concellos, and singulares of the aldeas of Teruel, fidalgos as well as those of greater and lesser condition, rich and poor, had wreaked havoc on the system of royal protection. Bereft of fear of the royal government, all these people, from a variety of social and economic strata – and without consideration of the implications of their rejection of royal ordinances – had killed, robbed, assaulted, and maltreated the Jews of Teruel. Indeed, they were forcing the Jews to ransom themselves and behaved as if the Jews did not have a lord, “como si los jodios no hauian senyor.” Ignorance could not serve as a defense on an issue that “we keep . . . very close to our heart.” Do not think that after the receipt of this letter, the Queen admonished, you can persist in your refusal to abide by the orders of your “princep e senyor.”98 The royal protection, which Queen Iolant afforded her Jews, while earnest and even vigorous at times, ultimately proved inadequate to safeguard the Jews’ lives, their property, and their faith. Letter-writing

97

98

Ibid., fol. 196r. Correspondingly, Queen Iolant ordered the nobleman, En Pere Casals – whom the king had reprimanded for his seizure of the debts of the Jews of Teruel, as well as those of Daroca and Calatayud, to allow the Jews to collect what was rightfully theirs. Again, she spelled out to Casals the reasons for her interest in preventing the ruin of the aljama and assured him that she would entreat the king to provide for the maintenance of the Jewish community. See ibid., fol. 196v. Ibid., fol. 196r-v. On all above, cf. the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon, and the chapter on the king. On January 21, Reg. 2029, fol. 198v, Iolant urged payment of the salary of Galaciano de Tarba, the algutzir of Saragossa, for his guard of the local judaria. On March 22, Reg. 2050, fol. 69v, Galaciano de Tarba was again on the royal docket as the queen acknowledged that, from August 15 through October 10, he had protected the aljama of Saragossa. Galaciano was also charged with the protection of the aljama of the Jews of Alagon, ´ northwest of Saragossa, and had advanced expenses, which he was to recover from impositions on Saragossa Jews. Displeased with his collection from these Jews, he turned to the queen for satisfaction. Iolant ordered the Jewish community to come to an amicable agreement with the algutzir.

314

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

campaigns – and even delicate diplomatic efforts, engineered by a highly motivated and intelligent queen, but who like her husband was generally confined to the royal court, was insufficient to protect a most treasured asset. As a result, the queen’s financial interests in the Jews were severely damaged. In a letter to the justicia of Calatayud, on March 11, Iolant declared that as a result of the violence fomented against the Jewish communities, the aljama of Calatayud as well as others of this kingdom were teetering on the brink of destruction, “estan en punto de final destruccion.”99 After the last riots came to an end in Jaca, in early April of 1392, Antonia again fell ill but by the end of the month appeared to regain her health. On the last day of May of 1392, with Queen Iolant taking the baths at Caldes de Montbui, Antonia died in Barcelona. The young princess, whose gestation and early life spanned the upheavals in the kingdom, could not recover from yet another illness. When her mother conceived her, Iolant and Joan had great hopes that this child of theirs would eventually inherit the Crown of Aragon. By the time of her death, not only were those dreams dashed, but the kingdom, which appeared on secure footing less than a year earlier, had been dealt a terrible blow. Antonia’s health, both as fetus and as child, always seemed to hover over the fate of the Jews. When Iolant was sick toward the end of August, her stewardship of her Jews had suffered along with her. And with Antonia’s birth, the queen’s attention appeared to have drifted away from her public to her private responsibilities. Even with a staunch, albeit “court-bound,” defender in Queen Iolant, the Jews’ security was only as good as the state of her well-being and that of her children.100

99

100

Reg. 2039, fol. 109v–110r. Iolant was satisfied with the protection of the Jews of Saragossa where, while the riots raged, she and King Joan spent most of their days. On April 23, Reg. 2039, fols. 117–118r, fol. 118r ¶1, and fol. 118r ¶2, Iolant thanked the hombres buenos, c¸almedina, and merino of Saragossa, respectively, for their fine custody of the local Jewish population. ´ de Juan Reg. 1962, fol. 74v ¶3, was published in full by Bofarull y Sans, Generacion I, p. 68, no. 67 and then by Girona y Llagostera, Itinerari del rei, p. 156, no. 276. See supra the chapter on the king. The king, presumably having left Caldes when he heard the news, wrote the letter to their future son-in-law, the Count of Foix, from Montcada i Reixac. While there are many letters, dated in early June, from the queen in Saragossa (see Reg. 2029, in the folios numbered 160s), other documents, from May 28 – Reg. 2054, fol. 149v and fol. 150r, have Iolant in Caldes.

10 Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

When riots erupted in the city of Valencia, on Sunday July 9 of 1391, the infant Mart´ı, duke of Montblanc, had been stationed in that port capital of the same named kingdom for a number of days, arranging among other things his expedition to Sicily. Almost since Mart´ı’s birth in 1356, his family had impressed upon him the importance of this Mediterranean island. Mart´ı’s mother, Queen Elionor, was Sicilian-born and the daughter of the island’s king, Peter II. As the second son of the Aragonese King and Queen, Mart´ı was Elionor’s favorite and from the age of two had been placed under her particular tutelage.1 From his earliest years, King Pere and Queen Elionor prepared Mart´ı for royal duties that, during the reign of his brother Joan, would include the collection of sufficient funds to command personally a flotilla of naval vessels to secure the island kingdom. This responsibility would, in turn, affect his ability to uphold the status and ensure the safety of the Crown’s Jews. As early as age twelve, Joan’s younger brother was appointed senescal of Catalonia, named count of Besalu, ´ and granted the towns of Castello´ and Vila-real in the Kingdom of Valencia. Mart´ı’s landed interests in the Crown of Aragon increased substantially when King Pere, upon his second son’s wedding to Maria de Luna on June 13, 1372, established Mart´ı’s holdings in the Kingdom of Valencia and included the city of Elx and the hamlet of Crevillent. Pere also presented Mart´ı 1

´ See, on his early years, the scattered bibliographical data in Roca, Johan I d’Arago, pp. 23–25; Tasis i Marca, Pere, p. 143; and Bisson, The Medieval Crown of Aragon, p. 126. There is no full-length biography of Mart´ı as king, and there are few secondary materials on his life from his birth in Girona up through his ascent to the Aragonese throne.

315

316

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

with the income of Biel, and of other Aragonese towns. Mart´ı, moreover, benefited greatly from the dowry that his wife Maria, heiress of the wealthy and powerful Aragonese nobleman, Lope de Luna, brought to the union. According to the stipulations of the marriage contract, Maria’s dower included some of her family’s considerable holdings in the Crown of Aragon, such as the county of Luna in Aragon, the city of Segorbe in Valencia, as well as the jurisdiction over Gelsa and part of Belchite.2 Upon Queen Elionor’s death in 1375, Mart´ı’s legal connections to the island of Sicily were established. Since Joan, as the eldest, was to inherit the Crown of Aragon, Elionor bequeathed to her favorite, Mart´ı, her rights to the kingdom of Sicily. The Aragonese queen also left to her second son her assets in the Kingdom of Valencia, which included Ll´ıria and Alcoi. She also instructed him to use the income from her Valencia properties to augment his holdings in that southern Iberian kingdom.3 When Joan assumed a larger role within the governance of the Crown of Aragon, Mart´ı’s responsibilities in the management of royal affairs increased since the crown prince relied on his younger brother to aid him in his decisions. Mart´ı and his older brother Joan grew up side by side, and they remained close as they entered adulthood. At the time King Pere upbraided the heir apparent over his involvement in host desecration accusations at Huesca and maligned Joan’s advisers as motivated by more than legal or spiritual motives, Joan summoned his counselors, which, he informed his father, included “my dear brother,” Mart´ı. With Mart´ı present at another meeting of his council, on March 22, 1378, Joan refused to set aside the judicial proceedings.4 2

3

4

Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 48–50 describes Joan’s report to Pere about resistance of some of the populations, which were transferred to Mart´ı. According to the betrothal agreement between Maria and Mart´ı’s families, Maria, at the age of eight, was to be delivered to the Aragonese royal court. But when Maria was five, she effectively became part of Elionor’s household. Mart´ı and his future wife grew up in close proximity to each other. Nuria Silleras-Fernandez, Power, Piety, and ´ ´ Patronage in Late Medieval Queenship: Mar´ıa de Luna (New York, 2008), p. 22 contains a list of the properties. See the maps on p. 23 and p. 18. On Elx (Elix) and Crevillent, see the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia. I specifically mentioned those holdings, which appear in other parts of this book. Mart´ı, at that time, was also entitled comte of J´erica (Valencia). Through the grant of these significant assets, the Aragonese king assured the Luna family that Maria’s properties would not simply serve as a resource for the Aragonese Crown. Ulla Deibel, “La Reyna Elionor de Sicilia,” Memorias de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 10 (1928), pp. 390–394 and, following her, Silleras-Fernandez, ´ p. 29. When Mart´ı was an infant, his nursemaid and governess, Cathalina de Puigvert, attended to him during the day and spent her nights in the bedroom of 5-year-old Joan. In 1371,

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

317

Although Mart´ı approved of Joan’s pursuit of the unaccounted hosts, Mart´ı supported the legal prerogatives of the Valencia Jewish communities, when he was appointed by King Pere, later that year, lieutenant governor of the Kingdom of Valencia. In this new role, Mart´ı declared to the batle of Xativa, that the local Jewish aliama had acted within its rights ` and according to law, when it had deemed two individuals involved in an ugly verbal battle in the Jewish quarter as slanderers, and punished them with fines or, if they were unable to pay, exile from the community. One of the individuals, Ic¸ach Menescal, apparently had approached Mart´ı and had accused Jewish communal officials of miscarriage of justice. Mart´ı thereupon had summoned the leaders, adelantats, of the aliama and had discovered that they had proceeded according to their communal ordinance, “tacana,” and had even sought and received the appropriate authorization from the royal bailiff and his deputy. Mart´ı, on September 25 of 1378, ordered the aliama officials to carry out their sentence.5 With the death of Elionor’s brother, King Frederic IV, in 1377, Mart´ı’s stake in the island kingdom of Sicily became even more consequential. At first, King Pere, tried to establish his own claims to the island by denying the right of succession to Frederic’s daughter and appointing Joan to captain an expedition to Sicily and Sardinia. When his oldest son declared in 1379 that he was too ill to carry out his father’s wishes,

5

Mart´ı had accompanied Joan, and his father Pere, to Joan’s scheduled nuptials with Joanna of Valois, who died in Beziers en route to her wedding. On Holy Thursday 1373, Mart´ı traveled to Salces (Salses-le-Chateau) in Roussillon, on the northern border of the ˆ Crown of Aragon, to welcome Mata of Armagnac, the future bride of his brother Joan. Mart´ı, it was reported, kissed Mata, as if he were the crown prince and bridegroom. When Prince Joan announced that Mata had given birth in 1374, he asked his younger brother to assist at the baptism. See Roca, Johan I, pp. 68–69 and 73–74; and Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 63–64. On the host desecration accusations, see Miret y Sans, El proc´es de les hosties, pp. 71, 72, and 77; and supra, the chapter on the king. Reg. 939, fol. 266r as published in Fritz Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 474–475, no. 321. Joan and Pere assented to Mart´ı’s decision. On the opposition of the city of Valencia to the appointment of Mart´ı as lieutenant governor, see Francisco A. Roca Traver, “La gobernacion ´ foral del reino de Valencia; una cuestion ´ de competencia,” Estudios de Edad ´ IV (1951) pp. 177–214 and supra, chapter on the city of Media de la Corona de Aragon, Valencia. Mart´ı obligated Valencia Jews to attend the sermons of Jaume Romeu and Guillem Catal, Jewish converts to Christianity, and ordered the royal officials, on April 20, 1379, to ensure their compliance. See Riera i Sans, Les llic`encies reials, pp. 138–139, document no. 7 (Reg. 2068, fol. 45r), and discussed on p. 125. These licenses were granted to the usually impoverished converts, so to enable them to earn money through preaching to the Jews and not necessarily for the purpose of attracting Jews to the Christian faith. See supra, the chapter on the king, and infra in this chapter.

318

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

King Pere designated Mart´ı as commander of the voyage. And when Joan refused to marry Frederic’s 14-year-old daughter, Maria, Pere proposed Mart´ı and Maria de Luna’s 3- or 4-year-old son, Mart´ı (the younger), as the bridegroom for the 14-year-old Sicilian queen.6 On June 11, 1380, Pere ceded his rights to the island to his son Mart´ı, and on June 24, the marriage contract between the younger Mart´ı, Pere’s grandson, and Maria of Sicily was signed in Barcelona. The wedding date was set to occur, over ten years later, on November 29, 1391. Maria was transferred to Caller (Cagliari) in Sardinia, at the time of proposals and ` was eventually delivered in 1382 to Barcelona and into Pere’s hands.7

6

7

Pere’s involvement with Sicily stemmed from his recognition of the degree to which Catalonia was economically bound to the islands of the western Mediterranean. In 1282, Sicily had become part of the Crown of Aragon, and since 1296, as the price of independence, the island was ruled by a dynasty connected to the Crown. Soon after their marriage, Elionor had urged her king to intervene in an anti-Catalan rebellion on the island, but Pere chose not to act. He also had been unwilling later to accede to his wife’s wishes and transfer his Sicilian rights to Mart´ı. Many years later, and only a short time before Elionor’s death, Pere arranged for a Sicilian expedition, comprised of thirty galleys and twenty-four ships, but it did not set sail. Even after Elionor died, the king still planned to travel to Sicily and Sardinia. Indeed, Joan’s involvement in the host desecration case in Huesca in April 1378 had interfered with Pere’s attempt to acquire the necessary financial and political backing for the voyage. See J.N. Hillgarth, The Problem of a Catalan Mediterranean Empire, 1229–1323, English Historical Review, Supplement no. 8 (London, 1975) [pp. 1–54]; Hillgarth, The Spanish Kingdoms, vol. 2, pp. 220–221 and Mar´ıa Teresa Ferrer i Mallol, “L’Infant Mart´ı un projecte d’intervencio´ en la guerra ´ La Corona de de Portugal (1381),” VIII Congreso de Historia de la Corona de Aragon. ´ en el siglo xiv, vol. 3 (Valencia, 1973), p. 216. See also Miret y Sans, El proc´es Aragon de les hosties, pp. 77–78. Frederic’s daughter Maria was born of his marriage to Pere III’s daughter Constanc¸a. According to Frederic’s will, if Maria were to die without children, the kingdom would belong to his bastard son Guglielmo. If Guglielmo could not ascend the throne, the kingdom would fall to Pere and Elionor’s children, Joan and Mart´ı. Joan had already cast his eyes on Yolande de Bar as his future queen, and so turned his back on his father’s insistence, in 1380, that he marry the Sicilian heiress Maria and thus secure the island kingdom for the Crown of Aragon. The negotiations and diplomatic maneuvers were quite complicated. And so is the task of the synthesizer who has to weigh historians’ contradictory reports on these events. See, generally, Ferrer i Mallol, pp. 216–218 and the notes thereto. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 82–92, discusses Joan’s marital descision and the ensuing diplomatic intrigue, both domestic and foreign. See also Tasis i Marca, Pere, pp. 106–107, on Maria’s whereabouts, and who had taken possession of her and when. On all these machinations, on the scant evidence about the younger Mart´ı’s early years, and on the marriage contract, see Daniel ´ Discursos llegits en la Girona i Llagostera, Mart´ı, Rey de Sicilia. Primog`enit D’Arago. Reyal Academia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona (Barcelona, 1919), pp. 10–11. On the documentary evidence of Pere’s grant to Mart´ı, see note 36 in Ferrer i Mallol, pp. 217–218 and Silleras-Fernandez, p. 30. ´

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

319

Mart´ı the older was now not only heir to his parents’ rights in Sicily, but was also protector of the Sicilian queen. Yet, Mart´ı did not captain various planned expeditions to Sicily scheduled in the late 1370s and early 1380s. Much to the consternation of his father, Mart´ı focused his energies, in 1381, on military and diplomatic confrontations with Portugal and on his alliance with his half-sister Elionor (Elionor of Castile) and his brother-in-law, King Juan I of Castile.8 Indeed, Mart´ı’s involvement in Sicilian affairs lessened dramatically during Pere’s lifetime. Mart´ı devoted much of his time to navigating the stormy relationship between his older brother, the crown prince, and his father, the king. With Joan’s encouragement, Mart´ı forged ties with Joan’s second wife and eventual queen, Yolande de Bar. Pere, who did not attend Joan and Iolant’s nuptials on April 30, 1380, pressured Mart´ı to return from the wedding in Perpignan within a day or two after the ceremony, a demand to which Mart´ı acceded.9 Mart´ı and Joan worked closely together and formed a united front against their father and his fourth wife, Sibilla de Fortia. ` Both brothers did not attend the coronation of Sibilla as Queen on January 30, 1381, and offered excuses for their absence that did not mollify the king. Pere bitterly accused Mart´ı of fearing his older brother more than he did his father. While neither of Pere’s sons attended the 50th anniversary of Pere’s rule in 1386, Mart´ı attempted, during June and July of that year, to mediate between his father and brother and unsuccessfully sought to have his brother receive an audience with his father in Barcelona. In an effort to satisfy the interest of many in the kingdom in the ongoing saga between Joan and Pere, Mart´ı kept the representatives of Saragossa, Barcelona, and Valencia abreast of the attempts at reconciliation.10

8

9

10

On Mart´ı’s financial and military preparations over these ten years, of which more below, see Carmello Trasselli, “Il protonotaro di Martino, duca de Montblanc,” Revista de archivos, bibliotecas y museos 63 (1957), pp. 467–502. Roca, Johan I, pp. 102–122 ff., Tasis i Marca, Pere, p. 155 and Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 99. Mart´ı was among the few notified when Joan signed his wedding contract with Yolande, on October 19, 1379, and was asked by the eager bridegroom to serve as a master of ceremony at the wedding festivities. Tasis i Marca, Pere, p. 160, where Pere’s letter to Mart´ı is quoted at length. Maria de Luna, who was in Saragossa at the end of January of 1381, felt obliged to attend when Sibilla was crowned at a meeting of the Cortes. Maria was admired by Pere and, while Mart´ı navigated politically between his father and brother, was able to maintain a positive relationship both with her father-in-law and with Sibilla. Maria met Joan and Iolant only when, at the end of April 1382, the new couple were on their way to their first meeting with Pere and Sibilla in Valencia. See Tasis i Marca, Joan I,

320

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

When Mart´ı learned, toward the end of December, about the serious decline in Pere’s health, Mart´ı, on behalf of his brother, thrust himself into the power struggles surrounding the succession. He immediately traveled to Barcelona, arriving at his father’s bedside on the 29th of the month. Sibilla de Fortia` had begun, on the day prior to Mart´ı’s arrival, to secret clothing and jewels out of the palace. Accompanied by her brother Bernat and others in her entourage, she fled toward Sitges early the following morning.11 Aware of his stepmother’s flight, Mart´ı left Barcelona after three days and pursued Sibilla and her entourage. Joan charged his younger brother to take the fugitives prisoner and, upon their father’s death, to secure his most precious possessions. During the night of January 4–5, Pere died, and two days later, Mart´ı won the unconditional surrender of Sibilla and her company and brought them back as prisoners to Barcelona. Upon his return, Mart´ı presided over his father’s funeral.12 As the new reign commenced, Mart´ı was effectively the second most powerful individual in the Crown of Aragon. King Joan, immediately upon his ascension, created the title, Duke of Montblanc and named his brother as its first bearer. Duke Mart´ı aided Joan in a military exploit in Aragon in April 1388 and later that year was involved in negotiations with that constituent kingdom. Significantly, King Joan insisted that Mart´ı accompany him and Queen Iolant when they made their inaugural entrance into Saragossa.13 Mart´ı, as leader of the military estate, was present toward the end of that year at the Corts in Monzon ´ and, in his capacity as Joan’s lieutenant general, responded in Aragonese to Joan’s Catalan opening presentation. When the impatient king wished to dissolve the meeting, Mart´ı

11

12

13

p. 99, and Roca, Johan I, p. 130 who reports that Iolant asked Joan whether she should extend her hand to Maria for a kiss. On Mart´ı’s negotiations, see Tasis i Marca, Pere, p. 166 and Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 130. Joan I, p. 137 and Pere, p. 121, where Tasis i Marca writes that Sibilla fled two days after she began to remove the jewels, and that Mart´ı arrived on the following day. Unsure about her security in the seaside location, Sibilla took shelter with her group in Bernat’s castle at Sant Mart´ı Sarroca. Joan I, pp. 137–139 and Pere, pp. 121–122. While besieging the castle, Mart´ı communicated with his brother through Vicenc¸ Ferrer, who also served as the confessor of Iolant. Joan I, p. 147 and Pere, p. 176 on Mart´ı’s titles. See also Lalinde Abad´ıa, Virreyes y lugartenientes, pp. 125–126. Riera’s article on the dalfinat, pp. 109–110, is helpful here. Lalinde also discusses the events in the Kingdom of Aragon in 1388 as does Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 155. See, supra, the chapter on the queen.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

321

dissented on behalf of those assembled. Nevertheless, when the Corts was suspended a year later in November 1389, Mart´ı joined other members of the nobility and followed King Joan’s orders to repel the invading forces led by the Count of Armagnac, who had continued to assert his rights over Roussillon and Cerdagne, as well as over the kingdom of Majorca.14 Despite occasional differences in policies, the king and the duke remained on intimate terms. When King Joan criticized Mart´ı the following April for not having hanged some mercenaries he had imprisoned, relations between the two brothers did not seem to have been impaired. The duke escorted the ill Iolant when, in the absence of Joan who had traveled to Girona to quell unrest against the local municipal authorities, she visited the healing baths in Arles de Tec not far from Perpignan. Mart´ı and his sister-in-law communicated openly with each other on matters affecting the stability of the kingdom. On May 24, 1391, Iolant explained to Mart´ı that to hand down a decision – in a trial of Maimonidean works accused of maligning Christianity, in Barcelona or anywhere else where there was a Jewish community, would serve to fan popular hatred against the local Jewish population and thereby harm the royal patrimony.15 In late May and June of 1391, Mart´ı, in his various governmental capacities and as a member of the royal family, was involved in legal questions concerning Jews and their property. But, far more portentous for the fate of the Aragonese Crown’s Jewish communities, Mart´ı’s priorities and considerable energies were largely focused at this time on his newly planned military expedition to Sicily. On May 11, Mart´ı shared these plans with the jurats of the Barcelona Concell de Cent, asked them for a loan of 50,000 florins, and promised as collateral revenues and locales that he possessed in Catalonia. Two weeks later, King Joan, on behalf of himself and Queen Iolant, responded positively to a number of his brother’s appeals regarding his upcoming voyage. The king allowed him to outfit, at royal expense, twenty galleys staffed by 200 armed men on which 2,000 foot-soldiers would set sail. On May 31, the Barcelona

14

15

On the Corts (Cortes in Aragonese), see Tasis i Marca, Joan I, pp. 159–172. See also ´ Inglada and Forgas, Las Cortes catalanas, pp. 209–214. The invasion by the Count of Armagnac is covered in Tasis i Marca, Pere, pp. 176–177 and idem, Joan I, pp. 173– 178. Tasis i Marca, Joan I, p. 178, contains a long excerpt of Joan’s letter to Mart´ı. Ibid., pp. 180–181, describes the April visit to the Roman baths at Arles de Tec. See, above, the queen chapter. Reg. 2095, fols. 175v–176v, dated December 3, 1390, was published in Riera i Sans, Les llic`encies reials, pp. 141–143, document no. 10. Cf. above note 7.

322

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

council deliberated about Mart´ı’s request and on June 9 agreed to lend him 27,000 florins.16 Fortified by the financial support of the Aragonese king and queen, and of the Barcelona city council, the infant Mart´ı set about to enlist volunteers for his naval expedition. On June 11, the duke ordered the simultaneous placement of recruitment tables in the cities of Barcelona, Valencia, Majorca, Tortosa, and Collioure. On June 26, Mart´ı was in Barcelona, and by July 3 he had moved on to Valencia. It was there he received his brother’s report about the ongoing riots against the Jews of Castile and read of the king’s concern that such insubordinate behavior had begun to surface in the Crown of Aragon. “And since we, and you in our place, are obligated to defend the said Jews and take them under our special guard and protection since they are our coffers and treasure,” Joan wrote, he ordered his governor general to preserve the Jews of the aliama of the city of Valencia – “where you are presently located,” as well as individual Jews and their communities in the entire Kingdom of Valencia.17 Mart´ı, as the senior royal authority resident in Valencia, immediately performed his assigned role as locum tenens, literally place-holder, of his brother the king. The infant ordered a public declaration that no one of any estate or condition, under penalty of corporal harm and financial penalties, dare harm Jews and their community, or act in any way against the rights and privileges of the Valencia municipality. On July 6, Duke 16

17

Mart´ı’s involvement in affairs regarding Jews can be found in Reg. 2084, fol. 30v, dated May 30, ibid., fol. 81v from June 19, and ibid., fols. 81v–82r from June 26. Joan’s May 25 letter to his brother is in Reg. 1961, fol. 7r. On May 28, on fol. 8r-v, Joan hastened to add that these assemblages of armed men could not include individuals who had committed crimes against the king, queen, or other members of the royal family. The municipal diary for May 11 and 31, and June 9, can be found in Schwartz y Luna and Carreras i Candi eds., Manual de Novells Ardits, pp. 14–15. Manual de Novells Ardits, p. 15, recorded that, on June 11 in Barcelona, “se posa lo estendart per rao del passatge del dit Senyor Duch en Sicilia,” and that on June 19, Mart´ı left the city for Saragossa and Valencia. Jaume Riera i Sans reports on the June 11 enrollment in his Estrangers, p. 578, incorrectly citing Reg. 2029, fol. 270r-v. Reg. 2084, fols. 81v–82r, dated June 26, has Mart´ı in Barcelona. According to Joan’s letter of July 3, Reg, 1878, fol. 54r (published in Riera Sans, Los tumultos, p. 218), Mart´ı was in Valencia. Riera i Sans, El baptisme, p. 45, writes that Mart´ı was in Valencia for ten days before the riots on July 9 which would have him in Valencia on June 29. See, above, the chapter on the city of Valencia. The following day, July 4, Duke Mart´ı presented to the city council a May 24 letter from his brother, the king, asking the city fathers for counsel, loans, and outright grants toward the Sicilian expedition: AMV Manual de Consells, A-19, fol. 48r–49v as reported by Narbona Vizca´ıno, El trienio negro, p. 201.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

323

Mart´ı acknowledged both the public announcement and confirmed his support of the municipal authorities, and its customary and statutory law.18 Mart´ı was vigilant, as well, about unrest directed against Jews in areas that belonged to him and Maria. On July 5, he actively supported Jewish communities across the southern kingdom and declared his especial protection of aliamas, including that of Segorbe. “[T]he aliama is our treasure,” Mart´ı asserted to the justicia, jurats, and prohomens of that city, which had originally pertained to the patrimony of Maria’s father, the Conde de Luna. The duke ordered the aliama and its regidors to approach the municipal authorities with their complaints and to suggest remedies. That same day, he similarly extended his protection to the Jews of Borriana, and on July 6 to those of Ll´ıria.19 Even as Mart´ı sought to ensure the safety of the Valencia aliamas, he exercised routine royal financial and administrative oversight over these same Jewish communities. On July 7, the duke sought to resolve financial disputes between the aliama in Borriana and the royal procurador fiscal, and to uphold the rights of the aliama to prevent the seizure of their property by local officials. When Mart´ı attempted to collect a particular tax from the Valencia aliama, the Jews refused, claiming that they had already rendered the sum to the Queen.20 Concerns about his Jewish population notwithstanding, the duke, on Saturday July 8, continued to plan for his naval expedition, writing to his duquessa about the sale of mortgaged loans called censals and arranging for a variety of purchases necessary for his “benaventurat passatge,” felicitous voyage, to Sicily. The very next day – that fate-filled Sunday, Mart´ı returned his focus to the Jews and ordered the Oriola nobleman Olfo de Proxida to punish those of the city of Elx and of the hamlet of Crevillent – both communities belonging to his wife, who had provoked 18

19

20

Roca Traver, La gobernacion, pp. 177–214, discusses the Valencia municipality’s ´ resistance to Pere’s appointment of Mart´ı in 1378 as lieutenant governor of the kingdom. Reg. 2093, fol. 108r on the city of Valencia. Ibid., fol. 103r ¶1 refers to Segorbe and Ll´ıria, and fol. 106r to Segorbe, Borriana (where he addressed the royal, municipal, and ecclesiastical authorities), and to Davi El Cano, a Jew of Segorbe, about whom Mart´ı specifically intervened. See the chapters on the city and Kingdom of Valencia. Ibid., fols. 107r and 109r on Borriana, and fols. 110v–11r regarding the payment of the cena, a payment to finance local hospitality for the royal court. This issue occasioned a letter from the duke to Iolant’s general procurator and tax collector, Mossen Francesch Daranda. On July 7, Mart´ı also attended to a dispute between two Muslim communities: ibid., fol. 109r-v.

324

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

the Jews of Elx and the Muslims of Crevillent, respectively, and had actually harmed them. The duke directly contacted the Jewish community of Elx, assured them of Olfo’s protection, and encouraged them to be in contact with him.21 Duquessa Maria was correspondingly concerned about attacks against the Jews and on July 9 as well turned her attention to their holdings in Catalonia, and specifically to the situation of the Jews who resided in the duke’s titular vila of Montblanc. Apparently, just as Mart´ı attended to their holdings in the Kingdom of Valencia, Maria assumed responsibility for ducal interests in Catalonia, where she was located. Presuming that local officials may not have known what had transpired in the neighboring Kingdom of Castile, she reported from Tarrega to the procurador general ` of Catalonia, as well as to royal and town officials, about the riots against the Jews of Seville and the ensuing scandals. Maria explained that some “desefrenats,” lawless people, who lived “within our senyoria in Catalonia” had improbably begun to attack the Jews verbally and physically. The duchess made clear how the aliama of Montblanc among others – specifically mentioning its taxpayers, “were the treasure of our lord and of our chamber” and were constituted under their special guard and protection. Consequently, the local officials were to defend the aliama and severely punish its attackers.22 Ducal efforts to protect the Jews were of little utility. The city of Valencia exploded on Sunday July 9, and the duke was caught unawares. Mart´ı informed his brother that night that, while he was at Sunday dinner, a man had approached him and reported how the youths had marched on the Jewish quarter, had screamed “muyren los juheus muyren,” die Jews die, and that one man had already been killed.23 “I rose up at once from the table,” Mart´ı reported, and immediately rode to the juheria to contain the unrest. The duke presented himself to his brother as engaged, brave, and even acting single-handedly. But what Mart´ı both disclosed and withheld from his account is revealing. The duke 21 22 23

Ibid., fol. 111r, ¶s 1 and 2 for the ducal activites of July 8. Reg. 2093, fol. 115r-v; fol. 115v ¶1 contain his letters regarding Elig and Crivilent. Reg. 2108, fol. 2v described, and its publication details furnished, in the chapter, Elsewhere in Catalonia. I am focusing here only on some aspects of the duke’s account. It is important to remember that the duke opened his letter by declaring that he had immediately put into effect the king’s provisions, had made the necessary public announcements, and had erected gallows within the city. See the chapter on the city of Valencia for all the details of both the duke’s and the jurats’ reports. The duke used the term fadrins, and not minyons, to describe the youths.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

325

did not refer to the nautical conscripts present in the plaza, yet he did mention that when he arrived at the Jewish quarter, he heard people, including the youths, cry “Let the Jews die or compel them to become Christians.” Mart´ı instinctively protected his conscripts and consequently the future of his expedition, and simultaneously underscored the option available to prevent the death of the Crown’s Jews. After Mart´ı told his understandably self-serving tale about the fighting in the Jewish quarter, and of his role in the attempted suppression of the violence, he remarked how he did not know the actual number of dead but surmised that there were few casualties. There remained a glimmer of hope, Mart´ı assured his brother. As the Jews had streamed out of the juheria and had asked to be baptized, he had directed priests holding a crucifix to enter the Jewish quarter. The duke reported to the king that as more Jews were baptized, the attacks on them waned. Mart´ı assured Joan that he had only permitted such conversions so to prevent further wickedness by the Christians. Mart´ı was the only member of the royal family who, during all the months of riots from July 1391 through April 1392, was actually caught up in the violence against the Jews and was forced to devise an immediate remedy to contain the public unrest. There was much at stake for Mart´ı in the pacification of the city. Not only had his older brother the king appointed him to protect the Jews in Valencia, but also all his preparations for his voyage to Sicily lay in the balance. Conversion emerged as an option to keep the peace, contain his brother’s disappointment, protect the lives of the Jews, and ensure the success of his military expedition – an endeavor through which the infant and duke would pursue their father’s dream of a Mediterranean empire, fortify his mother’s claim to her native island, and make his own mark on the Crown of Aragon by cementing his son’s claim to his own kingdom. Mart´ı was sufficiently astute to understand that his brother and sisterin-law, the king and the queen of the Crown of Aragon, would not be happy with the conversion of so many Jews and with the collateral damage that it would inflict on their revenues. And so Mart´ı boldly announced to his older brother that what had taken place could only be understood as the “juhi de Deu,” the judgment of God. Not only was the conversion of Jews advantageous to the preservation of law and order, but it was also a religious ideal that Mart´ı hoped the king and queen could embrace. Mart´ı was not alone in such assertions. The jurats of Valencia invoked a “disposicio divinal” to the king on that Sunday and, over the next number of days, stated openly that the will of God

326

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

could be discerned in the riots and conversions that had swept their city.24 While Mart´ı attempted to organize effective protection for the Jews of Xativa on July 11, the Morvedre Jews on the 12th, and for those of ` Borriana on the 13th, the duke may already have concluded that the most effective long-term defense of Jews was not physical intervention but rather the promotion of conversion. On July 11, the infant Mart´ı lifted the death penalty – of being burned alive in the rambla of the city, ordained for “magistrum Jacobum de Valencia conversum tunc vocatum ic¸ach perfet alias Rau,” Master Jacob of Valencia, converso, formerly called Ic¸ach Perfect, previously a rabbi, and revoked the confiscation of his property. By successfully engineering the conversion of the distinguished communal rabbi, Mart´ı may well have hoped that much good would come of it: in the words of the remission “et quia per vestri conversionem possunt bona quamplurima pervenire,” a reference to the conversion of the remaining Jews of the aliama who had remained loyal to their faith. Jaume Riera notes that it was not coincidental that July 11 of 1391 fell out on Tisha b’Av in the Jewish calendar, a day when the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples was mourned. The intention of the duke would then have been to remind the Jews – in Christian theological terms, that God had indeed turned his back on the Jewish people, as the destruction of the Temple and now the riots in Valencia had demonstrated, and had chosen a New Israel.25 Even as Mart´ı struggled to stabilize the city and the Kingdom of Valencia, he was compelled to justify his actions before his superiors who, like him, were confounded by both the intensity and diffusion of the violence. 24

25

See the chapter on the city of Valencia. A treatment of Mart´ı’s attitudes toward the conversion of the Jews prior to 1391 is crucial. Mark Meyerson has written about King Mart´ı’s stance toward relapsing conversos, and other related matters in A Jewish Renaissance, pp. 42–58. On the eschatological fantasies that were current at that time, see Riera, Girona, pp. 115–117, 121, and ff., and Lerner, The Feast of Saint Abraham, pp. 108–110 and ff. Reg. 2093, fols. 163v-164r and published as an appendix in Riera i Sans, El baptisme, pp. 50–52 and his discussion of the text on pp. 45–49. Jaume Riera sees this remission granted to Rabbi Yitzhak Bar Sheshet Perfet, the rabbi of the Jewish community of Valencia, the outcome of trumped-up charges against him (Riera speculates that it may have been an accusation of consorting with a Christian woman), as a result of which he would have incurred the death penalty. See, supra, chapter on the city of Valencia. I find it striking that Mart´ı would have been aware in advance that Tisha b’Av fell out that year on July 11. For Jewish responses to such arguments during this period, see the letter of Yehoshua haLorki of Alcaniz ˜ translated in my essay, A Letter to a Wayward Teacher, pp. 389–447.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

327

Queen Iolant apprised her brother-in-law, on July 12, how upset she was about the unfortunate scandal, how distressed she was that the duke was unable to put an end to the unrest, and pointedly ordered him to preserve the remaining Jews. Mart´ı defensively asserted to his queen that he had briefed both her and Joan on what had transpired and updated Iolant on the progress achieved in the pacification of “her” Jewish community. Only 200 Jews remain to be baptized, he declared, and conversionary efforts were still going forward. Mindful of the queen’s financial interests, the duke noted that the former Jews returned to their homes in the juheria. Mart´ı recommended that she dispatch Francesch Daranda, tax collector and one of her most trusted aides, to confront and manage this new Valencia reality.26 When Mart´ı reported to King Joan that same Wednesday, he devoted but a few words to the continued sacking of the Valencia Jewish quarter on July 10. The duke instead highlighted his attempts that Monday to defend the Muslims, which included the hanging of a Castilian who had also been involved in Sunday’s attack on the Jews. Mart´ı recounted how a large mob of local Christians, “poble infinit de la dita Ciutat,” had attacked the Muslims and roared: “Let the Muslims die or have them become Christians.” The duke then described the flight of the Muslim population to the mountains. The fear of reprisals by a Muslim government – Mart´ı enclosed a copy of a letter that Elx officials had received from the Oriola council, alerting them to the massing of 2,000 cavalry by the King of Granada, poised to wreak havoc on the territory of the Crown – stimulated Mart´ı to encourage the fleeing Muslims to return and to order the active participation of local officials in the defense of the Muslim communities.27 Duke Mart´ı arranged for the protection of Xativa Muslims on the 11th, ` as he had for that city’s Jews, and for the Muslims of Ll´ıria, on the 12th. Whereas on July 13, he instructed city officials of Ll´ıria to take the Muslims of nearby Pedralba under their protection, Mart´ı explained to a local Ll´ıria notable that same day that while he would be much pleased if the Jews became Christians, such decisions were theirs alone. Apparently, the conversion of the Jews continued to appeal to many in the kingdom 26 27

Reg. 2054, fol. 98v ¶1 is from the queen and Reg. 2093, fol. 117r ¶1 is from the duke. See above, the chapter on the city of Valencia, and the chapter on the queen. Reg. 2093, fol. 116r-v and published in Riera Sans, Los tumultos, pp. 221–222. I reported on this document briefly in the city of Valencia chapter. A monograph on the fate of the Muslims in the riots of 1391 and following that, a comparison with that of the Jews are scholarly desiderata.

328

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

as an effective strategy – whether or not it was religiously desirable, to resolve tensions with that particular minority. The Jews or those who converted, he added, should be able to recover their property.28 While Mart´ı received blanket support from his brother on July 13 for provisions the duke deemed necessary to contain the Valencia riots, the king, three days later, expressed deep disappointment with his brother’s performance. In Joan’s opinion, Mart´ı should have already meted out the death penalty to three to four hundred people and not, to date, hanged only one individual. Additionally, King Joan ordered his brother not to allow Jews to be baptized, except by their own free will. News had arrived at the royal court that some Valencians wanted to compel those Jews who had found refuge in private Christian homes to become Christian. Also some were determined to make a church out of the aliama’s synagogue. Aware perhaps of the duke’s role to help the Jews, in some instances, join the majority faith, the king reasoned that no Jew could be forced to accept baptism because a forced act was neither meritorious or legal. Furthermore, Mart´ı should not allow the synagogue to be destroyed. All of the king’s directives to his brother on the preservation of the Jews and the inventory of their property were oriented toward a simple goal: “to restore the . . . aliama and return it to its original state.”29 Duke Mart´ı surely recognized that, whether his brother was being disingenuous or simply na¨ıve, there was no return to the status quo ante. At the same time, Mart´ı appreciated that he needed to be perceived by both the king and queen as capable and effective, a family member who could be relied upon in times of crisis. The duke assured Iolant – also on July 16, that he pursued justice against all who participated in the riots and ensured that stolen property was returned. Mart´ı yet again suggested that one of the queen’s trustworthy aides be transferred to the city to oversee her interests. The infant, significantly, ended his missive by informing Iolant that as of his writing, very few Jews, “here and there,” remained to be baptized. Whether or not the conversion of Valencia Jewry was doctrinally defensible, it would soon be fully realized.30

28

29 30

Reg. 2093, fol. 89r ¶2 and fol. 117v ¶2. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia. As for the conversos’ retention of the property they possessed as Jews, see above, the king chapter. Reg. 1961, fols. 41v–42v and published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, pp. 655–656, no. 409. See also the chapters on the city and Kingdom of Valencia, and the king chapter. Reg. 2093, fol. 93r ¶s 1, 2, and 4. Also on July 16, Reg. 2093, fol. 92v, the duke criticized the officials of Alcoi about attacks against the Muslim community of Cocentaina who belonged to the Queen. He ordered them to defend the Muslims from harm. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

329

While the duke sought to provide physical security to Valencia Jews, he continued his campaign to marshal the necessary financial resources to support the Crown’s Sicilian expedition. Mart´ı appealed again for additional funding for his journey, and Joan, that same July 16, granted the infant the right to dispose of lands, which as king he had assigned his brother as a fief. Indeed, King Joan acknowledged the duke’s loyalty and service to the Crown and granted him almost a year to negotiate these sales. Mart´ı’s questionable efforts in the preservation of Valencia’s Jewish communities did not interfere with the royals’ positive disposition toward the duke’s overseas project on behalf of the Crown.31 Writing on Sunday the 16th from Paterna – a hamlet that belonged to Maria de Luna and where the duke, before the riots began, had planned to be on July 10, Mart´ı expressed frustration that his wife had still not furnished him with the necessary agencies to enable him to pursue the sale of censals in areas that they both possessed in the Kingdom of Valencia. The proceeds of these transactions were to fund “our felicitous voyage.” Indeed as a result of this delay, he wrote the duquessa, “great harm and disturbance could follow us and you in our affairs.”32 The expedition’s road to financial liquidity ran, at times, through the Crown’s Jewish communities. The duke, on July 17 and 18, respectively, thanked the leaders of the Majorca Jewish community, and the aliama itself, for their contribution toward his Sicilian journey. In recognition of their pledge, Mart´ı assured the Majorcans that “you can be certain that . . . we assume obligation for all affairs that affect the aliama and its individuals.” Consequently, the duke, on the 18th, charged Bernat de Cabrera, who was on the island arranging for the expedition, with the responsibility to oversee the concerns of the aliama and all its members.33 Mart´ı was obliged to prevent further attacks on the Jews and Muslims of Valencia and to manage the aftereffects of those assaults that had already been committed. On July 18 alone the duke ordered protection for both the Jews and Muslims of Xativa and punishment for those who ` would harm them. He promised, as his brother had and would continue to do, that he would travel to their city and proceed with the necessary correction. Mart´ı also protested to the officials of Vila-real that some of their inhabitants had marched on the Jews of Borriana, and that one member of this group had called for the Jews’ death or conversion to 31 32 33

Reg. 1961, fols. 51v–53r and above, the king chapter. Reg. 2093, fol. 93r ¶3 and, above, the chapter on the city of Valencia. On the duke’s plans to be in Paterna, see for example fol. 103v, dated July 5. Ibid., fol. 93v ¶s 1 and 2 to the secretaris and the aliama, respectively. Fol. 98r ¶2 is to Bernat de Cabrera. See the Majorca chapter for a fuller treatment.

330

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Christianity. Mart´ı, that day, offered to help the royal bailiff and alcayt of the fortress at Morvedre in Bonafonat’s effort to preserve both the local Jews and those who had sought refuge in his town. The duke also continued to administer the complex task of inventory and return of property stolen from Valencian Jews. Lastly, on the 18th, Mart´ı reported to both the king and queen on some of what had transpired and defended his actions.34 Duke Mart´ı’s public posture regarding the riots, and his private concerns about the flotilla, were amply displayed in a lengthy letter the duke sent on July 20 to his duquessa. Mart´ı offered Maria a schematic view of the riots, which he may well have intended to counter reports of the infant’s behavior, of which Maria was surely aware. The youths, the duke began, gathered while all members of the community (and not just Mart´ı) were at dinner: “tothom comunament se dinava.” As the young men entered the juheria, they called on its inhabitants to be baptized. Immediately upon hearing of the unrest, the duke rose from his table and proceeded to the Jewish quarter, where he successfully brought the riots to a halt. But once the rumors spread that the Jews were killing Christians, a “gent infinida” – an infinite number of people who were impossible to control, assembled. Mart´ı assured Maria that, despite his energetic attempts to repel the rioters, he had not been injured, as others had informed her. Many Jews left the Jewish quarter to be baptized in the churches, and soon only a few Jews remained. The Jewish quarter was thoroughly plundered, but everyone, “tot hom,” returned the stolen goods as a result

34

On Xativa, Reg. 2093, fols. 94r-v, fols. 94v–95r, fol. 95r-v. Regarding Morvedre, ibid., ` fol. 97v. The letters to the king (and similarly to the queen) are in ibid., fols. 96v–97r, where he wrote that the Vila-real Christians collectively acted against the Jews and then the Muslims. On all, see the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia. On July 15, Reg. 2093, fol. 91r, the duke empowered the jurats and en Ramon Bonet, a local dyer, to travel throughout the city and to a variety of locales outside the metropolis to locate silk which had been taken from the Jewish quarter and was now in the hands of a number of merchants. A notary was to register the merchandise. Once the identity of original owners of the cloth was ascertained, judicial procedures would be followed and officials assigned to recover the goods. A letter to these merchants from the duke on August 17, ibid., fol. 140r-v, indicated that Mart´ı had just completed negotiating the technicalities of this operation. On July 18 the duke empowered his portant veus in the Kingdom of Valencia and the municipal jurats to seize jewels, money, and other goods taken from the juheria of Valencia during the recent avalot. Mart´ı informs them of the appropriate judicial procedures that they need to follow when presented with these valuables: ibid., fols. 95v–96r.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

331

of his efforts. When the large-scale Muslim riots erupted the next day, Mart´ı wrote how he reacted immediately by hanging an individual and stationing armed guards in the streets that led to the moreria. The riot ceased. Mart´ı made clear to Maria how vigorously he had protected the Jews and Muslims, but that both the widespread agitation against these populations, and God’s intention that the Jewish population be shepherded toward the baptismal font, rendered governmental intervention ineffective. In Xativa, the Jewish quarter was robbed and all its inhabitants ` became Christian. The people of Vila-real, aided by those from Borriana, marched on Vila-real and attacked the Jews. All the Jews were robbed and became Christian. The Jews in Morvedre were saved by Bonafonat de San Feliu who urged them to ascend to the castle. In Alzira, all Jews were converted and thus did not suffer harm, as happened “similarly . . . in Liria and in many other locales.” At present, the duke observed, “the entire land is powerfully stirred up against them and still against the Muslims.” All the provisions put into effect, the duke acknowledged, had proved insufficient because, Mart´ı wrote in the conclusion to this first part of his letter, “we understand that it is the judgment of God.” As the infant shifted his focus to the financial underpinnings of the Sicilian voyage, Mart´ı altered his tone and opened by praising the duquessa for unnamed activities. But then, as in his earlier missive of the 16th, the duke criticized Maria for not having informed him of the funds she attempted to secure from the nobility while she was in Barcelona. He faulted her again for not having provided the necessary powers of attorney for the sale of censals, arrangements that would have enabled God to execute the “felicitous passage.”35 35

Reg. 2093, fols. 119r–120r. Riera Sans, Los tumultos, pp. 222–224, contains the part of the letter in which Duke Mart´ı reports on the riots against the Jews and Muslims. See the chapters on the city and Kingdom of Valencia, and the chapter on the king. Mart´ı noted that while he had already written to the duquessa about the riots, his aide Guerau de Cervello would soon share with her the duke’s perspective on the events. Mart´ı may have used this opportunity to furnish his wife with talking points until Guerau would arrive. On Cervello’s involvement in Duke Mart´ı’s public presentations of the riots, see below. See generally Julia Miquel, “El Llinatge Dels Cervello,” Medieval ´ ´ Historia ` www.raco.cat/index.php/Resclosa/article/viewFile/27237/27071. On July 20, ibid., fol. 120r ¶2, Mart´ı followed up on his remarks to Maria about the sequestration of some property of the nobility in a letter to Barthomeu de Bonany. Maria wrote Barthomeu as well on December 3, Reg. 2108, fol. 22r-v. See below. Ibid., ¶s 1 and 3, are fragments of a ducal letter regarding the arrival of Bernat de Cabrera from Majorca with the news that the capital city of the island offered four outfitted galleys for the expedition.

332

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

The duke himself was under siege. Mart´ı felt constrained to justify himself to the royal family, apprising the king, on the 21st, how he had started proceedings against those whom he had imprisoned in the riots. Taking a different tack than he did with the duquessa, Mart´ı asserted that there were compelling reasons not to go ahead with the punishments. The jurats and all of my counsellors, the duke reported, “asked, indeed urged me,” not to take action because of their fear of great unrest, “la gran comocio del poble.” The duke sought to shift the responsibility for the pacification of the kingdom onto the king. Mart´ı reminded Joan that the king of Granada had assembled Muslim forces on the border of the kingdom and enclosed letters from the Marques de Villena and Xativa officials, which outlined the Muslim threat. It would be helpful, ` the infant declared, if Joan would fulfill his promise to visit the southern kingdom.36 Duke Mart´ı employed yet another strategy to fend off criticism from his sister-in-law Iolant. From a letter written by the queen’s adviser, Francesch Daranda, to the royal bailiff in Valencia, Mart´ı had learned that the queen had denigrated the duke’s “small effort” in the prevention of the Valencia riots. The infant expressed surprise at these senseless words, although on July 12 Iolant had already criticized him for his powerlessness. On the 22nd, Mart´ı asserted to Daranda, as he had to Maria de Luna, that he had placed himself squarely in the midst of the unrest in order to quell the disturbances and had only later distanced himself in an effort to avert mortal danger to his own person. The duke asked Daranda – whom Mart´ı had suggested that the queen send to Valencia to defend her prerogatives, to intercede for him with Iolant. Mart´ı advised his correspondent that he had requested that the king travel to Valencia to make his own appraisal of the state of affairs in the city, and to assess the provisions that the duke had enacted.37 All the while, Mart´ı pressed ahead with the necessary preparations for his voyage, whose recruits had been associated with the public upheavals, and with the threats against the Jewish population. The Sicilian expedition and the security of the Crown and its Jews became unavoidably linked. When the duke, on July 21, responded to a query from the Barcelona 36

37

Reg. 2093, fols. 120v–121r. the chapters on the city and Kingdom of Valencia, and the king chapter. Mart´ı had earlier, on July 12, informed his brother about the Muslim threat. See supra. Ibid., fol. 121r-v. Mart´ı had seen the letter Daranda had written to Miquel de Piera, the batle of the Valencia aliama, to whom the king had instructed his brother on July 16 to return all the robbed goods. On all, see the city of Valencia chapter.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

333

municipal officials about the situation in Valencia with information about the riots, the provisions enacted, and the punishments administered – even to noblemen, the infant also had to deflect accusations that a band of conscripts attached to Bernat de Cabrera, the organizer of the Sicilian expedition, had attacked a local castle in Vic. And while Mart´ı was grateful to Majorca officials for their support of Bernat de Cabrera and for the provisions they enacted to assure the safety of the local Jewish community, he felt impelled to order the governor of the island, again on July 22, to preserve the Jews from all harm.38 Mart´ı was frustrated that his ongoing pursuit of justice in Valencia interfered with the timetable for his voyage. The duke explained, that same July day, to the bishop of Tortosa – who advised Mart´ı regarding funding for the journey, that the “comocio de los gents,” which resulted in rioting against the Jews, prevented him from leaving Valencia and traveling, presumably, to Tortosa. Consequently, he would be grateful if the bishop could arrive in Valencia at the latest by Monday July 24. The duke had detained Bernat de Cabrera in Valencia for the express purpose of meeting the bishop, and his naval captain had to leave the city soon thereafter.39 An undated draft of a memorandum – which the duke probably composed during the latter days of July for his aide, Guerau de Cervello, and seemingly intended as talking points to King Joan, offered other – and perhaps more candid – explanations than those Mart´ı utilized on the 21st, when he asserted to his brother that it would be unwise to discipline those who were complicit in the riots. In this note, the infant argued that he could not administer all the necessary punishments, since he planned to spend the entire month of August in service of the expedition. His arrival in Tortosa was crucial, and his departure from Valencia should therefore be excused. If it were not for the absence of certain unnamed individuals from the city of Valencia, who possessed much information 38

39

Ibid., fols. 121v–122r to the Barcelona officials and above, the Barcelona chapter. Ibid., fols. 122v–123r is a note, undated and unaddressed, which I date to either the 21st or the 22nd and intended for some Majorcan officials; fol. 101r ¶1 is to the governor. See the Majorca chapter. Ibid., fol. 100v. See Riera i Sans, Estrangers, p. 580, and the Catalonia chapter. Mart´ı had written to officials of the Tortosan bishop, among many others, on July 6, fol. 103r ¶2, about the city of Borriana. Fols. 100v–101r, dated July 22, is an order regarding payment for the galleys and the accordats, naval recruits. Riera i Sans, El baptisme, p. 45 and p. 49, n. 7, argues on the basis of this document that the riots continued as late as that day. I think it is fairer to say that the overall situation in Valencia was sufficiently unsettled that the duke was unable to leave.

334

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

about the riots, he would have already brought justice to a successful conclusion.40 Mart´ı would not leave the city of Valencia until the middle of August. During the remainder of July, the Duke of Montblanc attempted to confront the results of the riots, and to ensure that further violence was not in the offing. Over two weeks after the duquessa’s July 9 letter to the royal and local officials in Montblanc about attacks on local Jews and the financial damage these acts would inflict on their household, the duke expressed irritation with his subordinate Narnau de Cervello, and with royal and other officials, about the uprisings in “the land” against the Jews. Mart´ı, on July 24, ordered them to protect “our Jews” of Montblanc, as if they were guarding him or his son. The duke urged them to deploy the necessary guards and to do everything – which the duke declared he would undertake had he been there, to preserve them.41 Where Mart´ı was in residence, in Valencia, the duke, in tandem with the local officials, presented a united front toward the king and other royal officials, claiming that they administered punishment to those guilty of rioting and ensured that goods stolen from the Jews were returned. The financial aftereffects on the royal treasury of the riots, and the ensuing death and conversions, were pressing concerns to Mart´ı. On July 26, the duke sought to effect a resolution among over twenty individuals, who held varieties of mortgaged loans repaid as annuities – censals or violaris, from the Jewish community, from individual Jews, and from “those formerly Jews who were newly baptized.” On August 1, the duke involved himself in a case between the procurador fiscal and a nobleman, which arose from the robbery and invasion.42 Mart´ı was reminded repeatedly that his failure to act as the king had demanded would lead to Joan’s intervention. On July 17, the king had promised Morvedre Jews that, if the duke did not mete out appropriate punishment to the attackers, he would travel to their city. Joan definitively declared to the Barcelonans, on July 26, that he would leave for

40

41 42

Reg. 2093, unnumbered folio, r-v, at end of “registro 8.” There are unclear references here as well as incomplete sentences. I conjecture that Mart´ı composed the memorandum after he had sent his July 21 letter to the king, but before the end of the month. Reg. 2093, fol. 69r-v. See the chapter on elsewhere in Catalonia. See the chapter on the city of Valencia. See the clear explanation of censalis and violaris in Meyerson, Jews in an Iberian Frontier Kingdom, pp. 205–226 and Meyerson, A Jewish Renaissance, pp. 17–18. The Jews and their community used these instruments to pay off their public debts. The order of July 26 is in Reg. 2093, at fol. 72r-v; and the document of August 1, at fol. 76r ¶2.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

335

Valencia immediately following August 15 and punish those responsible for the assault. On August 1, King Joan rebuked his brother for not having publicly overruled an official of the bishop of Valencia who had forbidden anyone to help the Jews. Joan explained – as if Mart´ı were not aware, that the aliama was highly profitable to the queen and announced that he would leave on August 10, earlier than planned, to punish the rioters.43 The infant may well have imagined that the king would soon arrive in Valencia, but over the next couple of weeks violence erupted across the Crown of Aragon. Riots broke out in Majorca on August 2 and then spread across Catalonia. As late as August 9, Joan reiterated to the municipal officials of Valencia his determination to visit their city, but by the following day, the king informed them among others that events in Barcelona precluded him from doing so. The unfolding riots implicated Mart´ı and his Sicilian expedition even as the infant himself remained far from the spreading violence. As had happened almost a month earlier in the city of Valencia, the galley workers whom Mart´ı and his deputies had engaged in Barcelona – including fifty Castilians who had embarked in two boats from Valencia, were involved in the violence against the local Jews and their community. Amid the unrest, Mart´ı, from his seat in Valencia, prohibited two fully outfitted Castilian ships that were ready to set sail for Sicily from leaving the port.44 Once again, attacks against the Jews had delayed the progress of the duke’s Sicilian operation. In this unsettled environment, Maria de Luna, as agent, procuradriu, of Mart´ı, took responsibility for the Jews and Muslims in those Aragonese lands belonging to herself and her husband. On August 7, the duquessa ordered the protection of the Muslims in Montalban ´ and on August 16 recalled for town officials in Luna and Biel, and the following day for those in Arandiga, the attacks that had ´ unfolded against the Crown’s Jews and declared that neither she nor the duke would allow any danger or scandal to unfold. She instructed them to guard the Jewish aljama and threatened punishment should they collude with the attackers. Maria also arranged for the defense of the Muslims of Gelsa, Villela, and Matamala. The duquessa referred those officials, on

43 44

On Joan’s letters, see the chapter on the king. See the Barcelona, king and queen chapters. Mart´ı’s daughter-in-law, Queen Maria of Sicily, was in residence in Barcelona during the riots and sheltered Jews. Joan asked her, on August 16, not to allow her wards to be forcibly baptized.

336

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

August 16, to the attacks against the Jews, and the provisions she had enacted on their behalf. The Muslims, she directed, must be watched with extreme care.45 Duke Mart´ı, moored in Valencia, continued to manage the consequences of that city’s riots, supporting the rights of the Jews who had converted and seeking to resolve outstanding accusations against those complicit in the unrest. Mart´ı interceded on August 18 – on behalf of Bernalt Andreu of Valencia, the former Azara Cresques, who wished to reclaim a large quantity of wool from the Castilian town of Canete. The ˜ duke asserted to don Alvaro de Luna, a member of Maria’s family whose holdings included that town not far from the Valencia border, that many Jews who had become Christian had difficulties retrieving their property from former coreligionists. Mart´ı referred to Andreu as his vassal and declared that he came to the “holy Catholic faith” with the rights enshrined in the fuero and privilegios of the Kingdom of Valencia.46 The Duke of Montblanc also absolved the Valencia citizen, En Vicent Saranyo, who already on July 12 had been accused by the procurator fiscal of the royal curia of the invasion and robbery of the Jewish quarter, and of participation in the riots against the Muslims. Mart´ı endorsed Saranyo’s declaration that on the morning of July 9 he had heard mass in the church of San Andreu and after dinner had remained at home and did not leave his house. Saranyo additionally claimed that he refused requests to allow stolen goods on his premises. When the unrest spread to the moreria, on Monday morning, the duke reported that Vicent was in the city-council chambers and had stayed there throughout the day.47 Mart´ı too sought absolution from accusations of fecklessness, which had been leveled against him, especially by members of the royal family, so he could proceed unencumbered with his Sicilian enterprise. The duke had an ally in his brother Joan, who, despite his disapproval of the duke’s behavior, wanted him, as he had on July 16, to continue with preparations 45

46 47

See the Kingdom of Aragon chapter for July 27 and for August 3; the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia regarding the Muslims of Montalban; ´ and again the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia for the Jews of Luna and thereabouts. Maria’s letter to the officials of Gelsa, among others, in Reg. 2108, fols. 5v-6r, was not sent. Gelsa is close to the present Velilla de Ebro. I cannot locate Matamala in that area of Aragon. There is a Matamala of Almazan ´ east of Saragossa. I cannot decipher the name of another town, which appears to read Xeruito. Ibid., fol. 163r-v. Reg. 2093, fol. 1r-v, perhaps to be dated around August 18, the date of another document on fol. 1v.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

337

for the expedition. On August 21, the king acknowledged receipt of his brother’s “letra de creenc¸a” that, among other things, exonerated him from any legal actions resulting from the “fet de Valencia.” Joan also assured the duke he had sent the armed men, whom the duke had enlisted, to Barcelona. While the king was surely concerned about these troops’ behavior, he maintained that he did not want their absence to impede his brother’s departure.48 Officially absolved, the Duke of Montblanc withdrew from Valencia and traveled northward to Segorbe, where almost immediately upon his arrival, Mart´ı acknowledged that his notary in Ll´ıria – a city whose Jews had converted a few days after the riots in Valencia, had “recovered in our name” the Torah that the Jews had possessed in the synagogue. Mart´ı wanted the “loyal” Joan Vincent to certify, on August 20, that he had retrieved monies from the Jews’ charitable foundations.49 The duke expressed his appreciation of the conversion of the Jews of Segorbe, when on August 26, Mart´ı, in recognition that the newly minted conversos were “inspired by divine grace,” cancelled all penalties on a variety of loan instruments that they had contracted prior to having “newly arrived on the path to the true catholic life.” That same day, the infant, with “reverence to the Lord Jesus Christ and his mother Mary,” accorded the former Jews the rights to their synagogue and all communal property. The duke granted those “who wisely expelled all dark superstitions” a remission of all transgressions, committed prior to the day of their conversion. The decision of these Jews to convert may well have been carefully negotiated between the community and the duke.50 Mart´ı’s judgment that the conversion of the Jews was both a realization of Christian dreams, and could prove an effective strategy to curb tensions within the Crown, did not sway him from his efforts to protect Jews who

48

49

50

Reg. 1961, fol. 79r ¶2 and published by Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, p. 348, no. 43 wherein a corresponding document from ARV, Protocolos notariales, 2633 is cited. Perhaps the brief that Mart´ı sent his brother had its origins in the memorandum that the duke had composed toward the end of July and sent to his aide Guerau de Cervello. Reg. 2093, fol. 25v ¶2, dated the 25th, contains a reference to the duke’s earlier letters of August 20. Ll´ıria had been bequeathed to Mart´ı by his mother. Ibid., fol. 7v, dated August 23, contains yet another ducal order to royal officials of the kingdom and the Valencia city councilors to proceed without delay with their investigations dedicated to determine who was guilty of the “invasion, depredation and robbery of the Jewish quarter.” Ibid., fols. 33v–34r, and fol. 34r-v, the latter which was published by Riera i Sans, Els ´ poders publics, pp. 459–460, no. 273. Segorbe belonged to Maria.

338

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

stood in harm’s way. On August 27, the infant rebuked the local rector in Montblanc, who had incited the people against the Jews, and on the following day, the 28th, mindful that the universitat of the nearby Tarrega ` had ordered the local Jewish community to be protected only through the month of September, ordered that the Jews, their wives, children, attendants as well as their property, “our cofres and tresor,” be protected for a full year.51 Concerned about the threats to his and Maria’s Catalonian holdings, Mart´ı impressed upon the king the need for the two brothers to work in concert. On that same August 28, Joan indicated to the local officials in Tarrega that his brother had instructed him to enact provisions ` regarding the Jews’ safety, and to ensure that the townspeople protect the community for a year. On August 30, Joan emphasized to royal and ecclesiastical officials in Montblanc that attacks against the Jews, which had occurred on royal lands, should not be allowed to develop in their locale, “especially now that he [our brother the duke] is absent from town.”52 Even as Joan supported his brother’s efforts to safeguard the duke’s own Jews, he remained skeptical about the intentions of those individuals who surrounded Mart´ı. As the duke departed from Segorbe to travel toward him in Saragossa, Joan feared that his brother’s entourage, which as a matter of course would pass through Teruel, could wreak havoc on the local Jews. The king was similarly anxious about the safety of other Aragonese Jewish communities and pointedly asked his brother on September 3 to preserve all aljamas through which he would pass, “ours as well as yours.”53 But Mart´ı was not bound for Saragossa as the king had imagined. Rather, the duke of Montblanc traveled northeast from Segorbe along the 51 52

53

Ibid., fol. 29r ¶1 and fol. 30r-v, respectively. See, supra, the chapter on elsewhere in Catalonia. Reg. 1878, fol. 163r-v, which mentions the order of August 28 to the Tarrega officials ` and ibid., fol. 144r-v to Montblanc. See, above, the Catalonia chapter. On August 30, while still in Segorbe, Mart´ı was petitioned by the nearby Muslim communities of Serra Deslida, Paterna, and Benaguasil for security from attacks by “gens de la terra” and by “estranys.” Reg. 2093, fols. 34v–36v, fols. 43v–44v, and fols. 47v– 49r, respectively, contain much interesting information that begs for comparison with similar letters from and to the Jewish communities. Conclusions will have to await until a full-scale treatment of the Muslims during the riots is completed. These Muslims, who “are prepared to die for the maintenance of the royal crown” were well aware of the duke’s need for funds for his Sicilian voyage. Reg. 1878, fol. 151r-v and published by Riera Sans in Los tumultos, pp. 224–225. See the chapter on the Kingdom of Aragon.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

339

Mediterranean coast to Tortosa, a city where Mart´ı had been determined to spend the entire month of August to plan for his Sicilian expedition. While in Tortosa, the duke ensured that some of the Jews who had converted to Christianity would not suffer financially. Saltiel Alietzer had taken refuge in the local castle together with his entire family, and, on August 13, they had all converted. On September 7, the duke granted the converso Goncalvo Trenxer [sic] a moratorium on his debts. Mart´ı also, that same day, released a royal silversmith and his family from tax obligations they incurred as Jews. The duke ordered that the property of the family of the current Marti de Luna – an appellation that perhaps combined the duke’ given name and Maria’s family of origin, be returned to them.54 When Mart´ı left Tortosa, he declared to the king that he was en route to Tarragona to settle some outstanding issues with Bernat de Cabrera. If they failed to find a solution to their difficulties – in all likelihood related to the Sicilian expedition, both of them would continue on to Barcelona. Pleased with the duke’s plans, the king, on September 10, excused his brother for not already having arrived at the royal court.55 A week later, on September 17, Mart´ı was in Montblanc, presumably after having met with Bernat de Cabrera in Tarragona. From Montblanc, the duke wrote cryptically to Jewish communal officials in nearby Tarrega, and similarly to its paers and probis homines, about propos` als that the nobleman Berenguer Arnau de Cervel[l]o had proffered to them on his behalf. He assured his correspondents that they could place full faith in what En Arnau had presented. Having departed Montblanc, Mart´ı once more did not travel toward the king at Saragossa but rather made his way north to Camarasa, and from there to the nearby fortress at Balaguer.56 Although Mart´ı had not seen his brother since the outbreak of the riots in early July, the duke arranged to confer with his sister-in-law Queen Iolant who, on Friday the 22nd, had just entered the local castle at 54

55 56

Reg. 2093, fol. 55v and ibid., fols. 55v–56r, respectively. The document contains an assertion, crossed-out, that the family had already been “enfranquist” as Jews by the queen. There is no evidence that Mart´ı intervened on behalf of Tortosa Jews who were the objects of continued attempts at conversion – and whose preservation and restoration were the subject of kingly missives during these days. Mart´ı did reported to his brother about tensions between some Tortosa citizens and the local nobility, and recommended the placement of sentries between the groups, a course of action to which the king immediately committed himself. On all this, see the chapter on Catalonia. Reg. 1961, fol. 100r-v and, above, the Catalonia chapter. Reg. 2093, fol. 60v ¶1.

340

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Balaguer to spend the last weeks of her pregnancy. Mart´ı was concerned that both the riots against the Jews and their continued aftereffects would derail or, at the very least, delay his departure to Sicily. Indeed, on the day following the Queen’s arrival, Iolant wrote to her husband, “Senyor, the duke ought to be here today, the 23rd of this month, for dinner. In case he speaks about the fet de Sicilia or about other [matters], I will write you at length.”57 The infant may well have imagined that the queen would be more willing than King Joan to privilege his Sicilian ambitions ahead of his other responsibilities and to acquiesce to his strategies that would serve to pacify the lands of the Crown. When Mart´ı met his sister-in-law in Balaguer, he waded directly into the controversy, which had flared among royal officials, about how best the duke should use his time and abilities. Mart´ı appealed to Iolant not to side with those who had argued that he remain in the Iberian lands of the Crown of Aragon and complete the judicial processes that had been initiated as a result of the riots. Rather, the duke entreated Iolant to allow him to proceed with preparations for the voyage. He had sold or mortgaged the greater part of his holdings to mount the expedition and would incur severe financial loss if the journey were postponed. Iolant agreed that the harm that Mart´ı would suffer as a result of the deferral of his travels outstripped the damage that either she or her husband would endure as a consequence of his departure. Iolant added that the duke’s excessive gratitude both to her and Joan for their support of his expedition was unnecessary, given the love that she, and especially his brother, bore him and that Mart´ı displayed toward them. The queen reported to the king, on the 25th, that Mart´ı would leave Balaguer the following day to meet his duquessa in Gelsa, and that it remained unclear whether his brother would travel further to the northeast to meet him at court.58 Before the Duke of Montblanc left the fortress at Balaguer, Mart´ı continued his attempt to pacify the towns threatened by anti-Jewish rioting by utilizing the same strategies he had found effective ever since the riots had first broken out in Valencia. Apparently, when Mart´ı had visited Camarasa a few days before his arrival in Balaguer, negotiations surrounding the Jews’ proposed change of faith had been advanced. The duke, while at the fortress with the queen, learned that Camarasa Jews, “persuaded and 57 58

Reg. 2054, fol. 109r. See the queen chapter. Reg. 2054, fols. 110r–111r, specifically fol. 110r-v. See, above, the chapter on Iolant.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

341

illuminated by the Holy Spirit,” were “ready to receive holy baptism” as long as the duke reacted favorably to their requirements. Mart´ı, on the 25th, responded serially to the conditions demanded by Camarasa Jews in exchange for their conversion. The duke replied cautiously to the Jews’ insistence that they remain in possession of all their movable and immovable property. He pronounced his satisfaction with the Jews’ decision to remain in town and within the marquisate, for the next ten years, and content with their promise to render appropriate declarations of fealty. To the Jews’ demand that they retain “la escola ab totes ses joyes,” their synagogue and its jewels, so that their sale could relieve their many financial obligations, Mart´ı declared that if Camarasa officials made a church out of the escola, it would be reasonable that the universitat of the vila release them, in turn, from their taxation responsibilities. Camarasa Jews asked additionally that, immediately upon their embrace of Christianity, they would be able to collect on the debts owed to them and that no moratoria be granted to their debtors. In response, the duke simply agreed to their demand for immediate judicial actions on their loans. He also granted them a remission of some of the taxes for which they had been obligated the previous year. In conclusion, the duke expressed the hope that his proposals be accepted and ordered the royal procurator general in Catalonia and all the other royal officials to effectuate his offers.59 Still in Balaguer on Wednesday September 27, Mart´ı ordered a royal batle to shepherd Tarrega Jews – “whom we wish to be baptized to be ` Christians,” to his capita in Montblanc, the nobleman Berenguer Arnau de Cervello. Cervello was charged by the infant to restore these Jewish men, and their wives and children, to their homes in Tarrega, and to ` ensure that their belongings were returned. The batle, who may indeed have been from Montblanc, where the Tarrega Jews in all likelihood had ` been relocated, was to secure a written inventory of the Jews’ possessions so he could verify that property would be given back to the appropriate individuals. “Two good persons” of Montblanc, chosen by the Jews, would either deliver pledges to people who had settled their payments, arrange for the sale of some of these belongings to recover outstanding debts, or return these items to the Jews themselves. These two individuals were to be granted one or two days to complete their business. 59

´ Reg. 2079, fols. 49v–50v and published by Riera i Sans, Els poders publics, pp. 460–462, no. 274. See, above, the Catalonia chapter.

342

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Mart´ı reminded the batle not to leave Montblanc until he acquired the necessary documentation from an “en p. de queralt.” If that individual were the same person to whom Queen Iolant, on August 18, had commended the safety of Hasdai Crescas’ son and his household, it may be that the duke, in his conversations with his sister-in-law in the Balaguer castle, came to an understanding with the queen not only about the timely departure of his Sicilian voyage but also about the reasonableness of conversion as the most effective means of containing the unrest in the Crown of Aragon.60 The infant’s entourage itself was a potential source of violence from King Joan’s perspective, especially as the duke and his train made their way through the lands of the Crown. The king warned his brother, on September 28, that if Mart´ı came to pay his respects – an act of homage that Joan declared would afford him much pleasure, he had better not arrive with members of his retinue, among whom “were those present at the avolots and roberies perpetrated against the Jews of Valencia and Barcelona.” The king, who had already expressed his concerns about the duke’s associates, most recently on September 3, threatened to mete out justice against these individuals, which, he cautioned, would result in great losses to the duke.61 Mart´ı and Joan may well have crossed paths, as each of the brothers journeyed toward their respective spouses. On October 6, the duke was in Saragossa en route to Gelsa that day to meet his duquessa, while the king had left Saragossa on the 2nd and arrived in Balaguer on October 7. In advance of his reunion with Maria, Mart´ı, while in Saragossa, ordered Ferran Lopez de Luna, the duquessa’s illegitimate half-brother and now his procurador general in the Kingdom of Aragon, to ensure that the Jews of the locale of Erla and of the town of Luna, both part of the duquessa’s inheritance, not be mistreated but defended. Similarly, the duke asked him to make certain that the Jews of nearby Biel were protected. Already 60

61

Reg. 2079, fol. 55r-v, and see, above, the Catalonia chapter. Arnau de Cervello was called Mart´ı’s capita in Montblanc by the king: Reg. 1878 fol. 144r-v. Perhaps he also fulfilled his functions in the surrounding area. On the Queen’s stance at this date regarding conversion, see my speculative remarks in the chapter on Iolant. Reg. 1961, fol. 120r-v. Joan referred to Mart´ı’s retinue as containing “homens de paratge com de peu,” noblemen as well as commoners, and cautioned that these individuals should not be “in the loch where we are,” a possible reference to Balaguer where he would travel from Saragossa when he left on October 2. For Joan’s earlier criticisms of the duke’s retinue, see above and in the king chapter. Three days earlier, the king had asked Iolant to request the Count of Urgell, under whose auspices the castle at Balaguer lay, to expel those who “were present at the robbery of the aliamas at Barcelona and Lleida while he and the queen were there personally.”

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

343

on September 21, when Maria informed all the local officials of Belchite, south of Saragossa, of the attacks against the Jews in the Crown and ordered them to defend the aljama, Maria had commended her brother to them as someone to whom local Aragonese officials might have recourse in their attempt to protect the Jews.62 Mart´ı arrived on October 6 in Gelsa, where the duquessa was in residence, and where Iolant had indicated to Joan, on September 25, that his brother was bound after departing Balaguer. In that Aragonese town, Mart´ı learned that his attempts to quell the unrest in his Catalonian holdings through the conversion of the embattled Jews had produced unintended consequences. Jews of Montblanc had continued to be attacked toward the end of August, and some apparently had been brought to the baptismal font. Those Jews who decided to remain within their faith were scheduled to leave town on October 9 and travel to Vallespinosa. The local batle decreed that no other Montblanc residents, from any estate, would be permitted to exit the city until the Jews had safely reached their destination 10 kilometers to the northeast. Contrary to the official’s orders and indeed in his presence, a large number of townspeople armed with a variety of weapons set upon the traveling Jews, murdered them, and stole their property. Afterward, these same individuals incited the inhabitants of many of the surrounding locales “to do bad works,” which, wrote the duke, must be punished. Mart´ı directed the batle, on Thursday October 10, to levy a fine of 1,000 golden morabatins upon anyone who had engaged in such behavior. He also instructed him to recruit a wise individual, either a local or someone from the outside, who had not participated in these events, to open an inquiry into what had transpired. The duke ordered the bailiff to send him the results of the completed investigation, at which time the duke would decide how to proceed. The batle, in the meantime, should move against those who within a specified time period would not exhibit their pledges that the Jews possessed, a possible indication of what townspeople wrested from the departing Jews.63

62

63

Reg. 2079, fols. 71v–72r also asks local officials to protect the Jews and their property. Maria’s order, from Pedrola, is in Reg. 2108 at fol. 12r-v. On the duquessa’s brother, see Silleras Fernandez, Power, Piety, and Patronage, s.v., Ferrant Lopez de Luna. We do ´ not know from where Mart´ı traveled on October 6 that he first went to Saragossa and then to Gelsa (nor do we know his whereabouts during the last days of September and the first days of October). Ibid., fols. 69v–70r. See the chapter on Catalonia. That same day, October 10, Mart´ı instructed the bailiff of Montblanc, Alfonsus c¸a Rovira, about legal issues concerning the property of Jews and those newly converted voluntarily: see, ibid., fol. 70v.

344

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Mart´ı’s pursuit of conversion in Catalonia, and earlier in the Kingdom of Valencia, whether as a means to pacify Crown lands or to fulfill Christian millennial aspirations, apparently was not ducal strategy in the Kingdom of Aragon. In the towns and villages belonging to the duquessa in northeastern Aragon, and in the town of Belchite, both Mart´ı and Maria sought to protect and defend their Jewish communities. When the duke of Montblanc addressed the Jews of the Belchite and of the city of Saragossa on October 12, Mart´ı recalled, for these Jews, the “persecution and scandal” that befell their coreligionists of the kingdoms of Valencia and Majorca and of the principality of Catalonia, where, he declared exaggeratedly, “all the Jews living in said kingdoms and principality were baptized or killed.” The duke declared that he would be pleased if no Jews would be physically injured or forcibly converted, as a result of debts that were owed to them. The duke suggested that these Aragonese Jews, to whom Christians and Muslims were indebted, forgo interest for a three-year period, during which time they would be paid a third of the principal at the end of each of the years.64 It may not simply have been a desire to save the lives of the Belchite and Saragossa Jews or to preserve them in their ancestral faith that motivated the duke of Montblanc. Three days later, the duchess, from Saragossa, reported to Belchite officials and to the local Muslim communal leaders, and similarly to all the population centers of the Kingdom of Aragon, how she had informed her husband both through letters and in person about the offer that the Muslims had made in support of the expedition that both she and her husband were soon to embark upon to the kingdom of Sicily. While a recent embassy from Sicilian barons, which bore directly upon the expedition, made it necessary for her husband to travel immediately to the king, the duke would soon finalize the arrangements for their subvention. Toward that end, Maria de Luna directed the prohomens of Belchite to send two of their sindichs, sufficiently empowered, to Saragossa in order to conclude the transaction.65 Anxieties about the financial health of the residents of ducal lands, whose liquidity was necessary to support the expedition, could eclipse concerns about the well-being of the Jews. Indeed King Joan, who had been uneasy about the strength of his brother’s commitment to the 64 65

Ibid., fol. 68v. Mart´ı’s letter was addressed to the Jews of Saragossa and Belchite and not to the aljamas. The duke referred to the Christian and Muslim debtors as his vassals. Reg. 2108, fol. 13v. These letters may have only been sent to those population centers that were the property of the duke and duchess, and where there were Muslim communities. On October 23, Maria contacted the alcaydo of Belchite about outstanding debts of the local Muslim aliama: ibid., fol. 16v.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

345

preservation of his Jewish communities, may have had reason in midOctober to wonder as well about the stance of the duquessa. Apparently, the duchess had asked Bonafonat de San Feliu, who was the royal bailiff and alcayt of the local fortress in Morvedre, to seek royal permission to leave his post and attend to her own interests. The king, who was mindful of the bailiff’s significant efforts in the conservation of Morvedre Jewry and in the protection of other Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, and prompted by anxious letters from the local Jewish community, declared in no uncertain terms, on October 15, that Bonafonat should stand his guard and not leave until he would arrive in that city. Joan informed his “molt car sor” of his decision and requested that she excuse the Morvedre bailiff from attending to her directive.66 Maria pressed her Aragonese Jewish aljamas on November 3, as she had the Christians and Muslims of a variety of Aragonese locales, to help cover the “innumerable expenses” incurred by the Sicilian expedition. The duchess demanded 400 golden florins from the Jews of Biel and Belchite, 150 florins from Luna, and sixty florins from Arandiga. Maria ´ censured her Aragonese Muslims communities on November 23 for not having sent their sindichs to a meeting where monies were pledged toward the voyage. She informed the communal officials that those who attended agreed to raise 10,000 golden Aragonese florins and apprised them of their particular financial responsibilities.67 Although Maria had suggested to the Aragonese Muslims on October 15 that the duke was on his way to meet the king, there is no evidence of an encounter between the two brothers. On that day, Mart´ı from Tarrega ` continued to manage the fallout of the riots and conversions in Catalonia. The duke granted a safe-passage to a former Barcelona Jew who was now a Christian resident of town; intervened in an inquest against two newly 66

67

Joan’s letter to Bonafonat is in Reg. 1961, fol. 134r ¶1, and was published by Baer, Die Juden, vol. 1, p. 689, no. 436. His letter to Maria de Luna is at ibid., ¶2 and to the secretaries of the Morvedre aliama at fol. 134r-v. See the chapter on the king. Bonafonat may have had some prior connection to Maria. At the very least, Mart´ı surely had spoken highly of his talents. Three months later, Reg. 1876, fol. 64r dated January 8 of 1392, Joan ordered his brother to release Arnau Montagut from service in his Sicilian enterprise, and to allow him to retain his royal position as algutzir within the Valencia government and as the duke’s alcayt in the fortress at Zuera, just northeast of Saragossa. Here, though, the king cited “the events of the Jewish quarter of the city of Valencia” as the explanation for his decision to retain en Arnau. Reg. 2108, fol. 16r to the Christians and Muslims, on October 30, and to the Jewish communities on fol. 15v, where it is mentioned that letters were also sent to Huesa and Pedrola without indication whether these missives were sent to the Jewish communities of these locales. Ibid., fols. 21r–22r is from 23 November.

346

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

converted Jews in Montblanc; and instructed the Montblanc bailiff to punish those who were inciting the population. The duke did update King Joan about issues of mutual interest, and in a wide-ranging letter of October 29 the king responded to Mart´ı’s concerns about the kingdom of Sardinia and to his request for arms and other necessary provisions for the expedition to Sicily.68 This seemingly civil working relationship between the brothers foundered again as the king learned of the duke’s activities in Cervera, through which Mart´ı passed on his way from Tarrega to Barcelona. Joan, ` writing from Lleida, on November 2, referred to the riots in Valencia, which had occurred nearly four months earlier, and whose consequences were still being addressed. The king was astonished that Mart´ı ordered the release of an individual who had been accused of rioting against the Jews in Cervera and of plundering their property. Infuriated by his brother’s unjustified intervention, the king declared “that from this point on, regarding Sicilian or other matters,” you should yield to our regulations and wishes. Otherwise, Joan added, we will suffer great losses, and the communal good, “tota la cosa publica,” would be imperiled, a situation that the king cautioned the duke, he should “try mightily to avoid.”69 This royal reprimand did not seem to have had any discernible effect on the duke’s actual autonomy in decisions concerning his forthcoming voyage, or regarding other governmental matters. Three days later, on November 5, Joan granted Mart´ı’s request for a license that would allow the Barcelona officials to advance him necessary funds and agreed to furnish the duke with the requisite papers so the royal shipyard in Barcelona would provide Mart´ı with certain essentials. Mart´ı’s journey to Sicily does not appear to have encountered any serious obstacles from the king.70 68

69 70

Reg. 2079, fols. 69v and 68v–69r, respectively, on Mart´ı’s actions on October 15. See, above, the chapter on Catalonia. Reg. 1961, fol. 148r, is dated October 29, and discussed supra, the chapter on the king. Joan took this opportunity to enclose requests he had received from the jurats, prohomens, and batle of the city of Valencia about the imposition of certain restraints that the king effected and that he asked his brother to achieve in Barcelona. On October 10, ibid., fol. 135r ¶1 and published in Francisco de As´ıs de Bofarull y Sans, Antigua marina catalana (Barcelona, 1898), p. 82, document no. 15, the king had suggested to the officials in charge of the darassana to use wood from an old boat to restore the shipyard after changes were made to accommodate Mart´ı’s forthcoming expedition. Reg. 1877, fol. 44v and the chapter on the king. Reg. 1961, fol. 151r ¶2 and the king chapter.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

347

Raising funds for the expedition was of primary importance to the infant in early November. On November 4, Mart´ı effectively sold to the Barcelona municipality the castles and towns of Sabadell and Terrassa, and the cities of Tarrega and Vilagrassa together with all of their Jewish ` inhabitants – “et cum omnibus judeis nunc in villis predictis Tarrage et Villegrasse.” Also included in the sale were the town of Elx and the hamlet of Crevillent in the Kingdom of Valencia.71 Even as the duke focused his energies on the gathering of the financial and material necessities to ensure the successful launch of his Sicilian journey, the aftereffects of the arranged conversions demanded his attention. These two responsibilities were evidenced on November 10, when Mart´ı directed the batle of Montblanc to ensure that the communal property of the former Jewish community was transferred to en Paschual Ribera, a royal official.72 Consequences of the orchestrated conversion at Montblanc continued to force their way onto the ducal agenda. Three converted Jews, Matheu, Luys, and Arnau Alanya, together with other conversos, were accused of having disparaged some of the royal officials in town and of having plotted against them both prior to and after their change of faith. Mart´ı directed his batle to continue the inquest – already underway since October 15 – into their behavior and to finalize the investigation into the avalot that had broken out in the city. The duke demanded, in a separate missive, that Matheu Alenya [sic], perceived as the ringleader of these obstreperous former Jews, be fined heavily, perhaps 1,000 florins.73 71

72

73

Reg. 2079, fols. 134v–142r and, dated November 17, Pergaminos, Carpeta 313, no. 310. It is likely that in view of the large sums changing hands, Joan provided Mart´ı the following day with the necessary license so that they the Barcelona officials could issue a censal mort. A summary of this “sale” can be found in Maria Teresa Ferrer i Mallol, ` “Projeccio´ exterior,” in Jaume Sobrequ´es i Callico´ ed., Historia de Barcelona vol. 3, La ciutat consolidada (Barcelona, 1992), pp. 366–367 and note 69 which does not point to the primary sources but to relevant secondary materials. Also see Josep-David Garrido i Valls, “Elx i Crevillent sota la senyoria de la ciutat de Barcelona (1391–1473),” La Rella 11 (1997), pp. 11–36. Reg. 2079, fols. 119v–120r. Pascual de Ribera, an official of the royal dispenseria, was also mentioned in the October 15 document, see below. The official’s mule died on his way to Lleida as a result of which the duke, on November 10 as well, had to defray the financial costs. Ibid., fol. 120r-v and fol. 121r, where Alenya is described as having been “led astray by a diabolical spirit.” The royal officials also managed the duke’s affairs. See above for ibid., fols. 68v–69r. The duke, on November 10, ordered the batle to grant a remission of penalties to two other members of the Alanya family, formerly the Brunells, although he resisted the payments of additional financial benefits to En Bernat Alanya, once Vidal Brunell,

348

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Nearly two months passed after the Jews’ formal change of faith in Camarasa before Mart´ı clarified the financial details of the conversionary arrangements. The Jews had demanded toward the end of September that upon their conversion, there would be no suspension of their debts and that they could continue in their collections. In response, Mart´ı only conceded that he would take immediate judicial action on payments owed to them. Indeed, on November 20, the duke declared a two-year moratorium on all debts contracted by the town itself or by any of its inhabitants with the erstwhile Jews. Mart´ı asked his aide Bernardo de Roda that, before he applied any suspensions to outstanding debts, he should ensure that the creditors to whom the money was owed were the newly minted converts. He also wanted Bernardo to distinguish between loans wherein the debtors were poorer than the conversos and those in which the conversos were either more impoverished or as destitute as those who were indebted to them.74 Meanwhile, the duke and other members of the royal family proceeded with preparations for the voyage. On November 25, Mart´ı arranged with En Bernat (de Cabrera) to acquire materials needed for the expedition, and the duchess Maria, on December 9 and 10, continued her attempts to raise funds from the Jews and Muslims in Biel. King Joan wrote to the governor of Roussillon and Cerdagne on December 10 that “in consideration of our

74

and also to the former Adzay(t) Brunell: ibid., fol. 120v. (These two individuals were mentioned as well by the duke in Reg. 2079, fols. 68v–69r dated October 15. See, above, p. 160.) Three days later, Reg. 1962 at fol. 1r-v and discussed supra, the chapter, Elsewhere in Catalonia, Joan instructed his brother to release “our servant Maestre Azday Brunell, a Jewish physician of Muntblanch,” who although absolved of all crimes, had not been freed by the local batle. Mart´ı had transmitted such an order to the bailiff, on November 3, but it appears that it was not effective. Mart´ı’s letter of November 3 is quoted by him in his order of January 28, 1392 when the duke would send yet another directive to his bailiff on behalf of Azday Brunell, here identified as the father of Matheu Alanyami [sic]: Reg, 2079, fols. 164r–165r. Reg. 1877, fol. 133v, dated April 8, 1392, is a letter from Joan to Maria indicating that the batle still had refused to release Azday. Reg. 2079, fols. 117v–118r is the official declaration of the moratorium and fol. 119r-v is the letter to Bernardo de Roda, whom I presume is one of his deputies. The duke, on November 21, tried to settle tensions between clerics and the city because of their refusal to render a variety of imposts to the local government: ibid., fol. 118v and fols. 118v–119r. On Christian converts from Judaism, and the demand by some that they divest themselves of their goods to prove the purity of their spiritual intentions, see Paola Tartakoff, “Of Purity, Piety, and Plunder: Jewish Apostates and Poverty in Medieval Europe,” in Theodor Dunkelgrun ¨ and Pawel Maciejko eds., Converts and Conversion to and from Judaism (University of Pennsylvania Press, forthcoming).

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

349

dear brother,” he prevailed upon the Viscount of Narbonne to commit a hundred cavalry to the duke’s expeditionary forces.75 Despite ongoing royal support for the voyage, the behavior of the duke’s associates remained worrisome. In advance of the infant’s visit to Tortosa and its environs, Joan directed the Tortosan leaders, on December 1, to transfer the local Jews to the royal castle. The king wished to ensure that, with the duke’s entourage assembled in the city, “no inconvenience would follow.”76 While Joan manifested concern about peninsular Jews, Mart´ı’s priorities were focused on the Sicilian expedition. The duke gradually shifted his base of operations from Barcelona toward the port from which he would eventually depart. On January 16, 1392 from Amposta – about 10 kilometers southeast of Tortosa and 20 kilometers northwest of Port Fangos from where Mart´ı would set sail, the duke of Montblanc asked the bishop of Cartagena to lift the excommunication of Mart´ı’s procurador general in the Kingdom of Valencia. In the wake of an attack on the Jews of Elx, Diago Lopez de Cetina had resisted the bishop’s attempt to install and consecrate a chapel in the town’s synagogue. Diago Lopez, who had argued that ducal approval was necessary, had been summarily excommunicated by the prelate. Mart´ı explained to the bishop that since Lopez had to join him on his “fortunate journey,” he should be immediately absolved of the ban.77 The health of the duke’s finances was at stake, not the integrity of a Jewish house of worship. Mart´ı’s November 4 sale of the town of

75

76

77

Ibid., fol. 115r dated November 25; Reg. 2108, fol. 22r-v, dated December 9, and ibid., fols. 22v–23r from December 10. The king’s letter of December 10 is in Reg. 1963, fol. 1r. The city of Barcelona noted on November 29 that it had made a variety of payments to the algutzir of his armada, Anthoni Riera: AHCB, Liber albaranorum (Llibre de Albarans) 1391 vol. 22, 7, fol. 154v. Reg. 1961, fol. 166v. On December 30, the Valencia jurats informed the king that they will only support Mart´ı in the sum of 25,000 florins, which is the total sum of money which they derived from the juher´ıa. See Roca Traver, Los jud´ıos valencianos, p. 120, and document no. 40 on p. 207, which quotes a section of AMV, Lletres misives, g3–5, fol. 78v. ´ Reg. 2094, fol. 279v as published by Riera i Sans, Els poders publics, pp. 462–463, no. 276. On Elx, see the chapter on the Kingdom of Valencia. Elx was among the towns which were sold to the city of Barcelona on November 4, but whose sale had not been as yet finalized. See above and below.Regarding Mart´ı’s departure from Barcelona, see from November 27, Schwartz y Luna and Carreras i Candi eds., Manual de Novells Ardits, vol. 1, p. 22.

350

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

Elx, among many other territories, to the Barcelona municipality, was ratified by King Joan and the Duchess Maria, on January 21 and 30, respectively. On February 1, the duke of Montblanc gave license to the Barcelona councilors, to dispose with – as they wished, the synagogue of the town, its properties, and its revenues. Mart´ı declared that because of the conversion of the town’s Jews, he was the rightful owner of the synagogue. Had the synagogue already been transformed into a chapel and subject to the control of the Cartagenan bishop, it would not have been Mart´ı’s to sell.78 In the last few days before the voyage, which Mart´ı had planned for months and which the Aragonese Crown had considered for many years, the duke of Montblanc put his peninsular assets in order. On February 6, Mart´ı alerted his bailiff in Montblanc about the sale of local property. Two days later, the infant sold towns and locales in the marquisate of Ll´ıria, as well as the castle at Penaguila and the aliamas of the Muslims of ` Serra Deslida, to the duquessa Maria whom he was leaving behind. And on February 9, the duke made an arrangement with the Jews of Huesa about their taxes.79 On Saturday February 17, Mart´ı, the duke of Montblanc, accompanied by his son Mart´ı and his wife, queen Maria of Sicily, and many members of the nobility finally set sail for Sicily on a flotilla comprising seven galleys and thirteen additional vessels. Maria de Luna said good-bye to her husband and to her only son at the dock. Duke Mart´ı would return five years later and assume the kingship of the Crown of Aragon in the wake of his brother’s death. In the interim, Maria would assume many of Marti’s responsibilities, as she had already done when her husband had been otherwise occupied. And so, on June 19, 1392, the duchess Maria, from her hamlet of Paterna, reminded Bernat de Cruilles, lieutenant of Mart´ı’s procurador general in Catalonia, that the senyor infant had ruled the previous year that if the Jews of Montblanc wished to become Christian, they should not be forced to move to the castle but rather be allowed to remain in town, and in possession of all their movable and non-movable property. The duke’s policy toward the conversion of the Jews and the security of the holdings of the New Christians – the former which was

78 79

ACA, Pergaminos, Carpeta 313, no. 324, and published by Riera i Sans, Els poders ´ publics, pp. 464–465, no. 278. Reg. 2079, fol. 142r-v and fol. 147r dated February 7, fol. 147r-v from February 8, and fol. 154r-v dated the 9th.

Duke Mart´ı (and the Duchess Maria)

351

belatedly supported by the Queen and grudgingly allowed by the king, would be a feature of later peninsular policies toward the Jews, even as it had its birth in the infant’s and the Crown’s pursuit of his “benaventurat passatge” to Sicily.80

80

For Mart´ı’s departure, see Schwartz y Luna and Carreras i Candi eds., Manual de Novells Ardits, vol. 1, p. 26 and Silleras-Fernandez, Power, Piety, and Patronage, p. 31. ´ According to the Manual de Novells Ardits, they left from Calalobera. Mart´ı was in Port Fangos at least through February 11. Reg. 2108, fol. 73v, published in Bofarull y Sans, Documentos para escribir, p. 574, and quoted briefly in Carreras y Candi, L’Aljama, p. 85, who incorrectly identified the infant as Joan. The policy outlined by Maria was also in effect in Camarasa. See, above, the chapter on Catalonia.

Conclusion

Our exploration of the Jews’ protectors – in which we traced their training in the exercise of political power, examined the formation of their personal and professional proclivities, and investigated the development of their attitudes and policies toward the Jewish minority – has enabled us to appreciate the behavior of the royal family during the ten months that violence wracked the lands of the Crown of Aragon. The attempts of King Joan, Queen Iolant, and Duke Mart´ı to secure the Jews’ safety met at best with mixed results, and their actions during these months helps explain both the riots’ geographical sweep and extended time span. From summer 1391 through spring 1392, Duke Marti’s principal interest was the successful launch of his planned expedition to Sicily; Queen Iolant’s abiding concern was to carry to term, despite debilitating illness, an heir to the Aragonese throne; and King Joan was consumed by his life-long attempt to balance his pursuit of life’s pleasures with his responsibility for the health of the royal patrimony and the security of his subjects. As a result, the physical security of the Jews and the protection of their Judaism devolved into matters of secondary import. While the commitment of the royal family to this minority community may have been genuine and steadfast, concern about the beleaguered Jews was not elevated into their primary political consideration. While religious and economic forces, powerful as they were, shaped the motivation of the rioters, they did not, by themselves, determine the severity and duration of the violence. The inconstancy of the Jews’ protectors was shaped by their policies as much as by contingency. For example, Joan’s concern about the timely acquisition of a prized falcon at the end of July when he was asked to travel to riot-torn Valencia, Iolant’s illness at the end of August that diverted her from the management 352

Conclusion

353

of her Jewish communities, and Mart´ı’s pursuit of nautical recruits in Valencia at the same time that unrest in that city was at the tipping point, all proved to be important factors in the management of the hostilities and their aftereffects. Even as the monarchs frequently proclaimed their commitment to protect their “royal treasure,” their political power was only as effective as their willingness to use their might and, consequently, as credible as the fear that their subjects harbored about its eventual deployment. Decisive force was necessary if the unrest were to be kept in check, but effective suppression of the violence by members of the royal family was not forthcoming. While the Kingdom of Castile was encumbered by an underage monarch and regency council, the absence of compelling monarchic power in the Crown of Aragon – despite its dynastic king, savvy queen, and ambitious duke, caused the violence to spread unrestrained. Medieval monarchs, like rulers in any period, were only as effective as their ability to command their officials to enforce their dictates. In the confederate Crown of Aragon, with its constituent individual polities and realms, not to speak of the welter of municipal and noble jurisdictions, the king, from a distance, could not through daily letters to his various subjects bring the unrest to a halt. The policy options that remained to the Saragossa-bound king and queen, in whose best interests it was to contain the disturbances, were either to guide the Jews to a local fortress, or to shepherd them under the sheltering canopy of Christianity. Conversion almost immediately revealed itself as an option to Mart´ı, who observed how the Valencia Jews’ change of faith served to pacify the rioters, even as it may have accorded with his eschatological visions. While the king and queen initially opposed bringing Jews to the Cross – an act that would result in substantial economic damage to their coffers, conversion did eventually emerge as a recourse for Joan and Iolant, despite their official political and theological stances against forced baptisms. Throughout the riots, the Jews appealed to their lords to safeguard their lives and their property. The Jews’ reliance upon their alliance with their sovereigns was to be expected; they did not have much of a choice. Their dependence was a pointed reminder, if such were needed, of the tenuousness of their minority status. Whether Hasdai Crescas’ intercessions on behalf of his son and his entourage were designed to defend all Barcelona Jews, or were simply intended to save his family, even this most connected of Aragonese Jewish courtiers was unable to save his own son. The queen and king may well have been in agreement regarding intervention on his behalf, but they

354

“Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ”

themselves were reliant on the interest and initiative of local authorities, which turned out to be as misplaced as the Jews’ reliance on the royal, and even municipal, powers. The Jews understood their political vulnerability all too well. In Crescas’ theological and political response to the events in Barcelona, as encapsulated in his missive to the Jews of Avignon, he explained how “God poured out his wrath” on that Jewish community. Continuing on, Crescas was careful to praise the “yad manhig hamedinah,” the efforts, presumably, of the deputized royal authorities in Barcelona, to provide food for the besieged Jews and to punish the attackers. Be that as it may, when the Valencia jurats, as early as July 10, 1391, defended their actions during the assault in their municipality, they quoted the Psalmist who had declared that “except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” And as late as January 22, 1392, the royal authorities, looking back over the months of riots, bitterly conceded that it appeared “as if the Jews had no lord.”1 That the safety of a minority people cannot be assured is not simply a banality of Jewish history, but a truth about the fate of all people and of all groups whose security is dependent on others. However sincere the intentions of the majority society and the assurances of its leaders, to protect those who are reliant upon them, the security of a minority community is ultimately, for them, not a matter of paramount importance. While Jewish history should not be understood as an unending series of tragic events, the position of the Jews in medieval Christian lands was perforce tenuous, especially when social, economic, and religious forces had already marginalized them. As a result of the failure of royal authority at the end of the fourteenth century, thousands of Jews were killed, many more were converted, and Jewish institutions like synagogues were destroyed or confiscated. While the precise numbers of casualties cannot be known, the events of 1391 and 1392 were no doubt repercussive for the future of all Iberian Jewries, although in ways neither Jews nor Christians could have divined. The conversions effected during these years, and in the years following, placed at risk the safety and security of all of Sephardic Jewry. As a result of, and in the wake of, the attacks that swept through Castile and Aragon at the end of the fourteenth century, Sephardic Jewry would be completely transformed. 1

Cf. Yehoshua haLorki’s comment to the erstwhile Shlomo haLevi how “God has almost hidden his countenance from us.” See Gampel, A Letter to a Wayward Teacher, p. 409.

Bibliography

Abulafia, Anna Sapir, Religious Violence Between Christians and Jews: Medieval Roots, Modern Perspectives (New York, 2002). Abulafia, David, A Mediterranean Emporium. The Catalan Kingdom of Majorca (Cambridge, 1994). ˜ 1872, Calendario Aguilo, ´ Tomas, Almanaque de las Islas Baleares para el ano ˜ de para las Islas Baleares: Mallorca, Menorca e Ibiza correspondiente al ano 1872 (Palma, Mallorca, 1873). ´ Ainaga Andres, Maria Teresa and Motis Dolader, Miguel Angel, “La juder´ıa de Tarazona. Delimitacion ´ y morfolog´ıa,” in Destierros aragoneses I (Zaragoza, 1988), pp. 135–147. Albert, Ricard and Gassiot, Joan eds., Parlaments a les corts catalanes (Barcelona, 1928). Amador de los R´ıos, Jos´e, Historia social: pol´ıtica y religiosa de los jud´ıos ˜ y Portugal, 3 volumes (Madrid, 1876). [reprint ed., 1 volume, de Espana Madrid, 1960).] ´ Angeles Mas´ıa, Mar´ıa de los, “Aportaciones al estudio del call gerundense,” Sefarad 13 (1953), pp. 287–308. Arco, Ricardo del and Balaguer, Federico, “La aljama judaica de Huesca,” Sefarad 9 (1949), pp. 351–392. ´ de Juan I de Aragon. Ap´endice As´ıs de Bofarull y Sans, Francisco de, Generacion ´ documentado a´ los condes de Barcelona vindicados por D. Prospero de ´ Bofarull. Memoria le´ıda en la Real Academia de Buenas Letras en la sesion celebrada el d´ıa 23 de marzo de 1896 (Barcelona, 1896). “Documentos para escribir una monograf´ıa de la villa de Montblanch,” Memorias de la Real Academ´ıa de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 6 (1898). Assis, Yom Tov ed., The Jews in the Crown of Aragon. Regesta of the Cartas ´ 2 vols. (Jerusalem, 1993, Reales in the Archivo de la Corona de Aragon 1995). The Golden Age of Aragonese Jewry. Community and Society in the Crown of Aragon, 1213–1327 (London, 1997). 355

356

Bibliography

Autrand, Franc¸oise, Charles V le Sage (Paris, 1994). Azulay, Marilda and Israel, Estrella, La Valenc´ıa jud´ıa: espacios, l´ımites y viven´ (Valencia, 2009), pp. 189–248. cias hasta la expulsion Baer, Fritz, Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien, Erster Teil: Urkunden und Regesten, Erster Band: Aragonien und Navarra (Berlin, 1929). Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien, Erster Teil: Urkunden und Regesten, Zweiter Band, Kastilien/ Inquisitionsakten (Berlin, 1936). Baer, Yitzhak, A History of the Jews in Christian Spain 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1961, 1966). Balesteros, Carmen, “Perseguic¸oes ˜ aos judeus espanhois ´ atrav´es de trˆes Kinot ou ´ Revista Cultural do Concelho de Lamentac¸oes ˜ Judaicas,” in Ibn Maruan, ˜ vol. 8 (Lisbon, 1998), pp. 251–268. Marvao, Barcelo´ Cresp´ı, Maria and Rossello´ Bordoy, Guillermo, La Ciudad de Mallorca: ´ la vida cotidiana en una ciudad mediterranea medieval (Palma de Mallorca, 2006). Batlle, Carme, L’expansio baixmedieval [segles XIII–XV] (Barcelona, 1999). ´ Batlle Gallart, Carmen, La crisis social y economica de Barcelona a mediados del siglo xv 2 vols. (Barcelona, 1973). Batlle y Prats, Luis, “Un episodio de la persecuc´ıon jud´ıa de 1391,” Anales del Instituto de Estudios Gerundenses 3 (1948), pp. 194–197. Bekkum, Wout Jacques Van, “Structures of Spanish Qinoth from the FifteenthCentury,” Eleventh World Congress of Jewish Studies, C vol. III (1994), pp. 21–28. Bekkum, Wout Jacques Van and Yahalom, Joseph, “Come Back into the Fold, My Beloved One: A Fifteenth-Century Hebrew Dirge on the Fate of Spanish ¨ 36 (2010), pp. 69–83. Jewry,” Frankfurter Judaistische Beitrage Ben-Shalom, Ram, “Kidush [sic] ha-Shem and Jewish Martyrdom in Aragon and Castile in 1391: Between Spain and Ashkenaz,” [Hebrew] Tarbiz 70 (2001), pp. 227–282. “Jewish Martyrdom and Conversion in Sepharad and Ashkenaz in the Middle Ages: An Assessment of the Reassessment,” [Hebrew] Tarbiz 71 (2001– 2002), pp. 279–300. “The Courtier as the ‘Scepter of Judah’: The Letters and Panegyrics to Courtiers of Yomtov ben Hana, Scribe of the Jewish Community of Montalban,” ´ [Hebrew] in E. Yassif, H. Yishau and U. Kfir eds., Ot Letova: Essays in Honor of Professor Tova Rosen (Beersheba, 2012), pp. 196–224. “Hasdai Crescas: Portrait of a Leader at a Time of Crisis,” in Jonathan Ray ed., The Jew in Medieval Iberia, 1100-1500 (Boston, 2012), pp. 309–351. Bernat i Roca, Margalida, El call de ciutat de Mallorca a l’entorn de 1350 (Mallorca, 2005). Bertran i Roig´e, Prim, “The Jewish Communities of Catalonia: Lleida and the Surrounding Area,” Jewish Catalonia (Barcelona, 2002), pp. 86–107. Bisson, T. N., The Medieval Crown of Aragon. A Short History (New York, 1986). Blasco Mart´ınez, Asuncion, ´ “Los jud´ıos en Aragon ´ durante la baja edad media,” Destierros aragoneses I, Judios y Moriscos (Zaragoza, 1988), pp. 39–59. La juder´ıa de Zaragoza en el siglo xiv (Zaragoza, 1988).

Bibliography

357

“Alatzar Golluf, regente de la tesorer´ıa de la reina de Aragon ´ y su entorno familiar (siglos XIII–XIV),” in Flocel Sabat´e and Claude Denjean eds., Cris´ dinero, tianos y Jud´ıos en contacto en la edad media: Pol´emica, conversion, y convivencia (Lleida, 2009), pp. 481–580. “Los jud´ıos de Zaragoza en los siglos xiii–xiv” last accessed on July 3, 2014 at http://zaragozaturismo.dpz.es/descargas/pdf/propuestas/Sefarad-VOL-I.pdf. Bratsch-Prince, Dawn, “A Queen’s Task: Violant de Bar and the Experience of ´ Royal Motherhood in Fourteenth-Century Aragon,” La coronica 27 (1998), pp. 21–34. Violante de Bar (1365–1431) (Madrid, 2002). “The Politics of Self-Representation in the Letters of Violant de Bar (1365– 1431),” Medieval Encounters 12 (2006), pp. 2–25. Brundage, James A., “Intermarriage between Christians and Jews in Medieval Canon Law,” Jewish History 3 (1988), pp. 25–40. Bruniquer, Esteve Gilabert, Ceremonial dels magn´ıfichs consellers y regiment de la ciutat de Barcelona (Rubriques de Bruniquer), vol. II (Barcelona, 1913). ´ Cabestany i Fort, Joan-Ferran, “El cronico´ de Guillem Mascaro: ´ L’autor I l’obra,” Estudis Universitaris Catalans [Estudis de llengua i literatura catalanes oferts a R. Aramon i Serra en el seu setant`e aniversari] 24 (1980), pp. 115– 122. ´ Campaner y Fuertes, Alvaro, Chronicon Mayoricense. Noticias y relaciones ´ historicas de Mallorca desde 1229 a´ 1800 (Palma de Mallorca, 1881). Cantera Burgos, Francisco, Alvar Garc´ıa de Santa Mar´ıa y su familia de conversos (Madrid, 1952). Carreras y Candi, Francesch, L’Aljama de juh´eus de Tortosa (Barcelona, 1928). Carpenter, Dwayne E., Alfonso X and the Jews: An Edition of and Commentary on “Siete partidas” 7.24 “De los Jud´ıos” (Berkeley, California, 1986). Casas Nadal, Montserrat, “Sobre la reorganizacion ´ de la aljama de los jud´ıos de L´erida (1400–1408),” Sefarad 52 (1992), pp. 381–391. Cazelles, Raymond, Soci´et´e politique: Noblesse et couronne sous Jean le Bon et Charles V (Gen`eve, 1982). Chabas ´ y Llor´ens, Roque, “Los jud´ıos valencianos. El robo de la juder´ıa en 9 Julio de 1391,” El Archivo 5 (1891), pp. 37–46 and 111–121. Chabret, Antonio, Sagunto. Su historia y sus monumentos (Barcelona, 1888). ´ Ch´ıa, Julian desde el siglo ´ de, Bandos y bandoleros en Gerona; apuntes historicos V hasta mediados del XVII, vol. 1 (Gerona, 1888). Cohen, Jeremy, The Friars and the Jews. The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism (Ithaca, 1984). Corbella i Llobet, Mossen Ramon, L’aljama de jueus de Vic (Vic, 1984). ` Coroleu, Jos´e, Documents historichs catalans del segle xiv. Colleccio´ de cartas familiars correspondents als regnats de Pere del Punyalet y Johan I (Barcelona, 1889). ´ Coroleu e´ Inglada, Jos´e and Pella y Forgas, Jos´e, Las Cortes catalanas. Estudio ˜ analitica de todas sus jur´ıdico y comparativo de su organizacion y resena legislaturas, episodios notables, oratoria y personajes ilustres, con muchos documentos in´editos del Archivo de la corona de Aragon y el del municipio de Barcelona (Barcelona, 1876).

358

Bibliography

´ de documentos in´editos para la historia de Cuarta Cronica General, Coleccion ´ ˜ vol. 15 (Madrid, 1893). Espana, Daileader, Philip, True Citizens: Violence, Memory, and Identity in the Medieval Community of Perpignan, 1162–1397 (Brill, 2000). Danvila, Francisco, “El robo de la juder´ıa de Valencia,” Bolet´ın de la Real ´ Academia de la Historia 8 (1886), pp. 358–396. “Clausura y delimitacion ´ de la juder´ıa de Valencia en 1390 a´ 1391,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de la Historia 18 (1891), pp. 142–159. David, Yonah, The Poems of Yehiel Ben-Harosh [Hebrew] (New York, 1986). Deibel, Ulla, “La Reyna Elionor de Sicilia,” Memorias de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 10 (1928), pp. 349–452. Delachenal, Roland, Histoire de Charles V 5 vols. (Paris, 1909–1931). Denjean, Claude, “Les conflits inter et intra communautaires en Cerdagne et en Roussillon, aux XIIIe, XIVe et XVe si`ecles,” in Michelle Ros ed., Perpignan, l’histoire des Juifs dans la ville (Perpignan, 2003), pp. 131–146. D´eprez, E. and Mollat, G., Clement VI. Lettres closes, patentes et curiales int´eressant les pays autres que la France publi´ees ou analys´ees d’apr`es les registres du Vatican, vol. 1 (Paris, 1960). Donate Sebastia, Jos´e and Magdalena Nom de Deu, Jos´e Ramon, ´ Three Jewish Communities in Medieval Valencia (Jerusalem, 1990). Duran ´ Gudiol, Antonio, La juder´ıa de Huesca (Zaragoza, 1984). Duran 1977 [1972]). ´ i Sanpere, Agusti, Llibre de Cervera (Tarrega, ` Earenfight, Theresa ed., Queenship and Political Power in Medieval and Early Modern Spain (Aldershot and Burlington, 2005). Espanol ˜ Bertran, Francesca, “El castillo real de Lleida en e´ poca medieval,” Anuario de Estudios Medievales 26 (1996), pp. 437–485. Esteban, Manuel, “Biograf´ıa del Venerable D. Francisco Fernandez P´erez de ´ ´ (Valencia, Aranda,” in III Congreso de Historia de la Corona de Aragon 1923), pp. 415–438. Fajarn´es, Enrique, “Sobre el robo de la juder´ıa de Inca,” Bolet´ın de la sociedad ´ arqueologica luliana 7 (1898), pp. 394–397. “Los bienes de los jud´ıos y conversos de Mallorca despu´es del saqueo del ´ call (1391–1393),” Bolet´ın de la sociedad arqueologica luliana. Revista de ´ estudios historicos 8 (1900), pp. 441–444. Feliu, Eduard, “Sobre la lletra que Hasday Cresques adrec¸a` a la comunitat jueva d’Avinyo´ parlant dels avalots de 1391,” Tamid 5 (2004–2005), pp. 171– 219. Ferrer i Mallol, Maria Teresa, “L’Infant Mart´ı un projecte d’intervencio´ en la guerra de Portugal (1381),” VIII Congreso de Historia de la Corona de ´ La Corona de Aragon ´ en el siglo xiv, vol. 3 (Valencia, 1973), Aragon. pp. 205–233. ` “Projeccio´ exterior,” in Jaume Sobrequ´es i Callico´ ed., Historia de Barcelona vol. 3, La ciutat consolidada (Barcelona, 1992), pp. 355–391. “Un aragon´es consejero de Juan I y de Mart´ın el Humano: Francisco de ´ en la Edad Media 14, 15 (1999) [Homenaje a la profeAranda,” Aragon sora Carmen Orcastegui Gros.], pp. 531–562. ´

Bibliography

359

` “Conflictes populars a Mallorca a la fi del segle XIV,” Estudis Balearics (IEB) 84/85 (2006), pp. 87–97. Fita y Colom´e, Fidel, “Historia hebrea. Documentos y monumentos. Estrago de las juder´ıas catalanas en 1391. Relacion Bolet´ın de la Real ´ contemporanea,” ´ Academia de la Historia 16 (1890), pp. 432–445. Fita y Colom´e, Fidel and Llabr´es, Gabriel, “Privilegio de los hebreos mallorquines en el codice Pueyo. Tercer per´ıodo, Seccion ´ ´ tercera,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de Historia 36 (1900), pp. 458–494. ˜ ´ pol´ıtica, Font Rius, Jose Mar´ıa, Instituciones medievales espanolas: organizacion ´ economica, y social de los reinos cristianos de la Reconquista (Madrid, 1949). Gampel, Benjamin R., “Introduction” to the reprint edition of Yitzhak Baer’s A History of The Jews in Christian Spain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia and Jerusalem, 1992), pp. xv–lvii. “The ‘Identity’ of Sephardim of Medieval Christian Iberia,” Jewish Social Studies, 8 (2002), pp. 133–138. “A Letter to a Wayward Teacher: The Transformations of Sephardic Culture in Christian Iberia,” in David Biale ed., Cultures of the Jews. A New History (New York, 2002), pp. 389–447. “Julio Segura Moneo: In Memoriam,” Huarte de San Juan. Geograf´ıa e Historia 18 (2011), pp. 55–56. “‘Unless the Lord Watches Over the City . . . ’: Joan of Aragon and his Jews, June–October 1391,” in Elisheva Carlebach and Jacob J. Schacter eds., New Perspectives on Jewish-Christian Relations. In Honor of David Berger (Leiden and Boston, 2012), pp. 65–89. “Royal Priorities: Duke Mart´ı, the Riots against the Jews of the Crown of Aragon and the ‘Blessed Passage to Sicily,’ (1391–1392),” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 10 [Aldina Quintana, Raquel Ibanez ˜ Sperber and Ram Ben-Shalom eds., Between Edom and Kedar. Studies in Memory of Yom Tov Assis, Part 1] (Jerusalem, 2014), pp. 35–53. Garcia, Angelina, “La crisis del siglo xiv valenciano y Bonifacio Ferrer,” in Juan Garcia Gonzalez ´ and Jos´e Trenchs Odena eds., Estudios de Historia de Valencia (Valencia, 1978), pp. 81–89. Garridoi Valls, Josep-David, “Elx i Crevillent sota la senyoria de la ciutat de Barcelona (1391–1473),” La Rella 11 (1997), pp. 11–36. Gerbet, Marie-Claude, Les noblesses espagnoles au Moyen Age, XIe–XVe siecle (Paris, 1994). Girbal, Enrique Claudio, Los jud´ıos en Girona (Girona, 1870). “Conversiones de jud´ıos en Girona y su obispado,” Revista de Girona 18 (1894), pp. 33–37. ´ Discursos Girona i Llagostera, Daniel, Mart´ı, Rey de Sicilia. Primog`enit D’Arago. llegits en la Reyal Academia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona (Barcelona, 1919). “Itinerari de l’Infant En Joan, fill del rei En Pere III. 1350–1387,” in III Con´ (Valencia, 1923). greso de Historia de la Corona de Aragon Girona y Llagostera, Daniel, “Itinerari del Rei En Joan I,” Estudis Universitaris Catalans 13 (1928), pp. 93–134 and 338–402; 14 (1929), pp. 115–180 and 323–365; and 15 (1930), pp. 41–91.

360

Bibliography

Grosdidier de Matons, Marcel, Le Comt´e de Bar des Origines au Trait´e de Bruges (Vers 950–1301) (Bar le Duc, 1922). Gross, Abraham, “Conversions and Martyrdom in Spain in 1391: A Reassessment of Ram Ben-Shalom [Hebrew],” Tarbiz 71 (2002), pp. 269–277. Guerson, Alexandra, “Seeking Remission: Jewish Conversion in the Crown of Aragon, c.1378–1391,” Jewish History 24 (2010), pp. 33–52. Coping with Crises: Christian Jewish Relations in Catalonia and Aragon, 1380– 1391 (University of Toronto dissertation, 2012). Guiller´e, Christian, Diner, Poder i Societat a la Girona del Segle XIV (Girona, 1984). “Fiscalit´e et soci´et´e a` Girona (XIVe si`ecle),” in Actes du Colloqui Corona i Municipis i Fiscalitat a la Baixa Edad Media, Lleida, 22–24 novembre 1995 (L´erida, 1997), pp. 367–382. Gutwirth, Eleazar, “Towards Expulsion: 1391–1492,” in Elie Kedourie ed., Spain and the Jews. The Sephardi Experience, 1492 and After (London, 1992), pp. 51–73. Gyug, Richard, The Diocese of Barcelona during the Black Death: The Register “Notule communium” 15, 1348–1349 (Toronto, 1994). Harvey, Warren Zev, Hasdai Crescas’ Critique of the Theory of the Acquired Intellect (Columbia University dissertation, 1973). Rabbi Hisdai Crescas [Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 2010). “Hasdai Crescas’ Relationship to Nissim of Girona,” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 10 [Aldina Quintana, Raquel Ibanez ˜ Sperber, and Ram Ben-Shalom eds., Between Edom and Kedar. Studies in Memory of Yom Tov Assis, Part 1] (2014), Hebrew Section, pp. 99–112. Hillgarth, J.N., The Problem of a Catalan Mediterranean Empire, 1229–1323, English Historical Review, Supplement no. 8 (London, 1975) [pp. 1–54]. The Spanish Kingdoms, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1978). Hinojosa Montalvo, Jos´e, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia. From Persecution to Expulsion (Jerusalem, 1993). ˜ Homet, Raquel, “Ninos ˜ y adolescentes en fiestas y ceremonias,” En la Espana Medieval 24 (2001), pp. 145–169. Ivars Cardona, Andr´es, “Los jurados de Valencia y el inquisidor Fr. Nicolas ´ Eymerich. Controversia luliana,” Archivo Ibero-Americano 6 (1916), pp. 68–159; Archivo Ibero-Americano 15 (1921), pp. 212–219. Javierre Mur, Aurea Lucinda, Mata d’Armanyac, Duquessa de Girona (Barcelona, 1967). Jordan, William Chester, The French Monarchy and the Jews (Philadelphia, 1989). Kayserling, Meyer, “Das Sendschreiben des Don Chasdai Crescas noch einmal,” ¨ Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums 16 (1867), Monatsschrift fur pp. 311–316. Kobler, Franz, “Rabbi Hasdai Crescas Gives an Account of the Spanish Massacres of 1391,” in his Letters of Jews through the Ages, vol. 1 (New York, 1952), pp. 272–275. Kohn, Roger, Les juifs de la France du Nord dans la seconde moiti´e du XIVe si`ecle (Louvain and Paris, 1988).

Bibliography

361

Kriegel, Maurice, Les Juifs a` la fin du Moyen Age dans l’Europe m´editerran´eenne (Paris, 1979). ´ “De l’Alliance royale a` la religion de l’Etat. Yerushalmi entre Baron, Baer et Arendt,” in Sylvie Anne Goldberg ed., L’histoire et la m´emoire de l’histoire. Hommage a` Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi (Paris, 2012), pp. 29–43. Laliena Corbera, Carlos, “Or´ıgenes y extincion ´ de una aljama judaica: Alcaniz, ˜ 1280–1414,” in Destierros aragoneses I, Jud´ıos y Moriscos (Zaragoza, 1988), pp. 115–126. Lalinde Abad´ıa, Jesus, ´ “Virreyes y lugartenientes medievales en la Corona de ˜ 31–32 (1960), pp. 98–172. Aragon,” Cuadernos de Historia de Espana ´ Lea, Henry Charles, “Ferrand Martinez and the Massacres of 1391,” American Historical Review 1 (1896), pp. 209–219. Ledesma Rubio, Maria Luisa, “El Patrimonio Real en Aragon a fines del siglo ´ en la Edad Media II xiv: Los dominios y rentas de Violante de Bar,” Aragon (1979), pp. 135–169. Lerner, Robert, The Feast of Saint Abraham: Medieval Millennarians and the Jews (Philadelphia, 2001). Llabr´es, Gabriel, “La conversion ´ de los jud´ıos mallorquines en 1391. Dato in´edito,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de la Historia 40 (1902), pp. 152– 154. Llobet Portella, Josep Maria, “Los conversos segun ´ la documentacion ´ local de Cervera (1338–1501),” in Revista de la facultad de geograf´ıa e historia (Homenaje al Profesor Eloy Benito Ruano, 1989), pp. 335–350. Lopez Bonet, Josep Francesc, “La revolta de 1391: efectivament, crisi social,” ´ ´ Comunicacions (Palma de XIII Congr´es D’Historia De La Corona D’Arago, Mallorca, 1989), pp. 111–123. Lopez Mata, Teofilo, “Morer´ıa y juder´ıa,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de la ´ ´ Historia 129 (1951), pp. 335–384. Lopez de Meneses, Amada, “Documentos acerca de la peste negra en los dominios ´ ´ de la Corona de Aragon,” Estudios de Edad Media de la Corona de Aragon ´ 6 (1956), pp. 291–447. “Una consecuencia de la peste negra en Cataluna. ˜ El pogrom de 1348,” Sefarad 19 (1959), pp. 92–131 and 322–364. Lopez P´erez, Mar´ıa Dolores, “El pogrom de 1391 en Mallorca y su repercusion ´ ´ en los intercambios comerciales con el Magreb,” in Actes Primer Collo` qui d’Historia dels Jueus a la Corona d’Arago` (Lleida, 1991), pp. 239– 260. MacKay, Angus, Spain in the Middle Ages. From Frontier to Empire, 1000–1500 (New York, 1977). Magdalena Nom de Deu, Jos´e Ramon, “Notas sobre los conversos castel´ lonenses en 1391,” Bolet´ın de la sociedad castellonense de cultura 53 (1977), pp. 161–170. Ma´ız Chacon, ´ Jorge, “Apreciaciones sobre la part forana. Mentalidad y marginalidad en el siglo XIV mallorqu´ın (1391),” Mayurqa 28 (2002), pp. 241– 246. Los jud´ıos de Baleares en la Baja Edad Media. Econom´ıa y pol´ıtica (Oleiros, Spain, 2010).

362

Bibliography

Marqu`es, Josep, “Sis-Cents Pidolaires (1368–1540). Captius, esclaus i peregrins,” Estudis del Baix Emporda` 13 (1994), pp. 137–165. Mascaro´ Pasarius, Josep, “Los jud´ıos de Menorca en la baja edad media (El siglo xiv),” Revista de Menorca 74 (May 1983), pp. 241–281. Mascaro, de, Coleccion de documentos in´editos del Archivo General ´ Prospero ´ de la Corona de Aragon. Procesos de las antiguas Cortes y Parlamentos de ˜ Aragon y Valencia custodiados en el Archivo General de la Corona Cataluna, de Aragon, vol. 6 (Barcelona, 1850). Mata Carriazo, Juan de, “Anecdotario sevillano del siglo xv. De los Anales de Garci Sanchez, jurado de Sevilla,” Anales de la Universidad Hispalense 14 ´ (1953), pp. 3–63. McMichael, Steven J. and Myers, Susan E. eds., Friars and Jews in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. [The Medieval Franciscans, vol. 2] (Leiden, 2004). M´endez Bejarano, Mario, Histoire de la juiverie de S´eville, Madrid, 1922, Spanish translation, Historia de la juder´ıa de Sevilla (Seville, 1992). ´ ˜ (Madrid, 1893). Men´endez Pidal, Ramon, generales de Espana ´ Cronicas ` de Catalunya Mestre i Campi, Jesus ´ and Hurtado, V´ıctor, Atles d’historia (Barcelona, 1995). Meyerson, Mark D., A Jewish Renaissance in Fifteenth-Century Spain (Princeton, 2004). Jews in an Iberian Frontier Kingdom. Society, Economy, and Politics in Morvedre, 1248–1391 (Leiden and Boston, 2004). “Samuel of Granada and the Dominican Inquisitor: Jewish Magic and Jewish Heresy in Post-1391 Valencia,” in Steven J. McMichael and Susan E. Meyers eds., Friars and Jews in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance [The Medieval Franciscans, vol. 2] (Leiden, 2004), pp. 161–189. Miret y Sans, Joaquim, “El proc´es de les hosties contra.ls jueus d’Osca en 1377,” Anuari de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans 4 (1911–1912), pp. 59–80. Mirot, L´eon, Les insurrections urbaines au d´ebut du r`egne de Charles VI (1380– 1383). Leurs causes, leurs cons´equences (Paris, 1905). Miskimin, Harry A., “The Last Act of Charles V: The Background of the Revolts of 1382” Speculum 38 (1963), pp. 443–442. Mitja, ` Marina, “Juan I y los acontecimientos del Call en 1391,” Barcelona. ´ Historica ´ Divulgacion 7 (1949), pp. 105–113. “Proc´es contra els consellers, dom`estics i curials de Joan I, entre ells Bernat Metge,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 17 (1957–1958), pp. 375–417. Mitre Fernandez, Emilio, “Los jud´ıos y la corona de Castilla en el transito al ´ ´ siglo xv,” Cuadernos de Historia. Anejos de la revista Hispania 23 (1969), pp. 347–368. Los jud´ıos de Castilla en tiempo de Enrique III. El Pogrom de 1391 (Valladolid, 1994). ´ de un conflicto social. El Monsalvo Anton, ´ Jos´e Mar´ıa, Teor´ıa y evolucion antisemitismo en la Corona de Castilla en la Baja Edad Media (Madrid, 1985). Monserrat, Manuel Grau, “La juder´ıa de Morella,” Sefarad 22 (1962), pp. 69–81; and 24 (1964), pp. 286–321.

Bibliography

363

Montes Romero-Camacho, Isabel, “Antisemitismo sevillano en la Baja Edad Media: El pogrom de 1391 y sus consecuencias,” in Actas del III Coloquio de Historia Medieval Andaluza. La Sociedad Medieval Andaluza: Grupos no privilegiados (Jaen, 1984), pp. 57–75. ´ ´ en la edad media (siglos Motis Dolader, Miguel Angel, Los jud´ıos en Aragon XIII–XV) (Zaragoza, 1990). “Convulsiones finiseculares y conflictividad social: la aljama jud´ıa de Tarazona y las alteraciones de 1391,” in Primer Encuentro Nacional sobre la Comarca del Moncayo. Ciencias sociales, vol. 1 (Tarazona, 1992), pp. 191–224. “Aproximacion de la communidad jud´ıa de Jaca,” ´ a la evolucion ´ demografica ´ ´ Gudiol (Huesca, 1995), pp. 611–631. in Homenaje a Don Antonio Duran La aljama jud´ıa de Jaca en el siglo XV (Huesca, 1998). ´ (siglos xiii–xv) (Zaragoza, 2006). La comunidad jud´ıa y conversa de Montalban Los jud´ıos de Luna en la edad media (Ambista, 2011). Munoz, Jos´e Angel Sesma, “Todos frente al Rey,” in Adeline Rucquoi ed., Gen`ese ˜ m´edi´evale de l’Espagne moderne. Du refus a la revolte: Les resistances (Nice, 1991), pp. 75–94. Mut, Vicente, Historia general del Reyno de Mallorca por su cronista (Palma, 1650). Narbona Vizca´ıno, Rafael, Valencia, municipio medieval: poder pol´ıtico y luchas ciudadanas (1239–1418) (Valencia, 1995). “El trienio negro: Valencia, 1389–91. Turbulencias coetaneas al asalto de la ´ ˜ Medieval 35 (2012), pp. 190–195. juder´ıa,” En la Espana Netanyahu, Benzion, The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain (New York, 1995). Nieto Fernandez, Agust´ın, Oriola en sus documentos. Vol. 4: Musulmanes y ´ jud´ıos en Oriola, siglos XIV–XIX (Murcia, 1997). Nirenberg, David, Communities of Violence. Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages (Princeton, 1996). “L’Ind´ecision Souverain: G´enocide et Justice en Valencia, 1391,” in Julie Claustre, Olivier Matt´eoni, and Nicolas Offenstadt eds., Un Moyen Age pour aujourd’hui: m´elanges offerts a` Claude Gauvard (Paris, 2010), pp. 495– 508. Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition (New York and London, 2013). Neighboring Faiths. Christianity, Islam and Judaism in the Middle Ages and Today (Chicago, 2014). Oeltjen, Natalie, Crisis and Regeneration: The Conversos of Majorca, 1391–1416 (University of Toronto dissertation, 2012). Orduna, German, ´ El arte narrativo y po´etico del Canciller Ayala (Madrid, 1998). ´ Ortiz de Zu´ niga, Diego, Anales eclesiasticos y seculares de la muy noble y muy ˜ ´ leal ciudad de Sevilla, metropoli de la Andalucia (Madrid, 1795; reprinted Seville, 1978). Pagis, Dan, “Dirges on the Persecutions of 1391 in Spain [Hebrew],” Tarbiz 37 (1968), pp. 355–373. Pakter, Walter, Medieval Canon Law and the Jews (Ebelsbach, 1988). ´ de los Reyes de Aragon ´ 1204–1410 Palacios Mart´ın, Bonifacio, La Coronacion (Valencia, 1975).

364

Bibliography

Payer, Pierre J. ed. and trans., Raymond of Penyafort, Summa on Marriage (Toronto, 2005). ´ (Barcelona, 1883). Pella y Forgas, Jos´e, Historia del Ampurdan Pi y Arimon, Andres Avelino, Barcelona antigua y moderna, vol. 1 (Barcelona, 1854). ˜ Sus monumentos y artes – su Piferrer, Pablo and Quadrado, Jos´e Mar´ıa, Espana. naturaleza e´ historia. Islas Baleares (Barcelona, 1888). Piles Ros, Leopoldo, “La juder´ıa de Burriana,” Sefarad 12 (1952), pp. 105– 124. “La juder´ıa de Alcira,” Sefarad 20 (1960), pp. 363–376. Pita Merc´e, Rodrigo, L´erida jud´ıa (L´erida, 1973). Planas, Silvia, “Conviv`encia, perviv`encia, superviv`encia: Apunts per a la historia ` de les dones converses de Girona,” in Flocel Sabat´e and Claude Denjean eds., Cristianos y jud´ıos en contacto en la edad media (Lleida, 2009), pp. 451–466. Pons, Antonio, Los jud´ıos del reino de Mallorca durante los siglos xiii y xiv 2 vols. (Palma de Mallorca, 1984). Ponsich, Claire, “L’honneur de la vicomtesse d’Illa i de Canet et d’une noble dame valencienne, deux favorites de la duchesse de G´erone, puis de la ´ reine d’Aragon,” Etudes Roussillonnaises, Revue d’Histoire et d’Arch´eologie M´editerran´eennes 20 (2003), pp. 75–87. “De la parole d’apaisement au reproche. Un glissement rh´etorique du conseil ou l’engagement politique d’une reine d’Aragon?” Cahiers d’´etudes hispaniques m´edi´evales 31 (2008), pp. 81–117. Poull, Georges, La maison souverain et ducale de Bar (Nancy, 1994). ´ Puig y Puig, Sebastian, papa ´ Episcopologio barcinonense. Pedro de Luna, ultimo ´ (1387–1430) (Barcelona, 1920). de Avin˜ on Pujol i Canelles, Miquel, “Els jueus de Castello´ d’Empuries,” in Jornades ´ ` d’historia dels jueus a Catalunya (Girona, n.d.), pp. 229–320. ´ La conversio´ dels jueus de Castello´ d’Empuries (Castello´ d’Empuries, 1997). ´ Quadrado, Jos´e Mar´ıa, “La juder´ıa de la ciudad de Mallorca en 1391,” Bolet´ın de la Real Academ´ıa de la Historia 9 (1886), pp. 294–312. Forenses y ciudadanos: historia de las disensiones civiles de Mallorca en el siglo XV (Palma de Mallorca, 1895). Quentel-Touche, C´ecile, “Charles V’s Visual Definition of the Queen’s Virtues,” in Karen Green and Constant Mews eds., Virtue Ethics for Women 1250– 1500 (Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London, and New York, 2011), pp. 53– 80. Quillet, Jeanine, Charles V le Roi Lettr´e. Essai sur la pens´ee politique d’un r`egne (Paris, 1984). “Community, Counsel, and Representation,” in J. H. Burns ed., The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought, ca. 350-ca. 1450 (Cambridge and New York, 1991), pp. 520–572. Rich Abad, Anna, La comunitat jueva de Barcelona entre 1348 i 1391 a trav´es de la documentacio´ notarial (Barcelona, 1999). Riera, Jaume, “Un proc´es inquisitorial contra jueus de Montblanc per un llibre de Maimonides,” in Aplec de Treballs del Centre D’Estudis de la Conca de ` ` vol. 8 (Montblanc, 1987), pp. 59–73. Barbera,

Bibliography

365

“La precedencia entre jud´ıos y moros en el reino de Aragon,” in Elena Romero ´ ˜ ed., Juda´ısmo Hispano. Estudios en memoria de Jos´e Luis Lacave Riano, vol. 2 (Madrid, 2002), pp. 549–560. “Penjar pels peus,” in Flocel Sabat´e and Claude Denjean eds., Cristianos y jud´ıos en contacto en la edad media (Lleida, 2009), pp. 605–622. Riera Sans, Jaume, “Los tumultos contra las juder´ıas de la Corona de Aragon ´ en 1391,” Cuadernos de Historia. Anexos de la Revista Hispania 8 (1977), pp. 213–225. ` Riera i Sans, Jaume, “Els avalots del 1391 a Girona,” in Jornades d’historia dels jueus a Catalunya (Girona, n.d.), pp. 95–159. ` “Colloqui,” Jornades d’historia dels jueus a Catalunya (Girona, n.d.), pp. 172– 173. Pierre de Craon a Catalunya: un cas de extradicio´ (Barcelona, 1976). “Estrangers participants als avalots contra les jueries de la Corona d’Aragon el 1391,” in Anuario de estudios medievales, vol. 10 (Barcelona, 1980), pp. 577–583. “La Catalunya jueva del segle XIV,” L’Avenc¸ 25 (1980), pp. 52–55. “On the Fate of R. Isaac Bar Sheshet (RIBaSh) during the Persecutions of 1391,” (Hebrew) Sefunot, N.S. 2, 17 (1983), pp. 11–20. “El baptisme de Rab´ı Ishaq ben Seset Perfet,” Calls 1 (1986), pp. 43–52. “Estudis sobre el judaisme catala. Anys 1970–1984,” Calls 1 (1986), pp. 93– 132. “El Dalfinat de Girona (1387–1388),” Annals de l’Institut d’Estudis Gironins 29 (1987), pp. 105–128. “Les llic`encies reials per predicar als jueus i als sarra´ıns (segles XIII–XIV),” Calls 2 (1987), pp. 113–143. “La historia dels jueus en el “Viage Literario” del P. Jaume Villanueva,” Calls ` 3 (1988–1989), pp. 9–28. ´ Els poders publics i les sinagogues, segles XIII–XV (Girona, 2006). ´ Segles XII–XV (Girona, 2012). Els jueus de Girona i la seva organitzacio. Riera i Sans, Jaume and Torro´ Torrent, Jaume, Francesc Eiximenis i la casa reial. Diplomatari 1373–1409 (Girona, 2011). Roca, Joseph Mar´ıa, Johan I d’Arago´ (Barcelona, 1929). Roca Traver, Francisco A., “La gobernacion ´ foral del reino de Valencia; una ´ cuestion ´ de competencia,” Estudios de Edad Media de la Corona de Aragon IV (1951), pp. 177–214. Los jud´ıos valencianos en la baja edad media (Valencia, 1998). Rodrigo Lizondo, Mateu and Riera i Sans, Jaume eds., Col·leccio´ documental de la ´ Textos en llengua catalana (1291–1420), Cancelleria de la Corona d’Arago. vol. 2 (Val`encia, 2013). Rodrigo Pertegas, ´ Jos´e, “La juder´ıa de Valencia,” in Jos´e Sanchis y Sivera ed., La Iglesia Parroquial de Santo Tomas de Valencia (Valencia, 1913), pp. 245– 267. Romano, David, “Els jueus en temps de Pere el Cerimonios,” Anuario de estudios ´ medievales 24 (1989), pp. 113–129, reprinted in his collected essays, De ´ historia jud´ıa hispanica (Barcelona, 1991), pp. 455–473. Rossello´ i Vaquer, Ramon and Murillo i Tudur´ı, Andreu, Els jueus dins la societat Menorquina del segle xiv (Menorca, 1990).

366

Bibliography

Roth, Cecil, “A Hebrew Elegy on the Martyrs of Toledo, 1391,” Jewish Quarterly Review 39 (1948), pp. 123–150. Roth, Norman, “1391 in the Kingdom of Castile, Attacks on the Jews,” Iberia Judaica III (2011), pp. 19–48. “1391 in Aragon, ´ Catalonia, Valencia and Majorca,” Iberia Judaica III (2011), pp. 49–75. Rubin, Miri, Gentile Tales. The Narrative Assault on Late Medieval Jews (New Haven and London, 1999). Rubio Garc´ıa, Luis, Los jud´ıos de Murcia en la baja edad media (1350–1500), vol. 1 (Murcia, 1992). Rubio Vela, Agust´ın, “Sobre la poblacion ´ de Valencia en el cuatrocientos (Nota demografica),” Bolet´ın de la Sociedad Castellonense de Cultura 56 (1980), ´ pp. 158–170. Epistolari de la Val`encia medieval (Val`encia, 1985). ˜ “La poblacion ´ de Valencia en la Baja Edad Media,” Hispania. Revista espanola de historia 55 (1995), pp. 495–525. Rubio y Lluch, Antoni, Documents per l’historia de la cultura catalana mig-eval, 1 (Barcelona, 1908). ´ Rullan, Jos´e, Historia de Soller, en sus relaciones con la general de Mallorca, vol. 1 (Palma, 1875). Rustow, Marina, “La notion de l’Alliance royale et Yerushalmi por maˆıtre,” in Sylvie Anne Goldberg ed., L’histoire et la m´emoire de l’histoire. Hommage a` Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi (Paris, 2012), pp. 57–69. Sainz de la Maza Lasoli, Regina, “La aljama jud´ıa de Montalban ´ (1307–91),” Anuario de estudios medievales 14 (1984), pp. 345–391. Salleras Clario, ´ Joaqu´ın, “L’Aljama de jueus de Fraga,” Tamid 6 (2006–2007), pp. 143–185. Sanahuja, Pedro, L´erida en sus luchas por la fe (L´erida, 1946). Sanpere y Miquel, Salvador, Las costumbres catalanas en tiempo de Juan I (Girona, 1878). ´ Santamar´ıa Arandez, Alvaro, “Mallorca en el siglo XIV,” Anuario de estudios ´ medievales 7 (1970–1971), pp. 165–238. Sanz Artibucilla, Jos´e Mar´ıa, “Los jud´ıos de Tarazona en 1391,” Sefarad 7 (1947), pp. 63–92. Saperstein, Marc, “A Sermon on the Akedah from the Generation of the Expulsion and its Implications for 1391,” in Aharon Mirsky, Avraham Grossman, and Yosef Kaplan eds., Exile and Diaspora. Studies in the History of the Jewish People Presented to Haim Beinart (Jerusalem, 1991), pp. 103–124. Schwartz y Luna, Frederich and Carrereas i Candi, Francesch eds., Coleccio´ de ´ documents historichs in´edits del Arxiu Municipal de la Ciutat de Barcelona. Manual de Novells Ardits vulgarment apellat Dietari del Antich Consell Barceloni, vol. 1 (Barcelona, 1892). Secall i Guell, Gabriel, Els jueus de Valls i la seva e´ poca. Estudis Vallencs, ¨ vol. IX (Valls, 1980). Les jueries medievals Tarragonines. Estudis Vallencs, vol. XIV (Valls, 1983). ´ Serrano de Haro, Antonio, El embajador Don Pero Lopez de Ayala (1332–1407) (Madrid, 2001).

Bibliography

367

Sherman, Claire Richter, “The Queen in Charles V’s Coronation Book: Jeanne de Bourbon and the ‘Ordo ad reginam benedicendam,’” Viator 8 (1977), pp. 255–298. “Taking a Second Look: Observations on the Iconography of a French Queen: Jeanne de Bourbon (1338–1378),” in Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard eds., Feminism and Art History: Questioning the Litany (New York, 1982), pp. 101–117. Imaging Aristotle: Verbal and Visual Representation in Fourteenth-Century France (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1995). Silleras-Fernandez, Nuria, “Queenship en la corona de Aragon ´ ´ ´ en la baja edad ´ media: Estudio y propuesta terminologica,” La Coronica 32 (2003), pp. ´ 119–133. Power, Piety, and Patronage in Late Medieval Queenship: Mar´ıa de Luna (New York, 2008). Simonsohn, Shlomo, The Apostolic See and the Jews. Documents: 492–1404 (Toronto, 1988). Sobrequ´es i Callico, ´ Jaume, “La peste negra en la pen´ınsula ib´erica,” Anuario de Estudios Medievales 7 (1970–1971), pp. 67–101. ` Historia de Barcelona, volumes 2 – La formacio´ de la Barcelona medieval and 3 – La ciutat consolidada (segles XIV i XV), (Barcelona, 1992). Suarez Bilbao, Fernando, Enrique III (Palencia, 1994). ´ Suarez Fernandez, Luis, “Problemas pol´ıticos de la minoridad de Enrique III,” ´ ´ Hispania XII (1952), pp. 163–231. Synan, Edward A., The Popes and the Jews in the Middle Ages (New York, 1965). Talmage, Frank, “The Francesc de Sant Jordi-Solomon Bonafed Letters,” in Isadore Twersky ed., Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature (Cambridge, MA, 1979), pp. 337–364. Tartakoff, Paola, “Christian Kings and Jewish Conversion in the Medieval Crown of Aragon,” Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies 3 (2011), pp. 27–39. Between Christian and Jew. Conversion and Inquisition in the Crown of Aragon, 1250–1391 (Philadelphia, 2012). “Of Purity, Piety, and Plunder: Jewish Apostates and Poverty in Medieval Europe,” in Theodor Dunkelgrun ¨ and Pawel Maciejko eds., Converts and Conversion to and from Judaism (University of Pennsylvania Press, forthcoming). ´ i els seus fills (Barcelona, 1957). Tasis i Marca, Rafael, Pere el Cerimonios ´ Joan I. El Rei Cac¸ador i Music (Barcelona, 1959). Tate, Robert B., “Lopez de Ayala, humanist historian?” Hispanic Review XXV ´ (1957), pp. 157–174 translated by Jesus ´ D´ıaz in Robert Brian Tate, Ensayos de sobre la historiograf´ıa peninsular del siglo XV (Madrid, 1970), as “Lopez ´ Ayala? ‘historiador humanista?,” pp. 33–54. Teran, ´ Antonio Collantes de, Sevilla en la baja edad media; la ciudad y sus nombres (Seville, 1977). Torres Fontes, Juan, “Los jud´ıos murcianos a fines del siglo xiv y comienzos del ´ xv,” Miscelanea Medieval Murciana 8 (1981), pp. 55–118. Trasselli, Carmello, “Il protonotaro di Martino, duca de Montblanc,” Revista de archivos, bibliotecas y museos 63 (1957), pp. 467–502.

368

Bibliography

´ Trastamara ´ Valdeon ´ Baruque, Julio, Los jud´ıos de Castilla y la revolucion (Valladolid, 1968). Valle, Carlos del, Roth, Norman, and Schippers, Arie, “Eleg´ıas hebreas sobre las persecuciones de 1391 en Espana,” in Carlos del Valle Rodriguez ed., Las ˜ persecuciones de 1391 en las eleg´ıas hebreas. Iberia Judaica, vol. 3 (Madrid, 2011), pp. 99–105. Vidal, Pierre, “Les Juifs de Roussillon et de Cerdagne,” Revue des e´ tudes juives 15 (1887), pp. 19–55; and 16 (1888), pp. 1–23, and 170–203. Translated into Catalan, with added notes, by Eduard Feliu, as Pere Vidal, “Els jueus dels antics comtats de Rossello´ i Cerdanya,” in Calls 2 (1987), pp. 26– 112. These articles were also reprinted together as Pierre Vidal, Les Juifs des anciens comt´es de Roussillon et de Cerdagne. Pr´eface d’Eduard Feliu (Perpignan, 1992). Vidal Beltran, ´ Eliseo, Valencia en la e´ poca de Juan I (Valencia, 1974). Viera, David J., “Sant Vicent Ferrer, Francesc Eiximenis i el pogrom de 1391,” Actes del sis`e Col.loqui d’Estudis Catalans a Nord-am`erica. Vancouver, 1990 (Barcelona, 1992), pp. 243–254. ˜ 12 (Madrid, 1850); 16 Villanueva, Jaime, Viage literario a las iglesias de Espana (Madrid, 1851); 18 (Madrid, 1851); 21 (Madrid, 1951). ˜ vol. 2 Villanueva, Joaquin Lorenzo, Viage literario a´ las iglesias de Espana, (Madrid, 1804). Vincke, Johannes, Zur Vorgeschichte der Spanischen Inquisition (Bonn, 1941). Vose, Robin, Dominicans, Muslims, and Jews in the Medieval Crown of Aragon (Cambridge, 2009). Weill, Georges, “Les Juifs dans le Barrois et la Meuse du moyen age a nos jours,” Revue des e´ tudes juives 125 (1966), pp. 287–299. Wiener, Max, Das Buch Schevet Jehuda von R. Salomo Aben Verga (Hannover, 1856). ´ Wilkins, Constance L. and Wilkins, Heanon M. eds., Pero Lopez de Ayala. Coronica de Enrique III (Madison, Wisconsin, 1992). Winer, Rebecca Lynn, Women, Wealth, and Community in Perpignan c.1250– 1300: Christians, Jews, and Enslaved Muslims in a Medieval Mediterranean Town (Aldershot, 2006). Wolff, Philippe, “The 1391 Pogrom in Spain. Social Crisis or Not?” Past and Present 50 (1971), pp. 4–18. Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayim, The Lisbon Massacre of 1506 and the Royal Image in the Shebet Yehudah (Cincinnati, 1976). Servants of Kings and Not Servants of Servants: Some Aspects of the Political History of the Jews (Rabbi Donald A. Tam Institute for Jewish Studies, Emory University, 2005).

Index

Abarim, Juseff, 30, 33 Abembron, David, 274, 275 Abenabez, Rabi Mosse, 301 Abenardut, Leoni, 293 Abendahuet, Salamonis, 301 Abolex, Azmel, 208 Abolex, Juce, 208 Abolex, Oro, 208 Abraham, Jucef, 116, 118 Abravalla, Don Samuel, 61 Adret, Bonedomine, 278 Adret, Bonnin, 278 Aguilo, Johan, 157, 158 Alagon, ´ 163, 168, 213, 313 Alamani de Cervilioni, Raymundo, 173, 239, 240–244, 253, 257, 258, 259, 261, 268, 269, 308 Alanya, Arnau, 160, 347 Alanya, En Bernat, 347 Alanya, Luys, 160, 347 Alanya, Matheu, 160, 347 Alatzar, Izdra, 300 Alatzar, Mosse, 300 Alatzar, Salamo, 300 Albarrac´ın, 163, 165, 183, 208, 262, 264, 265, 266 Alcala´ de Guadaira, 15 Alcaniz, ˜ 163, 164, 173, 174, 178, 179, 211, 213, 220, 221, 230, 247, 294, 300, 326 Comendador, 163, 173, 220 Alcaraz, 22 Alcoi, 65, 316, 328

Alcorisa, 164 Alcudia, 71 ´ Alfanell, Salamon, 233 Alfonso I, King of Aragon, 2 Alguer (Sardinia), 258, 304 Alietzer, Saltiel, 152, 339 Almenar, 35, 234, 237, 238, 243, 307 Almunia (de Dona ˜ Godina), 163 Alzira, 51, 62, 63, 160, 331 Amposta, 66, 147, 182, 349 Andalet, Haim, 196 Andraig, 78 Andreu, Bernalt, 336 Angles, Micer Bernat, 55 Anglesola, Hug d’, 283 Antonia, daughter of King Joan I and Queen Iolant, 251, 260, 268, 269, 304, 308–310, 314 Apilia, Ramon de, 234 Aragon, Kingdom of, 162–184 governor, 162, 163, 171, 174, 182, 183, 216, 233, 252, 264, 266, 311 Aranda, Francisco de, 175, 234, 239, 240, 281, 282, 291, 292, 298, 312, 323, 327, 332 Arandiga, 171, 335, 345 ´ Arbuiy, Bernat, 293, 295 Arlonin, Bernat, 168, 178 Armagnac, Count of, 253, 321 Arta, 71 artisans, 93, 123, 128, 134, 186, 188 Astorga, 22 Astrugue, widow of Juce Abolex, 208, 209

369

370

Index

Augustinians, 153 Avengoyos, Sento, 275 Avignon, 13, 15, 44, 55, 90, 143, 180, 206, 272, 281 ´ Avila, 22 Avingoyos, Juda, 278 Aynsa, 171, 172 Baeza, 22 Balaguer, 89, 158, 159, 199, 226, 228, 235–237, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 246, 247, 250, 254, 270, 299, 302, 304, 306–308, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343 Banyolas, 127 baptism, 20, 31, 33, 41, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51, 59–64, 99, 103, 108, 109, 115, 120, 122, 124, 125, 129, 132, 134, 137, 146, 150, 156, 172, 186, 188, 211, 216, 221, 222, 250, 297, 309, 325, 327, 328, 330, 335, 341, 344. See conversion Barbastro, 166, 167, 171, 172, 250, 260 Barbera, Nazbert de, 62 Barcelona, 92–113 batle, 72, 80, 94, 101, 105, 254, 287 bishop, 108, 221, 256 Casa de la Ciutat, 95, 107 Castell Nou, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 186, 254, 256 council, 95, 96, 100, 107, 109, 110, 322 Jewish quarter, 96, 98, 99, 102, 105, 106, 186, 256, 296 jurats, 107, 321 plac¸a de San Jaume, 100, 203, 282 plac¸a del Blat, 100, 101 plac¸a del call, 100 prohomens, 94, 95, 105, 106, 108, 112, 158, 256, 297 promens. See prohomens royal chamberlain, 96 secretaris of aliama, 288 veguer, 94, 99, 100, 101, 104, 105, 110, 111, 186, 188, 241, 248, 252, 254, 255, 256, 265, 287 Barida, ´ 141, 145 Belchite, 316, 343, 344, 345 Bellviure, Lluis de, 76, 78, 79, 80, 82, 85, 236, 305 Bemilam, wife of Mosse Rosano, 178

Benavente, 22 Benet, Astruch, 118 Benvenist, Cresques, 158 Benvenist, Samuel, 212, 217, 288, 289, 292, 297 Berga, 156, 160, 274, 281 Berga, Pere de, 242 Bertrandi, Francesch, 218, 228, 242, 243, 246 Besalu, ´ 94, 115, 122, 130, 160, 249, 265 Besanta, Jayme de, 165, 166, 295 Besanta, Pere de, 209 Biel, 171, 250, 316, 335, 342, 345, 348 Black Death, 3, 4, 92, 93, 210 Bonavia, Salamon, ´ 132 Bonet, Guillem, 118 Bonium, Vidal, 152 Bordils, Mossen Huc de, 51 Borja, 167–170, 171, 288, 290, 292, 294, 295, 298, 300, 301, 302 Borriana, 56, 57, 59, 61, 62, 63, 160, 185, 323, 326, 329, 331, 333 Boxades, Berengario de, 156 Briviesca, 3 Brunell, Azday, 160, 268, 348 Brunell, Vidal, 160, 347 Burgos, 3, 18, 19, 21, 22, 179 C¸a Rovira, Alfonsus, 343 C¸a Torra, Petri, 241 Cabrejas, 212, 217, 288, 289, 290 Cabrera, Bernat de, 97, 98, 104, 158, 296, 329, 331, 333, 339, 348 Cabrera, Bernat de, 1298–1364, 193, 333 Calaceite, 233, 267 Calatayud, 111, 163, 164, 165, 175, 176, 177, 182, 183, 208, 211, 214, 223, 228, 230, 264, 274, 284, 286, 298, 301, 311, 312, 313, 314 Jewish quarter, 163 Calatrava, Order of, 164 Caller (Sardinia), 258 Camarasa, 159, 339, 340, 341, 348, 351 synagogue, 159, 341 Cambrils, 154 Camprodon, ´ 146 Canalies, Bernat, 170, 284, 288, 295 Cantillana, 15 Cardona, Count of, 108, 111 Cardona, N’Esperandeu, 242

Index Carlos III, King of Navarre, 227, 247, 280, 284, 307 Carmona, 22 Caro, Davi, 286 Carroc¸, En, 51 Casals, En Pere, 182, 313 Caspe, 163, 302, 303 Castello, ´ 59, 62 Castello´ d’Empuries, 117, 129, 130, 249, ´ 310, 315 Castile, Kingdom of, 11–21 Cortes, 16 regency council, 4, 15–17, 18 Catalonia batle general, 250 governor, 241, 242, 249, 256, 262, 278, 308 lieutenant governor, 134, 135, 136, 137, 219, 220, 221, 223 synagogues, 160 Cavalleria, Benvenist de la, 203, 205, 286, 301 Caxixa, 150, 151 Cerdagne, 140, 141, 142, 143, 160, 207, 216, 224, 229, 233, 244, 321, 348 veguer, 141, 145 Cerdanyola del Vall`es, 248 Cervello, Berenguer Arnau de, 156, 157, 158, 339, 341, 342 Cervello, Guerau de, 331, 333, 337 Cervello, Mossen Huc de, 139 Cervera, 132, 134, 139, 140, 148, 154, 155, 156, 160, 161, 195, 211, 247, 249, 250, 252, 255, 260, 274, 277, 346 synagogue, 277 Cervera, Franciscum, 132 Cervilione, Huc de, 234 Charles V, King of France, 200, 271, 275 Charles VI, King of France, 275 Ciges, Pere de, 106 Clement VI, Pope at Avignon, 143 Clement VII, Pope at Avignon, 200, 206, 272 Cocentaina, 65, 328 Coffe, Fraym, 208, 209 Collioure, 68, 160, 322 Columbario, Arnaldi de, 132 conversion, 5, 6, 7, 14, 20, 21, 27, 31–34, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48, 50, 55, 59–64,

371

76, 82, 88, 89, 90, 98, 103, 104, 117, 119, 120, 122, 124, 125, 126, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138, 144, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 158, 159, 172, 181, 182, 187, 188, 189, 216, 217, 221, 222, 223, 229, 230, 233, 248, 249, 264, 285, 289, 297, 302, 309, 325–329, 331, 334, 337, 339, 341–345, 347, 348, 350 converts, 5, 15, 30, 44, 59, 61, 62, 64, 80, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 110, 113, 117, 129, 133, 137, 139, 145, 146, 150, 152, 153, 154, 156, 159, 160, 181, 188, 197, 206, 207, 217, 241, 244, 247, 248, 251, 252, 255, 257, 263, 264, 265, 285, 287, 290, 309, 310, 317, 326, 328, 334, 336, 337, 339, 343, 346, 347, 348 Cordova, 14, 17, 22 Coria, 15, 22 Cornago, 22 Cortada, Pedro, 311 Cortada, Pere. See Cortada, Pedro Cortal, Benvenist de, 158, 159 Cortes, 18 Cortilio, Berenguerio de, 225, 301 Corts, Monzon, ´ 1388–89, 128, 199, 203, 204, 277, 280, 282, 283, 284, 320, 321 Cotlliure. See Collioure craftsmen, 89, 96, 110, 127, 128, 153, 187, 241. See artisans Crescas, Hasdai, 8, 11, 13, 14, 19–22, 27, 43, 45, 67, 74, 90, 92, 97, 98, 99, 102, 103, 108, 109, 112, 113, 115, 119, 120, 125, 133, 137, 205, 211, 221, 277, 285, 286, 297, 301, 342 Letter to Jews of Avignon, 13, 14, 112, 180 Cresques, Azara, 336 Cresques, Azday, 203, 285. See Crescas, Hasdai Cretas, 164 Crevillent, 56, 315, 316, 323, 347 Crudilis, Gilaberto de, 140, 144, 146, 229, 244 Cruilles, Bernat de, 160, 350 Cruylles, Berenguer de, 157 Cuenca, 3, 21, 22

372

Index

Cuevas de Canart, 178 ˜ Cullera, 60, 249 Dalgarani, Michaeli Sancti, 163 Daniel, Sason, 209 Daranda, Francesch. See Aranda, Francisco de Daroca, 167, 168, 169, 182, 183, 186, 208, 213, 228, 262, 264, 281, 283, 284, 287, 292, 295, 301, 313 Davinyo, Manuel, 155 deaths, 18, 34, 42, 43, 68, 184, 189, 252, 299 Deuslosal, Boniach, 145 Devesa, Jacobo, 108, 109 Dezcatllar, Pere, 105 Dominicans, 26, 32, 44, 126, 153, 197 Ebro river, 163, 166, 168, 171, 173, 182, 183, 235, 302 Eiximenis, Francesc, 222, 259 Ejea, 171, 207 Elionor of Castile, 319 Elionor, Queen of the Crown of Aragon, 196, 315, 316 Elul, Hebrew month of, 74, 97 Elx, 56, 57, 64, 315, 316, 323, 327, 347, 349, 350 synagogue, 349, 350 Empuries, 125 ´ Empuries, Count of, 121, 125, 129, 273, ´ 280, 302, 303 Enrique II, King of Castile, 3, 15 Enrique III, King of Castile, 4, 6, 14, 15, 17, 18, 98 Escarampo, Luquino, 246 Estadella, Arnau d’, 197 Eymeric, Nicolau, 26, 155, 205, 206, 260 Ezdra, Magister, 180 Fac¸an, Jacob, 209 Fanato, Samuel, 179, 300 Felanitx, 71 Fernandez de Fr´ıas, Pedro, Bishop of ´ Osma, 212, 217, 288 Fernandez de Toledo, Juan, 206 ´ Ferran Mateu, son of King Joan I and Queen Iolant, 226, 283 Ferrandez Durries, Johan, 266 Ferrer, Joan, 26, 70, 74, 75, 82, 84, 85, 87, 99, 102

Figeriis. See Figueres Figueres, 115, 122, 160 Fluvia, En Francesch de, 54 Foix, Count of, 235, 236, 237, 269, 314 Forcen, Gonc¸albo, 172 Fraga, 134, 167, 172, 202, 203, 222–224, 229, 235, 242, 247, 248, 265, 280 Franciscans, 69, 118, 135, 136, 153, 186, 188, 197, 222, 283, 304 Fresneda, 164 Galceran, Bernat, 166 galleys, 37, 98, 321, 331, 333, 350. See sailors Gandesa, 66, 147 Gandia, 48, 49, 50, 61 Garces de Janouas, Johan, 311 Garceys de Januis, Ferdinando, 233 Garrius, Juliano, 225, 239, 240, 261, 301 Gelsa, 316, 335, 336, 340, 342, 343 Gerau, Ponc¸, 155 Ginebrosa, 164, 179 Girona, 114–133 batle, 120, 123, 124, 130, 202, 287 council, 118, 124, 127, 128, 131 Gironella, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 130, 131, 132, 260, 296, 298, 300, 302 Jewish quarter, 116, 296 jurats, 116–129, 131, 132, 141, 281, 287 prohomens, 119, 120, 123, 124, 127, 131 promens. See prohomens secretaris of aliama, 123, 130, 300 sots batle, 123 sots veguer, 123 synagogue, 117, 284 veguer, 120, 121, 123, 125, 126, 127, 130, 287 Golluf, Alatzar, 197, 203, 259, 277, 278, 279, 281, 284, 285 Golluf, Assach, 285 Golluf, Mira, 285 Golluf, Samuel, 285 Gralla, Bernat, 241 Granada, 46, 47, 48, 60, 64, 244, 327, 332 Guillermi de Vilaricho, Franciscus, 132 Gurrea, Lop de, 173, 179, 198 Gurrea, Lope de. See Gurrea, Lop de

Index haLorki, Yehoshua, 179, 326, 354 host desecration, 140, 163, 194, 195, 285, 316, 317, 318 Huesca, 162, 163, 165, 166, 173, 179, 180, 196, 197, 201, 205, 209, 211, 213, 216, 217, 219, 230, 255, 274, 316, 318 Huete, 22 hunting, 200, 203, 204, 209, 211, 218, 228, 235–237, 238, 242–246, 250, 251, 253, 256, 260, 264, 268, 282, 283, 303, 307 Inca, 71, 73, 75 Iolant, Queen of the Crown of Aragon, 271–314 Iona, Vidal, 310 Jaca, 6, 162, 167, 169, 172, 173, 183, 201, 244, 267, 274–278, 287, 298, 314 Ja´en, 3, 22 James I, King of Aragon, 1, 197, 206 Jamila, widow of Ac¸ach Ardit, 178 Jaume, el Dalf´ı, 279, 280, 282, 304 Jean II, King of France, 272 Jerez, 21, 22 Joan I, King of the Crown of Aragon, 193–270 Joana, daughter of Prince Joan and Mata of Armagnac, 269 Johann I of Kraichgau, 2 Jonquerio, Bernardo de, 293 Juan I, King of Castile, 319 Judah ben Asher, 2 Juliani, Anthonius, 248 killed, 2, 3, 6, 15, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 42, 45, 51, 61, 62, 67, 73, 74, 90, 98, 99, 102, 103, 104, 106, 113, 116, 117, 119, 121, 131, 134, 136, 141, 146, 147, 159, 161, 178, 180, 181, 188, 262, 266, 276, 312, 313, 324, 344. See deaths Leon, ´ 22 Levi, Samueli, 208 Levi, Struch, 255 Linyan de Romea, Pero, 163 Linyan, Pere de, 311

373

Lleida, 45, 51, 78, 89, 105, 121, 134–139, 140, 143, 154, 156, 160, 161, 186, 187, 188, 199, 202, 203, 211, 219, 220, 221, 223, 224, 225, 226, 229, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242–254, 255, 260, 261, 262, 265, 270, 274, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 342, 346, 347 Jewish quarter, 135, 138 paers, 134, 135, 136, 138, 219, 304, 305 prohomens, 135, 136, 138, 304, 305 synagogue, 137 Llerena, 22 Ll´ıria, 56, 57, 59, 64, 316, 323, 327, 337, 350 synagogue, 337 Ll´ıvia, 142, 145, 223 Llunes, Bartomeu, 203, 281 Lobel Gracia, Astruch, 118 Lobet, Berenguer de, 78, 83 Logrono, ˜ 6, 21, 22 Lopez de Ayala, Pero, 16, 17, 18, 21 ´ Lopez de Luna, Ferrant, 343 Loret, Ramon de, 122, 123, 124 Luna, 171, 335, 336, 345 Luna, Alvaro de, 336 Luna, Ferran Lopez de, 342 Luna, Maria de, 156, 241, 268, 315, 318, 329, 332, 335, 344, 345, 350 Luna, Marti de, 152, 339 Madir, Joan, 116, 118 Madrid, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22 Maella, 163, 232, 267 Magallon, ´ 167, 168, 170, 287, 288, 290, 292, 294 Maimonides, writings of, 94, 287 Majorca, City of Almudaina, 69, 76, 80, 82, 87 artisan, 69, 70, 84 council, 81, 84, 86, 88 Jewish quarter, 68, 69, 73, 75, 77, 89, 186 jurats, 71, 76, 81, 83–85, 87, 88 prohomens, 72, 76 secretaris of aliama, 329 Majorca, Island of, 68–91 batle, 76 council, 69, 86, 253

374

Index

Majorca, Island of (cont.) governor, 68, 69, 70–73, 76–91, 97, 220, 224, 248, 253, 333 jurats, 72 promens, 84, 86 Malleo, Johan, 261 malshinut. See slander mals´ın. See slanderer Manacor, 71, 77, 78, 80, 81 Manresa, 129, 154, 156, 160, 161, 274 Mao, ´ 85 Maria of Sicily, 318 Maria, Queen of Sicily, 335, 350 Marie de France, 271 Marqu´es de Villena, 50 Marrades, En Pero, 36–38, 40–44, 46, 52, 54, 59, 64 Mart´ı (the younger), 318, 350 Mart´ı, Duke of Montblanc (and Maria, Duchess of Montblanc), 315–351 ´ Martinez, Ferrant, archdeacon of Ecija, 14, 15, 16, 17, 27, 32, 187, 276 nephew of, 267 Mascaro, ´ Guillem, 72, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 137, 154, 259, 260 Mascho, Domingo, 58, 66, 70, 153, 154, 232, 237, 243, 244, 246, 249, 257, 258, 302, 309 Massana, Na Lauda, 73, 74 Mata of Armagnac, 317 Matamala, 335, 336 Matis, Shlomo, 44 Mayorga, 22 Mazaleon, ´ 164 Menescal, Ic¸ach, 317 Menorca, 71, 77, 79, 85 governor, 72 Mercadell, Abraham, 276 Mercader, Johan, 45, 48, 50 Metge, Bernat, 96, 218, 242, 251, 283, 293 miracles, 40, 41, 42, 45, 48, 49, 51, 52, 59, 195 moneylending, 70, 71, 93, 164, 186, 201, 272, 276 Montagut, Arnau, 345 Montalban, ´ 66, 166, 167, 177, 208, 219, 335, 336 Montblanc, City of, 156–160, 324, 338, 339, 342, 343, 346, 347 batle, 156, 160, 343, 347

capita, 341, 342 consols, 156 deacon, 261 jurats, 156 prohomens, 156 rector, 157, 338 veguer, 157 Montechateno, Rogerio de, 246 Montesa, Order of, 53, 55, 63, 111, 139, 177, 216, 223, 224, 234, 273 Monzon, ´ 128, 167, 203, 204, 239, 240, 250, 280, 282, 283, 284 Morato, Nicolau, 249 Morella, 63, 160 moreria, 38, 48, 61, 63, 331, 336 Morvedre, 6, 46, 47, 52, 55, 57–60, 65, 66, 67, 185, 209, 215, 216, 217, 220, 221, 231, 232, 241, 257, 258, 330, 331, 334, 345 Jewish quarter, 57, 59 Muntbuy, Johan de, 258 Munyoc¸, Ferrando, 57 Munyoz de Pamplona, Alfonso, 163, 311 Murcia, 22, 45, 64 Muslims, 2, 3, 7, 27, 33, 36, 38, 46–48, 51, 56, 57, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 76, 87, 89, 134, 149, 152, 167, 168, 170, 172, 183, 189, 197, 202, 206, 209, 214, 222, 223, 225, 231, 238, 244, 274, 283, 288, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 308, 323, 324, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 335, 336, 338, 344, 345, 348, 350 Nachor, brother of Juseff Abarim, 31 Nacim, Mestre, 194 Nadal, Maestre, 226 naval expedition to Sicily, 28, 55, 68, 96, 98, 107, 110, 158, 199, 211, 247, 253, 255, 268, 296, 305, 306, 315, 317, 321, 322, 323, 325, 329, 331, 332, 333, 335, 337, 339, 340, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349 Navarre, Kingdom of, 1, 6, 167–170, 189, 209, 225, 227, 294 Navasa, Jimeno de, 206 Nieto, Abraham del and Samuel del, 278 nobility, 18, 35, 37, 39, 46, 100, 113, 128, 152, 163, 167, 168, 187, 189, 204, 209, 232, 234, 250, 276, 280, 283, 292, 321, 331, 339, 350

Index noblemen, 38, 51, 53, 80, 163, 167, 168, 171, 176, 187, 230, 234, 264, 295, 333, 342. See nobility North Africa, 47, 70, 76, 81, 89, 90, 225 Novals, En Miguel de, 54 Oriol, Maestre Bernat, 268, 306 Oriola, 22, 56, 63, 64, 323, 327 Osuna, 22 Palencia, 18, 22 Paredes, 22 Paschasius. See Pasqual de la Part Pasqual de la Part, 148–153 Pastor, Bernat, 157 Pedralba, 64, 327 Pedro I, King of Castile, 3, 106 Pedro, Anthoni, 249 Penaguila, 65, 350 ` Peralada, 117 Pere III, King of the Crown of Aragon, 3, 70, 93, 128, 193, 194, 196, 197, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 208, 212, 273, 277, 281, 286, 287, 315–318 Perez de Guzman, Alvar, 17 Perfet, Rabbi Isaac bar Sheshet, 43, 326 Perpignan, 116, 117, 126, 134, 137, 140–146, 154, 160, 186, 187, 193, 194, 195, 199, 200, 207, 211, 214, 217, 222, 223, 224, 229, 232, 265, 267, 269, 270, 273, 274, 280, 319, 321 batle, 142 consols, 115, 116, 122, 141, 142, 143, 144, 146, 187, 222, 229 Jewish quarter, 142 promens, 144 secretaris of aliama, 141, 142 Petra, 71 Philip VI, King of France, 199 Piera, Miquel de, 214, 332 Piera, Shlomo de, 268 Pollenc¸a, 71 Porta, Arnau, 161 Portugal, Kingdom of, 6, 177, 189, 230, 319 Prades, Count of, 233, 234 Proxida, Olfo de, 56, 323 Puc¸ol, 47, 58, 59, 185

375

Puigcerda, ` 141, 142, 143, 145, 147, 160, 223 batle, 145 consols, 143, 145 prohomens, 145 punishments, 34, 47, 53, 60, 139, 177, 218, 224, 253, 262, 291, 306, 332, 333 Quatorze, Ac¸aquo de, 293 Queralt, Pere de, 109, 342 Querol, Ramon, 109, 268, 282 Rajadello, Guillermo de, 78, 105, 134, 135, 137, 138, 220, 221, 223, 224 Ram, Blasio, 164, 173, 174 Reserach, Ramon de, 194 Rexacho, Constancia de, 309 Ribera, en Paschual, 347 robbery, 30, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 52, 60, 63, 78, 81, 106, 120, 157, 230, 236, 241, 249, 254, 257, 260, 267, 334, 336, 337, 342 Robert, duc de Bar, 271 Robio, ´ Bertran de, 150, 151, 152 Roda, Bernardo de, 348 Roda, Master of, 228, 266 Roda, Viscount of, 144, 173, 212, 239, 269 Rosano, Mosse, 178 Roussillon, 126, 127, 140, 143, 204, 207, 214, 216, 224, 229, 233, 244, 269, 321, 348 governor, 126, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 214, 224, 229 Roven, Ic¸aq, 310 royal alliance, 4, 8 Rudiger, bishop of Speyer, 1, 2 ¨ Ruesca, 205 Sa Garriga, Francesc, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 75–81, 83–87, 89–91, 236, 254 sailors, 33, 36, 54, 95, 96, 98, 100, 101, 105, 158, 186, 296 Sala, Jayme, 217, 289, 290 Salamanca, 22 Salzet, Mateo, 68, 73, 74, 75, 79, 98 San Clemente, Guillermus de, 99, 100, 103 San Feliu, Bonafonat de, 57, 58, 65, 241, 257, 258, 330, 331, 345

376

Index

Sanchez de Calatayud, Johan, 285 Sanchez de Calatayud, Mossen Pero, 64 Sanchez de Calatayud, Pere, 285 Sancho VI, King of Navarre, 1 Sanlucar, 22 ´ Sant Jordi, Johan de. See Abarim, Juseff Sant Marcal, Narcis de, 301 Sant Mateu, 63, 216 Santa Coloma, Francesch Johan, 72 Santa Margarita, 84 Santiago, Master of, 217 Saporta, Salomo, ´ 118 Saragossa, 13, 27, 52, 54, 56, 78, 83, 89, 90, 104, 108, 111, 112, 124, 135, 137, 139, 165, 166, 168, 177–180, 197, 201, 203, 205, 212, 215, 217, 218, 223–226, 228, 229, 233–236, 238, 239, 240, 244, 252, 259, 263, 267, 268, 274, 277, 278, 282, 283, 285, 286, 288, 293, 297–304, 306, 307, 308–310, 313, 314, 319, 320, 322, 336, 338, 339, 342, 343, 344 Saranyo, En Vicent, 336 Sardinia, 55, 199, 204, 240, 246, 258, 283, 304, 308, 317, 318, 346 Saulis, Isaach, 124 Sazo, Baudet de, 293 Scaleta, Salomo, ´ 203 Segorbe, 56, 316, 323, 337, 338 synagogue, 337 Segovia, 18, 21, 22 Segurioles, Francesc de, 116 Sent Christofol, 41, 45, 49, 51 Sent Fores, 158 Seville, 6, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24, 32, 71, 72, 98, 100, 156, 185, 210, 268, 324 sexto, 81 Sibilla, Queen of the Crown of Aragon, 200, 202, 273, 281, 319, 320 Sicily, 28, 96, 98, 107, 109, 110, 158, 199, 200, 211, 215, 247, 253, 255, 268, 305, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 321, 335, 340, 344, 346 Sineu, 71 sisa, 81, 205 Siscar, Mossen Pere de, 51 slander, 279, 285, 286 slanderers, 205, 284, 317 Soler, Berenguer, 178

Soler, En Ramon de, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 54, 59, 64 Solerio, Jacobus de, 100 Soller, 69, 71, 72, 77–80, 85 ´ Soria, 21, 22, 212, 288, 290 stolen goods, 34–36, 38, 42, 45, 50, 52, 55, 61, 73, 75, 77, 80, 95, 99, 107, 111, 117, 123, 124, 142, 143, 146, 152, 155, 156, 161, 176, 181, 226, 249, 261, 265, 291, 296, 300, 312, 328, 330, 334, 336. See robbery Sutlam, Magister and Biona, 260 synagogues, 15, 16, 21, 198, 208 Tahuel, Numer, 44 Tallada, Bernat, 156 Tamarite de Litera, 167, 171, 172, 239, 240, 267, 280 Tammuz, Hebrew month of, 13, 14, 19, 20 Tarazona, 163, 167, 169, 211, 274, 278, 288 episcopate, 250 Tarba, Galaciano de, 313 Tarragona, 78, 137, 154, 155, 156, 160, 161, 225, 243, 258, 273, 339 archbishop, 154, 197, 261, 287 consols, 154 veguer, 155 Tarrega, 156–160, 230, 324, 338, 339, ` 341, 345, 346, 347 batle, 157, 158 jurats, 158 paers, 158 prohomens, 157 synagogue, 277 veguer, 157, 158 Tauste, 167, 168, 170, 287, 288, 292, 294, 295 Tenorio, Pedro, archbishop of Toledo, 210, 211, 217, 289 Teruel, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 175, 178, 180–182, 186, 188, 208, 209, 211, 219, 230, 262, 263, 281, 284, 286, 287, 290, 293, 295, 298, 299, 301, 308, 312, 313, 338 Toledo, 3, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 286 Tolrana, 132 Toro, 22 Torre la Carre, 209 Torrella, Arnau de. See Torelles, Arnau de

Index Torrelles, Arnau de, 147, 150, 267 Torroella de Montgr´ı, 115 Tortosa, 68, 78, 134, 146–154, 156, 160, 161, 186, 188, 207, 211, 216, 221, 230, 233, 243, 244, 267, 322, 333, 339, 349 batle, 148, 153, 267 bishop, 333 council, 149 Jewish quarter, 153 paers, 153 plac¸a de les cols, 151 prohomens, 146, 267 regidors, 151 veguer, 147, 148, 149, 152, 153, 154, 267 Tranxer, Bernat, 150, 152 Tranxer, Gonc¸albo, 150, 339 Tries, Vives and Bernardus, 248 Trigo, Junec¸, 286 Tudela, 1, 2 ´ Ubeda, 22 Ulldecona, 85, 86, 147 Comanador, 46, 85 Uncastillo, 168, 205, 213 Urgell, Count of, 108, 199, 224, 226, 228, 229, 236, 269, 299, 307, 342 Valencia (de don Juan), 22 Valencia, City of aliama, 24 batle, 257, 346 batle of aliama, 332 council, 24, 28, 29, 32, 34, 35, 38, 47, 48, 53, 54, 55, 62, 64, 322, 336 Jewish quarter, 19, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31–34, 36–40, 43, 46, 47, 50–53, 55, 60, 66, 69, 96, 214, 216, 218, 231, 232, 249, 258, 287, 291, 292, 302, 309, 324, 325, 327, 330, 336, 337, 345 batle, 287 jurats, 24, 27–55, 59–66, 84, 134, 209, 217, 220, 231, 246, 287, 308, 309, 324, 325, 330, 332, 346, 349 plac¸a de la Figuera, 27, 28 procuracio fischal, 53 prohomens, 26, 34, 35, 214, 244, 257, 309, 346

377

promens. See prohomens regidors, 46, 53 synagogues, 41, 43, 45, 49, 51, 232, 328 veguer, 248, 249, 252 Valencia, Kingdom of, 56–67 batle, 246 governor, 28, 38, 55, 58, 60, 61, 64, 66, 160, 214, 220, 231, 244, 249, 257, 287, 298 lieutenant governor, 62, 317 prohomens of cities, 56 Valencia, Master Jaume de. See Perfet, Rabbi Isaac bar Sheshet Valladolid, 3, 6, 15, 22 Valldaura, Nicholau de, 49, 50 Vallera, Johan de, 57, 60 Vallespinosa, 159, 343 Valladolid synagogues, 3 Vallseca, Juan de, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 117, 137, 141 Valois, Joanna de, 199, 200 Verbons, Iohannem de, 220 Via, Eimeric de la, 116, 118 Vic, 158, 160, 280, 333 bishop, 277 Viego, Pedro de, 266 Vilafranca del Pened`es, 111, 144, 154, 156, 160, 161, 224, 242, 243, 250, 251, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 308, 309, 310 Vilagrassa, 160, 347 Vila-real, 61, 62, 160, 185, 315, 329, 330 Vilarrasa, Johan de, 32 Villanova, Ramonet de, 246 Villareal, Castile, 22 Villela, 335 Villena, Marques de, 332 Vives, Ramon, 248 Xativa, 57, 60–65, 134, 160, 206, 211, ` 222, 225, 317, 326, 327, 329, 330, 331, 332 batle, 317 city council, 57 council, 61 Jewish quarter, 60, 63 juheria, 60

378 Xativa (cont.) ` jurats, 60 prohomens, 60 Xerea, 26 Ximenec¸ de Borja, Martino, 301

Index Yanguas, 22 Yolant, daughter of Prince Joan and Duchess Iolant, 273 Zamora, 22