The Llibre dels fets (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈʎiβɾə ðəls ˈfets]; from Catalan, 'Book of Deeds'; Old Catalan: Libre dels feyts) is the autobiographical chronicle of the reign of James I of Aragon (1213–1276). It is written in Old Catalan in the first person and is the first (chronologically) of the four works classified as The Four Great Catalan Chronicles. The chronicles all belong to the early medieval Crown of Aragon (in the northeastern part of what is now Spain), and its first royal dynasty, the House of Barcelona.
Contents
History of the writing
In the Llibre dels Fets, James I of Aragon describes his life and his most important actions beginning with his birth in 1203 and ending with his death in 1276.
Though the text of the Llibre dels fets was dictated and edited by James I, the actual writing was done by scribes, not James himself; it is written in colloquial language, representing the native tongue as spoken
The oldest extant manuscript dates to 1343 and was commissioned by the abbot of the Poblet Monastery. An older manuscript dating to 1313, the "Cronice Illustrissimi Regis Aragonum", was the version translated into Latin from the Catalan original "Llibre dels Feyts del Rei en Jacme."
The Latin translation is signed by the Dominican friar Pere Marsili, who was ordered by James II of Aragon (James I's grandson) to honour his grandfather's memory by promulgating his words in the internationally used Latin language.
Structure
Other manuscripts have survived, all copies of the one made for the Poblet Monastery in 1343.
As the title itself indicates, the Llibre dels fets is in fact a "Book of Deeds." Studies conducted in the 1980s concluded that this medieval manuscript is of an undefined literary style, since it was entirely orally dictated.
The internal structure of both versions seems to indicate two moments in time: the first part may have been dictated around 1240, shortly after James's conquest of Valencia. The facts before 1228 are explained briefly and contain significant errors. Afterwards, the narrative shows greater detail and precision.
The "second part" might have been dictated around 1274, and has a similar structure; the facts from 1242 to 1265 are condensed in a few pages, while the later years are again explained in great detail.
The prologue and the section that describes his illness and death were most likely written or dictated by someone in James's trust.
Content
The content of the Llibre dels fets can be divided into four parts:
The first part covers the period from 1208 to 1228. Several chapters are dedicated to James's ancestors and parents, his mother (Maria of Montpellier) and to his father (Peter II of Aragon "The Catholic"). It also covers James's unexpected birth, his captivity at the age of five (after his father's death), as well as Simon de Montfort's desire to marry him to his daughter (a failed plan that would have brought the De Montfort family into the Crown of Aragon). This portion concludes with James returning to Aragon, where the Knights Templar (a powerful military religious order within the medieval Crown of Aragon), guard and raise him at Monzon Castle (the Templars' main castle), and details his marriage to Eleanor of Castile.
The second part, which covers the period from 1229 to 1240, is the most detailed part of the Llibre dels fets, covering the conquest of Majorca (1229). This portion begins with the history of the Crown of Aragon. Shortly after comes the conquest of Valencia in 1238. The book tries to prove that King James accomplishments are divine providence.
The third part, which covers the period from 1240 to 1265, describes the conflicts with the Saracen rebels from Valencia.
The final part, covers the period from 1265 to 1276, and describes the battles against the Moors, the conquest of Murcia, and several political episodes that James uses to justify his actions. The last chapters, which explain the king's illness and death.
Language and style
The Llibre dels fets is written in Old Catalan, in the first person, and in a colloquial style full of proverbs, expressions, and quotes from foreign personages speaking other languages such as Aragonese, Galician-Portuguese (used by the Crown of Castile), Arabic or Old French.
In the Latin translation of 1313 by Pere Marsili, the friar, informs his readers that he has translated chapters from the manuscripts then kept in the royal archives, indicating that the texts of the chronicles already existed and that they were written in the "vulgar language," i.e., not in Latin, but in Catalan.
Codices and editions
Five codices of the text from the 14th century and two from the 15th are preserved, all based on a translation of the original Catalan text into Latin by the Dominican friar Pere Marsili at the order of King James's grandson (his namesake James II of Aragon). Marsili intended to adapt the original text to contemporary manners and style noting:
[...] So that the deeds of His glorious grandfather (James I), collected in a truthful but vulgar style, shall be put to date and once translated to Latin, form a single History volume, a full chronicle in which all the actions of the king his grandfather (James I the Conqueror) will be woven together.
Marsili finished the royal assignment on 2 April 1313, and then petitioned the king that a copy of the manuscript be made for the Friars Preachers of Majorca, his homeland, to be used on the day of the "Feast of the Banner:"
[...] with the purpose of the last day of the year, the annual feast which commemorates the conquest of the city of Majorca, for God's glory and the eternally worshiping memory of his Luckiest Prince (James I), and so the friars who preach on this significative solemn date in front of the whole clergy and people, could rely to this book, and more firmly be informed of the truth of the facts.
The official delivery of the Cronice Illustrissimi Regis Aragonum domini Jacobi victorissimi principis was made on 2 June 1314 at the Church of the Friars Preachers (església dels frares predicadors) of Valencia.
Six official copies of the Latin translation by Pere Marsili exist. Four dating from the 14th century (conserved respectively in the National Library of Catalonia, the Archives of the Kingdom of Majorca, the Archives of the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca and the University of Barcelona's Library). A copy from the 17th century is kept at the Archives of the Crown of Aragon and another from the 19th in the Real Academia de la Historia of Spain.
Dated to 1343, the oldest surviving codex in the original Catalan language is the copy ordered by Ponç de Copons, the abbot of the Poblet Monastery, as mentioned: Aquest libre féu escriure l'onrat en Ponç de Copons, per la gràcia de Déu, abbat de l'honrat monestir de Sancta Maria de Poblet, en lo qual monestir jau lo molt alt senyor En Jaume, aqueyl que aquest libre parla, dels feyts que féu ni li endevengueren en la sua vida