Autobiographical chronicle of the reign of James I of Aragon
Fragment of the oldest existing copy of the Llibre dels Fets written in Old Catalan, dating from 1343. The scene depicts a supper in Tarragona, where James I of Aragon with his lords planned the conquest of Mallorca (1229) ruled by the Muslims (in the context of the Iberian Christian Reconquista)The 1313 Latin translation "Cronice Illustrissimi Regis Aragonum", possibly a copy from the original,[1] translated by the Dominican friar Pere Marsili, by order of James II of Aragon, grandson of James I of Aragon, called "the Conqueror".
The Llibre dels fets (Catalan pronunciation:[ˈʎiβɾəðəlsˈfets]; 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[2] in the first person and is the first chronologically of the four works classified as The Four Great Catalan Chronicles,[3][4] all belonging 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. James I inherited as a child the titles of King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier, but also became by conquest King of Majorca and King of Valencia. James emphasises in his chronicles his conquest of Majorca (1229) and of Valencia (1238).
James I of Aragon dedicates a couple of chapters to his mother Maria of Montpellier and his father Peter II of Aragon (called "Peter the Catholic"), who had been given the title of "Rex Catholicissimus" by the Pope after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in which he helped Alfonso VIII of Castile fight against the Moors, one year before his death. Peter II of Aragon died defending his vassal lords of Occitania, who were accused of allowing the Cathar heresy to proliferate in their counties. He was killed in the Battle of Muret, fighting against the Crusader troops commanded by Simon de Montfort.[5][6] 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, and its style is direct.
The conquest by James I in 1229 of Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands held by the Muslim Almohads, and his consequent founding of the Kingdom of Majorca, probably inspired him to start the dictation of his chronicles, he having had an active part in the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula (in the context of Europe's medieval Christian Crusades). The Llibre dels fets narrative ends with James' death in 1276. Though the original is lost, many ancient copies of the codex have survived.
The oldest extant manuscript written in the original Catalan language, a copy dating to 1343, 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.
^Jordi Bruguera; Maria Teresa Ferrer i Mallol (2007). Les quatre grans croniques: Llibre dels feits del rei En Jaume. Institut d'Estudis Catalans. p. 44. ISBN 978-84-7283-901-4.
^David S H Abulafia; David Bates (17 June 2014). The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms: The Struggle for Dominion, 1200-1500. Routledge. p. 263. ISBN 978-1-317-89741-5.
^Ramón Muntaner (2006). The Catalan Expedition to the East: From the Chronicle of Ramon Muntaner. Tamesis Books. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-85566-131-8.
^Sharq al-Andalus, estudios árabes: anales de la Universidad de Alicante. Secretariado de Publicaciones, Universidad de Alicante. 1987. p. 49.
^Samuel N. Rosenberg; Margaret Switten; Gérard Le Vot (5 September 2013). Songs of the Troubadours and Trouveres: An Anthology of Poems and Melodies. Routledge. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-134-81914-0.
^Malcolm Barber (2 August 2004). The Two Cities: Medieval Europe 1050–1320. Routledge. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-134-68751-0.
The Llibredelsfets (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈʎiβɾə ðəls ˈfets]; from Catalan, 'Book of Deeds'; Old Catalan: Libre dels feyts) is the autobiographical...
literature and writing a quasi-autobiographical chronicle of his reign: the Llibredelsfets. James was born at Montpellier as the only son of Peter II of Aragon...
James's autobiography, the Llibredelsfets. There is also a document in the General Archive of the Crown of Aragon, called the Llibre de racions al Orient...
Retrieved 31 October 2010. Ignasi Aragay (6 June 2009). "L'altra cara delLlibredelsfets" (PDF) (in Catalan). Cultura Avui. Retrieved 22 September 2011.[permanent...
country could be traced back to works such as the Llibre de Sent Soví (1324) and Ruperto de Nola's Llibre de Coch (1520), both written in the Catalan language...
Cingolani, Stefano Maria (2015). La formació nacional de Catalunya i el fet identitari dels catalans (785-1410). Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya. ISBN 9788439392590...
Southern Italian dialects and languages. 6. Medieval Catalan (e.g. Llibredelsfets). 7. Modified with the learned suffix -ción. 8. Depending on the written...
Aragon. The treaty first received mention in the second chapter of Llibredelsfets. The text of the treaty itself, however, was finally published in 1905...
τύχη "fortuna". James I of Aragon (r. 1213–1276) according to the Llibredelsfets had a sword named Tisó. The description of this sword makes no reference...
this kingdom to the aid of his son-in-law, he says in his Chronicle ("LlibredelsFets") that while he was in Orihuela, studying how to take the capital to...
ʿAlī (fl. 1229) was, according to the Llibredelsfets, "a Saracen ... from La Palomera" who defected during the conquest of Majorca and swam out to the...
interchangeably.[clarification needed] In the James Ist Chronicle Llibredelsfets, written between 1208 and 1276, there are many instances of this. The...
Chronicle of James I of Aragon (Llibredelsfets) There are two versions of this work. The first, which is titled Llibredelsfets, is written in Catalan. The...
a few months later. Peter II died at this battle. According to the Llibredelsfets of Peter's son, James I, Huguet was one of those who fled the field...
agrees to a truce with Alfonso X of Castile for two years. Later. The Llibredelsfets, a chronicle of the reign of James I of Aragon, is written. 27 July...
metrey neguna condicio delet que noy es menester empero tot sta en lo apetit dels homes quel menjen: e com hauras fetes escudelles noy cal metre sucre damunt...
Deeds of James I of Aragon: A Translation of the Medieval Catalan LlibreDelsFets. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-1409401506. Martin, Therese (2012). Reassessing...
with secular rulers concerning the crusade is the autobiographical Llibredelsfets of King James I of Aragon. James proposed to send a force of 500 knights...
Deeds of James I of Aragon: A Translation of the Medieval Catalan LlibredelsFets (Ashgate, 2003), 19. Archibald Ross Lewis, "The Development of Town...
Deeds of James I of Aragon. A Translation of the Medieval Catalan LlibredelsFets by Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2003, ISBN 0-7546-0359-8...
Excerpt from the book "Llibredelsfets" of James I, where he talks about an embassy sent to the great khan by means of Jayme Alaric, with two Mongol ambassadors...
de la Núcia (1989). Notes sobre certs topònims valencians en el Llibredelsfetsdel rei En Jaume (1994) in the Saitabi review of the Faculty of Geography...
Evangelis: de Marc, Mateu, Lluc i Joan, amb els fetsdels Apòstols, la Carta de Pau als romans i el LLibre de L'Apocalipsi (Barcelona: Proa), translated...
with the power to set rules over the entire sea(for instance, the Llibredel Consolat del Mar or Book of the Consulate of the Sea, written in Catalan, is...
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