THE ARCHIVES OF THE CROWN OF ARAGON (BARCELONA, SPAIN)

ARCHIVES, DOCUMENTS AND THE WEB

Viceroy’s Palace. 16th century New premises. 1993

ROYAL ARCHIVES-ARCHIVES OF THE CROWN OF ARAGON 1318-2009

THE ROYAL ARCHIVES

1318.- King James II creates the Royal Archives inside his palace at Barcelona

Maestre Racional, vol. 627, fol. 137v

“… que fassets obrar una casa de volta en aquell loch on solia esser la capeyla sua del palau de Barcelona, en la qual casa fossen posats e conservats les registres e.ls privilegis e.ls altres scrits de la sua cancellaria e dels altres fets de la sua cort…”

THE ROYAL ARCHIVES1384.- King Peter IV promulgates

the first Ordinances of the Royal Archives

Reg. 2551, fol. 89r

“Com sia necessari per conservacio del nostre patrimoni e expedient que tots los registres de la nostra scrivania e secretaria per tal que si questio per temps se esdeve per les coses registrades en aquells, yverçosament mils seran atrobats en un loch que si en diversos lochs eren aquells registres, e per tenir en guarda e encunç e per demanar e procurar aquells cascun any del prothonotari nostre (…) e secretaris (…), sia ops una persona apta e feel (…)”.

THE REGISTERS OF THE ROYAL CHANCELLERY

THE REGISTERS OF THE ROYAL CHANCELLERY

General characteristics

- Paper in-folios- 200 folios each volume (average)- Integral copy of the documents in more or less

chronological order- Use of several languages (latin, catalan, aragones,

spanish, italian) - Documents related to all the territories of the Crown

THE REGISTERS OF THE ROYAL CHANCELLERY

CommuneGratiarumDiversorumCuriaeSecretorumOfficialiumPeccunieExercitum et CuriarumItinerumVenditionumSententiarum

SardiniaeMaioricarumCommune SiciliaeCuriae SiciliaePrivilegiorum Neapolis

Sigilli Secreti

Most common series of registers

THE REGISTERS OF THE ROYAL CHANCELLERY

Reg. 110 (Commune 15 Iacobi II) Reg. 236 (Curiae 2 Iacobi II)

THE REGISTERS OF THE ROYAL CHANCELLERY

James I (1257-1276): 33Peter III (1276-1285): 25Alphonse III (1285-1291): 23James II (1291-1327): 342Alphonse IV (1327-1336): 157Peter IV (1336-1387): 1240John I (1387-1396):186Martin I (1396-1410): 248

Ferdinand I (1412-1416): 97Alphonse V (1416-1458): 848John II (1458-1479): 196

Henry of Castille (1462-1464): 11Peter of Portugal (1464-1466): 23René of Anjou (1467-1472): 31

Ferdinand II (1479-1516): 350

Total volumes of medieval registers by kings

These figures represent the total number of volumes, including special ones and registers of princes, queens and locumtenentes.

NON REGISTERED RECORDS

Before 1162: 2150

Alphonse II (1162-1196): 760Peter II (1196-1213): 470James I (1257-1276): 2400Peter III (1276-1285): 520Alphonse III (1285-1291): 475James II (1291-1327): 5200Alphonse IV (1327-1336): 950Peter IV (1336-1387): 3450

John I (1387-1396): 630Martin I (1396-1410): 500Ferdinand I (1412-1416): 380Alphonse V (1416-1458): 435John II (1458-1479): 230Ferdinand II (1479-1516): 60

Parchment documents

Parchment documents

Papal Bulls, leg. XXI, 14. Year 1297. Pope Boniface VIII grants the freehold of the kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica to James II.

NON REGISTERED RECORDS

James I (1257-1276): 200Peter III (1276-1285): 55Alphonse III (1285-1291): 45James II (1291-1327): 19,000Alphonse IV (1327-1336): 4,000Peter IV (1336-1387): 7,500

John I (1387-1396): 1,200Martin I (1396-1410): 1,500Ferdinand I (1412-1416): 3,600Alphonse V (1416-1458): 3,500John II (1458-1479): 350Ferdinand II (1479-1516): 300

Paper documents

Paper documents

Hugone of Arborea answers James II of Aragon about the expedition of prince Alphonse to conquest the island of Sardinia. 1323 (CRD, James II, 11476)

Preliminary capitula of the peace treaty beetween Leonor of Arborea and Aragon. Ca. 1388 (CRD, John I, 1194)

Arab documents

The sultan of Egypt writes to James II about some embassies sent to each other . 1304. Paper roll, 23 meters long (Arab documents, 147)

Registers Comune Siciliae, king Alphonse V

FROM THE ROYAL ARCHIVES TO THE ARCHIVES OF THE CROWN OF ARAGON• 1419.- King Alphonse V creates the Royal Archives at

Valencia to preserve the registers related to the kingdom of Valencia

• 1461.- King John II creates the Royal Archives at Zaragoza to preserve the registers related to the kingdom of Aragon

• 18th cent.- The Royal Archives at Barcelona take the official name of Royal and General Archives of the Crown of Aragon

• 19th-20th cent.- Many archives of old institutions entered in the Archives of the Crown of Aragon

Registers Sardiniae, king Philip III

Reglamento del real y general Archivo de la Corona de Aragón, 1754

OTHER ARCHIVE GROUPS IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE CROWN OF ARAGON

• Royal Patrimony Archives (Archives of the Magister rationalis and Archives of the Baiulus generalis Cathaloniae)

• Archives of the Deputies of the General of Catalonia (Generalitat)

• Monastic archives• Manuscripts collections• Royal Audiencia (High Court) of Barcelona• Aragon Council• …

Archives of the Magister rationalis

“Conte de Berenguer de Relat tresorer de la senyora reyna”. 1351 (Mr, 460, fol. 1r)

Capbreu of the bankers Pere Descau and Andreu Olivella. 1376 (Mr, 2373, fol. 12v)

Archives of the Deputies of the General of Catalonia (Generalitat)

Book of Deliberationes of the deputies of the General of Catalonia. 1473-1479 (Generalitat, N.114, fol. 1r-v)

Green Book (Llibre verd): Registration book of the members of the military arm of Catalonia. 1620 (Generalitat, G.225)

Monastics archives

Cartulary of the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès (ca. 1220)

- 424 parchment folios, 54 x 34 cm

- Integral copy of 1,260 documents (10th-12th centuries)

Registers of the Royal Chancellery- Repository

Parchment documents repository

Libro del Procurador de los condados del Rosellón y Cerdaña, 1378-1379

RP, Maestre Racional, 31

Libro de cuentas del Baile General de Cataluña, 1377

RP, Maestre Racional, 1007

Manuscripts collections

Ms. St. Cugat, 11 (14th cent.), fol. 1rSeneca, Opera

Ms. St. Cugat, 14 (1402), 14rMissale

Total InternetFiles Vol. Images Vol. Images- Chancellery: registers (13th-18th) 4,000 1,.500,000 1,683 720,000- Audiencia: registers (18th) 1,500 1.000,000 ---- Manuscripts (10th-15th) ) 340 100,000 320 95,.000- Maestre Racional (13th-15th) 1,500 400,000 ---- Generalitat (14th-17th) 292 180,000 156 60,000

........TOTAL 9,500 3,885,000 2,196 1,000,000

Year Images2003 50,0002004 200,0002005 650,0002006 785,0002007 300,0002008 300,0002009 800,000

+ 800.000 [from the years 2008-2009 not yet checked]

TOTAL 3,885,000

Users at the lecture room

Year Users Documents2000 4,282 15,3872001 4,277 14,4802002 4,558 15,8862003 5,067 16,9672004 5,211 15,7902005 4,490 14,6902006 3,666 11,8412007 3,267 9,7722008 3,123 10,482

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