CRUSADE TEXTS IN TRANSLATION
About the volume:
The Book of Deeds is the first known autobiography by a Christian king. Its author was James I of Aragon (121376), known as The Conqueror, one of the great political figures of 13th-century Europe and a successful crusader. In his Deeds, James describes the turbulent years of his minority, the thrilling capture of Majorca, the methodical conquest of the kingdom of Valencia, the reconquest of the kingdom of Murcia after Castile had failed to hold it, and many of the important events of his reign. While crusade and conquest of Spanish territory from the Muslims and Christian-Muslim relations on the frontier are central features of the account, the Deeds are also a treasure trove of information on the image, power and purpose of monarchy, loyalty and bad faith in the feudal order, the growth of national sentiment, and medieval military tactics. At the same time, the book presents a unique insight into the mind of a medieval ruler, the supreme example we possess of the fears and ambitions of a man at the very centre of events.
About the authors:
Dr Damian Smith is Batista i Roca fellow at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, and currently writing a second book for Ashgate on Innocent III and the kingdom of Aragon.
Dr Helena Buffery is lecturer in Catalan and Spanish in the Department of Hispanic studies at University of Birmingham, UK.
The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon
Crusade Texts in Translation
Editorial Board
Malcolm Barber (Reading), Peter Edbury (Cardiff), Bernard Hamilton (Nottingham),
Norman Housley (Leicester)
Titles in this series include:
Peter W. Edbury
The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade
Sources in Translation
in paperback
Janet Shirley
The Song of the Cathar Wars
A History of the Albigensian Crusade
in paperback
Helen J. Nicholson
The Chronicle of the Third Crusade
The Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi
in paperback
Thomas S. Asbridge and Susan B. Edgington
Walter the Chancellors The Antiochene Wars
A Translation and Commentary
Janet Shirley
Crusader Syria in the Thirteenth Century
The Rothelin Continuation of the History of William of Tyre
with Part of the Eracles or Acre Text
Janet Shirley and Peter W. Edbury
Guillaume de Machaut
The Capture of Alexandria
D.S. Richards
The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin or
al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya wa l-Mahasin al-Yusufiyya
by Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad
in hardback and paperback
Thomas A. Fudge
The Crusade against Heretics in Bohemia, 1418-1437
Sources and Documents for the Hussite Crusades
and forthcoming
Paul Crawford
The Templar of Tyre
Part III of the Deeds of the Cypriots
The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon
A Translation of the Medieval Catalan Llibre dels Fets
DAMIAN SMITH
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona,
Spain University of Birmingham, UK
HELENA BUFFERY
University of Birmingham, UK
First published 2003 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery 2003
Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the authors ofthis work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
James, I, King of Aragon, 1208-1276
The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon (Crusade Texts in Translation)
1. James, I, King of Aragon, 1208-1276. 2. Aragon (Spain) History
James, I, 12131276 Early works to 1800
I. Title. II. Smith, Damian. III. Buffery, Helena.
946.5502092
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
James, I, King of Aragon, 12081276
[Libre fels fets. English]
The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon: A Translation of the Medieval Catalan Llibre dels Fets / Damian J. Smith and Helena Buffery.
p. cm. (Crusade Texts in Translation; 10)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Aragon (Spain) History James I, 12131276. I. Smith, Damian.
II. Buffery, Helena. III. Title. IV. Series.
DP129.J3513 2002
946.5502092dc21 | 2002027916 |
ISBN 9780754603597 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409401506 (pbk)
Contents
The translation of the Llibre was undertaken very much as a collaborative venture. We were conscious of the superhuman effort of John Forster in preparing the first English translation, without the support on which we were able to count. In preparing this edition, we have had recourse to numerous libraries and archives, although, in particular, we would like to dedicate this text to the memory of Professor Derek Lomax, whose legacy to the University of Birmingham has made its library an excellent resource for research into Medieval Iberia. We must also thank Father Robert Ignatius Burns for his encouragement of the project. We only hope that our version will reflect at least some of the value of his extensive research into the reign of King James I.
Part of the research that went into this book was undertaken with funding from the Batista i Roca scholarships of the Generalitat de Catalunya. We would also like to thank all the Department of Hispanic Studies at the University of Birmingham for their support, and especially the University of Vic, at which we were able to run workshops on parts of the text in the early stages of the translation process. We must also thank Dr Victor Farias at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Dr Francisco Nez, of the same university, who prepared the maps that illustrate the text, and Daniel Figuerola who kindly transported many books from Birmingham to Barcelona.
Jamess Book is packed with references to the culture, beliefs, geography and history of Medieval Europe, and specialist knowledge was required for the translation of many sections. We are indebted to Dr Aengus Ward and Dr Patrick Quinn for advice on the references to thirteenth-century Castile and Navarre which appear in the text; to Dr Julian Whicker and Wilf Buffery for their insights into military and nautical references; and to Dr Andrew Dowling and Graham Pollock for their thoughts on translation problems and long discussions about the Book. We especially acknowledge Dr Josep Maria Pujol Sanmartin, for his wide-ranging suggestions about the structure and layout of our edition.
