Lynn H. Nelson

This is an official chronicle of the kingdom of Aragon-Catalonia put together about 1380 under the direction of the powerful King Pedro IV "the Ceremonious." It was based on earlier chronicles from the monastery of San Juan de la Pena (reputedly the oldest abbey in Aragon) and Ripoll (reputedly the oldest in Catalonia) as well as other sources including minstrels' tales, so it varies considerably in accuracy. Still, it does describe the separate development of the kingdom of Aragon and the county of Barcelona from the time that Aragon was created by Visigothic refugees and Catalonia was part of Carolingian France, down through their union and the expansion which (when this was compiled) made Aragon- Catalonia the dominant sea power in the western Mediterranean after the War of the Sicilian Vespers.… (altro)