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THE CHRONICLE OF JAMES I OF ARAGON

John Forster, trans.

Preface

[v] The present translation of the Chronicle of James I. of Aragon, surnamed "the Conqueror" -- one of
the most remarkable historical productions of the thirteenth century -- was undertaken nearly eight
years ago, though not quite finished, by the late John Forster, Esq, M.P. for Berwick during the period
of 1852 to 1857. The idea sprang entirely from him after a private conversation held in the Athenæum
Club in August, 1875. "The history of Spain," said he to the writer of these lines, "particularly that of
Aragon during the middle ages, is so exciting and full of interest, and at the same time so little known
among us, that I am seriously thinking of translating James's Royal Chronicle into English. I happen, as
you know, to possess an imperfect copy of the rare edition of 1557, besides a modern Castilian version
-- which by the by does not seem to me [vi] to be a faithful one -- and I have besides by me M.de
Tourtoulon's remarkable work, Études sur la maison de Barcelone (Montpellier, 1863), which will, I
have no doubt, be of great assistance to the scholar wishing to dive into the history of Aragon.
Altogether, I have been so charmed with the perusal of the Royal Chronicle, that I have almost made up
my mind to turn it into English! However, the Provençal, or, properly speaking, Catalan, language in
which the Chronicle was written, has become antiquated; the Valencia edition is incorrect and full of
blunders, so replete with obscure words, perhaps derived from the Arabic, and the meaning of which is
quite unknown to me, that I apprehend serious difficulties in the accomplishment of my task. There are,
moreover, questions connected with the authorship and composition of the Chronicle itself, to solve
which, greater knowledge of the history and literature of the Spanish Peninsula during the middle ages
is required than I happen to possess just now. Of the Spanish Arabs I myself know nothing at all. Will
you help me? "(1)
[vii] Such a request on the part of a friend, whose acquaintance I had made many years before, and
with whom I had been on familiar terms and correspondence ever since, could not well be declined. I
accepted; Mr. Forster set to work immediately, and laying aside other works more or less connected
with the history of Spain, in which he was engaged at the time, devoted himself exclusively to the
translation of the Royal Chronicle. This was on the point of being completed, wanting only one or two
chapters at the end, when on the night of the 7 th of January, 1878, Mr. Forster was found dead in his
library, surrounded by the many valuable books and manuscripts assiduously collected for the
illustration of his intended work.
After Mr. Forster's death, deeply lamented by his relatives and friends -- among which latter the
undersigned had the pleasure and the honour to count himself -- nothing remained to be done but to put
in order and classify his various writings, separate those relating to a "History of the Spanish
Inquisition" -- a work of scrupulous research and patient labour, to which he had devoted the best part
of his life -- from his own English version of James's Catalan Chronicle, and lastly, commit this latter to
the press.
[viii] An early application by one of Mr. Forster's executors, the late Matthew Hutton Chaytor, Esq.,
Chairman of the Alliance Bank in London, could not be disregarded by the writer of these lines, and
after considerable delay, owing to various causes, the Royal Chronicle comes at last before the public
in English.
It was, however, Mr. Forster's original intention that his translation should be preceded by some sort of
"Introduction," or "Prolegomena," on the history of Aragon before its union with Catalonia, as well as
by detached pieces on the Mohammedan dynasties ruling over Mallorca, Valencia, and Murcia --
Almohades or Almoravides -- at the time of their conquest by James. The former task the deceased
evidently reserved for himself, though unfortunately he had no time to accomplish it; the latter he had
from the beginning entrusted, as above stated, to the undersigned, as well as a Glossary of obsolete
words, chiefly derived from the Arabic, and any other additional matter likely to illustrate the Royal
narrative. He was not aware at his death in 1878 that the year before a second and more correct edition
of James's Chronicle was in course of preparation at Barcelona, its text having been first carefully
collated with two manuscripts [ix] of the fourteenth century, one of which, made by Celestí Destorrens
for the Abbot of Santa Maria de Poblet, on the 17 th of September, A.D. 1343, is now preserved in the
public library of that city. Had he been aware of this fact, Mr. Forster would undoubtedly have visited
Barcelona, for the sole purpose of collating certain passages of the Chronicle evidently vitiated by
scribes or printers, most likely by both, and which must have sorely puzzled the most accomplished and
ingenious student of the Catalan language. As, moreover, the original manuscript, which according to
all accounts was preserved at Poblet as late as 1651, is nowhere to be found,(2) it naturally results that
the second and revised Barcelona edition of the Catalan text, of which the translator could not avail
himself, has supplied his present editor with the means of correcting its many blunders, and supplying
its deficiencies.
As to the much debated question of the authorship of the Chronicle itself, and its relative merits -- one
among others which the deceased reserved for himself -- the reader is referred to the "Historical [x]
Introduction," where it will be amply discussed. Among the numerous loose memoranda left by the
deceased as materials for the illustration of his work, one is found in which, after abstracting what
Tourtoulon says on the subject, he expresses his opinion that the Libre dels feyts esdevenguts en la vida
del molt alt senyor En Jacme, lo Conqueridor, is really and truly the work of James, and could not have
been written by any one else; also that the arguments produced by Villarroya in 1800 against the
generally admitted opinion prove nothing at all. This opinion the undersigned shares also, and
therefore, without hesitation on his part, the words (written by himself) have been added to the title
page according to the translator's desire.
PASCUAL DE GAYANGOS.

Notes for the Preface

1. The above is the substance of Mr. Forster's conversation 1875, and of his ideas on the subject. Letters
written since in show that he had not abandoned them up to the time of his death.
2. It is generally asserted that Archbishop Mirca, royal intendant of Catalonia for Louis XIV., during
the short occupation of that principality by the French, took it away from Poblet.