The Historian's Notebook

In the Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, Joan provided authorization for an inheritance proceeding. Today's document eventually becomes comprehensible thanks to a bail-out from AI. After discussing it, Jonathan adds a bit more background information about the Crown of Aragon, Violant de Bar's childhood, and the familial dynamics between Pere and Joan. Read more about this document on the episode pag...

In the Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, Joan issued a dramatic charter. The King is not yet dead, but the machinery of the succession activates. In a fateful turn of events, the Queen flees the bedside of the dying King. Upon hearing this, Joan takes swift action against the Queen, a move which benefits Violant. That is the subject of today's document, a charter by Joan but written in Violant's reg...

In the Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, Violant's treasurer authorized a payment to a baker on her household staff. This episode introduces a new type of document to the podcast, a treasury record. In this document, a baker gets paid 356 sous for three months of work in Violant's household. After some sourcing and historical thinking about this document, the episode shifts to explain a little backg...

In the Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, Joan wrote to religious officials in Huesca. In this episode, Jonathan wrangles with some tough Latin and then discusses one of the most useful resources for this project, an Itinerary of Joan's location composed by Daniel Girona i Llagostera in 1923. Read more about this document on the episode page on Jonathan' s website, https://jonathanseyfried.net/histor...

In the Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, Violant wrote her own recommendation letter for Bernardo Maloll. Plus: worm holes, chancery backlogs, gender dynamics and more! Read about this document on the episode page on Jonathan's website, https://jonathanseyfried.net/historians-notebook-s1-episodes/e3-dec27 Today's Document: Subject:Violant recommends Bernardo Maloll for an ecclesiastical post Date: D...

In the Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, Joan recommended Bernard Maloll for an appointment at a monastery. But Jonathan devotes much of this episode to an explanation of the organization of the Archives of the Crown of Aragon and some tips for understanding what you see on a typical page in the registers. Read more about this document on the episode page on Jonathan' s website, https://jonathanseyf...

In the Crown of Aragon, 639 years ago, it was New Year's Day. In Episode 1, I lay out some general expectations for how the podcast will go. Each 15-minute daily episode features a document from that day in 1387, the first year of Joan and Violant’s reign as King and Queen of the Crown of Aragon. Sometimes an episode will focus on that document’s content and other times the document will simply ju...

This trailer introduces Season 1 of The Historian's Notebook. In this Season, Jonathan will take listeners deep into the research process, with short daily episodes. Each episode, Jonathan will work with a document from that day in 1387, the first year of the reign of King Joan I of Aragon and Violant de Bar. They reigned from 1387-1396 and their first tumultuous year included near-death illness,...

This trailer will give you a general idea of how The Historian's Notebook will encounter history as a subject. Instead of telling finished stories of the past or presenting completed historical arguments, The Historian's Notebook brings you into the process of making history. For more information about the podcast, visit Jonathan's website, jonathanseyfried.net/historians-notebook The theme music...