Documentary Collection Referring to the Castilian Privateer

Juan de Castrillo (1402-1405)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show a small collection of documents with reference to the Castilian privateer Juan de Castrillo. Althought this character had an important role throughout the pages of “The Victorial” as one of the main adversaries to Pero Niño at the Mediterranean Sea, in fact he is a real stranger for historiography. This project means to offer more information about this controversial individual whose activities ramced from the most absolute legality to de most perfidious intention, depending on the circumstances. This article has two parts. One of them reference to the historical development of the character, and the second is the collection of documents. This collection includes nine documents, the first three of which date from 1402 within The Archive of the Crown of Aragon, and the other six from 1405, which are being kept at The Municipal Archive of Valencia.