Diplomatic of condolence. Brief documentary study of medieval real condolence letters of the Crown of Aragon

Abstract

The text approaches Diplomatics of condolences. We use as a source of information the recently published collection of letters of condolence and announcers of deaths of the General Archive of the Crown of Aragon (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries). By means of the analysis of the documentary structure of ninety-three letters of condolence, we will know how the real discourse develops when it received the news of the death of a relative or acquaintance, how social elites show the duel and the most intimate emotions and as long as the Christian doctrine and the concept of death in the Middle Ages are reflected. We will also note that despite the unfortunate circumstances, the end of life is an auspicious occasion to talk about the political situation of the kingdom and to establish new relationships between royal houses. In the end, this brief study intends to draw attention to the value and usefulness of this type of documents for historical research.