in Medieval and Early Modern Times VICENTE LLEDÓ-GUILLEM The Making of Catalan Linguistic Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Times ‘In this masterful interpretation of diverse historical texts, Lledó-Guillem renews our understanding of catalanisme by exposing the ideological interstices between Catalan, Occitan, Valencian and Castilian throughout the centuries, from the Battle of Castellammare to the formation of the Spanish Empire. His response to longstanding questions of language and identity in the Iberian Peninsula in relation to other key areas of the Mediterranean sheds new light on today’s acri- monious debates around Catalan nationalism.’ —Andrew Lynch, University of Miami, USA and Editor in Chief of Heritage Language Journal ‘Lledó-Guillem’s skillful combination of careful textual analysis and sophisti- cated conceptualization makes a productive contribution to the interdisci- plinary reshaping of the humanities in the twenty-first century. Lledó-Guillem stands on the shoulders of traditional philology but develops an original intellectual outlook shaped by his concern with theories of language, culture, and power. This book makes a major contribution to the development of Iberian studies and fills a major gap in the glottopolitical history of the Iberian Peninsula.’ —José del Valle, The Graduate Center—The City University of New York (CUNY), USA ‘This is a most thoughtful, innovative, and timely study of Catalan language – one that emphasizes its relationship with Occitan and Spanish, as seen through a series of Medieval and Early Modern texts. It brings out the connections between the linguistic, the ideological, and the political, while discussing how linguistic ideologies are closely associated to identity, community, nation, state, morality, and epistemology. It will be a book of interest to scholars in many fields.’ —Núria Silleras-Fernández, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA ‘Vicente Lledó-Guillem’s The Making of Catalan Linguistic Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Times could not be more timely, given Catalonia’s declaration of independence from Spain in October of 2017. The Catalan language, central to the identity of Catalonia and the Catalan people and banned by the Franco regime, has become one of the rallying points of the independence movement. Using a sophisticated analysis of historical, linguistic, and, especially, literary texts, Lledó-Guillem shows how the linguistic history of Catalonia and the atti- tudes of the Catalonians to their language are directly relevant to language pol- icy and politics today. He traces the vicissitudes of Catalan’s status as the language of high culture and of the state in the complex relationship between Catalan and Occitan in the països catalans, from the thirteenth century, when Catalonia faced off against France as one of the great powers of the Mediterranean world, through its eclipse in the first half of the sixteenth century as a subaltern portion of the Spanish empire, to the attempted revindication of Valencian as the true heir to Occitan in the second half of that century.’ —Charles B. Faulhaber, University of California, Berkeley, USA Vicente Lledó-Guillem The Making of Catalan Linguistic Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Times Vicente Lledó-Guillem Romance Languages and Literature Hofstra University Hempstead, NY, USA ISBN 978-3-319-72079-1 ISBN 978-3-319-72080-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72080-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017964084 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and trans- mission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: © Andrew Taylor/Flickr Cover design by Tjaša Krivec Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Acknowledgements This book is the result of a long process of personal and academic growth in which many friends and colleagues have played a very important role. First, I would like to thank Andrew Lynch for his invaluable friendship, academic mentorship, and generosity, which have been fundamental to be able to finish this monograph. I am also extremely grateful to Elena Grau- Lleveria, who, together with Andrew, has shown a continuous and genu- ine personal and academic support during the process. Thank you to Jaume Climent de Benito for his patience, encouragement and friendship. Andrew, Elena, and Jaume are three examples of the perfect combination of not only incredible academic talent and perseverance, but also integrity, and honesty. They are true role models for my academic and personal life. I am particularly grateful to my former doctoral advisor, Charles Faulhaber, for his generosity and eagerness to help during the process. It has been an absolute privilege to be able to discuss my work with him. I am indebted to Núria Silleras-Fernández for her support and encouragement to com- plete this monograph. Thank you to José del Valle for his encouragement and for always being an academic inspiration. I have greatly benefitted from the perspectives of Alexandre Duchene regarding the content and theoretical approach of the book. I am grateful to Simone Castaldi for his generosity and for being a wonderful colleague. I am particularly indebted to Hofstra University, my academic institu- tion, for having granted me the Faculty Research and Development v vi Acknowledgements Grant as well as the Presidential Grant since 2011, without which the completion of this book would have been impossible. Thank you to the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations for hav- ing accepted me as a member of the Manhattan Research Library Initiative (MaRLI), and thank you to The University of New York, and Columbia University for having granted me access to their respective collections. I am indebted to the editors of the journal La Corónica and the scholarly series Hispanic Issues for having allowed me to reuse material already published in their collections for this monograph. Chapter 2 of this monograph is based on the article “Bernat Desclot’s Response to Bernat d’Auriac’s sirventés: the Battle of Castellammare and the Rise of Catalan as a Royal Language.” La Corónica. A Journal of Medieval Hispanic Languages, Literatures & Cultures 39. 2 (2011). 145–62. Parts of the book chapter “The Catalan Standard Language in the Mediterranean: Greece versus Sardinia in Muntaner’s Crònica.” In and Of the Mediterranean. Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Studies. Hispanic Issues 41. Ed. Michelle M. Hamilton and Núria Silleras-Fernández. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2015. 99–118, have been used in chapters three and fourth of this monograph. I am extremely grateful to Palgrave Macmillan and my commissioning editor Judith Allan, as well as the editorial assistants Rebecca Wyde and Beth Farrow for their invaluable help and kindness. Finally, I would like to dedicate this monograph to Stuart Hamilton. Without his love, patience, and support the completion of this book would never have been possible. Contents 1 Introduction 1 Part I The Political Use of the Occitan Language by the Catalan- Aragonese Monarchy 25 2 The Rise of Catalan as a Royal Language: Bernat Desclot’s Account of the Battle of Castellammare in Response to Bernat d’Auriac’s sirventés 27 3 The Politics of the Linguistic Discontinuity of Occitan Versus the Continuity of Catalan: The Sermó by Ramon Muntaner 45 4 Catalan and Occitan Versus Aragonese: The Poetic Ceremony Following the Coronation of Alfonso the Benign in Muntaner’s Crònica 73 vii viii Contents Part II The Interpretation of the Catalan- Occitan Relationship in the Construction of the Spanish Empire 107 5 The Historical (Dis)Continuity of the Catalan Language and the Linguistic Creation of the Spanish Empire: Ausiàs March in the Early Modern Period 109 6 A Unitary Catalan-Occitan Language in the Early Modern Period: The Exaltation of Apitxat Valencian 169 7 Conclusion 211 Index 223 1 Introduction The rise of the different Romance languages after the fall of the western Roman Empire is a long-debated topic of historical linguistics.1 Since the sixteenth century and until the present day, scholars have wondered how it was possible that a highly standardized imperial language such as Latin evolved into so many Romance languages in different parts of Europe. Certainly, Latin had a uniform vocabulary, spelling and grammar, to such an extent that, for example, the Latin grammars written by Donatus (fourth century C.E.) and Priscian (sixth century C.E.) became the mod- els for the grammars of other languages in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.2 Furthermore, the Latin alphabet is widely used in the writing systems of many languages, and Latin vocabulary has had a con- siderable influence because of its prestige. This uniform and prestigious language has been called Classical Latin. However, the uniformity of Classical Latin was a mirage, since the vast majority of the population of the Empire spoke different varieties of the Latin language. These different varieties have been grouped together with the name Vulgar Latin or Proto-Romance, which never had a uniform vocabulary, spelling system, or grammar. Once Rome ceased to be an imperial political center at the end of the fifth century C.E., the different varieties of spoken Latin were open to different interpretations. On the one hand, they could have been © The Author(s) 2018 1 V. Lledó-Guillem, The Making of Catalan Linguistic Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Times, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72080-7_1