Llibre dels fets

James I of Aragon dedicates a couple of chapters to his mother Maria of Montpellier and his father Peter II of Aragon (called "Peter the Catholic"), who had been given the title of "Rex Catholicissimus" by the Pope after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in which he helped Alfonso VIII of Castile fight against the Moors, one year before his death.

Peter II of Aragon died defending his vassal lords of Occitania, who were accused of allowing the Cathar heresy to proliferate in their counties.

The oldest extant manuscript written in the original Catalan language, a copy dating to 1343, was commissioned by the abbot of the Poblet Monastery.

James I of Aragon, a cultivated man, dictated the entire book to royal scribes, who at that point in history commonly performed the labour of actually writing the king's words with pen on paper.

Here is an extract of the first lines: ... Raconta Mon Senyor San Jaume que la fe sense obres, morta es.

Aquesta paraula va voler complr Senyor en els nostres fets...(English: ... says My Lord Saint James that faith without actions, is dead.

James was generally very explicit in expressing himself, as shown in his recitation of his deeds: E per tal que los hòmens coneguessen, quan hauríem passada aquesta vida mortal, ço que nós hauríem fet [...] e per dar eximpli a tots los altres hòmes del món...(English: So that men acknowledge, when we have passed this mortal life, this that we have accomplished [,,,] and to give example to all the other men of the world...)In the Latin translation of 1313 by Pere Marsili, the friar informs his readers that he has translated chapters from the manuscripts then kept in the royal archives, indicating that the texts of the chronicles already existed and that they were written in the vulgar language, i.e., not in Latin, but in Catalan.

The king, who normally desired to appear as an epic hero, not only recounts military and political history in the narrative, but also frequently mentions small details of his daily life, as well as some of his most intimate thoughts.

He intended to adapt the original text to contemporary manners and style, as can be read: [...] So that the deeds of His glorious grandfather (James I), collected in a truthful but vulgar style, shall be put to date and once translated to Latin, form a single History volume, a full chronicle in which all the actions of the king his grandfather (James I the Conqueror) will be woven together.

"[9]The official delivery of the Cronice Illustrissimi Regis Aragonum domini Jacobi victorissimi principis was made on 2 June 1314[10] at the Church of the Friars Preachers (església dels frares predicadors) of Valencia.

The text in Latin: Mandato serenissimi domini petri dei gratir regis Aragonum valentiae, Majoricarum, cardinieae et Corsicae, Comitisque Barchinonae, Rossilionis et Ceritaniae [...] Ego Iohannes de Barbastro de scribania predicti domini Regis Aragonum, oriundus Cesaraugustae scripsi Ciuitate Barchinonae Anno a Nativitate Dmi.

The Prior explains the reason he ordered the present copy of the Llibre dels fets, was "to deny the forgery issues that Castilian historians were throwing at Catalans".

Fragment of the oldest existing copy of the Llibre dels Fets written in Old Catalan , dating from 1343. The scene depicts a supper in Tarragona , where James I of Aragon with his lords planned the conquest of Mallorca (1229) ruled by the Muslims (in the context of the Iberian Christian Reconquista )
The 1313 Latin translation " Cronice Illustrissimi Regis Aragonum ", possibly a copy from the original, [ 1 ] translated by the Dominican friar Pere Marsili , by order of James II of Aragon, grandson of James I of Aragon , called "the Conqueror".
1619 Frontispiece of Catalan manuscript made by Jaume Ferrera
1313 Latin translation of the Llibre dels Fets , the Cronice Illustrissimi Regis Aragonum by Friar Pere Marsili following the order of James II of Aragon (grandson of James I of Aragon).
15th-century manuscript (Madrid, BNE 10121). This page concerns the crusade of 1269
1343 Catalan manuscript Prologue
1380 Catalan copy contains two illustrations, both of friars; this first one depicts Dominican Friar Miguel Fabra i Berenguer de Castellbisbal.
1380 Catalan manuscript first page: "...says My Lord Saint James that faith without actions, is dead. This word he wanted to accomplish, Lord, in our deeds..."
1619 Catalan copy from Jaume Ferrera of the Poblet Monastery's manuscript. This faithful depiction is the second and last of the book, and has disappeared in the other copies.