RIBADENEYRA, Pedro de

by Pedro de Ribadeneyra

£2,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

The gilt arms belong to the Catalan patriot Josep de Margarit i de Biure (1602-85), member of a baronial family from Girona. Josep fought as a general of the Catalan army siding with the French against Spanish aggression into Catalan territory. For his support, he was appointed governor of Catalonia by Louis XIII. In particular, he played a major part in the Catalan revolta dels Segadors (1640-52) which concluded with the capitulation of Barcelona to Spain after a dramatic siege. As a reward for his courage, his Aguilar estate was turned into a marquisate by Louis XIV. Josep spent the last years of his life in exile in Perpignan where he continued to defend Catalan identity in Roussillon, annexed to France with the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659). The bearing of the arms of Catalonia, Navarre and Aragon-Sicily had been granted by King Juan II to Josep s C15 ancestor, the bishop Juan Margarit, as a reward for his defence of the city of Girona. The C17 annotator of this copy interested in the long letter to the Christian reader may have been Josep de Margarit himself. In a section discussing the reasons why a prince might want to continue a war through violence or political pressure, he highlighted a passage stating that in order to destroy any city or province without a war, there is nothing like presenting them as places full of sin and vice, and to persuade [his subjects] that past injuries are never forgotten, despite the benefits received . Very good, clean, well-margined co

• Binding: Hardcover

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