Pere (or Père) Tomich or Tomic (

Bagà Bagà () is a Spanish municipality located in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Berguedà, in Catalonia. Traditionally, Bagà is considered the capital of ''Alt Berguedà'', the mountainous northern half of the comarca. Location Bagà is lo ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1431–1438) was a Catalan knight and historian. He was son of the mayor of Bagà and attorney for the baronies of Pinós and Mataplana. He was Castilian of the castle of Aristot (

Alt Urgell Alt Urgell () is a ''comarca'' (county) in the Alt Pirineu region, in Catalonia, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de ...

) in the years 1446-47. He wrote a monumental general history of Catalonia from Creation, through the "primers pobladors d'Espanya" (first populators of Spain), to the reign of

Ferdinand I of Aragon Ferdinand I (Spanish: ''Fernando I''; 27 November 1380 – 2 April 1416 in Igualada, Òdena) named Ferdinand of Antequera and also the Just (or the Honest) was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and (nominal) Corsica and king of Sicil ...

. His ''Histories e Conquestes del reyalme Darago e principat de Cathalunya'' he finished at

in 1438. One of its distinguishing marks is Pere's uncritical acceptance of

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

and incorporation of

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

into his otherwise accurate account. Besides legend, Pere especially revels in listing the names of the major noble families of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. The events (especially military, with a taste for naval expeditions) in which they were actors accompany their names, and the names of the lords of

Pinós Pinós () is a village and municipality in the province of Lleida and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The municipality includes a small exclave to the north-east. The village is regarded as the geographical centre In geography, the centr ...

and Bagà are heavily favoured. Pere is the sole source for several historical events. He adds to the so-called "Legend of the Cowardly Peasants", in which the cowardice of the peasantry in the face of the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

is led to explain their servitude, the fact that the Christian leader whose summons to arms they refused to obey was

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

and that the summons took place in 814.Paul Freedman (1988), "Cowardice, Heroism and the Legendary Origins of Catalonia", ''Past and Present'', 121, 8. Pere also asserts that

Huguet de Mataplana Huguet de Mataplana (after 1173 – 28 November 1213) was a Catalan nobleman and poet. His name, also spelled Uget, is the diminutive form of Hug (also spelled Huc or Uc), which is the Occitan version of "Hugh" (French ''Hugues''). Huguet was ...

, the

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

, was present at the

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab (), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the Spain in the Middle Ages, medieval history of Spain. The Christian ...

. He provides a detailed explanation of how Raymond Berengar I and Almodis codified the Catalan system of rank in their '' Usatges''. Pere also wrote that

Martin of Aragon Martin the Humane (29 July 1356 – 31 May 1410), also called the Elder and the Ecclesiastic, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409 (as Martin II). He failed to secure th ...

died of the plague, which has been disproved. In 1431, a lawyer representing the guild of bitmakers of

arrived in Bagà to obtain a copy of a document authenticating a miracle supposedly performed by

Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

on Galceran de Pinós. Finding the rector of the city away on business, the lawyer obtained the testimony of the oldest and most trustworthy men of Bagà in a public information-gathering session held in front of a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

. The first sworn testimony recorded was that of Pere Tomich. His recollection is detailed and he adds the story of one hundred young ladies who were rescued through the saint's intervention. All subsequent witnesses simply affirmed Pere's testimony, adding that so had they heard from their fathers and grandfathers.

Notes

{{authority control Historians from Catalonia