Compromise of Caspe - Deliberations

Deliberations

The parties had agreed to a parliamentary process to resolve the issue. But coordinating deliberations between the cortes (parliaments) of Aragón, Valencia and Barcelona was difficult, due to their diverging interests. So a general cortes was called by the governor of Catalonia to meet in Montblanch, but the meeting was delayed and ended up in Barcelona starting in October 1410. As the cortes dragged on, things got violent. Antonio de Luna, an Aragonese supporter of Count James II of Urgell, assassinated the archbishop of Zaragoza, García Fernández de Heredía. There was fighting in the streets especially between partisans of Aragon and Valencia. Pope Bendict XIII (Avignon) intervened and proposed a smaller group of nine compromisarios (negotiators).

The parliamentarians agreed, and on 15 February 1412 in the Concordia de Alcañiz they appointed the compromisarios who then met in Caspe near Zaragoza, to examine the rights of the pretenders. The compromisarios were:

• Domènec Ram, bishop of Huesca.
• Francesc de Aranda, ancient royal councillor as well as envoy of Benedict XIII.
• Berenguer de Bardaixí, jurist and official general of the Cortes of Aragón.
• Pere de Sagarriga i de Pau, archbishop of Tarragona.
• Bernat de Gualbes, syndicus and councillor of Barcelona.
• Guillem de Vallseca, officer general of the Corts Reials Catalanes.
• Bonifaci Ferrer, prior of the monastery of Portaceli.
• Vicent Ferrer, Dominican monk, later canonized.
• Pere Bertran (substitute for Gener Rabassa), citizen of Valencia and legal expert.

On 28 June 1412, the Castilian infante was unanimously proclaimed King of Aragón. Even though the version by Jerónimo Zurita in his Anales de la Corona de Aragón (1562-1580, Tome. XI, chapter 87) refers to the votes by the six negotiators (three from Aragón: Domènec Ram, Francesc de Aranda, Berenguer de Bardaixí; two from Valencia, the Ferrer brothers; and a Catalan, Bernat de Gualbes, who backed Fernando's candidacy while two others voted in favor of Jaime de Urgell and a third one from Valencia decided to abstain), no contemporary sources confirm the existence of any secret ballot. In fact, there are no records from that period supporting these events which were disseminated much later in history books. This narrative has been repeated up to now. The judges certainly deliberated and there were probably differences, however, the agreements resulting from the Interregnum processes which ensued after Martin’s death until the final decision was taken, including the Concordia de Alcañiz, were reached through consensus, there were no discrepancies, and approval was unanimous. The original notarized deed whereby Fernando of Antequera was proclaimed King of Aragon by the delegates on 25 June 1412, and all other deeds, writings, and official testimonies from the Parliaments of Aragón, Valencia, and Catalonia also reflect this consensus. These sources coincide in that the negotiators unanimously gave their consent to Fernando’s designation. This was also confirmed by Melchor de Gualbes, the messenger who brought the news to the Catalan assembly in Tortosa. When the Bishop of Girona asked about the particulars of the proclamation, the messenger replied that the agreement had been reached by nine persons in great and happy concord (gran y feliz concordia). This is also reflected in the report by the representatives of the Catalan Parliament. Furthermore, at the behest of some of the deputies, the three Catalan members of the Compromise of Caspe declared that "they had acted freely and had not been under any pressure at any time" and that at the end of the process "they all shared the same opinion".